The year that’s been, 2023, has been a terrific one for new restaurants, probably the best since I’ve been actively following the Houston dining scene. As I’ve done in the past, the intent for this effort was to devise a list of the ten best restaurants to open in Houston during the year. But the shear number of high-quality restaurants to open here in recent months, rather than editorial slackness, made me to include a bakers dozen. It’s been a fun time to visit new restaurants here, even if the trend has been toward ever higher tabs. Many of the top newcomers will engender a hefty bill, if almost always worth it. Truffles, caviar, foie gras, cold-water lobster, A5 wagyu beef, sushi with fish sourced from Japan, a deep wine list, an overly stocked bar, and inspired design and the contractors to make that happen need to be paid for, after all. A fair number of Houstonians can afford these delights, though, and it shows with the oft-difficult reservations.
My list skews toward the more expensive, as these were clearly the best of the new restaurants this year.
In addition to the greater expense, other notable trends were appealing new French- and Italian-themed eateries, including ones with kitchens manned by actual Frenchmen and Italians; the number of enticing stops for sushi grew; and beautiful build-outs were displayed in newcomers like Annabelle, Andiron, Bari, Cocody, Eau Tour, Katami and Tavola. Bennie Chows, I’m not so sure about. Underbelly Hospitality, that grew from Chris Shepherd’s Underbelly, was net up one restaurant. Comalito, featuring Mexico City tacos and its brethren, shows promise after a rocky opening. But the group, which was once the city’s most exciting restaurant purveyor, lost another acclaimed chef – and another alum started receiving acclaim elsewhere – and it became a much better bet for its more casual concepts, those tacos along with burgers.
The Berg Hospitality Group, an early local adopter of the grating credit card surcharge, added three wildly different, if each wildly expensively constructed concepts: Chinese, French and Italian. Two of which were among the best new restaurants to open here. The third, the French brasserie Annabelle, if suffering from some execution issues early on, is among the most fetchingly designed dining spaces in the area. The Azuma Group also had a noteworthy year, successfully transforming the Japanese Izakya into the Gulf Coast-centric Josephine’s then opening the city’s grandest stage for sushi, Katami. It’s been a fun year.
Listed alphabetically.
Andiron – Steak – Entrées: $39 to $150, $84 average – Yes, Houston does need another expense account steakhouse when it is something as striking, distinctive and proficient as this opulent effort from the folks at The Pit Room, Candente and, formerly, the excellent seafooder 1751. Featuring steaks and more cooked over a post oak-fired grill rather than the typical steakhouse broiler, the USDA Prime offerings, with just a scent of smoke and lower temps of the grill, taste just a little different. In a welcome way. Even with some turmoil in the kitchen as the initial executive chef departed early on, it’s recently settled on Michael O’Connor, longtime head of the kitchen at Vic & Anthony’s, the best of the Landry’s restaurants. The menu now features the standard quartet of cuts plus a steak au poivre, A5 wagyu cooked on a robata, and a recognizable array of steakhouse sides and accompaniments done a little uniquely. The expansive wine list encompassing both the Old and New World is an enophile’s dream, a wealthy enophile’s dream. The cocktail program is just as serious. Set just off Waugh near the AIG tower and Stages Theater in an older single story Spanish and Mediterranean-influenced building, it’s part of a River Oaks-adjacent nexus of excellent, pricy newcomers including Auden, Cocody and Katami. “Handsome” or “gorgeous” might be the first word many would use to describe the main interior that seats 110 including a bar area, done in browns, blacks and green. This is Houston’s most attractive steakhouse. And the most interesting. Montrose
Auden – New American – Entrées: $20 to $40, $27 average – Announced in late 2021, husband and wife Chefs Kirthan and Kripa Shenoy – savory and sweets, respectively – finally opened Auden around Halloween this year. The sleek, modern restaurant in the new multi-use Autry Park development was well worth the wait, as it impressed right from the get-go, from the cocktails to the smart, short list of wines with friendly prices and mostly the kitchen. Kirthan, from Sugar Land, and Kripa, from Goa, both worked at the Michelin-starred Italian seafood Marea and Ligurian-inflected Ai Fiori from renowned chef Michael White in Manhattan. That top restaurant background shows strongly, even if there is not much among the offerings that are truly Italian. Nor Indian, either. The twenty savory plates, both smaller and more substantial, are mixed on the menu encouraging sharing or a progressive-type dinner. Fried oysters with trout roe and Fresno chiles, a Parisian-style seared gnocchi with Calabrian chiles and spinach in a rosemary beurre blanc, red snapper in a chicken broth are few of the well-executed winners. The nearly globe-spanning influences shown with preparations scallion pancakes with cultured buttered and chile-spiced agrodolce, and Gulf shrimp given Japanese and Thai ingredients, spicy and cooling, will resonate in a ready Houston market, as will the interplay of lower-key and luxe. Hamburgers share printed space with caviar and shaved Perigord truffles. Do save room for desert with the rich Le Choclat featuring milk and dark chocolates, Bomboni with blackberry sugar, or a neat take on that Houston favorite, tres leches. River Oaks
Bari – Italian – Entrées: $24 to $60, $39 average – Opened in May 2023 with seasoned chef Renato De Pirro, a native of the Maremma in Tuscany, at the helm, this serves delicious pan-Italian cooking that tastes like Italy – likely no other local restaurant imports as much of its product from the home country – in an striking upscale trattoria-like setting with a soaring ceiling and sprawling sidewalk patio space that fits in perfectly with its high-dollar neighbors. The menu features recognizable favorites like Insalata Caprese, fritto misto, pappardelle Bolognese, spaghetti with clams, and veal scaloppine with lemon that are executed with excellent ingredients and more skill, understanding and flair than most places. A seafood tower, East Coast oysters on the half shell, and the now-days necessary caviar and truffle menu items – and tartufo bianco from Alba when in season – can help make this an overly indulgent lunch or dinner. The enticing, Italian-focused wine list has the well-known labels Gaja, Solaia, Tignanello and Ornellaia, but about a dozen nicely chosen ones by the glass for $15 and less and many selections under $75 – like a bottle of Rosso di Montalcino from star producer Casanova di Neri and a Pinot Grigio but from the Collio. Bari is both a restaurant for special occasions and one to be frequented regularly without tiring of it, especially for those who can shop frequently at the stores outside its doors. River Oaks District
Bennie Chows – Chinese – Entrées: $18 to $115, $51 average – Cheeky, a bit garish in design, but with seriously good and fun food, if seriously pricey, and certainly overpriced in spots, e.g. $28 for vegetable fried rice, this is nonetheless a nifty, eclectic addition to our diverse dining landscape. From Berg Hospitality, this continuously expanding concern has, for the first time, hired an acclaimed chef, Shirong Mei, who began his cooking career in Hong Kong and delighted local diners at Yauatcha, the upscale dim sum spot in the Galleria a few years ago. Having an excellent chef really shows. Though maybe not fully the expected “American Chinese” its site proclaims, the fare is mostly Cantonese- and Szechuan-inspired dishes along with Peking Duck and the now locally must-have soup dumplings that hale from Shanghai. There is a version of General Tso’s Chicken and Orange Beef, too, but the “American” comes in more so with the inspired, rich restaurant-ready preparations like foie gras rolls, uni-laden siu mai, egg drop soup topped with Parmigiano Reggiano, and a couple with barbecued beef brisket from nearby Truth BBQ. A fun way to start is with a Smoked Brisket Egg Roll featuring Truth’s brisket, or the Szechuan Hot and Sour Soup, just a cup for $18, which is probably the most layered and flavorful version in Houston. It is oddly, if delightfully, garnished with a nicely grilled shrimp on a wooden skewer. Reflecting the ethnicities of most of the clientele – my Chinese co-workers were quick to decline a suggestion for lunch after seeing the prices – chopsticks are used less frequently than at about any Chinese restaurant in the area outside of those sad all-you-can-eat buffets serving low-budget local Gargantuas and Pantagruels. But they are very nice chopsticks as is everything here. Sixth Ward
Cocody – New American – Entrées: $29 to $96, $53 average – The first thing to impress is the dramatic light-filled décor: the spacious dining area filled with thin crystal chandeliers dangling down and plush mauve- and cream-colored chairs and bangquettes along with the many-seated oval bar near the entrance, home to inspired cocktails and the playful lollys. Along with the elegant patio, the setting is a perfect complement to an increasingly upscale stretch of West Gray. But owners Edith and Edwin Bosso, whose roots in Côte d'Ivoire give the restaurant’s name, Cocody, provided chef David Denis and team an equally impressive work space that can be just glanced at from many tables: a roomy, state-of-the-art, and nearly fully stainless steel kitchen with the latest induction stovetops. It’s a serious kitchen and the restaurant is much more than a pretty destination, and featuring a stellar staff. Along with Denis, there is co-executive chef Lionel Debon with several Michelin-starred stops in his background including the famed La Pyramide in Vienne and recently at the excellent Alba here. Denis is quick to say that the offerings are not French, and global flavors and ingredients are found, but the French technique and sensibility are felt and seen in the dishes. A cod filet with jumbo lump crab meat in a beurre blanc emulsion and the Roasted Lamb Saddle Cut in a butter-garlic au jus are two entrées the kitchen is quick to tout. For the wine, brother Sylvain Denis constructed largely French list that should fit any mood, featuring enough fruit-forward Californian offerings for those not in tune with the Old World. And any meal should finish with a dessert – a visit might be a splurge, after all – rich, exquisitely rendered and certainly jibing with the sumptuous surroundings. River Oaks
Elro – Pizza / American – Entrées: $18 to $23, $22 average – This, “a neighborhood pizzeria and crudo bar located in a bungalow house at the confluence of the Montrose and Midtown neighborhoods,” might seem like an odd thing, but unpretentious Elro makes splendid sense. This is largely because its headed Terrance Gallivan, who was one of the principals at the acclaimed Pass & Provisions once nearby – in the space now housing Bludorn – that turned out some good pizzas among its many adept preparations. The pizzas here are different than what I remember from Provisions, but superb. It begins with the crust, which are puffy, with a slightly raised crown at its edges and a bottom that is nicely charred; light and flavorful throughout, with a welcome fresh taste that is delicious to the last bite, In a big city with a deficit of quality pizzerias, the terrific pizzas are a start and a draw for many, but this, a smart, comfy place will appeal to frequent diners even when not in the mood for pizza. The cooling crudos are mostly seafood including East Coast oysters on the half-shell and four appealing and unique combinations: tuna with pistachio and some ‘nduja spice; smoked kampachi with pumpkin seeds and a Japanese flavors; snapper with pickled mangos, olives and chile peppers; and the Italian mint nepitella-cured salmon with apples and hazelnut; plus a take on steak tartare, a dish that has become more commonly seen here again. There’s also a couple terrific sandwiches, fun cocktails sporting the names of Springsteen songs, and a well-chosen, mostly Italian list of wines. Montrose
Eau Tour – French – Entrées: $18 to $45, $29 average – From Benjy Levitt, who delighted diners at this address for years beginning with benjy’s, this newest concept, “a new Community Bistro,” might be viewed as a comfortable, localized and capable take on the French brasserie with a self-stated emphasis on seafood and dishes from a wood-burning oven. East Coast oysters, crudo or jumbo lump crab with aioli can start and then on to other expected preparations: escargots, French onion soup, steak tartare, quiche, beef bourguignon, steak frites featuring 44 Farms strip and duck fat fries. But there’s also a butter-poached trout with smoked roe, a grilled snapper, and a pork Caesar Schnitzel that’s fitted with Little Gem lettuce, Parmesan and boquerones. The wine list is eclectic, mostly French, and with an emphasis on bubbles and reds. You should have a number of fairly decent options from which to choose, and nearly all in double-digits. There is a creative “heavy pour” cocktail program to get you in the proper evening mood at this second-floor setting above Levitt’s Local Foods. It’s charming, with a whimsical contemporary décor, and quaint, just sixty seats in booths and banquettes along with nearly a dozen at the bar. This is a very welcome addition for the surrounding, well-heeled neighborhoods. Rice Village
Josephine’s – Gulf Coast Seafood – Entrées: $19 to $45, $29 average – Replacing Izakaya, the Azuma Group did something non-Japanese, the locally familiar Gulf Coast cuisine but with accents further east to Mississippi, the home of state of chef Lucas McKinney, an Underbelly Hospitality alumnus. Casual and playful in spirit – the “Snacks” section lists ten items – but serious in execution, even with those more informal items like po boys and red beans and rice. The former, graced with the parbaked Leidenheimer rolls, crustier and in better shape than most places, are nearly spot on, if a little small. The oyster service is quite adept, even sourcing surprisingly flavorful oysters from Galveston Bay. The Smoked Redfish Dip featuring chucks of farm-raised redfish and a lemon remoulade is fun way for the table to start as are the moist, crisp and locally peerless hushpuppies served along a piquant pickled jalapeño tartar sauce. The handful of bigger plates include a grilled redfish on the half-shell, fried chicken and dumplings, and snapper collars with a Jamaican jerk rub. With a lengthy bar, Josephine’s has an enthusiastic cocktail program. The tiny list of wines leans hipster and obscure, and can use some work, but there are bottlings from Weszeli and Raventos among the more widely pleasing offerings. The interior is brighter than it’s predecessor and seems to add to the intended atmosphere. Service is friendly, and this is an inviting place to augment to Houston’s broad dining landscape. Midtown
Jun – Southeast Asian – Entrées: $17 to $53, $31 average – An attractive and early 2023 entrant on 20th Street in the Heights, this builds on the success of Kin that charmed diners in the Politan Row food hall in the Village before the pandemic and Chef Evelyn Garcia’s star turn in the locally set “Top Chef” season in 2022. Plates here are meant for sharing and are divided among snacks, raw, vegetables, and proteins, plus desserts. Gulf shrimp aguachile; sweet potato lebneh; beef tartare in croute with its classic egg yolk accompaniment but also toasted rice and a sesame buñuelo; lamb curry with pickled daikon and pistachios; and a whole fish with guajillo chiles, red onions and charred limes are some of the inspired combinations that trek between Asia and Mexico and elsewhere. To accompany, it’s just beer, wine and wine- and sake-based cocktails, and ordering a bottle of wine has been the best bet. Heights
Katami – Japanese – Entrées: $29 to $260, $105 average – Chef Manabu Horiuchi, Hori, of Kata Robata acclaim is one of the very best toques in Houston regardless of cuisine, and the enchanting, grand new space that opened in October, long home of the Italian-American Vincent’s, is a fitting setting to shine even more. Imbued with a Japanese design ethos, this “sushi, wagyu and sake-focused restaurant” features clean lines, blond woods interspersed with black, a separate ebony colored bar and over 180 seats along with a few dozen more in a somehow tranquil patio near busy W. Dallas. But it’s the food that’s the star. With the most wide-ranging regular selection of nigiri and sashimi around, it includes a number of items flow in regularly from Japan, all fashioned and served in optimal fashion. Hori has some fun with the makimono, the rolls, like the Southern Smoke Roll with fatty tuna belly, uni, caviar, shiso, wasabi and soy sauce, or the less opulent Texas Hamachi Roll filled with fried shrimp, spicy tuna and yellowtail with yuzu juice and topped with slices of fresh jalapeño. And others such as the Foie Gras PBJ Milk Bread. The lengthy menu has much more than sushi, with plenty of hot preparations including A5 beef from two different prefectures and two types of cooking methods. It might be overwhelming, but you can make it easier by ordering the sashimi or two or chirashi, sashimi over rice, or the kitchen’s choice of ten pieces of nigiri. It seems like it’s tough to go wrong here, and the plentiful staff will be sure to explain and encourage exploration, which can cost. Montrose
Little’s Oyster Bar – Seafood – Entrées: $33 to $69, $48 average – Pappas Restaurants did something it’s never done before with this spring newcomer, hire a top chef to head one of its kitchens, when it enticed Jason Ryczek who had been the executive chef for several years at Farallon, one of San Francisco’s leading seafood restaurants, to move here. Bringing a fresh and seasoned perspective to the space that housed popular Little Pappas Seafood House for over three decades, it now boasts one of the very best seafood restaurants in the entire Gulf Coast. Possibly the city’s top raw bar does expert duty with oysters including an actually enticing cocktail sauce made with a pomegranate molasses that offsets its dull mignonette companion. Cold platters large and small include a deconstructed Crab Louie with delectable plump pieces of lump blue crab meat. And Ryczek’s past with caviar ensures its service might be the most impressive in town if you can indulge in that luxury and skyrocketing the bill at already expensive spot. A star among the warm preparations is the Texas Redfish served skin-on with an Italianesque salsa verde featuring Castelveltrano olives. Another is the chicken fried snapper with a tangy sauce ravigote. Resolutely a seafood restaurant – and a destination-worthy one at that – but a pricey Prime dry-aged steak or a white truffle risotto, or even some of the compelling vegetable sides, might satisfy those in the group who desist from the ocean’s charms. Wine offerings reach to the deep Pappas’ cellars for a list that is rather unusual, lengthy, and heavy on Champagne and Burgundy. The wait staff is trademark Pappas attentive, accommodating and forthright. Start with a cocktail, something chilled, and about anything else to continue, probably getting some help with the wine, and it be tough not to be impressed here. Montrose
PS-21 – French – Entrées: $24 to $56, $35 average – A self-described “unassuming Frenchie Restaurant and Bar” is a comfortable and friendly, if somewhat dark, contemporary bistro from local favorite Philippe Schmit, and well-suited to the Upper Kirby District. Quite inviting for lunch – and when the tiny parking will have a space sans valets – with more casual offerings including well-done quiches, croque monsieur, salade Nicoise and moules frites. Those fries; properly crisp and lightly salted, are some of the best around, especially when paired with house-made mayonnaise or bearnaise. Meats, fish, and butter- and cream-laden sauces help make for a more robust dinner. Even more so when choosing steak tartare Rossini, foie gras terrine, a Duck Breast Wellington, or a 10-ounce entrecote with a decadently delightful seared foie gras topping. There is a short, smart, and nicely all-French wine list that’s aided with sage suggestions from the staff. And fun cocktails with a strong French or French colonial accent can help start the fun here. Upper Kirby District
Tavola – Italian – Entrées: $24 to $68, $41 average – The third new restaurant from Berg Hospitality, only opening in December, is easily its most Italian, and easily its best Italian-themed effort – the others have been quite easy to overlook. This time it partnered with the Bastion Group of local Le Jardinier to bring the seasoned Luca di Benedetto, the former head corporate chef of the 20-restaurant Giorgio Armani Group, from Milan to lead the kitchen. And the result is truly Italian and well-executed, comforting and upscale pan-Italian trattoria-like fare. You get a sense of its sure-handedness soon after sitting with a surprisingly enticing amuse bouche of marinated, pitted and herbed, plump Castelveltrano olives served with biscuit-like taralli. Then the menu is approachable and easily discernible with items Caesar salad, fritto misto, spaghetti with clams, house-made pappardelle with Texas wild boar, tagliatelle with black truffle, chicken cacciatore, and tagliata with Prime New York strip. You might consider starting with a crudo or tuna tartare – taking advantage of the chef’s time at Nobu Milano – and then seven-layer Bolognese lasagna or one of Milan’s specialties, the osso buco ragu-laden Risotto Milanese or plate-sized Veal Milanese. Desserts are not an afterthought with cantucci made in house and a decadent cannoli for two, and paired with vin santo or an amaro or more. The setting and service – prices, too – are befitting a top ristorante, both elegant and inviting; an excellent fit to gleaming surrounding Post Oak towers and of the multitude of gleaming passing and nearby-parked vehicles originating from Stuttgart, Munich, and even Modena. Galleria Area
The dramatically presented Beef Rib Au Poivre at Andiron
My list skews toward the more expensive, as these were clearly the best of the new restaurants this year.
In addition to the greater expense, other notable trends were appealing new French- and Italian-themed eateries, including ones with kitchens manned by actual Frenchmen and Italians; the number of enticing stops for sushi grew; and beautiful build-outs were displayed in newcomers like Annabelle, Andiron, Bari, Cocody, Eau Tour, Katami and Tavola. Bennie Chows, I’m not so sure about. Underbelly Hospitality, that grew from Chris Shepherd’s Underbelly, was net up one restaurant. Comalito, featuring Mexico City tacos and its brethren, shows promise after a rocky opening. But the group, which was once the city’s most exciting restaurant purveyor, lost another acclaimed chef – and another alum started receiving acclaim elsewhere – and it became a much better bet for its more casual concepts, those tacos along with burgers.
The Berg Hospitality Group, an early local adopter of the grating credit card surcharge, added three wildly different, if each wildly expensively constructed concepts: Chinese, French and Italian. Two of which were among the best new restaurants to open here. The third, the French brasserie Annabelle, if suffering from some execution issues early on, is among the most fetchingly designed dining spaces in the area. The Azuma Group also had a noteworthy year, successfully transforming the Japanese Izakya into the Gulf Coast-centric Josephine’s then opening the city’s grandest stage for sushi, Katami. It’s been a fun year.
Listed alphabetically.
Andiron – Steak – Entrées: $39 to $150, $84 average – Yes, Houston does need another expense account steakhouse when it is something as striking, distinctive and proficient as this opulent effort from the folks at The Pit Room, Candente and, formerly, the excellent seafooder 1751. Featuring steaks and more cooked over a post oak-fired grill rather than the typical steakhouse broiler, the USDA Prime offerings, with just a scent of smoke and lower temps of the grill, taste just a little different. In a welcome way. Even with some turmoil in the kitchen as the initial executive chef departed early on, it’s recently settled on Michael O’Connor, longtime head of the kitchen at Vic & Anthony’s, the best of the Landry’s restaurants. The menu now features the standard quartet of cuts plus a steak au poivre, A5 wagyu cooked on a robata, and a recognizable array of steakhouse sides and accompaniments done a little uniquely. The expansive wine list encompassing both the Old and New World is an enophile’s dream, a wealthy enophile’s dream. The cocktail program is just as serious. Set just off Waugh near the AIG tower and Stages Theater in an older single story Spanish and Mediterranean-influenced building, it’s part of a River Oaks-adjacent nexus of excellent, pricy newcomers including Auden, Cocody and Katami. “Handsome” or “gorgeous” might be the first word many would use to describe the main interior that seats 110 including a bar area, done in browns, blacks and green. This is Houston’s most attractive steakhouse. And the most interesting. Montrose
Auden – New American – Entrées: $20 to $40, $27 average – Announced in late 2021, husband and wife Chefs Kirthan and Kripa Shenoy – savory and sweets, respectively – finally opened Auden around Halloween this year. The sleek, modern restaurant in the new multi-use Autry Park development was well worth the wait, as it impressed right from the get-go, from the cocktails to the smart, short list of wines with friendly prices and mostly the kitchen. Kirthan, from Sugar Land, and Kripa, from Goa, both worked at the Michelin-starred Italian seafood Marea and Ligurian-inflected Ai Fiori from renowned chef Michael White in Manhattan. That top restaurant background shows strongly, even if there is not much among the offerings that are truly Italian. Nor Indian, either. The twenty savory plates, both smaller and more substantial, are mixed on the menu encouraging sharing or a progressive-type dinner. Fried oysters with trout roe and Fresno chiles, a Parisian-style seared gnocchi with Calabrian chiles and spinach in a rosemary beurre blanc, red snapper in a chicken broth are few of the well-executed winners. The nearly globe-spanning influences shown with preparations scallion pancakes with cultured buttered and chile-spiced agrodolce, and Gulf shrimp given Japanese and Thai ingredients, spicy and cooling, will resonate in a ready Houston market, as will the interplay of lower-key and luxe. Hamburgers share printed space with caviar and shaved Perigord truffles. Do save room for desert with the rich Le Choclat featuring milk and dark chocolates, Bomboni with blackberry sugar, or a neat take on that Houston favorite, tres leches. River Oaks
Bari – Italian – Entrées: $24 to $60, $39 average – Opened in May 2023 with seasoned chef Renato De Pirro, a native of the Maremma in Tuscany, at the helm, this serves delicious pan-Italian cooking that tastes like Italy – likely no other local restaurant imports as much of its product from the home country – in an striking upscale trattoria-like setting with a soaring ceiling and sprawling sidewalk patio space that fits in perfectly with its high-dollar neighbors. The menu features recognizable favorites like Insalata Caprese, fritto misto, pappardelle Bolognese, spaghetti with clams, and veal scaloppine with lemon that are executed with excellent ingredients and more skill, understanding and flair than most places. A seafood tower, East Coast oysters on the half shell, and the now-days necessary caviar and truffle menu items – and tartufo bianco from Alba when in season – can help make this an overly indulgent lunch or dinner. The enticing, Italian-focused wine list has the well-known labels Gaja, Solaia, Tignanello and Ornellaia, but about a dozen nicely chosen ones by the glass for $15 and less and many selections under $75 – like a bottle of Rosso di Montalcino from star producer Casanova di Neri and a Pinot Grigio but from the Collio. Bari is both a restaurant for special occasions and one to be frequented regularly without tiring of it, especially for those who can shop frequently at the stores outside its doors. River Oaks District
Bennie Chows – Chinese – Entrées: $18 to $115, $51 average – Cheeky, a bit garish in design, but with seriously good and fun food, if seriously pricey, and certainly overpriced in spots, e.g. $28 for vegetable fried rice, this is nonetheless a nifty, eclectic addition to our diverse dining landscape. From Berg Hospitality, this continuously expanding concern has, for the first time, hired an acclaimed chef, Shirong Mei, who began his cooking career in Hong Kong and delighted local diners at Yauatcha, the upscale dim sum spot in the Galleria a few years ago. Having an excellent chef really shows. Though maybe not fully the expected “American Chinese” its site proclaims, the fare is mostly Cantonese- and Szechuan-inspired dishes along with Peking Duck and the now locally must-have soup dumplings that hale from Shanghai. There is a version of General Tso’s Chicken and Orange Beef, too, but the “American” comes in more so with the inspired, rich restaurant-ready preparations like foie gras rolls, uni-laden siu mai, egg drop soup topped with Parmigiano Reggiano, and a couple with barbecued beef brisket from nearby Truth BBQ. A fun way to start is with a Smoked Brisket Egg Roll featuring Truth’s brisket, or the Szechuan Hot and Sour Soup, just a cup for $18, which is probably the most layered and flavorful version in Houston. It is oddly, if delightfully, garnished with a nicely grilled shrimp on a wooden skewer. Reflecting the ethnicities of most of the clientele – my Chinese co-workers were quick to decline a suggestion for lunch after seeing the prices – chopsticks are used less frequently than at about any Chinese restaurant in the area outside of those sad all-you-can-eat buffets serving low-budget local Gargantuas and Pantagruels. But they are very nice chopsticks as is everything here. Sixth Ward
Cocody – New American – Entrées: $29 to $96, $53 average – The first thing to impress is the dramatic light-filled décor: the spacious dining area filled with thin crystal chandeliers dangling down and plush mauve- and cream-colored chairs and bangquettes along with the many-seated oval bar near the entrance, home to inspired cocktails and the playful lollys. Along with the elegant patio, the setting is a perfect complement to an increasingly upscale stretch of West Gray. But owners Edith and Edwin Bosso, whose roots in Côte d'Ivoire give the restaurant’s name, Cocody, provided chef David Denis and team an equally impressive work space that can be just glanced at from many tables: a roomy, state-of-the-art, and nearly fully stainless steel kitchen with the latest induction stovetops. It’s a serious kitchen and the restaurant is much more than a pretty destination, and featuring a stellar staff. Along with Denis, there is co-executive chef Lionel Debon with several Michelin-starred stops in his background including the famed La Pyramide in Vienne and recently at the excellent Alba here. Denis is quick to say that the offerings are not French, and global flavors and ingredients are found, but the French technique and sensibility are felt and seen in the dishes. A cod filet with jumbo lump crab meat in a beurre blanc emulsion and the Roasted Lamb Saddle Cut in a butter-garlic au jus are two entrées the kitchen is quick to tout. For the wine, brother Sylvain Denis constructed largely French list that should fit any mood, featuring enough fruit-forward Californian offerings for those not in tune with the Old World. And any meal should finish with a dessert – a visit might be a splurge, after all – rich, exquisitely rendered and certainly jibing with the sumptuous surroundings. River Oaks
Elro – Pizza / American – Entrées: $18 to $23, $22 average – This, “a neighborhood pizzeria and crudo bar located in a bungalow house at the confluence of the Montrose and Midtown neighborhoods,” might seem like an odd thing, but unpretentious Elro makes splendid sense. This is largely because its headed Terrance Gallivan, who was one of the principals at the acclaimed Pass & Provisions once nearby – in the space now housing Bludorn – that turned out some good pizzas among its many adept preparations. The pizzas here are different than what I remember from Provisions, but superb. It begins with the crust, which are puffy, with a slightly raised crown at its edges and a bottom that is nicely charred; light and flavorful throughout, with a welcome fresh taste that is delicious to the last bite, In a big city with a deficit of quality pizzerias, the terrific pizzas are a start and a draw for many, but this, a smart, comfy place will appeal to frequent diners even when not in the mood for pizza. The cooling crudos are mostly seafood including East Coast oysters on the half-shell and four appealing and unique combinations: tuna with pistachio and some ‘nduja spice; smoked kampachi with pumpkin seeds and a Japanese flavors; snapper with pickled mangos, olives and chile peppers; and the Italian mint nepitella-cured salmon with apples and hazelnut; plus a take on steak tartare, a dish that has become more commonly seen here again. There’s also a couple terrific sandwiches, fun cocktails sporting the names of Springsteen songs, and a well-chosen, mostly Italian list of wines. Montrose
Eau Tour – French – Entrées: $18 to $45, $29 average – From Benjy Levitt, who delighted diners at this address for years beginning with benjy’s, this newest concept, “a new Community Bistro,” might be viewed as a comfortable, localized and capable take on the French brasserie with a self-stated emphasis on seafood and dishes from a wood-burning oven. East Coast oysters, crudo or jumbo lump crab with aioli can start and then on to other expected preparations: escargots, French onion soup, steak tartare, quiche, beef bourguignon, steak frites featuring 44 Farms strip and duck fat fries. But there’s also a butter-poached trout with smoked roe, a grilled snapper, and a pork Caesar Schnitzel that’s fitted with Little Gem lettuce, Parmesan and boquerones. The wine list is eclectic, mostly French, and with an emphasis on bubbles and reds. You should have a number of fairly decent options from which to choose, and nearly all in double-digits. There is a creative “heavy pour” cocktail program to get you in the proper evening mood at this second-floor setting above Levitt’s Local Foods. It’s charming, with a whimsical contemporary décor, and quaint, just sixty seats in booths and banquettes along with nearly a dozen at the bar. This is a very welcome addition for the surrounding, well-heeled neighborhoods. Rice Village
Josephine’s – Gulf Coast Seafood – Entrées: $19 to $45, $29 average – Replacing Izakaya, the Azuma Group did something non-Japanese, the locally familiar Gulf Coast cuisine but with accents further east to Mississippi, the home of state of chef Lucas McKinney, an Underbelly Hospitality alumnus. Casual and playful in spirit – the “Snacks” section lists ten items – but serious in execution, even with those more informal items like po boys and red beans and rice. The former, graced with the parbaked Leidenheimer rolls, crustier and in better shape than most places, are nearly spot on, if a little small. The oyster service is quite adept, even sourcing surprisingly flavorful oysters from Galveston Bay. The Smoked Redfish Dip featuring chucks of farm-raised redfish and a lemon remoulade is fun way for the table to start as are the moist, crisp and locally peerless hushpuppies served along a piquant pickled jalapeño tartar sauce. The handful of bigger plates include a grilled redfish on the half-shell, fried chicken and dumplings, and snapper collars with a Jamaican jerk rub. With a lengthy bar, Josephine’s has an enthusiastic cocktail program. The tiny list of wines leans hipster and obscure, and can use some work, but there are bottlings from Weszeli and Raventos among the more widely pleasing offerings. The interior is brighter than it’s predecessor and seems to add to the intended atmosphere. Service is friendly, and this is an inviting place to augment to Houston’s broad dining landscape. Midtown
Jun – Southeast Asian – Entrées: $17 to $53, $31 average – An attractive and early 2023 entrant on 20th Street in the Heights, this builds on the success of Kin that charmed diners in the Politan Row food hall in the Village before the pandemic and Chef Evelyn Garcia’s star turn in the locally set “Top Chef” season in 2022. Plates here are meant for sharing and are divided among snacks, raw, vegetables, and proteins, plus desserts. Gulf shrimp aguachile; sweet potato lebneh; beef tartare in croute with its classic egg yolk accompaniment but also toasted rice and a sesame buñuelo; lamb curry with pickled daikon and pistachios; and a whole fish with guajillo chiles, red onions and charred limes are some of the inspired combinations that trek between Asia and Mexico and elsewhere. To accompany, it’s just beer, wine and wine- and sake-based cocktails, and ordering a bottle of wine has been the best bet. Heights
Katami – Japanese – Entrées: $29 to $260, $105 average – Chef Manabu Horiuchi, Hori, of Kata Robata acclaim is one of the very best toques in Houston regardless of cuisine, and the enchanting, grand new space that opened in October, long home of the Italian-American Vincent’s, is a fitting setting to shine even more. Imbued with a Japanese design ethos, this “sushi, wagyu and sake-focused restaurant” features clean lines, blond woods interspersed with black, a separate ebony colored bar and over 180 seats along with a few dozen more in a somehow tranquil patio near busy W. Dallas. But it’s the food that’s the star. With the most wide-ranging regular selection of nigiri and sashimi around, it includes a number of items flow in regularly from Japan, all fashioned and served in optimal fashion. Hori has some fun with the makimono, the rolls, like the Southern Smoke Roll with fatty tuna belly, uni, caviar, shiso, wasabi and soy sauce, or the less opulent Texas Hamachi Roll filled with fried shrimp, spicy tuna and yellowtail with yuzu juice and topped with slices of fresh jalapeño. And others such as the Foie Gras PBJ Milk Bread. The lengthy menu has much more than sushi, with plenty of hot preparations including A5 beef from two different prefectures and two types of cooking methods. It might be overwhelming, but you can make it easier by ordering the sashimi or two or chirashi, sashimi over rice, or the kitchen’s choice of ten pieces of nigiri. It seems like it’s tough to go wrong here, and the plentiful staff will be sure to explain and encourage exploration, which can cost. Montrose
Little’s Oyster Bar – Seafood – Entrées: $33 to $69, $48 average – Pappas Restaurants did something it’s never done before with this spring newcomer, hire a top chef to head one of its kitchens, when it enticed Jason Ryczek who had been the executive chef for several years at Farallon, one of San Francisco’s leading seafood restaurants, to move here. Bringing a fresh and seasoned perspective to the space that housed popular Little Pappas Seafood House for over three decades, it now boasts one of the very best seafood restaurants in the entire Gulf Coast. Possibly the city’s top raw bar does expert duty with oysters including an actually enticing cocktail sauce made with a pomegranate molasses that offsets its dull mignonette companion. Cold platters large and small include a deconstructed Crab Louie with delectable plump pieces of lump blue crab meat. And Ryczek’s past with caviar ensures its service might be the most impressive in town if you can indulge in that luxury and skyrocketing the bill at already expensive spot. A star among the warm preparations is the Texas Redfish served skin-on with an Italianesque salsa verde featuring Castelveltrano olives. Another is the chicken fried snapper with a tangy sauce ravigote. Resolutely a seafood restaurant – and a destination-worthy one at that – but a pricey Prime dry-aged steak or a white truffle risotto, or even some of the compelling vegetable sides, might satisfy those in the group who desist from the ocean’s charms. Wine offerings reach to the deep Pappas’ cellars for a list that is rather unusual, lengthy, and heavy on Champagne and Burgundy. The wait staff is trademark Pappas attentive, accommodating and forthright. Start with a cocktail, something chilled, and about anything else to continue, probably getting some help with the wine, and it be tough not to be impressed here. Montrose
PS-21 – French – Entrées: $24 to $56, $35 average – A self-described “unassuming Frenchie Restaurant and Bar” is a comfortable and friendly, if somewhat dark, contemporary bistro from local favorite Philippe Schmit, and well-suited to the Upper Kirby District. Quite inviting for lunch – and when the tiny parking will have a space sans valets – with more casual offerings including well-done quiches, croque monsieur, salade Nicoise and moules frites. Those fries; properly crisp and lightly salted, are some of the best around, especially when paired with house-made mayonnaise or bearnaise. Meats, fish, and butter- and cream-laden sauces help make for a more robust dinner. Even more so when choosing steak tartare Rossini, foie gras terrine, a Duck Breast Wellington, or a 10-ounce entrecote with a decadently delightful seared foie gras topping. There is a short, smart, and nicely all-French wine list that’s aided with sage suggestions from the staff. And fun cocktails with a strong French or French colonial accent can help start the fun here. Upper Kirby District
Tavola – Italian – Entrées: $24 to $68, $41 average – The third new restaurant from Berg Hospitality, only opening in December, is easily its most Italian, and easily its best Italian-themed effort – the others have been quite easy to overlook. This time it partnered with the Bastion Group of local Le Jardinier to bring the seasoned Luca di Benedetto, the former head corporate chef of the 20-restaurant Giorgio Armani Group, from Milan to lead the kitchen. And the result is truly Italian and well-executed, comforting and upscale pan-Italian trattoria-like fare. You get a sense of its sure-handedness soon after sitting with a surprisingly enticing amuse bouche of marinated, pitted and herbed, plump Castelveltrano olives served with biscuit-like taralli. Then the menu is approachable and easily discernible with items Caesar salad, fritto misto, spaghetti with clams, house-made pappardelle with Texas wild boar, tagliatelle with black truffle, chicken cacciatore, and tagliata with Prime New York strip. You might consider starting with a crudo or tuna tartare – taking advantage of the chef’s time at Nobu Milano – and then seven-layer Bolognese lasagna or one of Milan’s specialties, the osso buco ragu-laden Risotto Milanese or plate-sized Veal Milanese. Desserts are not an afterthought with cantucci made in house and a decadent cannoli for two, and paired with vin santo or an amaro or more. The setting and service – prices, too – are befitting a top ristorante, both elegant and inviting; an excellent fit to gleaming surrounding Post Oak towers and of the multitude of gleaming passing and nearby-parked vehicles originating from Stuttgart, Munich, and even Modena. Galleria Area
The dramatically presented Beef Rib Au Poivre at Andiron
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