Patricia Sharpe

“Here’s your Chicken 65,” announced our server. We stared at the bowl, steam rising from the heap of golden brown nibbles of fried meat. You’d expect to find the southern Indian snack in a casual setting (of the many theories regarding the name, one posits that it was created at a hotel in Chennai in 1965). But what was it doing at a smart-looking restaurant in a fancy new Houston development? I popped a toasty bite in my mouth. Oh. “Chicken nuggets of the gods” might be going too far, but these…

Texas walked away with just one medallion at the James Beard Foundation awards ceremony last night. The near wipeout disappointed many Texas viewers of the gala, which was streamed live on YouTube, especially because the state had initially done well in January, with 39 semifinalist nods. The festivities were held at the Chicago Lyric Opera. The winner of the lone Texas prize, for Best Chef: Texas, was a thrilled and emotional Ana Liz Pulido, owner of her own three-year-old restaurant, Ana Li…

After a couple of visits to Mexta, two things became clear: The restaurant, which opened in March in downtown Austin’s historic Littlefield Building, has all its bases covered, from perennial Mexican favorites (guacamole, ceviche) to exciting, lesser-seen regional specialties (pork belly encacahuatado, tikin xic salmon with xnipec salsa). Second, it intends to be the boldest Mexican restaurant in the city. Peering in from the foyer, distracted by happy-hour chatter and the whir of blenders, I…

Inspectors for France’s world-famous Michelin Guide have been secretly eating their way across Texas for months in preparation for the publication, which is released at the end of the year. The guide’s expansion to Texas will include Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, and San Antonio. The announcement was made on July 16 jointly by Michelin and Travel Texas, the state’s tourism agency, following yearslong efforts by the Texas restaurant and travel industry to entice the finicky French guide…

While we wait for the first official Texas addition to the Michelin Guide to drop, we guess which restaurants will make the list.

At Radici, the celebrity chef reveals that she's as skilled at focaccia as she is cornbread.

In the tiny town of Kemah, Ishtia is a world of pure imagination in the hands of Choctaw chef David Skinner.

In the tiny town of Kemah, Ishtia is a world of pure imagination in the hands of Choctaw chef David Skinner.

After fifty years of eating her way from one end of the state to the other, Patricia Sharpe has some thoughts.

The crème de la crème of the restaurant industry gathered in Houston last night to celebrate the French guide’s first foray into the Lone Star State.