Chris Shepherd

Katharine Shilcutt's 10 Favorite Dishes in Houston

In a recent Food & Wine article, restaurant editor Kate Krader called Houston "America's newest capital of great food" and listed 10 of her favorite dishes/drinks in our city to underscore her point. They included the Vietnamese Wagyu meatballs at Underbelly, the blackstrap rum daiquiri at Charity S ... More >>

This Week In Food Blogs: Landry's Lawsuits and All-Day Sunday Funday in Sugar Land

Eater Houston: Congratulations are in order for Underbelly chef/owner Chris Shepherd, who was named Best New Chef yesterday by Food & Wine. Shepherd is one of 10 Best New Chefs listed by the magazine, and is joined by the likes of Michael Voltaggio, at Ink in Los Angeles and Danny Bowien of Mission ... More >>

Where the Chefs Eat: Greg Lowry, Matthew Lovelace, Dax McAnear

Inside the gorgeous dining room at Triniti, which is currently a James Beard Foundation finalist in the Outstanding Restaurant Design category, you can alway spy the chefs hard at work in the open kitchen creating food that is both delicious and beautifully plated. But it makes you wonder: If these ... More >>

Praise the Lord and Pass the Pints

Houston's 10 best beer bars

30 Essential Texas Restaurants

Eat here before you die.

The 10 Best New Houston Restaurants of 2012

If I had to pick one word to describe the mad, exciting rush of restaurant activity that's defined 2012, it would be this: exhilarating. Followed closely by: exhausting. Trying to keep up with every single new restaurant that's flung open its doors exuberance -- welcoming the city's burgeoning food ... More >>

Big Wins for Chris Shepherd and Bobby Heugel at the 2012 My Table Houston Culinary Awards

It wasn't quite a Lord of the Rings-style Oscars sweep for Underbelly last night at the 2012 Houston Culinary Awards -- the restaurant didn't win in every category in which it was nominated -- but chef Chris Shepherd and mixologist/bar owner/restaurateur Bobby Heugel took home four awards between th ... More >>

100 Favorite Dishes 2012

No. 1, Korean Braised Goat and Dumplings at Underbelly.

100 Favorite Dishes 2012: No. 1, Korean Braised Goat and Dumplings at Underbelly

This year leading up to our annual Best of Houston® issue, we're counting down our 100 favorite dishes in Houston. This list comprises our favorite dishes from the last year, dishes that are essential to Houston's cultural landscape and/or dishes that any visitor (or resident) should try at least o ... More >>

Upcoming Events: Sweet Charity and Celebrity Chef Tours

First and foremost, go check out today's Voice Daily Deal. It's the first time we've partnered with 100% Taquito, and today's deal gets you $20 worth of food for $10. For those (like me) who are terrible at math, that's half-off your meal. Do you know how many cups of elote you can buy for $20? A lo ... More >>

Underbelly: The Taste of Home

Chef Chris Shepherd incorporates Houston's disparate cuisines into one wonderful menu.

The Rest of the Best: Houston's Top 5 Restaurant Playlists

The only times I notice the music in a restaurant is when it's really bad (Christmas music playing year round at Sichuan Cuisine), really out of place (Nine Inch Nails blaring out of the speakers at now-closed Tony Vallone joint Ciao Bello or Cannibal Corpse washing over the line of patrons at Amy's ... More >>

Underbelly's Underpriced Wine List Gives Us More Reasons to Love It

Because there is so very much to discuss when it comes to Underbelly, the subject of this week's cafe review, I found myself having to trim back significantly in certain areas of the review in order to get a broader point across (which, TL;DR, is that Underbelly is where it's all happening and you s ... More >>

Where the Chefs Eat: Chris Shepherd, Ryan Pera, Antoine Ware

Since 2010, the Greater Houston Convention & Visitors Bureau (GHCVB) has been conducting "Where the Chefs Eat" Houston Culinary Tours, in which chefs take a group of people to visit secret gems centered around a theme. Past tours have included world barbecue, Korean/Japanese food, Mediterranean food ... More >>

General Observations from the Free Press Summer Fest

See our slideshow of the food at Summer Fest. Observations while standing near a classic-style mosh pit to see The Descendants, as my friend Jay swigged Beam from a flask in one hand and deflated beach balls with a pocket knife in the other hand: There is probably not a better drinks program for ... More >>

Openings & Closings: Nothing Bundt News

The opening of Uchi Houston last week was just the prelude to a rash of exciting, greatly anticipated openings across the city. Get ready, folks: It's a great time to be a diner in Houston. Artisans, the new restaurant from Le Mistral brothers David and and Sylvain Denis with friend and fellow chef ... More >>

Foodies, Your Photo Show Is Here

Alex Gregg is not only an award-winning bartender at Anvil; he is also a professional photographer, and he recently put his skills to work last October at the very popular Les Sauvages Supper Club dinners. The fruits of his labor are now on display at Catalina Coffee on Washington Avenue.

Money Cat Brunch Raises Money for OKRA

It's Sunday morning, just 15 minutes shy of 10 a.m., and already, a small line had formed as I entered Paulie's on Westheimer for an encore of Chef Justin Yu's popular Money Cat Brunch pop-up. A fundraiser for the newly formed OKRA (Organized Kollaboration on Restaurant Affairs) non-profit, the even ... More >>

Sampler Plate: This Week in Food Blogs

J.C. Reid, Texas: Chris has made his international food writing debut in a big way: with a spread in Qatar Airways's in-flight magazine, Oryx. The restaurant he profiled? Philippe, which has been getting plenty of well-deserved magazine love lately. A hearty congratulations to both Chris and Philipp ... More >>

Casual Coppa

This restaurant impresses with simple, harmonious flavors — and its refusal to over-impress.

Upcoming Events: A Week Full of Beer

Read on for our picks of the best beer dinners next week.​In case you hadn't heard, it's Houston Beer Week, y'all. The week-long celebration of craft beer and local breweries kicks off tonight with a kick-off happy hour at Ziggy's Downtown, from 5 to 7 p.m. The restaurant will be offering $2 ... More >>

Upcoming Events: Foraging and Fires

Photo by GroovehouseYes, you can eat those beautyberries you've seen at the Arboretum. Merriwether will show you how.​If Nicholas Hall's post on foraging, "Indigenous Bounties," piqued your interest about scouring your own back yard (or front yard) for tasty treats, pay attention. Meriwether's ... More >>

Houston's Food Community Steps Up to Help Wildfire Victims

Photo by Chris ShepherdHouston's food trucks headed north to feed the victims of and responders to the Texas wildfires.​Although the wildfires in Bastrop have been getting the lion's share of media attention, fires are burning all over Texas right now -- including in our own backyard. And Hou ... More >>

Blacksmith Opening This Spring: Mary's Goes Mocha

Photo by Robb Walsh​Coffeesmiths David Buehrer and Ecky Prabanto are moving on up -- literally and figuratively -- from their current digs at Greenway Coffee & Tea, located in the subterranean Greenway Plaza food court, into a new space in Montrose. Blacksmith, the pair's new coffee shop, is s ... More >>

My Bologna Has a First Name: It's F-O-R-G-O-T-T-E-N

To be fair, I would only buy this stuff because I think clowns are delicious.​Scores of Americans were once on a first-name basis with bologna. A generation was raised on the sausage's popular commercials and on the meat itself, usually sandwiched simply between two pieces of white bread and a ... More >>

Openings & Closings

When a bull statue has fire coming from its metal nostrils, you know the food is going to be good. Right?​No time to waste this week! Too much news to share! Straight to it! Newly hired chef Michael dei Maggi left Dragon Bowl late last week, as reported by Eater Houston. This marks too many m ... More >>

Vietnamese Venison

Thanh Phuong in Pearland is turning out some of the most exciting food, anywhere.

Bycatch Ceviche at Anvil Bar & Refuge

Photos by Katharine Shilcutt​Anvil Bar & Refuge has some terribly interesting things going on right now that have nothing at all to do with its summer selection of "Southern"-inspired cocktails. Those are great, too, don't get me wrong. But the best things are coming out of chef Chris Shepherd ... More >>

Houston Culinary Tours Gain National Recognition

Chris Shepherd and Bryan Caswell on the inaugural Houston Culinary Tour.​You have to admit, the Houston Culinary Tours are a clever idea to promote Houston: pairing high-profile chefs with a handful of passionate food lovers, and allowing those chefs to take those food lovers to some of the ci ... More >>

Katharine Shilcutt Nominated for a National James Beard Award

Houston Press food critic Katharine Shilcutt has been nominated for a James Beard Award in the Multimedia Food Feature category for "Designer Meats" and the accompanying video "Butchering 101 with Chris Shepherd." The story describes how Houston chefs are curing and preserving their own meats, allo ... More >>

Where to Get Your Caffeine Fix

The Top Ten Coffeehouses in Houston

Houston Culinary Tours Ramping Up Again

The inaugural barbecue tour with Robb Walsh; see if you can spot the man himself.​There's now one more way to get your Robb Walsh fix besides rereading that copy of Sex, Death and Oysters for the fifth time: The Houston Press's former food critic is teaming up with Catalan executive chef Chris ... More >>

Upcoming Events

Please try not to end up like this jack-o-lantern this weekend.​Halloween activities abound this weekend and we have the best parties all picked out for you in our annual Halloween guide. But if parties aren't your bag of treats, don't fret: There's still plenty else coming up to keep you busy ... More >>

Upcoming Events

There's still time to buy your tickets to the Great Gulf Dinner, happening tomorrow -- Saturday, October 16 -- at The Usual from 2 to 6 p.m. $15 buys you a plate filled with delicious Gaido's seafood and sides along with an afternoon of great live music and a raffle with prizes you can only find at ... More >>

The Houston Culinary Awards Get a Facelift

Photo courtesy of My TableThe steel awards themselves (no more glass!) weren't the only new things this year.​"You can't help but feel great when you're honored and respected by your peers and Houston diners," said Sean Beck today, after bringing home a stunning two awards at the annual My Tab ... More >>

Last Night: B L A C K I E, Summer Blondes, The Tontons And Somosuno At Mango's

Photos by Marc BrubakerSomosuno​B L A C K I E, Summer Blondes, The Tontons, Somosuno Mango's July 29, 2010 Aftermath had an inkling that we'd wind up at Mango's on Thursday as soon as we heard about the so-called "surprise show." For one, our love of music perpetually drags us out of our home ... More >>

Texas Monthly: Houston is Chow Town

​Here at Eating Our Words, we tend to agree. Houston is the best culinary city in Texas, and I'm not just saying that out of a sense of loyalty or native bias. Although from reading the Twitter account that Texas Monthly has set up specifically for the food section of the magazine (@TMFood), y ... More >>

Catalan's New Happy Hour

​Great news, food fans: Catalan has recently started an outrageously awesome happy hour. Whether you know and love the place, or have had it on your must-try list for years, the new deal provides an affordably fun way to get your fantasy fix. The happy hour menu includes six "street food" item ... More >>

Robb Walsh's 100 Favorite Houston Dishes #11 Crispy Pork Belly with Steen's Cane Syrup at Catalan

​Over the course of the next few months, I'm counting down 100 of my favorite Houston dishes. I chose some because they are such quintessential Houston creations, others for their cultural or historical significance, and others because they are just so damn tasty. Share your own nominations in ... More >>

Designer Meats

In Houston, more and more chefs are curing their own pig products

Designer Meats: Making Your Own At Home

Photos by Mike TremouletA fresh slab of Mike's home-cured bacon.​In this week's feature, "Designer Meats", we take a look at Houston chefs who are curing and hanging their own meat in-house. And while you may not have Chris Shepherd's space to hang your own Virginia ham or Justin Bayse's exper ... More >>

Chef Chat, Part 1: Antoine Ware of Catalan

​Antoine Ware has been the executive sous chef underneath Chris Shepherd since Catalan (5555 Washington Ave.) opened. We caught up with the New Orleans native in, well, New Orleans. Here is his take on culinary cuisine: Eating Our Words: Everyone sees your beaming smile behind the kitchen at ... More >>

Bivalve Throwdown: Oysters With a Side of Intrigue at Stella Sola

Photos by Katharine Shilcutt​In the heat of battle last night, the oysters -- and the chefs -- kept their cool. The fourth such event organized by Jenny Wang and the Houston Chowhounds, the Bivalve Throwdown at Stella Sola on Sunday afternoon saw 11 of the city's best chefs compete to create ... More >>

Hop On Board: Houston Culinary Tours Embarking Soon

Photos by Katharine Shilcutt​Have you ever wanted to cruise around with one of your favorite chefs, picking their brains as you hit his favorite hole-in-the-wall restaurants in the city? Your chance to do just that is coming soon. Whole Foods Market and the Houston Convention and Visitor ... More >>

Washington Ave. Revisited

Forget what I said about Catalan – Chris Shepherd is one of the top toques in Texas.

The Battle Rages On: Fried Chicken Throwdown at Beaver's

Photos by Katharine ShilcuttRonnie Killen's skillet fried chickenSome had come for the spectacle of it all: 17 different fried chicken dishes, 9 enormous casseroles filled with various macaroni and cheeses, salads and side dishes and desserts enough to feed Alexander's own army. Some had come to obs ... More >>

Fundraiser for the Koonce Family

Helping Out Those Hurt in Brennan’s Fire

Bacon, Eggs and Barbera

Treat yourself to Mediterranean-inflected breakfast foods and some of the most amazing wine deals in town at Catalan