West University’s Maximo Restaurant Overhauls Its Menu With Wunderkind Chef To Dramatically Change 9 Months After Opening

Restauranteur Benjy Levit isn’t afraid of taking a chance and evolving his numerous Houston restaurants (which include Milton’s, Lee’s bar and Local Foods) when he forecasts a change in tastes and trends. His latest evolution comes with the nine-month-restaurant Maximo in West University.

Conceived initially as a cousin born south of the border to the popular Local Foods, Maximo came to life with farm-forward ingredients culled from local producers. To its credit, it used traditional means of preparation often lost in many Mexican-style restaurants.

As minority owner Tony Luhrman stepped out from behind the range to work on other projects, Levit promoted 26-year-old wunderkind Adrian Torres to the role of executive chef and promptly paused operations for three weeks to reimagine what Maximo could be. The goal was to create an elevated dining experience which highlights authentic Mexican ingredients rarely seen on Houston menus, focusing on nixtamalized masa creations, shareable small plates and composed entrees.

Spearheading the menu overhaul was the hospitality group’s creative and culinary director Seth Siegel-Gardner, along with the talented Torres, who has spent the last three years working at Maximo and its predecessor El Topo, not to mention two of greater Houston’s most lauded restaurants in Xochi and Belly of the Beast.

Open for dinner and weekend brunch, Maximo introduced many to the age-old tradition of nixtamalization to create its masa. The age-old process, using a heirloom variety of maize, involves cooking and steeping the corn in a lime solution to induce changes in the kernel’s structure, chemical composition, functional properties and nutritional value.

Maximo new menu looks to build on this.

“Our nixtamal tortillas have always been very authentic,” Torres says. “With this menu, we dig into that even more — what it really means to be authentic Mexican. In some cases, that looks like respecting the ingredients and traditional preparation methods, which may not align with nut or gluten-free diets.

“As much as we respect tradition, we’re also progressive, and that looks like treating cauliflower as if it were carne asada, using requeson to make cheesecake, or sprinkling in Asian spices and vegetables.”

Diving Into The New Maximo Menu

The new a la carte menu features crave-worthy dishes like the heart of palm salad ($12) created with fresh rings of Hawaiian grown hearts of palm mixed with fresh basil and strawberries (usually of the green sort that’s sweet and sour) tossed in a champagne vinaigrette with the crunch of palanqueta, the sweet and salty Mexican candy made with caramel and peanuts. Or the roasted oyster dish ($12), four oysters napped with green garlic butter, melted cotija cheese and bits of ground chicken chicharron.

The cochinita pibil sope ($15) is beautifully built upon a soft fried masa base and filled with shredded roasted pork shoulder with black beans, all crowned with a nest of finely shredded pickled fennel. I swooned over the warm, fluffy masa cornbread ($35) on a pool of mole soubise topped with two quenelles: one of caviar (in this case, cuttlefish) and the other chicatana butter. For the uninitiated, chicatana is a species of the flying leaf-cutter ant, and it’s delectable.

Maximo taco selections (a two-bite delight $5 each) rotate frequently and will soon offer a sweetbreads taco with Morita-bone marrow salsa.

Complementing the food is the cocktail overhaul from Local Foods Group director of bars Máté Hartai and a revamped wine and list from Local Foods Group wine director Mark Sayre. Aside from the Maximo-Rita ($14, rocks or frozen), don’t miss the Paloma coconut punch ($14) made with tequila blanco, grapefruit, coconut and other citrus fruits filtered through coconut pulp to create a crisp, quaffable drink.

Curious about the ambiance? Not much has changed since the stylish Brittany Vaughn of Garnish Design designed this 1,500-square-foot West University restaurant space with a gracious nod to mid-century modern Mexico. Here, the colors of the desert meet the ocean with cushy burnt orange velour-backed navy banquettes that run the length of the intimate dining room and are pulled up to onyx-topped tables, while gleaming copper accents and artworks evoke a Southwest vibe. When the weather cooperates, you can take advantage and dine outside on the covered 35-seat patio bordered by a hedge of cacti.

Beginning this Wednesday, February 5, Maximo is rolling out a five-course tasting menu ($45 per person with an optional beverage addition of $30), served daily, as an accessibly priced way to try Torres’ new dishes.

Maximo is located at 6119 Edloe Street in West University. It is open Wednesdays through Fridays from 4 pm to 9 pm, and Saturdays and Sundays for brunch from 11 am to 3 pm and 4 pm to 9 pm for dinner. Closed Mondays and Tuesdays.