By: Dan Q. Dao
SAVEUR Contributor
Though I live abroad now, I’ll always call Houston home. As a kid, my weekdays were spent in the Loop, my weekends in Chinatown. I grew up on brisket and bún bò Huế, Cajun crawfish and chile con queso. Back then, I took the city’s global riches, and outstanding restaurants, for granted. But these days, I’m proud to see my hometown recognized—not just as America’s fourth-largest city, but as one of its most dynamic and diverse. And that recognition often starts with the food.
In the past few decades, Houston has flourished into a world-class culinary capital, thanks in large part to a new wave of chefs using food to define the city’s sense of place. Bludorn in Montrose—where chef Aaron Bludorn is pioneering new-wave Gulf Coast cuisine—represents this movement. Meanwhile Downtown, Justin Yu’s Theodore Rex quietly remains one of the city’s most inventive kitchens: The tomato toast alone—tomato fondant, tomato water, and cherry tomato salad on buttery pain de mie—has a cult following. And for a more theatrical experience, Musaafer in the Galleria brings Mughal-inspired opulence to its India-by-way-of-Houston tasting menu.
