What's Eric Eating

It's Tuesday, which means it's time to dive into the latest news from the Houston restaurant and bar scene with Eric Sandler and this week's cohost Monica Danna. Eric and Monica talk about ChópnBlọk opening its first brick and mortar location, the new wine bar from Gr8 Plate Hospitality , and since Monica missed the annual Year in Review podcast she gives her picks for some of her favorites from 2...

Today on the podcast Eric is joined by Benchawan Jabthong Painter and Graham Painter of Street to Kitchen . The couple speak with Eric about how they first met, coming to American from Thailand, the story of Chef G's braised green curry brisket that ended up leading her to SaltAir Seafood Kitchen, Chef G's experience working at SaltAir, how Graham's stepmom got them introduced to Justin Yu, joinin...

Eric's back! The first podcast of the new year is here and on this episode Eric is joined by Mary Clarkson to catch up on the news that we missed during the holidays from the Houston bar and restaurant scene. The pair discuss Aaron Bludorn's announcement of Bar Bludorn , Kaitlin Steets leaving Theodore Rex after 8 years, and the new upscale Japanese restaurant concept taking over the former One Fi...

We're doing things a little differently. The podcast is taking time off until January 9th, but that doesn't mean no episodes until then. Eric is bringing back some of his favorite episodes to your feeds while the podcast is away. Today's episode is a reairing of Episode 310 , originally released September 5th, 2023. In this episode, join Eric Sandler, Mary Clarkson, Michael Fulmer, Monica Danna, R...

We're doing things a little differently. The podcast is taking time off until January 9th, but that doesn't mean no episodes until then. Eric is bringing back some of his favorite episodes to your feeds while the podcast is away. Today's episode is a reairing of Episode 266 , originally released January 12th, 2023. In this episode, Eric is joined by Emmanuel Chavez of Tatemó . Emmanuel spoke with...

We're doing things a little differently. The podcast is taking time off until January 9th, but that doesn't mean no episodes until then. Eric is bringing back some of his favorite episodes to your feeds while the podcast is away. Today's episode is a reairing of Episode 271 , originally released February 16th, 2023. In this episode, Eric assembled a panel of Tex-Mex aficionados for the Ultimate Te...

We're doing things a little differently. The podcast is taking time off until January 9th, but that doesn't mean no episodes until then. Eric is bringing back some of his favorite episodes to your feeds while the podcast is away. Today's episode is a reairing of Episode 240 , originally released May 12th, 2022. In this episode, Eric assembled a panel of barbecue lovers to pick the ultimate barbecu...

We're doing things a little different. The podcast is taking time off until January 9th, but that doesn't mean no podcast episodes at all. Eric is bringing back some of your favorite episodes to your feeds while the podcast is away. Today's episode is a reairing of Episode 294 with Justin Yu, originally released July 11th, 2023. Eric and Justin dove into full spoilers about The Bear season 2 inclu...

It's that time of year again! It's time to look back at the year that was in Houston food, it's the What's Eric Eating Year in Review - 2023 Edition. For this go around Eric is joined by Felice Sloan, Mary Clarkson, and Michael Fulmer to look back at some of the biggest stories, best dishes, saddest closures, best new restaurants, old favorites, and more! Plus, the group discuss ideas for food dra...

Today on the show, Eric is joined by Aaron Bludorn and Alexandra Peña of Bar Bludorn . The trio discuss how the new Bar Bludorn concept came to be, coming up with the name, what type of food customers can expect, the design, the reactions they're getting from deciding to open in the Memorial area, and more. The group also discuss Alexandra's story of discovering Bludorn , Alexandra's experience op...

Eric is joined on today's edition of the podcast by Mary Clarkson to discuss some of the latest news from the Houston restaurant and bar scene. The pair react to the recent closings of Acme Oyster House and Common Bond's brasserie location. Plus, Eric and Mary discuss Ben Berg's announcement of the opening date of his new concept Tavola and Matt Pak and Shawn Bermudez announcing their new pizza co...

On today's edition of What's Eric Eating, Eric is joined by Tony Nguyen of Xin Chao and Saigon House . The guys speak about how Tony got into the restaurant business, starting Wokker , why Tony got a cease and desist letter from Chuck Norris... yes that Chuck Norris, how he started Saigon House, where Tony first got his name on the map, moving Saigon House to the northside of Houston, what they're...

On today's podcast Eric is joined by Monica Danna to discuss some of the latest happenings from the Houston restaurant and bar scene. The pair speak about Nonno's Family Pizza Tavern being named Pizza Joint of the Year as part of Esquire's Best New Restaurants in America list, Michael O'Connor being named the new executive chef at Andiron , and the opening of 1891 American Eatery & Bar in The...

Today on the podcast, Eric is joined by Kyle Noonan of Free Range Concepts . The pair dive into how Kyle got into the hospitality business, everything that went into starting up Free Range Concepts, creating The Rustic , working with Pat Green, developing The General Public , how they expanded their portfolio in Houston, Kyle's observations of the different areas in the city, how the different con...

On today's podcast Eric is joined by Michael Fulmer. The pair dive into some of the latest happenings from the Houston restaurant and bar scene including the opening of Dallas-based Tex-Mex staple Mi Cocina in the River Oaks area and the beloved El Bolillo Bakery opening up their 4th location in the  Mission Bend neighborhood. In a packed Restaurants of the Week section; Rumi's Kitchen , Comalito...

Today on the show Eric is joined by Deets Hoffman of Leaf & Grain . Deets speaks with Eric about his high school sandwich shack dreams, his early culinary career, underestimating the day to day prep of a restaurant, the idea behind Leaf & Grain, what the first year taught him, how things work at Leaf & Grain, when it became clear that they could expand to more locations, coming up with...

On today's podcast Eric is joined by Mary Clarkson. The pair dive into some of the latest happenings from the Houston restaurant and bar scene including Seth Siegel-Gardner becoming the new culinary and creative director for Benjy Levit's restaurants and rising star chef Tim Reading heading to Leo's River Oaks . In a jam packed Restaurants of the Week section; Hotel Lucine , The Fancy , Katami , H...

Today on the podcast Eric is joined by Paul Petronella and Elyse Wilson of Camerata. Paul and Elyse speak with Eric about a multitude of topics including Paulie's being a staple in the Houston restaurant scene 25 years later, what brought Elyse to Camerata, Elyse's culinary career before Camerata, the sorcery of sommeliers, how Camerata has stood out since it's opening 10 years ago, bringing back...

On today's podcast Eric is joined by Monica Danna! The pair dive into some of the latest headlines from the Houston restaurant and bar scene including Jonathan Levine's announcement that a second location of Jonathan's the Rub is opening in the East End, the new Washington D.C. based concept Medium Rare coming to Houston with their first location, and The Flat adding a coffee shop and cafe . In th...

Today on the podcast Eric is joined by Dany Kamkhagi of Mostly Chocolate & Catering . Dany speaks with Eric about his family's history in the chocolate business, working with his parents early on, becoming a chocolatier, the apprenticeship that changed his perspective, changing the way they operated, how they grew the business, the Rodeo Best Bite competition, the current state of Mostly Choco...

The Swanky Maven herself Felice Sloan joins Eric on the podcast today to discuss some of the latest happenings in the Houston restaurant and bar scene. The pair speak about La Griglia's move to Montrose, Relish opening it's second location in the Memorial area, and The Original Ninfa's bringing in some big names. In the Restaurants of the Week portion, Clark's Oyster Bar is featured.  Follow Eric...

Today on the podcast Eric is joined by Jonathan Horowitz of the Houston Hospitality Alliance . Jonathan speaks with Eric about his recent time/career in the hospitality industry, the work he's done with Buffalo Bayou Brewing leading him to what he's currently doing with the Houston Hospitality Alliance, what the Houston Hospitality Alliance is, what they're trying to accomplish, his role as the pr...

On today's episode of the podcast Eric is joined by Linda Salinas to discuss some of the latest from the Houston restaurant and bar scene. The pair discuss their expectations for the future of the Thompson Hotel (set to open in December) following their partnership with TableOne Hospitality, speak about KP's Kitchen opening their 2nd location in the Bellaire Triangle, and break down the impending...

Eric is joined today by Keath Jacoby and Leila Ortiz of Hotel Lucine in Galveston. Keath and Leila speak with Eric about the inspiration behind Hotel Lucine, why open the boutique hotel in Galveston, why this was the right next step for Leila, what patrons can expect from the Fancy, the Fancy being available to hotel guests and the Galveston community at large, how the Den differs, the flavors/sty...

On today's episode of the podcast Eric is joined by Michael Fulmer to discuss some of the latest from the Houston restaurant and bar scene. The pair dive into the Houston Chronicle's top 100 restaurants of 2023 list, speak about Kaiser Lashkari opening up his own cooking school, and Street to Kitchen's new location being set to open on November 11th. In the Restaurants of the Week section Coastlin...