True Houston Mother’s Day Restaurant Intel — Top Chefs and Restaurateuers Reveal What Food They’d Order For Their Own Moms

With practically every notable restaurant in Houston offering a variety of Mother’s Day specials, PaperCity decided that rather than give you our favorites or provide an endless list, we’d turn to the city’s chefs and restaurateurs to share what from their varied menus they would choose for their own mothers, mothers of their children, mothers of any relation.

So in that sense, we have tasked the true experts with sorting through the high-end, down-home and sublime menu offerings that are sure to light up every Houston mother’s day on Sunday.

Keep in mind that all of these dishes are available for takeout on Mother’s Day but must be ordered ahead, some by as early as Thursday.

A Fare Extraordinaire

When asked what Rachel Volz, mother of two and owner of high-end catering/events firm A Fare Extraordinaire, was planning for her Mother’s Day dinner, she was quick to reply that she was craving Niçoise Salad made with Ahi tuna, which at this time is getting more difficult to locate. A Fare Extraordinaire’s Mother’s Day menu is mouthwatering and the Niçoise tops the offerings.

A petite yet powerful woman, Volz is thinking a feast for Mother’s Day that would include the salad as well as Liège Waffles and perhaps the tempting Granala Parfait.

“Our Liège waffles are made with a yeast-based brioche dough, studded with special pearl nibs of sugar that caramelize on the waffle iron as it cooks,” she says. “It’s a round, sweeter version that doesn’t need syrup!”

The Dunlavy

Grant Cooper, partner with Charles Clark in Clark Cooper Concepts, is thinking about the group’s restaurant in Buffalo Bayou Park, The Dunlavy, for treating his wife, Jacy.

“One of the things we love doing together as a family is travel and usually we go to LA in the Venice Beach area,” he says.  “We love eating there because everything is so fresh — the vegetables, the breads, the fruit, everything. Chef Jane is bringing that to Houston with her Mother’s Day Curbside Brunch this year.”

Cooper says that his menu will include The Dunlavy’s Bloody Mary or Mimosas, the Mezze Board with Beet Hummus, Spring Crudite and Fresh Pita, the Hot Smoked Salmon with house-made dill lebneh, and the Mother’s Day Plate with the Strawberry Rhubarb Ricotta Tartine, Cherry Tomato & Cucumber Salad and Confit Fingerling Potatoes.

“As a family we love to share, so we would probably put the big spread out on the table and just dig in and enjoy it together at home,” he says.

Tony’s

With Tony’s open for brunch on Mother’s Day and takeout an option, the choices from the fine-dining menu are plentiful. From that bounty we asked Tony Vallone what he would select from the offerings for his wife Donna’s own Mother’s Day feast.

“I would order the Gazpacho di Mare, Prime Beef Tartare, and Sogno di Limone (our new lemon dessert) for Donna,” Vallone says. “These are all of her favorite items and Mother’s Day is just another reason to spoil her.

“Through these challenging times we have adjusted to bring Tony’s to your home to help celebrate the mother in your life. We are offering our full Tony’s menu for curbside pick-up. We are very excited to do this for the first time and look forward to serving our customers anyway we can.”

Lucille’s

Chef Chris Williams of Lucille’s doesn’t hesitate when asked what would he prepare for his mother on Mother’s Day.

“Our Lobster Benedict,” he says, “which is featured on our special Mother’s Day Menu. It is actually my mom’s favorite brunch dish that we make at the restaurant. It’s funny because she says it’s her favorite, but she’s my mom, and she likes everything I make.

“When Lucille’s first opened, I served her a Sprite at the bar. . . she savored it like I drafted the soda myself — it makes me laugh, but I’m lucky to have a mom that’s just that supportive.”

BCN/MAD

The wildly popular Spanish restaurant duo BCN/MAD will have a carry out package for Mother’s Day that will include a starter (soup or salad), entree, dessert and bread. What that will be depends on what Chef Luis Roger finds to be the freshest and of the best quality at the time of menu planning. The packages are $75 per person with 50 percent off of any wine selection. Roger and owner Ignacio Torras have partnered with David Brown Flowers so that an arrangement at various price levels can be included with the order.

Considering pleasing the mothers in his life, Torras says, “I will probably order for Isabel, my wife and mother of our four kids, Las Empanadas and the black ink  rice and a mandatory  gin & tonic. For Alejandra, our daughter-in -law and mother of our two grandchildren, definitely the burrata salad and the salmon. And to our daughter, eight months pregnant and confined in Barcelona for the last eight weeks, I would  probably order the whole menu as she is craving very much Luis’ cuisine.

“Each one of them, of course, will come with a nice flower bouquet prepared by David Brown, I will ask for the tulips ones.”

Ouzo Bay

Ouzo Bay and Loch Bar, the twin restaurants in River Oaks District, reopen this weekend just in time to celebrate moms with a day-long brunch on Mother’s Day, 10 am to 11 pm. Scott Sulma, director of operations for Atlas Restaurant Group Texas, whom you will remember from his long tenure at Tony’s, says that his family is solidly in the seafood lane and that drives his menu plans.

His personal Mother’s Day menu for those wanting to keep it delicious but also keep it lite are Ouzo Bay’s Watermelon and Feta Salad made with arugula, kalamata olives and truffle vinaigrette paired with fresh caught Aegean Branzino and Loch Bar’s Maryland Crab Cakes with mixed greens and old bay remoulade.

a’Bouzy

Proprietor Shawn Virene might be an avid Gulf Coast fisherman but when it came to seafood for his late mother, she was a Dover sole fan. So, when he is thinking of a Mother’s Day menu for a’Bouzy, it always includes sole and a bottle of fine champagne. The restaurant is open for both dining room service and takeout on Mother’s Day. And it has a killer brunch menu.

Vic & Anthony’s

With all of Tilman Fertitta’s numerous restaurants to choose from in the Houston area, the adored Brandon Busch, regional director for Landry’s Inc., choses this downtown steakhouse for his mother’s special Sunday meal.

“The ideal meal for my deserving mother would have to be from Vic & Anthony’s takeout menu. I’d have her start with our Colossal Shrimp Cocktail to cure her seafood fix followed by the signature Iceberg Wedge Salad with House Cured Bacon,” Busch notes. “As her entrée, I know she would enjoy our melt-in-your-mouth Akaushi Skirt Steak with Duck Fat Potatoes. She likes to keep it simple for dessert so our Vic & Anthony’s Croissant Bread Pudding is the perfect sweet ending to celebrate her on Mother’s Day.

“Plus with our generous portions, I know she could feast on all of this for a week!”

Berg Hospitality Group

Benjamin Berg has several restaurants under his cap and two women to please on Mother’s Day, his own mom and his wife, the mother of their children.

“For my mother, who is a true New Yorker, I would definitely order her a pepperoni pizza with crushed red pepper and a nice big bottle of a super Tuscan from B.B. Italia,” he tells PaperCity.

B.B. Italia will be open on Mother’s Day from 4-9pm for dine-in service at 25% capacity along with curbside pickup and delivery via DoorDash and Favor.

“My wife, Monica, loves to order a few different appetizers to try instead of one entrée. Her top three choices at B&B Butchers are Chef Tommy’s Bacon, the Carpetbaggers on the Half Shell or our Tuna Tartare. I would order her all three as I am notorious for always over ordering!”

B&B Butchers is open on Mother’s Day from 11am-8pm for curbside pickup and delivery via DoorDash and Favor.