Top Chef Mexico Winner Is Coming to Houston For Two Special Dinners With Hugo Ortega
It's a Top Chef Team Up at Urbe and Xochi
BY Laurann Claridge // 09.14.22Chef Hugo Ortega and visiting chef Rodolfo Castellanos, winner of Top Chef Mexico (2016), will be hosting two special dinner events in Houston. (Photo by H Restaurant Group)
James Beard award-winning Houston chef Hugo Ortega — co-owner with his wife and restauranteur Tracy Vaught of The H Town Restaurant Group, which operates URBE, Caracol, Xochi, Hugo’s and their first eatery, the bistro Backstreet Cafe — is bringing heralded Mexican chef Rodolfo Castellanos to the Bayou City for two very different dinners to celebrate Oaxacan cuisine.
The winner of Top Chef Mexico (in 2016), Castellanos is collaborating with Ortega on a fun walk-around event at Urbe (1101 Uptown Park Boulevard) on Monday, September 26, from 6:30 pm to 9 pm. The two talents will be on hand serving some of Castellanos’s signature Oaxacan street food dishes that helped him cinch the title of Top Chef Mexico. Tickets are $65 per person (plus taxes and gratuity) and can be purchased through the Urbe website. Details on the menu that will be served that evening are listed below:
PASSED BITES
Sopecitos de Lengua, Taquitos de Pollo, Molotoes, Tostadita de Mejillones
WALK-AROUND STREET FOOD STATIONS
Tlayudas, Tetelas y Memelas, Tacos del Carmen, Tamales, Ceviche, Esquites
POSTRES STATION
Churros, Arroz con Leche, Cocadas, Pan de Muerto, Nicuatole
LIBATIONS
Featuring El Silencio Mezcal cocktails
Palomas, Margaritas, El Silencio Mezcal Tasting Station,
Aqua Frescas, Mexican Beer, Sangria
Meanwhile, the following night on Tuesday, September 27, Ortega and Castellanos will host a more intimate four-course seated affair downtown at Ortega’s Xochi restaurant in the Marriott Marquis Houston hotel (1777 Walker Street). The talented duo will celebrate the food culture and flavors of the city and state of Oaxaca in a more elevated setting. Some of the most anticipated dishes include Lengua en Mole de Chichilo, one of the dishes that Castellanos conjured while competing in the vaunted Top Chef competition.
With a reception slated to start at 6:30 pm and the dinner at 7 pm, the menu (which is listed below) will be paired at each course with cocktails featuring El Silencio Mezcal. While seating is limited, you can still snag a seat ($130 per person plus tax and gratuity) at the Xochi website.
PASSED APPETIZERS
Featuring Chef Rodolfo’s Lengua de Res con Mole Chichilo beef tongue with chichilo mole sauce
MAIN DISH
TIRADITO DE ROBALO
Sliced striped bass ceviche, hoja santa, jalapeno, olive oil, lime
ENTREMES
MOLOTES DE PLATANO
Plantain dumplings, heirloom tomato, dried shrimp, chilcostle sauce, sour cream, queso
FUERTE
LECHON
Confit suckling pig, mole manchamanteles, grilled pineapple, peach, plantains
DESSERT
NICUATOLE DE FRESA Y CHOCOLATE
Traditional Oaxacan toasted corn dessert