Hugo Ortega wants to take Houston to California. When the James Beard Award-winning chef, along with his wife and business partner, Tracy Vaught, opens Zaranda this Saturday, October 18 in downtown Houston’s Norton Rose Fulbright Tower, they’ll reveal their first new project since their street food concept Urbe debuted in 2021.
Named for for the wire basket used to cook seafood over an open flame, Zaranda imagines a world in which all of California — both the state of California (or “Alta California” prior to the Mexican American War) in America and Baja California in Mexico — remained united as one territory. It joins the other restaurants in Ortega and Vaught’s H-Town Restaurant Group: interior Mexican restaurant Hugo’s, seafood restaurant Caracol, Oaxacan restaurant Xochi, street food restaurant Urbe, and Backstreet Cafe, the River Oaks staple that’s currently being rebuilt. Considered one of the chefs most responsible for introducing fine Mexican cuisine to Houstonians, Ortega won a James Beard Award for Best Chef: Southwest in 2017.
Zaranda’s menu features ingredients such as Baja seafood, the state’s legendary produce, and wines from both regions. It also showcases the immigrants who have influenced the region, including Spanish, Chinese, and Japanese elements.
“Why not look to Alta California for its agricultural bounty and ranching heritage and to Baja California for its abundant aquatic life and diverse landscape for inspiration,” Ortega said in a statement. “I wanted to reimagine the region as one vast, natural expanse, without consideration of borders.”
Pescado Zarandeado is cooked in a wire basket and served with cucumber salad and tortillas.Photo by Paula Murphy
Photo by Paula Murphy
Zaranda opens this Saturday, October 18.
Indeed, the menu begins with a section called Zarandeado that showcases the wire basket that is the restaurant’s namesake. Diners may choose from fish, lobster, octopus, or shrimp, all of which are served with a cucumber salad, flour tortillas, adobo, and three salsas.
Seafood is also featured in sections devoted to shareable starters (conchas), crudos, tacos, and tostadas. For example, roasted oysters are served with a gochujang butter — a variation on the chipotle butter served at Caracol — and tuna crudo showcases its Japanese influence by including soy, sesame, and furikake. The four tostadas are made with smoked fish and scallop escabeche, hamachi, lobster, or tuna.
Spanish-style rice dishes get their own section, with three choices — confit duck and braised rabbit; a seafood take with clams, mussels, shrimp, chorizo, and saffron; or a vegetarian dish made with artichokes, mushrooms, Brussels sprouts, carrots, and more. An olive bread that’s served with herb butter and olive oil also showcases Spanish flavors.
Carnivores can look to the Del Rancho section that includes a braised lamb shank, picanha, filet mignon, ribeye, or porterhouse. Pair them with vegetables such as roasted cabbage with miso butter, roasted carrots, fried Brussels sprouts, or one of three potato preparations — fries, mashed, or roasted.
Pastry chef Ruben Ortega, Hugo’s brother, has made his own contributions to the menu with a couple of eye-catching creations that are sure to show up on social media. The Erizo del Mar is a chocolate dish shaped like a sea urchin that’s served with lemon verbena cream, hibiscus, caramel, passion fruit sponge, and more. Similarly, the Dólar de Arena is made with coconut mousse, almond praline, and candied nori that’s topped with a white chocolate sand dollar. Other dishes include California ingredients such as dates and macadamia nuts.
All that eating and drinking happens in a 7,000-square-foot space with seating for 180 inside and 50 on the patio. Created by Houston’s Gin Design Group (Haii Keii, ChòpnBlọk, etc.), the room features floor-to-ceiling windows that look out onto Discovery Green, a “desert- and sea-inspired color palette” of earthy browns and light blues, and a second-floor dining space called the Ballena Bar with room for 70.
Chefs Paula Guiterrez, Hugo Ortega, and Adrian CaballeroPhoto by Nick de la Torre
The Ortegas have pulled together a talented team from multiple H-Town Restaurant Group concepts to lead Zaranda. They include chefs Adrian Caballero and Paula Gutierrez, pastry chef Roxy Puga, sommelier Elvis Espinoza, and bartender Carlos Serrano.
Initially, Zaranda will open for dinner with lunch service to follow. It will be open Monday through Saturday and is located at 1550 Lamar St.
