Ryan Hildebrand

This Week In Food Blogs: Why Some BBQ Lists Are Suspect and Gordon Ramsey

29-95: Can a national media outlet really name the "top" restaurants across the country without putting in the legwork that people such as barbecue blogger Daniel Vaughn do, driving over 10,000 miles to visit 'cue joints for his book Prophets of Smoked Meat? That's the question Syd Kearney asks in a ... More >>

Ribs and Ramen Reign Supreme at the 2nd Annual Go Pig! Or Go Home! Suckling Pig Throwdown

There are pig parties, and then there is Go Pig! Or Go Home! The second annual charity throwdown event last night at Kata Robata was every pig lover's dream -- and then some -- with Houston's top chefs throwin' down everything from traditional roast suckling pig to cochinita pibil to oysters topped ... More >>

Here, Eat This

A beginner's guide to Nigerian cuisine.

Frank's Americana Revival and Chef Kevin Naderi of Roost: 2013 Menu of Menu's Big Winners

The annual Menu of Menus grand tasting is much more than just a night for our readers to come out, meet their favorite restaurants, find new favorites and get their faces stuffed with delicious grub. It's also a fierce competition. A wooden token was given to each guest as they entered Silver Stree ... More >>

In the Home Stretch for Menu of Menus: A Few Tickets Left

With just a few days left before this year's Houston Press Menu of Menus, coming this Tuesday night, fewer than 50 General Admission tickets and fewer than 100 VIP tickets remain. General admission tickets are $50 ($60 at the door) and VIP are $90. Menu of Menus kicks off at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, A ... More >>

The Rest of the Best: Houston's Top 10 Restaurants Where Service is King

It's hard to find good help, or so the saying goes. Indeed, many of the chefs and restaurant owners I've spoken with over the years privately admit that finding good waitstaff in Houston can be a Sisyphean task: You manage to find a truly great server or two, they dazzle your diners and then -- beca ... More >>

Win 2 VIP Tickets to See Ryan Hildebrand of Trinti Battle Kevin Naderi at the Iron Fork Competition

The second competitor in our Iron Fork competition has been announced, and we've pulled out all the stops: Ryan Hildebrand, executive chef and owner of Triniti, will be going head to head with defending champion Kevin Naderi of Roost to see which chef can make the best two dishes with a secret ingre ... 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 >>

The Second Annual Go Pig! Or Go Home! Throwdown is Coming This April

"Go pig! Or go home!" That is the gauntlet that has been thrown, and the challenge, the question, the machismo duel that will pit 23 of Houston's most prominent chefs in a challenge to create Houston's most supreme incarnation of a suckling pig. The second annual event is scheduled for Sunday, Apr ... More >>

Where the Chefs Eat: Christine Ha and Alvin Schultz

This week, our Where The Chefs Eat series turns to two amateur chefs turned television reality stars: Christine Ha and Alvin Schultz. Both living in Houston and Vietnamese by descent, they each snagged a spot on the TV reality show, MasterChef. Schultz, who was featured on Season 2, is known for ... More >>

Underdogs and Juggernauts

The 10 best new restaurants of 2012.

Defining Triniti

The casual, elegant, New American-with-a-twist restaurant isn't easy to pigeonhole, but it's good.

How Do You Define Triniti?

In this week's cafe review of Triniti, the nearly indefinable restaurant from chef Ryan Hildebrand and his talented team of sous chefs, servers, bartenders, pastry chefs, sommeliers and managers sourced from the city's best restaurants, I struggled with how to define the restaurant itself. Unlike ot ... More >>

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 >>

Are We There Yet? Restaurants We're Excited About for 2013

Last year -- at the tail-end of 2011 -- it seemed as if half the restaurants we were excited about in 2010 for the upcoming year still hadn't opened yet: Uchi, Triniti, Underbelly and The Hay Merchant were all a very long time in the making, but finally opened this past year to great acclaim all aro ... More >>

Spoiler Alert!

A handy infographic guide to the shelf life of fruit.

R.I.P: Ruggles Grill Demolished This Morning

A bright yellow hydraulic excavator loomed over the Ruggles Grill this morning like the Grim Reaper, shortly before its jaws tore into the old restaurant and demolished it for good. The grill was opened in 1986 by Bruce Molzan and his then-wife, Susan, and for many Houstonians growing up in the '80s ... More >>

Bread and Relaxation at Kraftsmen Cafe

Scott Tycer finds his sweet spot serving simple, delicious food.

Where the Chefs Eat: Amalia Pferd, Sean Carroll, John Peterson

Owning a food truck/mobile cart is hard work, but at the end of the day, you still gotta eat. For this week's Where the Chefs Eat series, we're checking in to see where some of Houston's on-the-go chef-proprietors get their grub on. Let's see where Amelia Pferd of Good Dog Hot Dogs, Sean Carroll o ... More >>

Dinner in Eight Movements: Mercury - The Orchestra Redefined at Triniti

An eight-course dinner with an orchestra providing musical "pairings" for each dish seems a bit pretentious. Let's get that out of the way right up front. That's what many of you are no doubt thinking, and that's what my wife and I thought when we sat down to dinner at Triniti on Sunday night. The t ... More >>

Upcoming Events: Big Bites and Triniti Meets Treble Clef

If you went to the recent LaB 5555 event at the Houston Museum of Natural Science (which featured our own mixology competition), you know how awesome the new paleontology hall is. What does that have to do with food? Big Bite Night is just around the corner, that's what. And if you've never gone in ... More >>

100 Favorite Dishes 2012: No. 16, Beet Salad at Triniti

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 >>

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 >>

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 >>

Autumn Concerto in Eight Courses

Mercury: Spring Concerto

Where the Chefs Eat, Latin Edition: Castre, Guerrero, Ortega

Last week, we told you where chefs Ryan Hildebrand, Michael Pellegrino and Kaz Edwards like to eat when they're not in the kitchen. Today, we bring you three Latin chefs' perspective when we chat with Roberto Castre, David Guerrero and Hugo Ortega. Roberto Castre Executive Chef and Owner, Latin ... More >>

Where the Chefs Eat: Hildebrand, Pellegrino and Edwards

I am always asking people where they like to eat. I'll go anywhere. A $1 fried chicken place in a gas station, a hole-in-the-wall strip mall affair on the west side, a hot dog stand on the sidewalk underneath a freeway -- if it's good, I'm totally game. And generally speaking, if a chef recommends a ... More >>

Openings & Closings: April 2012

So, while I was gone last week, chef Ryan Hildebrand and his investors announced plans to open yet another restaurant only four short months after Triniti opened on Shepherd. Brande, as the new restaurant will be called when it opens in late 2013, will occupy the old Ruggles space on Lower Westheime ... More >>

The 2nd Annual Kiss My Grits Throwdown by YTAC a Huge Success

The Young Texans Against Cancer's YTAC 2nd Annual Kiss My Grits Throwdown revealed a couple of things. First, that young Houstonians are more than willing to engage in philanthropy for a good cause, and second, that any food competition featuring 10 chefs is a huge draw. Host venue The Capitol at ... More >>

Farm-to-Table: Sometimes You Don't Want It On Your Table!

Farm-to-table is all the rage these days. All the big-name chefs are touting their farm-to-table menus - Chris Shepherd, Randy Rucker, Ryan Hildebrand, Randy Evans, and many others. And let me tell you, they are some of the best meals you will ever have. But there is another side to farm-to-table -- ... More >>

Openings & Closings: L'Olivier Is Landing

First, chef Junnajet Hurrapan's new hotspot Blu opens up in Sugar Land's Town Square. Now, the development is getting another interesting addition. According to the weekly B4-U-Eat newsletter: The Japaneiro's people are opening Guru Burgers & Crepes at Sugar Land Town Square in May. It will serve g ... 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.

First Look at Triniti

You've never had a beet salad like this.​"Oh my God," oohed my friend over my cocktail last night at Triniti. "They have the right ice." I laughed good-naturedly at her self-admitted "cocktail nerdery" and regarded the solid cubes with a bit more interest than I had before. They were the type ... More >>

A Preview of Triniti Restaurant

Photos by Mai PhamThe Triniti logo on the frosted glass door entrance​For the past year, Chef Ryan Hildebrand has been without a kitchen. But the former Executive Chef of Scott Tycer's Textile Restaurant has had a new project in the works. And though the road has been long one, he's finally re ... More >>

Openings & Closings: November 2011

Photo by Amber AmbroseEl Rey closed this week -- but which one?​Remember how busy of a month October was for openings and closings? November was a little slower, but not by much. In upcoming restaurants, one of our favorite bloggers reports that Calliope's is opening a second location of its ... More >>

Upcoming Events: Tequila at TQLA and Multi-Course Mystery Dinners

If you've been looking for the right opportunity to try TQLA -- which just won our rather specific, yet no less applicable, award for Best Revival of a Genre -- here's the opportunity you've been looking for: TQLA is hosting a tequila dinner with Don Julio on Wednesday, October 19, starting at 6:30 ... More >>

Upcoming Events: A Taste of Triniti and Brews on the Bayou

Photo by Paul KnightBrews (and booze, if you go inside and order it) will be served on the bayou at Brenner's upcoming Beer Fest.​This weekend, if you aren't headed to our own BestFest, check out the 3rd annual Wine Festival on the Kemah Boardwalk on Saturday, September 24, from 2 to 5 p.m. Mo ... More >>

Openings & Closings: Losing Our Voice

Photo courtesy of Coppa Ristorante ItalianoCoppa: Now open for business.​The worst news of the week came from My Table early yesterday morning, when the magazine reported that downtown restaurant Voice has lost its executive chef, the very underrated Greg Lowry, and is in talks to "reconcept" ... More >>

Restaurants We're Excited About for 2011

​For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction, right? Well, for all the new restaurants that disappointed us in 2010, there are many more coming in 2011 that we're awaiting with baited breath. Whether they be old favorites revived or entirely new restaurants, whether they be from ... More >>

Sweet, Savory and Spirits: Ryan Hildebrand to Open Triniti Next Year

Hildebrand in his former kitchen at the now-closed Textile.​"It's a name that I've been kicking around ever since I wanted to do my own place: sweet, savory and spirits, having all three elements," said Ryan Hildebrand over the phone yesterday afternoon, shortly after announcing his plans to o ... More >>

Textile Takes a Summer Vacation

Photo by Troy FieldsTextile's outstanding bacon tart with a poached quail egg on top was a favorite.​With the news that popular pastry chef Plinio Sandalio plans to move to Austin to work with David Bull, it didn't come as a huge surprise when I found out via text message late last night that ... More >>

Sampler Plate: This Week In Food Blogs

Each week, we put together a sampler plate of the most interesting links from both local and national food blogs. Know a blog we should be paying particular attention to? Leave the address in the comments section below. Fork and Cork: Greg Morago reports on the rumors swirling around Textile lately ... More >>

A Man's Meal at The Rockwood Room

Photos by Katharine Shilcutt​Rumors have been swirling for weeks of The Rockwood Room's imminent demise. Yet a dinner at the swanky, Rat Pack-y joint on Wednesday night left me not only curious about the basis of these rumors, but also pleased by a meal fit for Frank Sinatra. The first time I ... More >>

The Top 10 Restaurants in the Heights

Sous vide pork at Textile.​Creating a top ten list for the Heights is an intimidating process. At a basic level, it's difficult to even define the Heights. And with so many great restaurants to choose from, we've had to leave out popular spots Teotihuacan, Vietnam Restaurant, and Onion Creek f ... More >>

Recipe: Bistro Don Camillo's Croque Madame

Photo by tastybits​As it turns out, it's not just Americans who eat fatty comfort food; the French do it too. The Croque Madame, like the Croque Monsieur, is a grilled ham and cheese sandwich, but it also has an egg. This recipe comes from executive chef Ryan Hildebrand from Bistro Don Camillo ... More >>

Upcoming Events

Photo by Troy Fields Pizza at Bistro Don CamilloThe heat is already on this summer, so take advantage of the cool air conditioning and the cool deals going on at some of your favorite restaurants. Fleming's Steakhouse will be offering special deals starting June 23. The summer prix fixe ... More >>

Corleone Bar & Grill

Let There Be Gifts

If you want to honor this preacher's wife, don't be cheap