Fall 2024 Notable Edibles
KATAMI DEBUTS IN HARLOW
Since Manabu “Chef Hori” Horiuchi, who has earned four James Beard Award nominations, opened Kata Robata in 2009, it has consistently been one of Houston’s top restaurants, loved by diners, critics, chefs and my daughter (it’s one of her all-time favorites). So, it was exciting news when Horiuchi and his partners announced they were opening a second restaurant, Katami, in the Harlow District, the redeveloped site that was home to Nino’s and Vincent’s, two of Houston’s favorite restaurants until the passing of owner Vincent Mandola.
Following in Kata Robata’s and Mandola’s footsteps, Horiuchi and his team have created another destination-worthy restaurant. Katami, which means gift or memento in Japanese, is a luxurious-yet-minimalist, sushi-focused establishment offering both omakase at the 12-seat sushi bar and al-a-carte options from razor-sharp nigiri to impeccably crafted makimono such as The Southern Smoke Roll made with fatty tuna belly, caviar and shiso.
In addition to his precise sushi, Horiuchi creates innovative dishes such as a toro tar tar that combines fatty tuna with peanuts, a quail egg, taro chips and kimchi to create a luscious version of a classic dish that is laced with the just-right amount of crunch and served with milk bread toast. He has also developed an extensive selection of wagyu dishes featuring 100 percent Japanese A5 that range from lightly seared, thin slices to unctuous wagyu menchi katsu, which are panko-fried pork and beef meatballs served street-food style in a brown-paper bag. For dessert, try the kakigōri, shaved ice, made with ice from Japan and finished with fun toppings such as chocolate ice cream, mascarpone cream, Nutella and strawberry.
Visit at 2701 W. Dallas St. | katamihouston.com
PX PROJECT CAFÉ OPENS IN GULFTON
When Meredith Davis, founder and executive director, and Adam Garcia, executive chef and director of operations, launched the PX Project in 2020, they had a long-term goal of opening a café where alumni of the organization’s 18-week, culinary-focused, life-skills program could utilize what they learned. Four years later, that café is open.
The eatery is in a beautiful, new building in Gulfton that is home to several other community-focused programs and to PX’s new larger, well-equipped teaching kitchen, which allows them to help more marginalized people between 18 and 25, many of them immigrants and refugees living in the surrounding neighborhoods.
Staffed by former program fellows, the café is currently open for breakfast and lunch, serving dishes that reflect the cultures rubbing shoulders on the area’s soccer fields and school yards — dishes such as a galvanic beef bulgogi bánh mì, perfectly deep-fried pilau balls seasoned with garam masala and served with a grainy housemade mustard, a chopped fattoush salad, and a refreshing watermelon and grilled corn dish served with feta cheese, red onion and mint. Nothing beats good food that is helping a good cause, so go soon and often.
Visit at 6856 Bellaire Blvd. | pxproject.org/pxcafe
JOSEPHINE'S GULF COAST TRADITION SERVES UP SEA FARE
Since many of us spend our days navigating the city’s concrete sprawl and encountering more grackles than gulls, it can be easy to forget that Houston is a port city and has been since the Laura, in 1837, became the first steamboat to fight its way up Buffalo Bayou to unload groceries and other goods imported from New Orleans. Josephine’s Gulf Coast Tradition, nestled in a Midtown mixed-used development, helps reminds us of how closely our city is connected to salt water and its navigable waterways
There, executive chef Lucas McKinney, a Mississippi native who spent several years cooking in the kitchens of Underbelly Hospitality, is delving deep into Gulf Coast cuisine to create some of the best seafood dishes in Houston such as a delightful smoked redfish dip that balances the rich charcoal hints of a campfire with the tang of lemon remoulade or hearty snapper collars revved up with a jerk spice rub and chili butter. These and other well-executed plates, as well as creative cocktails and a tidy selection of wines and local craft beers, are served in an elegant, yet casual environment decked out with a white tin ceiling and cozy dark wood details — a combination that makes Josephine a perfect place for a special occasion or a weeknight coastal get away.
Visit at 318 Gray St. | josephinesgulfcoasttradition.com
VUJI CAFÉ SERVES UP TEX-ASIAN DISHES
At some point in the early 2000s, the phrase “fusion cuisine” fell out of favor when nearly every restaurant had a panko-breaded, wasabi-crusted whatnot on its menu. Those two words had become a marketing gimmick instead of a marker for the organic innovation that occurs when cuisines influence each other. But in diverse cities such as Houston, where cultures from around the world intermingle in strip centers, high schools, office cafeterias and neighborhood parks, those culinary creations didn’t stop just because The Cheesecake Factory put Tex Mex eggrolls on its menu. Instead, Houston became home to dishes like Viet-Cajun crawfish and the Brisket Burnt End Steam Buns at Blood Bros. BBQ and the entire menu at Jūn. Now, Houston is also home to Vuji Café’s Tex-Asian dishes inspired by Japanese sandos.
Co-founders Ian So and Tristan Nguyen, along with chef Kevin Villanueva, have substituted the sandos traditional milk bread with Texas toast and traditional fillings such as tamago with century egg salad that combines salted duck eggs, century eggs and yuzu avocado mash. Which is one of seven sandwiches they are currently offering in their modern-casual eatery detailed with wood accents and sleek wood furniture inspired by Japanese design. My current favorite layers the hearty Texas toast with a delicate Hainan-style chicken enlivened by a snappy ginger-scallion sauce. They even offer a dessert sando that combines marshmallow with a creamy ube pandan filling and crispy Japanese wafers. With superb confluences of cuisines like these popping up all over Houston, it’s past time to come up with a new adjective to describe them, or heck, just bring back “fusion.”
Visit at 718 West 18th St. | vuji.cafe
COASTLINE PIZZERIA GRLLS TEXAS-STYLE PIES
A new wave of quality pizza joints is springing up in the Houston area, featuring styles such as Detroit, Chicago Tavern and Buffalo. Coastline Pizzeria, which opened in late 2023 just north of downtown on Houston Avenue, is offering the less big-city-American, more traditional Neapolitan style and a thin-crust, grilled pizza it’s calling Texas-style. The Neapolitan dough is fermented for 36 to 48 hours giving it a lacey tang and a satisfying chew once it’s baked in the wood-fired oven just long enough to start bubbling and charring the crust. Besides the crust, the essence of Neapolitan pizza is featuring just a few high-quality ingredients on each creation, which is what Coastline does on their tidy menu of five pies. I thoroughly enjoyed the margherita, whose piquant San Marzano tomato sauce and dots of melted mozzarella di bufala were elevated by springy leaves of basil. Note, the Neapolitan pizzas are only served after 4 p.m., once the wood-fired oven has reached the proper temperature.
Served all day, the Texas-style features a hearty, yet thin-crust that is grilled and baked. It’s the pizza you wish they served you as a kid: an array of delightful ingredients on a crispy crust punctuated with just a hint of spongy lightness. The pizzas, along with a few small plates, sandwiches (lunch only), wine, beer and fun cocktails, are served in a warm-toned yet lively, historic space reminiscent of Brooklyn, Philly or Bayonne, NJ — it’s the East Coast pizza joint Houston didn’t know it needed.
Visit at 1720 Houston Ave. | coastlinepizzeriahtx.com
SECOND SLICE SANDWICH SHOP OFFERS VARIETY IN EAST END
Second Slice Sandwich Shop is the first business you see when you walk into the Ironworks, a renovated, historic, 60,0000-square-foot industrial building in Houston’s East End. The space that once manufactured oilfield equipment has been converted into an innovative warren of colorful shipping containers, layered and stacked at right angles, that house retail shops, Segundo Coffee Lab, GoJui Acai Bowls & Smoothies and Second Slice.
Founded in 2021 by Lucia and Jesse Rodriguez, Second Slice offers a variety of sandwiches and Mexican hot dogs, from its signature Pizza Melt, which is loaded with pepperoni, Havarti and marinara, to a bacon-wrapped hot dog with avocado, tomatoes, cilantro, jalapeños and French-fried onions. There are also several BLT and grilled cheese options, such as the spicy grilled cheese that laces melted cheddar, Havarti and provolone cheeses with jalapeño to create a kicked-up variation of a comfort food classic.
Visit at 711 Milby St. | On Instagram @worldfamoussecondslice
