What's Eric Eating

This week CultureMap Food Editor Eric Sandler is joined by returning cohost Michael Fulmer, cofounder of the Houston Barbecue Festival. Eric and Michael kick things off this week previewing Houston Restaurant Weeks 2017. Plus the guys discuss Nao Ramen closing in Rice Village, the Original Beaver’s closing for the summer, and MidiCi: The Neapolitan Pizza Company opening a new location inside the loop. This week’s Restaurants of the Week section features 2 places in the Montrose area, Lowbrow and Nobie’s Restaurant. In our Guest of the Week section, brought to you by 8th Wonder Brewery, Eric and Michael talk all things whiskey with Mike Raymond the owner of Reserve 101. The guys discuss with Mike how he became interested in whiskey, when it became a drive to share that love for whiskey with others, what he does to keep Reserve 101 different from other whiskey bars, and much more! What’s Eric Eating’s Guest of the Week segment is brought to you by 8th Wonder Brewery. Visit 8thwonderbrew.com for brews, eve

CultureMap Food Editor Eric Sandler is joined this week by co-host Mary Clarkson, owner of L’Olivier. They discuss the latest news from the Houston restaurant and bar scene including, the announcement of a new bagel shop called Golden Bagels & Coffee opening in the Heights, acclaimed Austin restaurant Foreign & Domestic teasing a possible opening in Houston, Jimmy Chew Asian Kitchen undergoing changes, and more. No new restaurants in our Restaurants of the Week portion of the podcast so Eric and Mary give you their best new restaurants of 2017, so far. In our Guest of the Week section, brought to you by 8th Wonder Brewery, Eric chats (and drinks) with Morgan Weber of Agricole Hospitality. Eric and Morgan dive deep into Agricole Hospitality’s recent announcement of their expansion into east downtown with not one but three all new concepts, all under one roof. Listen to find out all the details that went into this major expansion and when we can expect to see these new concepts. Plus Eric puts Morgan

After a week off, Eric Sandler is back in the studio for another episode of What’s Eric Eating and in his return he’s joined by Felice Sloan and Shanna Jones of the popular Houston food, beauty, and lifestyle blog Urban Swank. Eric, Felice, and Shanna discuss some of the latest news from the Houston restaurant and bar scene including, Truth BBQ coming to Houston, Blood Bros. BBQ opening a brick-and-mortar location in Bellaire, Ray’s Real Pit BBQ Shack's announcement of a new location, The Rustic coming to Houston in 2018, Agricole Hospitality’s announcement of plans to open 3 new restaurants and bars in EaDo, and more. This week’s Restaurants of the Week portion Eric, Felice, and Shanna discuss Roka Akor and 85c Bakery Cafe. This week’s Guest of the Week, brought to you by 8th Wonder Brewery, features restaurant designer Gin Braverman of gin design group. Gin is the designer behind Oxheart, Axelrad Beer Garden, Raven Tower, Ruggles Green, Beckrew Wine House, and many more. Eric and Gin discuss how Gin got

This week on What’s Eric Eating, restaurant consultant Nathan Ketcham returns to co-host the podcast with CultureMap Food Editor and host Eric Sandler. Eric and Nathan first discuss arguably the biggest news from the food world, Amazon’s agreement to buy Whole Foods for $14 billion and what that means moving forward. The guys then take a look at the local news from the Houston restaurant and bar scene including, Dallas based Ascension Coffee’s announcement that they’re coming to Houston, Tilman Fertitta's purchase of 50% of New York based restaurant group EMM Group, and Ronnie Killen’s response to his restaurant Killen’s BBQ being left out of the top 10 of Texas Monthly’s Top 50 barbecue joints in Texas. Spoiler Alert: Ronnie was not happy. Then in the Restaurants of the Week section Eric and Nathan discuss their trips to Alice Blue in the Heights and Dot Coffee Shop’s new location off of I-10 East. One trip went well and the other… not so much, listen to find out more. In this week’s Guest of the Week sec

CultureMap Food Editor and host Eric Sandler is joined this week by guest co-host Mary Clarkson, owner of L’Olivier. Eric and Mary take a look at some of the news from the Houston restaurant and bar scene including, veteran chef John Sheely’s return to the kitchen with Lowbrow, the Impossible Burger food trend making its way to Houston, and some of the best stops for ice cream. Plus Eric and Mary discuss some of the new restaurants and bars that are opening in Houston this summer such as, Oxbow 7, Theodore Rex, A’Bouzy, and more. Then in the Restaurants of the Week section Eric and Mary discuss Balls Out Burger and Better Luck Tomorrow. This week our guest of the week is Ryan Soroka, co-founder of 8th Wonder Brewery. Eric and Ryan discuss how 8th Wonder Brewery got started, how important it is for the brewery to be a hangout for people, what 8th Wonder does to stand out from the rest of the local beer market crowd, opening a location in San Antonio, what the future holds for 8th Wonder Brewery, their appro

This week on What’s Eric Eating, Felice Sloan of Urban Swank co-hosts alongside CultureMap Food Editor and host Eric Sandler. In news of the week, Eric and Felice react to Jerry Built Homegrown Burgers closing its remaining 2 locations in the Houston area, Jonathan’s the Rub opening a second location, Tony’s bringing on Austin Waiter as their new chef de cuisine following the departure of chef Kate McLean, and the Jones on Main adding a food hall for about 12 different concepts. In the Restaurants of the Week section, Eric and Felice discuss Ohn Korean Eatery. Then in the guest of the week section, Eric is joined by chef Travis Lenig and Chico Ramirez of Field & Tides. The guys discuss how the concept of Field & Tides came about, how the restaurant has been doing since it opened earlier this year, what items they’ve added to the menu, how Travis got started in the industry, the feedback they’ve gotten from both patrons and critics, the secret to success in opening a restaurant in the Heights, the

CultureMap Food Editor and host Eric Sandler hands over co-host duties this week to L’Olivier owner Mary Clarkson. Eric and Mary go through the news of the week from the Houston restaurant and bar scene including, Lopez Mexican Restaurant’s expansion announcement, Former Peska Seafood & Steaks executive chef Omar Pereney suing Peska, where does Treadsack Restaurants go following the closing of both Bernadine and Hunky Dory, and the rumors of what possible concepts might move into the space. Then in the Restaurants of the Week, Eric and Mary discuss Chengdu Taste in Chinatown, Heights Bier Garten, and Kings Bier House. Eric is then joined by his guest of the week, Ryan Lachaine of Riel Restaurant. Eric and Ryan go into what Riel Restaurant is, the ideas behind the menu, how it’s been since opening earlier this year, how the neighborhood has been treating Riel, what it’s been like seeing/reading reviews of Riel from critics, the challenges of running your own restaurant, and what goals Ryan has for Riel

It’s a special BBQ edition of What’s Eric Eating this week as Texas Monthly released their list for the Top 50 Barbecue joints in Texas. To help breakdown the list CultureMap Food Editor and host Eric Sandler is joined by the cofounder of the Houston Barbecue Festival Michael Fulmer. The guys give their takes on the list, why the list is important, who finished where, what it takes to make the list, and look at the list from both the Houston and statewide perspectives. Eric and Michael are then joined by Will and Nichole Buckman of CorkScrew BBQ to discuss their restaurant finishing 7th on the list, the reaction they’ve gotten since the news broke, how they’ve gotten better since the last time they were on Texas Monthly's top 50 list, their commitment to their restaurant, whether they would ever expand, the trends in the bbq scene, and much more! #EricSandler #WhatsEricEating #CultureMap #MichaelFulmer #HoustonBarbecueFestival #WillBuckman #NicholeBuckman #CorkScrewBBQ #Barbecue #TexasMonthly #Food #Res

The ladies of the popular Houston food, beauty, and lifestyle blog Urban Swank stop by to co-host this week’s edition of What’s Eric Eating. Shanna Jones and Felice Sloan join CultureMap Food Editor and host Eric Sandler in breaking down the latest news from the Houston restaurant and bar scene including Danny Trace being named executive chef of Potente and Osso and Kristalla, Graham Laborde’s announcement that he’s taking on an operational role with Ronnie Killen’s restaurant group, and more. Then this week’s restaurant’s of the week section features One Fifth Houston and FM Kitchen and Bar. Jonathan Horowitz then joins the show to discuss how he keeps brands like Ninfa’s and Antone’s still relevant in the growing Houston restaurant scene, the expansion of both brands, the state of the restaurant industry in Houston, where do the upscale national brands fit in the Houston scene, where do new restaurants have opportunities to expand, his tips for restaurants to maintain their existing customer base and mo

This week CultureMap Food Editor and host Eric Sandler is joined by popular Houston bartender Chris Frankel. Eric and Chris go through the news of the week from the Houston restaurant and bar scene including Chris being brought on to consult Cane Rosso on their bar program, Evan Turner leaving Helen Greek Food and Wine, and the opening of Better Luck Tomorrow, the new concept from Bobby Heugel and Justin Yu. Plus Brennan’s of Houston and Killen’s Steakhouse have hired new chefs, listen to find out who. In this week’s restaurants of the week section Chris gives his take on poke and poke restaurants such as Ono Poke on Richmond Ave. and Moku Bar in the Conservatory downtown, along with his take on Thai food in Houston as Eric and Chris recently took a trip to Rim Tanon on Richmond Ave. For this week’s guest of the week section, renowned Chef Bryan Caswell and his wife Jennifer Caswell stop by the podcast to deliver some big news regarding their latest endeavor, a new restaurant concept that they’ll be openin

In this week's episode, Culture Map Food Editor and host Eric Sandler is once again joined by restaurant consultant Nathan Ketcham to discuss the news of the week from the Houston restaurant and bar scene including Hugo Ortega of Hugo's finally winning Best Chef Southwest at the 2017 James Beard Awards, the popular restaurant chain Dat Dog coming to the Houston area, and Chef Paul Qui opening his new restaurant Aqui in Montrose. Eric and Nathan discuss their Restaurants of the week. This week restaurants, Ramen Tatsu-Ya in Montrose, Dolce Neve in the Heights, and Tacodeli on Washington Ave. Eric is then joined by Ronnie Killen of Killen's Restaurants which includes Killen's Steakhouse, Killen's Barbecue, Killen's Burgers, and Killen's STQ. Eric and Ronnie discuss Killen's Burgers being the hardest to manage of the group, the challenges when running a burger place, people's expectations versus what Ronnie wants to execute, what defines gourmet, Killen's STQ's success, and what he said to Houston Texans star

In the debut episode of What's Eric Eating, CultureMap Food Editor and host Eric Sandler is joined by restaurant consultant Nathan Ketcham to discuss the news of the week from the Houston restaurant and bar scene including a recap of the 2017 CultureMap Tastemaker Awards. Eric and Nathan also discuss their visits to the Restaurants of the Week, Helen in the Heights and Salmontin in River Oaks. Then guests, Lee Ellis and Jim Mills of Cherry Pie Hospitality join the show to discuss what it's been like for the first year of Cherry Pie Hospitality restaurant group, their restaurant State Fare winning the CultureMap Tastemaker Award for Best New Restaurant, opening Star Fish Houston just one week ago, creating Star Fish Houston's menu to be seafood centric, whether they plan on replicating their success with restaurant openings in other areas, and much more! #WhatsEricEating #EricSandler #NathanKetcham #LeeEllis #JimMills #CherryPieHospitality #StarfishHouston #HelenintheHeights #Salmontin #CultureMap #Taste