Mark Holley

The Eating...Our Words 100: Randy Evans, Chef at Haven and Farm-to-Table Godfather

Randy Evans has an exuberant personality that comes through in his cooking at Haven: passionate about local products and seasonal produce, expressive of its Texas roots. There's no mistaking where you are when you're eating at Haven: It's Houston all the way. Evans's cooking at Haven is also highly ... More >>

Upcoming Events: What Do Duck Dynasty and Robert Earl Keen Have in Common?

Any and all crawfish-eating you've been doing so far this season has just been practice for the main event: the annual Texas Crawfish Festival in Old Town Spring, which is coming up on April 19 through 21 and April 26 through 28. The festival has to be two weekends to pack in all the food and entert ... More >>

Rest(aurants) In Peace: Notable Closings of 2012

Some restaurants just couldn't wait for the Mayan apocalypse on December 21, 2012 and decided to implode all on their own, while other restaurants simply expired of old age and waning interest in a city that's constantly chasing after the next big thing. Instead of a toast to the restaurants we'll ... More >>

Openings & Closings: Istanbul Is Constantinople

The big news this past week was the closing of Pesce, the longtime River Oaks seafood spot at Kirby and West Alabama owned by Landry's (Harlow's somehow stays open, yet Pesce gets closed? Go figure.). In its place, yet another Brio Tuscan Grille is moving in. No word on what will become of Mark Holl ... 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 >>

Kata Robata Chefs Take Inaugural Kiss My Grits Throwdown Title

Jason BargasLeft, Kata Robata. Right, Ouisie's.​Grits have been an integral part of my life since I could gum food. Naturally, I was eager to get my gums (and teef) on the grits concoctions at Thursday evening's Kiss My Grits Gulf Coast Throwdown. Young Texans Against Cancer cobbled together H ... More >>

Upcoming Events

Eat dinner with Tiffany Derry and Mark Holley at Pesce on December 2.​Attention Top Chef fans! If you were rooting for Texas's own Tiffany Derry this season (even if she lives in Dallas now, you gotta love a girl who came up through IHOP), here's your chance to meet the woman herself, as well ... More >>

Baffled by Brennan's

A revived Houston institution proves inconsistent.

Raising the Bar at the Bourbon Throwdown

Photos by GroovehouseAdam Bryan finishes up his No Bogey Fizz cocktails.​Last night's Bourbon Throwdown at Branchwater Tavern was the fifth throwdown -- a casual, Iron Chef-style competition between local chefs -- that the Houston Chowhounds have thrown since June 2009. But far from being a re ... More >>

Top 10 Restaurants in Upper Kirby

​Let's leave aside a second some of the things we hate about the Upper Kirby district -- the bizarre desire to forge a connection with the U.K. based solely on sharing the same initials and installing anachronistic red phone booths on random street corners, the fact that Kirby itself is always ... More >>

Chefs Pitch In for Brennan’s Fire Victims

Memories of Brennan's

A Houston institution burns; will it be back?

Brennan’s of Houston Gutted by Flames

Chefs Rule!

If you can't stand the sight of lopped-off digits and the smell of your own flesh burning, get out of the kitchen