Iconic Dallas Chef Cooks at The Woodlands’ Chic Restaurant Haven in Powerful Mentor and Protege Night

Oh, what a night for serious gourmets! Those lucky enough to snare a seat at Woodlands restaurant Tris recently for dinner with acclaimed/notorious chef John Tesar of Dallas are still savoring the memory of the incredible repast. This was Tris chef Austin Simmons’ third CollaborEIGHT dinner in which he partners with locally and nationally acclaimed culinary talents for an amazing eight-course dinner.

This evening was particularly meaningful for Simmons, who trained under Tesar at the Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek and at the now-closed Tesar’s Modern Steak and Sustainable Seafood in The Woodlands. In a nod to that early collaboration, the dinner was titled “Protege and Mentor.”

During his 20-plus-year career, Tesar has been a semifinalist for the James Beard Awards’ Best Chef Southwest on four occasions, won the inaugural season of Food Network’s Extreme Chef, has appeared on The Today Show and The Early Show and has earned written praise from a host of publications including Food & Wine and the New York Times. His Knife steakhouses in Dallas and Plano are highly lauded.

The sold-out evening began with Tesar signing his book, Knife: Texas Steakhouse Meals at Home. Then it was time for the 50 guests to be seated and dig in.  Tesar created three of the eight courses: shellfish ramen, jumbo lump crab and beef cheeks. Simmons handled the remainder preparing uni-tart, octopus, short ribs and two dessert courses.

The next CollaborEIGHT dinner, titled The Cut, is set for March 18 with Akaushi cattle rancher Jordan Beeman and knife maker (and forensic pathologist) Dr. Stephen Pustilnik of Galveston.