HOUSTON, TX – Houston’s top chefs, restaurateurs, industry professionals and local “foodies” gathered this evening for the 2011 Houston Culinary Awards, held in the ballroom at the Hilton Hotel at the University of Houston. The awards, presented annually by My Table magazine and this year co-presented by Sysco, recognize Houston’s top culinary talentwith awards given in 10 main categories, voted on by the dining public. For the second year, the event also included the 15 newer Foodie Star Awards. The 13th annual Legends of Houston Restaurants award was presented to Jim Gossen, president/CEO of Louisiana Foods Global Seafood Source and Jimmy G’s restaurant, and event proceeds benefited the Foodways Texas.
Winners of the 15th annual Houston Culinary Awards are:
RESTAURATEURS OF THE YEAR ~ Harris Pappas & Chris Pappas, Pappas Restaurant Group
CHEF OF THE YEAR ~ Hugo Ortega, Hugo’s and Backstreet Cafe
UP-AND-COMING CHEF OF THE YEAR (age 35 or younger) ~ Philippe Gaston, Haven
OUTSTANDING WINE SERVICE ~ Brennan’s of Houston
PASTRY CHEF OF THE YEAR (includes breadmakers) ~ Bobby Jucker, Three Brothers Bakery
OUTSTANDING BAR SERVICE ~ Brennan’s of Houston
SERVICE PERSON OF THE YEAR ~ Hector Andrade, Mockingbird Bistro Wine Bar
HOUSTON CLASSIC (a restaurant in business for 10 or more years) ~ Niko Niko’s
BEST INTERIOR DESIGN ~ Brennan’s of Houston
BEST NEW RESTAURANT (must have opened since June 1, 2010) ~ El Real Tex-Mex Cafe
Winners of the 2011 Houston Food Star Awards are:
Favorite Mom & Pop Ethnic ~ Niki Niko’s Favorite Late Night Spot ~ Katz’s Deli
Favorite Bakery ~ Three Brothers Bakery Favorite Mixologist ~ Justin T. Burrow
Favorite Barbecue ~ Luling City Market Favorite Food Truck/Cart ~ Eatsie Boys
Favorite Breakfast ~ The Breakfast Klub Favorite Supermarket ~ H-E-B
Favorite Burger ~ Hubcap Grill Favorite Pub or Bar ~ The Ginger Man
Favorite Coffeehouse ~ Brasil Favorite Houston Food Blog ~ 29-95.com
Favorite Wine Seller ~ Central Market Favorite Sweets/Ice Cream ~ Amy’s Ice Creams
Favorite Outdoor Dining ~ Brenner’s Steakhouse on the Bayou
The event, which has been called by some “the Oscars of Houston restaurant awards,” has grown a great deal from its humble beginnings 15 year ago. “Our first two Culinary Awards events were cocktail receptions held at Neiman-Marcus and included just four awards,” says event founder Teresa Byrne-Dodge, also editor/publisher of My Table magazine,” and the voting was by a few hundred members of the Houston restaurant industry. Since then we’ve increased the awards first to 10 and then, in 2010, to 25 awards. And today the voting is online and citywide.”
The menu for this year’s awards dinner was created by a phenomenal committee of Houston’s top “young gun” chefs, including Jason Hauck of The Modular, Maurizio Ferrarese of Quattro at Four Seasons Houston Hotel, Jeramie Robison of Restaurant Cinq at La Colombe d’Or, Matt Marcus of the Eatsie Boys, Grant Gordon of Tony’s, and pastry chef Rebecca Masson of Fluff Bake Bar (and recently on the Bravo series Top Chef Just Desserts), with bread provided by Heath Wendell of Slow Dough Bread Co. and coffee by Avi Katz Houston’s own Katz Coffee. The chefs were welcomed and assisted by Abass Jaffari, executive chef of the Hilton University of Houston, and students from the highly regarded Conrad N. Hilton School of Hotel & Restaurant Management worked side-by-side with the chefs to cook and plate the stellar meal.
This year, the magazine proudly bestowed its 13th annual Legends of Houston Restaurants Award to Jim Gossen, president/CEO of Jimmy G’s restaurant and Louisiana Foods Global Seafood Source, which has grown from a single truck in 1979, purchasing Gossen’s favorite foods from Grand Isle, New Orleans and cities throughout Southern Louisiana for sale in Houston. Louisiana Foods now operates 24 hours a day in two processing plants with more than 100 employees and purchases seafood from around the world in addition to the Gulf Coast. Gossen is an expert on the topic of Gulf seafood and an advocate for the fisherman of the region, as well as an ardent supporter of sustainable seafood practices.
Because of his contribution to the Houston culinary scene and his dedication to the promotion and preservation of the Gulf Coast seafood and its seafood industry, My Table recognized Gossen with this special award. And in honor of his award, Sunday, October 2, 2011 was officially proclaimed “JIM GOSSEN DAY” in the city of Houston by Mayor Annise Parker.
Event beneficiary is Foodways Texas, an organization that works to preserve, promote and celebrate the diverse food cultures of Texas.
Sponsors of the 2011 Houston Culinary Awards include My Table magazine, Sysco Corporation, Republic National Distributing Co., Central Market, A La Carte Foodservice Consulting Group, Oak Farms Dairy, Ben E. Keith/Winn Meat, KUHF·88.7 FM Houston Public Radio & KUHA·91.7 Classical Radio, The Grand Wine & Food Affair, Party Cloths, Par Excellence Hospitality Staffing and SideDish, My Table magazine’s twice-weekly e-newsletter.
HOW THE FINALISTS ARE SELECTED: On June 23, 2011, a nominating committee composed of local food writers, restaurant-industry professionals and dedicated foodies gathered in the community room at Central Market to discuss, vote on and present the slate of finalists in the 10 main categories honored and the 15 Houston Foodie Star nominations. Finalists in all categories were posted for online voting at www.HoustonCulinaryAwards.com by the general public. In fact, nearly 7,000 votes were received!
The Houston Culinary Awards were founded in 1997 to recognize and honor local chefs, restaurants and restaurateurs exhibiting high standards and likely to make a lasting impact for years to come. In its first two years, four awards were presented; the list expanded to 10 awards in 1999, and last year the 15 Foodie Star Awards were added.
To view all of the finalists for the 2011 Houston Culinary Awards, go to www.my-table.com/archives/sidedish/2011/07/.
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