The Houston Livestock show and Rodeo 2025 officially runs March 4 through March 23 this year but it’s already well under way with events and happenings. Many Houstonians will find themselves partying in one of the lively tents at the World Championship Bar-B-Que Contest next week, but this past Sunday, Rodeo Uncorked Best Bites started the festivities off at NRG Center.
The Best Bites is always a huge event with some of the best wineries being represented from the previously held 2025 Rodeo Uncorked! International Wine Competition held this past November. Along with the bounty of wine, a number of restaurants and eateries across the city also give out samples, vying for the Best Bite in various categories.
The Houston Press was invited to judge the Best Bites event and this writer was the fortunate one to take on the task for the fifth year in a row. It’s always a fun time with delicious food and fine wines, plus a mix of urban and suburban cowboys and cowgirls to liven up the party.
The judges for the Best Bites competition are wrangled together prior to the judging in a side area with helpful volunteers pouring wine while the judges mingle. There was a nice greenroom spread from Cotton Culinary but many of us veterans knew we needed to spare our stomachs for the upcoming round of food. Still, I tried a corn and ham hush puppy that was so tasty, I had to have another. The judging ran late this year, so the table of appetizers was very tempting.
Having done this for several years, I have gotten used to the slightly rowdy crowd of judges that typically consists of local food writers, radio dee-jays, news anchors and various other Houston celebs. This year was more quiet with a lot of new and young faces, many of them Houston food bloggers who had never been Best Bites judges before. Being the wise, older sage that I was, I gave a few pointers about what to expect. One judge’s guest asked if she would be allowed to walk around and purchase food. The look on her face when I told her all of the food was included in her admission was one of pure joy.
Our herd of judges was finally corralled and moved to the stage quite a bit past the stated time. I found myself seated with Chef Jassi Bindra (Amrina), Adrian Verde (@thehoustonfoodie), Katie Stone (The Cleverley Stone Foundation) and a young woman named Mary who had been roped in last minute to take the place of an absent judge. I recognized a few familiar faces such as KUHT television host Ernie Manouse, KHOU anchor Mia Gradney and Carolina Sanchez (Fox 26 The Nightcap) but a number of previous judges were not in attendance. Melissa Wilson, anchor for Fox 26 Morning News, was the host for the evening.
While awaiting our first round of appetizers, my tablemates and I introduced ourselves. I already knew Chef Jassi as not only the esteemed chef at Amrina’s in The Woodlands but also as a Food Network Chopped champion. More recently, he has opened casual concepts Pok Pok Po and Bol with his business partners. He hinted at a couple of other concepts in the pipeline but we’re keeping mum about that for now.
Katie Stone is the president of The Cleverley Stone Foundation, named for her mother, the late radio and television food personality, Cleverley Stone. The foundation is keeping up the legacy of Houston Restaurant Weeks and has added EatDrink HTX to the lineup. Adrian Verde authors a food blog and we were all amazed that he was early enough in the food influencer scene to have scored his handle “the Houston foodie”.
Before our food arrived, the lovely Kimberly, a Rodeo volunteer, approached me and told me she was glad to see me again. It’s nice to be remembered by a volunteer who has graciously delivered the best bites to you previously. However, our table had a different volunteer this time, the equally as lovely Addison. The Rodeo volunteers are the creme de la creme of volunteerism, working hard and doing a professional job all for the pleasure of serving the Rodeo’s mission (Though a friend of ours who volunteers says the after parties are pretty amazing.)
Once the food train began, we judges set our focus on the grub. The late start to the judging unfortunately meant many of our dishes arrived cold. That was a first for me. And not much was really sticking out. The testing is blind, so we didn’t know what we were eating and from which establishment the bites were coming. However, we all agreed that the toast topped with a sundried tomato spread and candied bacon was yummy and we later learned that it was from Robinette & Company Caterers and won first place for the Trailblazer Appetizer Award.
All of the assembled judges do not taste every Best Bite because it would take forever and we would all explode like Mr. Creosote from the Monty Python sketch. Afterwards, comparing notes with other tables, some said it was the best array that had seen at Best Bites while others felt the offerings fell flat. Taste is subjective but our table definitely missed out on the sweets because not a one of ours placed in the dessert category. However, both Chef Jassi and I enjoyed the texture of the glossy chocolate bonbon with the pistachio filling. We don’t know who created that particular treat but it was one of the Best Bites to me.
Another very tasty sample was a boneless short rib over risotto. My fellow judges and I were in agreement that it was a winner, and indeed it was. It took home third place for the Lone Star Entree Award.
Once the judging was over, I grabbed my guest, Classic Rock Bob, from the greenroom and went in search of bites that I had missed. Though I was stuffed, I managed to put away a couple of the amazing crispy fried artichokes at Il Bracco. I don’t normally take more than one sample of anything, but these were too wonderful to have only one bite. Another dish that impressed me, and the crowd, was Cotton Culinary’s entry named A Forager’s Feast. It was a bite of elk loin with the teeniest-tiniest deviled quail egg. The elk was very tender and melt-in-your-mouth but the slightly sweet deviled egg was a culinary marvel. I could have eaten a dozen of them. It won first place in the People’s Choice category and rightly so.
Having been veterans of the Rodeo Uncorked Best Bites for several years now, we did notice that this year seemed to have less food and definitely more wine. Some of the usual culinary suspects were missing. This year’s event was sold out and it felt like it. Often, I chat a minute or two with the chefs or the winery owners. This year, the sampling was grab and go. And sometimes, there wasn’t anything left to grab. The sold-out crowd sampled early and quickly. They apparently knew where the Bollinger Champagne was located because the Bolli was gone by the time we made it to the booth. Edina and Patsy would not have been happy.
Despite the crowds in the center, there was plenty of space on the outer parts to escape to. Folks in their best Western duds were having a great time so the busy atmosphere just added to the excitement. There were bling-y boots and cowgirl-themed dresses, though this year’s gathering seemed a little more tame. We even asked Ernie Manouse where his fancy pants were. Last year, he was sporting Sistine Chapel-inspired britches. This year, he was clad in discreet gray and black.
As the evening came to a close, we wrapped up another Best Bites and rolled out the door with the rest of the cowpokes. It was a spectacular night of great wine and food. Let the Rodeo season begin!
2025 Rodeo Uncorked! Best Bites Winners:
People’s Choice:
1st Place: Cotton Culinary, A Forager’s Feast
2nd Place: Davis Street at Hermann Park, Crispy Thai Shrimp
Outstanding Showmanship Award:
1st Place: SheShe Treats
2nd Place: Brothers Produce
Tasty Tradition Award:
1st Place: Cultivated F&B, Citrus Bliss (pistachio tart with cremeaux and strawberry macaron)
2nd Place: Raising Cane’s, chicken fingers, toast and cane sauce
Trailblazer Appetizer Award:
1st Place: Robinette & Company Caterers, sundried tomato spread on cayenne pepper toast with candied bacon
2nd Place: State Fare Kitchen & Bar, Bayou Melt Slider
3rd Place: Jamaica Paradise Kitchen, Paradise Bites
Lone Star Entree Award:
1st Place: North Italia, braised short rib Masala
2nd Place: Merlion Restaurant, Shrimp Raad Prick (shrimp in Thai basil curry over jasmine rice)
3rd Place: Grace Italian Kitchen, boneless short rib with molasses bourbon glaze
Two-Steppin’ Dessert Award:
1st Place: Guzel Cakes, Love You More (banana pudding cake), Perfect Love (strawberry cheesecake), Love on Top (vanilla pudding with cookie butter
2nd Place: Hudson House, zesty Ley lime pie
3rd Place: Mostly Chocolate, Turkish pistachio and sesame seed paste with crispy phyllo shreds cooked in brown butter
Rookie Award:
The Cheesecake Queen, Key lime mini cheesecakes
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2025.
