Houston Foodie Finds | Top Chef Pop-Up, Pier 6 Seafood, and Many Sweets

By Kin Top Chef Pop-Up

Season 19 of Bravo’s Top Chef is set right here in Houston! One of the contestants for this season’s Top Chef is Houston native chef Evelyn Garcia who owns By Kin HTX. She’s a great representative of H-Town’s food and culture melting pot.

For this pop-up, she made several of the dishes as seen on the early episodes of the show.

1. Brisket curry as seen on episode 5:
Chef Evelyn said she has a special way with curry and it’s so true. This dish was the winning dish of the episode. There was so much dimension in this curry and it made me crave more. It consisted of J Bar M brisket, aromatic rice, pickles, fresh herbs, and chili oil. Judge Padma Lakshmi herself said this was one of the best curries she’s ever eaten and I agree!

2. Vietnamese chicken salad as seen on episode 3:
A fun spin on Vietnamese gỏi (salad). The salad is made of chicken, rau ram (Vietnamese coriander), fish sauce, avocado crema accompanied by a sesame crisp. I wanted to try this one the most since gỏi is a big favorite of mine and it was honestly a game changer. I could eat a whole bucket of this stuff!

3. Goat cheese cheesecake as seen on episode 4:
I’m not a huge cheesecake person, but I do love me some goat cheese. This cheesecake was delicious! The cake base was crispy and chocolate, matcha, and cardamom really added dimension.

This pop-up was hosted at Tenfold Coffee in the Heights area. Tenfold Coffee has become a spot for a lot of great food pop-ups lately! Outside of Tenfold Coffee, you can currently find By Kin at several farmers markets and private dinners around Houston. I can’t wait to see how the rest of the season plays out! New episodes of Top Chef Houston air every Thursday on Bravo. I’m rooting for Evelyn, of course.

By Kin pop-up at Tenfold Coffee
Address: 101 Aurora St., Houston, TX 77008

Blacksmith/Christina Au

A long overdue revisit to Blacksmith after a few years and it’s still great! Since the last time I visited, they now have Christina Au as their pastry chef whom I’ve seen hyped on my stories feed for a long time. I’m always too slow to get my hands on her goodies at pop-up markets since being on time is not my forte, but luckily you can get her desserts at Blacksmith every weekend. Though you still need to be kind of fast before they sell out.

Christina posted this rose panna cotta on her stories and I just had to commit since I’m a sucker for floral flavors. It’s definitely become my most favorite panna cotta I’ve ever eaten since the jellies and pistachios add an extra dimension in texture.

The Blacksmith old fashioned was also really fun to drink. It was a coffee mocktail made using cold brew, roasted banana, molasses, and popcorn.

Blacksmith
Address: 1018 Westheimer Rd., Houston, TX 77006

Pier 6

Pier 6 Seafood is a wonderful addition to the historic fishing town of San Leon, TX, a city known for its shrimping and oystering communities. You’ll always get the freshest oysters all year at Pier 6 since it’s owned by the same family who owns local Prestige Oysters! These folks really know their seafood.

Though I didn’t take any photos of the restaurant itself, it’s a really gorgeous seafood restaurant. I visited before the patio opened, but I need to revisit soon to enjoy their beautiful bayside view. Luckily I’m not too far away!

I’ve been eyeing the Purple Queen for awhile; it’s an ube kouign-amann 💜. It’s covered in my favorite kind of sprinkle, so I was pretty happy about eating it 😌. Actually my first ever kougin-amann I ever ate; I liked the layers. She is fabulous!

Did you know? Koffeteria is one of Houston’s gay-owned businesses!

Pier 6 Seafood
Address:113 6th St, San Leon, TX 77539

Honeychild’s Sweet Creams

Honeychild‘s Sweet Creams now has a brick and mortar shop at MKT Heights! I remember my first taste of Honeychild’s products was while they were only selling tubs inside of Phoenicia markets. Time flies and now they have their own store.

These frozen custards are so creamy that you’ll want to try all of the flavors. They offer a scoop flight where you can choose 6 flavors to enjoy. I visited back when winter was still around, so I tried flavors such as sweet potato and wild grape roselle. Check back often because they always make new seasonal flavors.

Honeychild’s Sweet Creams
Address: 600 N Shepherd Dr Suite 450, Houston, TX 77007

Bingo Cake Cafe

Dessert lovers, y’all gotta check out this new cafe in Katy Asian Town! Using popular Asian flavors in all of their desserts, you’ll find the perfect balance of sweetness in all of their desserts. Bingo Cake Cafe is a cake lovers’ paradise. They have a variety of different kinds in their case including sheet, cheese, and crepe. Purchase by the slice or whole cake.

You can also order several over the top toasts. This freshly baked brick toast is huge! For drinks, their signature rose lychee sparkling water is so floral and refreshing.

They’re always trying out new things, so check back often! This was my first visit and I already visited again for round 2 🤤.

Bingo Cake Cafe
Address: 23119 Colonial Pkwy A12, Katy, TX 77449

Corazon Coffee

Follow the Yellow Brick Road to a new coffee spot. The Yellow Brick Road is one of the signature drinks from Corazon Coffee Co. over in the second ward/east downtown area. It gets its yellow tinge from tumeric and also has notes of ginger, black pepper, and vanilla. Really enjoyed how spicy this one is, especially with the black pepper and ginger synergy.

Corazon Coffee
Address: 3302 Canal St Suite 60, Houston, TX 77003

Big Macs HTX

I had the opportunity to photograph these sakura macarons for Big Macs.

She did it again y’all. The sakura fatcaron (fat macaron) was a Mother’s Day special. Big Macs specializes in Korean style macarons which are thicker and have more filling than traditional macarons. They’re just so round and cute ☺️!

These macarons were photographed outside of Tom N Toms Galleria. Originally, they were offered only for a flower class.

Big Macs HTX
available daily at Margaux Buttons, Tom n Toms Galleria, and Bingo Cake Cafe