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Downtown Sees a Little Light

by David Theis

Artisan coffee, sodas, and more in Cafe Luz

When the Kitchen Incubator opened last November, it felt like the best, or at least the coolest, thing to happen to downtown dining in a good while. Efforts to make downtown a dining district have essentially failed, leaving much of the (by far) most interesting and soulful buildings in Houston sitting empty. But, around the time Market Square reopened, largely surrounded by failed restaurants (excepting the now thriving north side of the Square, of course), the truly visionary Incubator turned on its lights.

The premise of the Kitchen Incubator is simple, but inspired. Co-owners Lucrece Borrego and Jesus Acosta opened a large, certified kitchen that has no permanent users. Instead they lease the space, even on an hourly basis, to anyone who wants to test his or her chops on the restaurant quality equipment. Dozens of chefs and would-be chefs have taken advantage of the program, and the space has indeed been an incubator of dishes and ideas.

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The even better news is that now you can buy these same dishes in the tiny Cafe Luz, which serves as the Incubator’s storefront. Borrego and Acosta teamed with barista Frank Freeman to bring first-rate coffee and handmade soda programs to downtown. You can also buy a wide variety of boxed lunches and desserts, made by the chefs working back in Incubator.

If you’re lucky, you can even get a lunch hot off the grill. Like we did today. After making a couple of very satisfactory coffee runs to Café Luz, we went in looking for lunch. We found chef James Ashley of Pure Catering in front of the stove, preparing lamb kebabs and chicken salads. We went for the kebabs, which came with a hearty scoop of sprouted lentils, and some veggies. It was a tasty meal, and also a very social one, as we few lucky customers chatted about what a great place Café Luz was, and how lucky coffee-deprived downtown was to have it.

The tiny café has a very good vibe, and very good food and drink. It’s also quite beautiful. They hope to start offering hot lunches, prepared by the rotating guest chefs, on Thursdays and Fridays.

Wait, I almost forgot to mention the dulce de leche ice cream. The owners use liquid nitrogen to thicken the dessert, so it turns out extra creamy. A splash of vanilla porter gives it a little tickle at the end. Highly recommended.

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Our hearts go out to Sylvia Casares of Sylvia’s Enchilada Kitchen as we hope she will make a quick and speedy recovery after a tragic incident this week concerning her business partner and boyfriend.

March 21 and Houston committee members and local artists will demonstrate their crafts and sell bowls at the Whole Foods Market on Kirby. Benefiting the Houston Food Bank in conjunction with the Empty Bowls Houston event. Whole Foods plans to donate 5 percent of the day’s sales from all four area locations to the Houston Food Bank.

Oxheart opened this week. Among the Uchi’s and Underbellys of the culinary scene Oxheart is right up there with them. Be sure to put it on your to-try list for March.

This Monday, March 19th The Last Chef Standing Restaurant Challenge will kick off at The Tasting Room from 6 - 8 p.m. The competition will have local restaurants compete against in each other in a bracket-style competition to determine a People’s Choice Winner over the course of five rounds.

Be sure to check out Eater Houston’s Amber Ambrose’s interview with Lyle Lovett on growing up in Klein, Texas and some of his favorite restaurants in Houston like Ninfa’s on Navigation, RDG Cafe Annie and the like.

Over the weekend a favorite local restaurant, Haven experienced a honey heist. That’s right - someone stole Haven’s beehive right out of their backyard garden. Oh Houston, you never cease to amaze us.

Da Marco gets an almost perfect Zagat rating for 2012 with a 29/30 .

Surprise, surprise, Houston leads the country in most meals eaten outside of the home at an average of 4.1 per week. The survey released March 6 also stated that the national average to-go mean intake is 3.1. That’s not that bad

America’s Favorite Cookie turns 100 years old this week. That’s right we’re talking about you - Oreo.

Underbelly is officially open at 1100 Westheimer Rd. We’ve got reservations.

Paul Qui of Uchiko a sister restaurant to Tyson Cole’s Uchi wins Top Chef Texas.

Underbelly is now accepting reservations. Make yours here.

Another month, another list. Check out Culture Map’s Top 10 restaurants to try out right now. Including Roost, Artisans and Hay Merchant.

Crawfish Season can be confusing. Where to get tail is something that is on everyone’s mind. Thankfully our friends at Eater Houston have solved that problem with the Boiled Crawfish Map.

Eatsie Boys the food truck, will be food truck no more. As they expand their franchise they will lose their wheels. Expected to open somewhere in Montrose hopefully this summer.

Liberty Station’s annual Chili Cookoff will be March 10th. The cookoff will benefit Young Texans Against Cancer. Team Entry is $25 per team get more info here.

Houston may have just been ranked the #1 most overweight city, but at least we’re not the most obese. We’ll leave that spot for our friends in Dallas.

James Beard Award Semi-Finalist Nominees were released this week. This year, Houston has six chefs in the running, that’s one more than last year.

Sprinkles Cupcakes is featuring a limited edition cupcake to honor the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston’s opening of the Japan Gallery. The special cupcake features Cherry Blossoms and will be available until March 20.

Johnny Mandola named General Manager of Damian’s Cucina Italiana, located at 3011 Smith St., Houston, TX 77006.

From Chicken and Waffles to Meat Chips to a Crispy Lamb Sweetbread Po’boy Hay Merchant is open and we’re excited.

Trader Joes is said to open in The Woodlands first, then Montrose as originally expected in the Alabama Theatre but now we’re hearing Memorial too on S. Voss near San Felipe.

Uchi opened February 2nd and now a month later, Katsuya schedules to open it’s doors March 2nd. Must be something in the water.

Cinq Chef Jeramie Robinson is leaving Houston for Austin as Chef Tyson Cole offers him a job with Uchi Austin.

Acclaimed Mexican chef Aquiles Chávez opens his upscale Mexican and seafood restaurant this Saturday — La Fisheria. Filming for the new show Aquiles in Houston begins soon.

Come celebrate Fat Tuesday at BB’s. Festivities start at 5:30 p.m. with live music from Keyun & They Zydeco Masters. Expect Abita beer specials, King Cake and of course Crawfish. 2701 White Oak.

Guadalajara Bakery will close it’s doors February 29th after 45 years in business. The new building owners have decided to turn the well-loved taco-spot into a bar. The Chavez family has no plans to reopen their doors elsewhere.

We walked you through Uchi step by step. Now, it’s Katsuya’s turn. CultureMap gives us a first look at Philllipe Starck’s latest concept expected to open it’s door in Houston this spring in the West Ave shopping center.

Next up on HOUSTON CULINARY TOURS - Chef Bryan Caswell of Reef, Stella Sola and El Real along with cookbook author Robb Walsh explore all-things oyster. The tour is Sunday, March 18, 2012. Tickets on sale now.

Doug Kurz and Matt Taormina of RICHMOND CHILL are rumored to be opening a new establishment sometime this year named Oak Forest Chill, located on the corner of Oak Forest and Judiway.

BRC GASTROPUB has released their spring menus. BRC Gastropub now has a brunch, lunch and dinner menu available. We can’t wait to get in and try out the Infamous Coop-Style Burger, Eggs Queso.

Eater Houston takes the cliche that we eat with our eyes to the next level by hosting the HOTTEST CHEF OF 2012 contest this month. Check out who's the most delicious.

The much anticipated UCHI has opened. When you get there, we suggest the Shag Roll.

Jonathan Jones steps down from XUCO XICANA.

New York City’s famous restaurant LE CIRQUE launches a series of pop-up restaurants, with one of them in Houston. New executive chefOlivier Reginensi hosts the pop-ups; he started his culinary career with Le Cirque in 1993 and is excited to be back.

EATSIE BOYS food truck sits down for an interview with Eater Houston on their one year anniversary.

THE RAILYARD, a River Oaks bar, is a finalist in the 2012 Nightclub & Bar Awards for “Small Wonder Bar of the Year,” only one of two Texas bars to reach the finals. The other nominee is STATS SPORTS BAR AND GRILL of Tomball, TX as a finalist for “Sports Bar of the Year.”

GEORGIA'S MARKET opens a downtown store January 27th. With four distinct sections, is there anything Georgia’s doesn’t have? Complete with the famous all-day buffet, an organic grocery store, a second-floor area meant to be a reading loft and last? The cellar soon to start serving up local microbrews and sustainable wines that can also be found up stairs in the grocery.

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