What's Eric Eating Episode 281

The scoop on Houston's coolest underground creamery, plus hottest food news

On this week's episode of "What's Eric Eating," ice cream maker Josh Deleon joins CultureMap food editor Eric Sandler to discuss Underground Creamery. Instead of operating a scoop shop, Deleon prepares several hundred pints of ice cream that sell out in minutes via weekly "drops."

The conversation begins with Deleon telling Sandler that eating a lot of ice cream inspired him to learn to make his own. The goal, he explains, is to create the flavors he wants to eat. Initially, Deleon sold ice cream he made at home to friends and family, but word of mouth helped him build a following — hence the name "Underground."

Sandler, who acknowledges that he's been an Underground customer since the apartment days, asks Deleon about his style. Typically, Underground's flavor have a base ice cream, a textural component such as cake or cookies, and a swirl, typically fruit or caramel.

"For me, it's not just ice cream. It's a complete dessert. When you go to a restaurant, say you go to Bludorn, you get a financier with ice cream and a drizzle of sauce," Deleon says. "That's what I try to do, but you put it in a pint. I don't have a culinary background. I don't know how to make it pretty. What I can do is pack a pint of ice full of s---. It leaves the customer satisfied."

Listen to the full episode to hear Deleon discuss how childhood nostalgia inspires his flavors and his plans for growing the business to the point where his ice cream is easier to obtain. He also shares his perspective on speaking out about social issues on his social media account.

Prior to the interview, Sandler and co-host Michael Fulmer discuss the news of the week. Their topics include: Midtown restaurant Izakaya closing to become Josephine's, a Gulf Coast seafood restaurant; the imminent closure of Fort Bend County barbecue joint The Swinging Door; and Pondicheri chef Anita Jaisinghani's James Beard Award nomination for her cookbook, Masala.

In the restaurants of the week segment, Sandler and Fulmer discuss their meals at two new Tex-Mex spots. First, they share first impressions of Mandito's, the casual restaurant in Bellaire from the owners of Armandos. Then, they relate their experience at Verde Garden, the new bar and restaurant from the owners of Heights Bier Garten.

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Subscribe to "What's Eric Eating" on Apple podcasts, Google Play, or Spotify. Listen to it Saturdays at 2 pm on ESPN 97.5.

Courtesy of Underground Creamery

Josh Deleon is this week's guest

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New York Times critic awards Houston restaurant 2 stars in glowing review

Courtesy of ChòpnBlọk

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Let’s just call 2025 the year of ChòpnBlọk. In a review published Tuesday, December 16, the New York Times has awarded the Houston restaurant two stars (“very good”).

Written by chief restaurant critic Tejal Rao, the review touts many of the same qualities that the Times already praised when it included ChòpnBlọk on its list of America’s 50 best restaurants.

Rao writes that she usually avoids restaurants that serve food in bowls, but she’s impressed by the way that chef-owner Ope Amosu has put a West African spin on the concept.

“For inspiration, Ope Amosu looked to the kind of chain restaurants that were built to scale, where flavors are often subdued to appeal to the broadest possible audience, focus-grouped to death. But the delight of ChòpnBlok is in its sure sense of self, its lively, multidimensional cooking and clear, delicious vision for modern food from the Black diaspora,” Rao writes.

She singles out specific dishes, including the Nigerian red stew with short rib, the Black Star bowl with shrimp, and the signature Motherland, made with chicken, greens, and plantains. “It’s utterly simple, but draws you in for more with the mouthwatering twang of not-too-much MSG — an international shortcut to building umami that tends to be used carefully, and layered with other forms,” she writes.

The review also touches on the way Amosu switched the restaurant from counter service to full service — described as “warm, informal, and quick with the jokes” — and his time working at Chipotle to learn the basics of the restaurant operations.

A two-star review is only the latest instance of ChòpnBlọk receiving national attention. In addition to the Times 50 best list, Esquire recently named it one of America’s best new restaurants. The Michelin Guide awarded it a Bib Gourmand designation for 2025. Amosu earned a semifinalist nomination for Best Chef: Texas in the 2025 James Beard Awards.

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