Jamie Zelko

13 Houston Chefs Who Have Celebrity Doppelgangers

Check out which local chef sure looks a lot like a Spice Girl, who might be hosting a game show in his spare time, and who we think is a long-lost triplet: See also: - 12 Celebrity Chefs Who Have Cartoon Doppelgangers - 13 Celebrity Chef Doppelgangers 13. Kaz Edwards vs. Joshua Jackson We could s ... More >>

Street Foods of India at Kiran's: The Perfect Launch for the Houston Metro Cooking Show and the Curry Digest Video Series

If you're like most Houstonians, you haven't, in the past week, been swept off your feet and transported to India and back in a matter of hours, experiencing the joy of Indian street foods, upbeat music, age-old traditions, and exotic beverages in between. But to my own and a diverse group of food w ... More >>

Paula or Pepin? Separate Savannah from Southern France, and Win Tickets to the Metropolitan Cooking and Entertaining Show

The Metropolitan Cooking and Entertaining Show is coming to Houston this weekend, and Eating...Our Words has three pairs of tickets to see two of this year's celebrity speakers, Paula Deen and Jacques Pépin (two for Dean and one for Pépin). We would like nothing more than to give them away to you ... More >>

Where the Chefs Eat: David Denis, Jean-Philippe Guy and Philippe Schmit

When we think of French dining in Houston, the following three chefs should assuredly come to mind: David Denis, Jean-Philippe Guy, and Philippe Schmit. David Denis has made a name for himself with his elegant Le Mistral Restaurant on the Energy Corridor, where big-name oil execs come to sample exqu ... More >>

The Top 10 Cookbooks of 2011: Texas Edition

​This is neither a list of the all-time best cookbooks of the year, nor is it a list of the best Texan cookbooks of the year. It's a combination of both. Because odds are that if you're giving a cookbook as a gift this year, it's either going to be to a fellow Texan or because you're a Texan l ... More >>

The Key to the Kitchen: Coppa's Female Executive Chef, Brandi Key, Is No Novelty Act

November 3 was National Men Make Dinner Day, one of an increasingly nonsensical line of national holidays that are being trotted out in larger numbers every year. This particular holiday was especially perplexing to those in the food industry, where men make dinner every night. A man probably will m ... More >>

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 >>

Top 5 Seasonal Commercial Halloween Snacks

Photo by Joanna O'LearyBoo! I'm orange.​Since Halloween is my favorite holiday, I'm more than thrilled that what was once a one-day celebration has now become a whole season in its own right. Despite my usual aversion to processed food, I'm also tickled pink (orange?) by the plethora of Hallow ... More >>

Chef Chat, Part 2: Kiran Verma of Kiran's

Photo by Matthew DresdenKiran Verma in front of her restaurant.​In part one of our Chef Chat with chef/owner Kiran Verma of Kiran's, we discussed how she came to create Houston's first restaurant combining fine dining and Indian cuisine. Today, we talk about sourcing ingredients, making baby f ... More >>

Come on Down, Casey

Why Casey Anthony Should Come to Houston

Zelko Bistro Puts Female Winemakers and Craft Beer Front and Center

Photo by Tam VoChef Jamie Zelko.​Zelko Bistro, although it's only been open for less than two years, has already garnered a reputation for its wine list: Aggressively priced, the list offers an excellent selection of wines between $28 and $46 a bottle. Chef and owner Jamie Zelko wanted it that ... More >>

Upcoming Events

Collaborative dinners take center stage. (Note: There are women involved, too.)​Justin Basye, Peter Jahnke and their bunch of wild young hearts chefs were the talk of the week, as their new pop-up dinner series was announced this past Monday. Les Sauvages (translation: the savages, or the wild ... More >>

Meet Houston's Most Underrated Chefs

Photo by Matthew DresdenWhich "underrated" chef made this beautiful tai ceviche?​Two weeks ago, Mai Pham's excellent post about the modern Franco-Japanese cuisine Chef Jason Hauck is cooking up at Soma Sushi shed some light on the fact that Soma serves much more than just sushi, despite its na ... More >>

Off the Wall: Zelko Bistro

sassyinthekitchenZelko's Lemon Ice Box Pie​Last week, Minh T. Truong asked the question, "Which Houston restaurants deserve Food Network recognition?" The comments poured in, but one in particular from EOW reader Ali caught my attention: "I'd love to bathe in Jamie Zelko's grits. Is that TMI? I do ... More >>

Texas Stars Shine Bright at Last Night's Rising Star Gala

Photos by GroovehouseChef Maurizio Ferrarese of Quattro plates his lamb ravioli.​"We didn't know what we were going to find in Houston," said Antoinette Bruno last night at the Four Seasons Hotel. Bruno, the CEO and editor-in-chief of Star Chefs admitted to being "really ignorant of the Housto ... More >>

Houston on the Horizon: Rising Stars Named by StarChefs.com

Chef Manabu Horiuchi of Kata Robata, one of this year's Rising Stars.​I vacillate back and forth between craving attention for our city's culinary efforts and then finding myself annoyed with the attention we do get. Call it the heartburn that comes with having your cake and eating it, too. T ... More >>

The Top Ten New Restaurants of 2010

The 10 Best New Restaurants of 2010

Which one of our top 10 restaurants landed a spot in the newest edition of GQ?​Trying to select only 10 restaurants out of the dozens that have opened the past year is agonizing. In a good way, of course -- Houston has been fertile ground for innovative and passionate restaurateurs this year. ... More >>

Died and Gone to [Burger] Heaven at Zelko Bistro

Photos by Troy FieldsFor more, check out our behind-the-line photos from Zelko Bistro.​A strange thing happened last Sunday evening. I found my new favorite burger in Houston -- and possibly in Texas -- in the most unexpected of places. Chef Jamie Zelko is known these days for the delicious c ... More >>

Zelko Bistro's Captain's Fried Chicken

​Captain...as in Crunch, that is. Yes, that's right. Houston's Hottest Chef award winner Jamie Zelko of Zelko Bistro (705 E. 11th St) is serving up farm fresh chicken coated with Cap 'n Crunch, fried until crispy golden brown. As if that is not enough to make you order it -- which it should b ... More >>

A Taste of Chicago: 3 Things That Would Do Well in Houston

Bloody Mary flight over brunch at Bin in Wicker Park.​I recently took a five-day trip to Chicago -- my first vacation in three years -- to revel in the cool weather, the lake breezes, the iconic architecture, the absorbing museums, and, of course, the food. Chicago's evolution into a culinary ... More >>

Houston's Hottest Chefs: Lisa Carnley

Tam Vo​This past week, we've highlighted Houston's hottest female chefs, profiling Monica Pope, Jody Stevens, Meagan Silk and Jamie Zelko. But the moment of truth has come. The people of Houston have spoken. Lisa Carnley of Calliope's Po-Boys is Houston's hottest lady chef of all. When we as ... More >>

Houston's Hottest Chefs: Jamie Zelko

Tam Vo​Every day this week we'll be highlighting the female winners from our poll on Houston's Hottest Chefs. On Friday we'll reveal the hottest chef of all. Talking to Jamie Zelko of Zelko Bistro is a humbling experience. Not only has she been voted one of Houston's hottest chefs, she is, m ... More >>

Houston's Hottest Chefs: Jody Stevens

Tam Vo​Every day this week we'll be highlighting the female winners from our poll on Houston's Hottest Chefs. On Friday we'll reveal the hottest chef of all. Eating Our Words: Were you surprised to see that you were named one of Houston's hottest female chefs? Jody Stevens: Definitely! I wa ... More >>

Houston's Hottest Chef: Voting Is Now Open

Thankfully, none of our nominees look like this.​We've carefully combed through the 100 plus comments from last week's post and compiled the top five male and top five female chefs you nominated as Houston's hottest chef. We combed through our own photo archives and -- occasionally -- the che ... More >>

First Taste of Zelko Bistro

Fried pickles.​When Jamie Zelko left her post as executive chef at Bistro Lancaster in 2008, we worried that the young talent would pack her bags and leave our fair city. She was, after all, a climbing star, winning praise, love and accolades from patrons and critics alike. Turns out, leaving ... More >>

Openings and Closings

Photos by Katharine ShilcuttThe soon-to-be-open Zelko Bistro in the Heights.​Although it's been a while since our last roundup of restaurant openings and closings around here, that doesn't mean that Houston's culinary community hasn't been busy in the meantime. We have a feast of new places fo ... More >>

Follow Friday for Houston Food Hounds

Photo courtesy of @bakerella In the world of Twitter -- the love-it-or-hate-it microblogging service -- Fridays are known as "Follow Friday," a day devoted to suggesting new or interesting users for your friends to follow. Depending on who you follow, your Twitter stream will be inundated on Friday ... More >>

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 >>