Three Houston Restaurants Make a Vaunted Wine Magazine’s New Top 50 Thanks to Their Caring Power

After almost a decade of annually releasing its choice for the country’s Top 100 Wine Restaurants, the revered Wine Enthusiast skipped the pandemic year of 2020. For this year, the magazine has anointed 50 restaurants with a new moniker, “Restaurants We Love 2021.” Three of those are from Houston.

“These 50 restaurants were selected because the people behind them have found creative ways to bring great wine and food to customers, and they’ve gone above and beyond to support their staffs and communities,” the magazine notes.

Anyone who has been paying attention to Houston’s turbulent pandemic restaurant scene is aware of the effort made by the three honored Houston restaurants in serving a disrupted community. They gone above and beyond to help those burdened by the COVID-19 fallout.

Applause, applause for Bludorn, Georgia James and Rosie Cannonball, the only Texas restaurants in Wine Enthusiasts‘ Top 50. PaperCity checked in with each for their take on the honor and the pandemic.

Bludorn

Chef Aaron Bludorn: “When I reflect on the year, I keep returning to the word community – both Houston and my fellow restaurant industry. Houston is a unique city full of welcoming and resilient people whose support continues to fuel our success. It is because of this support that we were able to partner with Southern Smoke Foundation – an organization whose mission is to support hospitality workers who have fallen on touch times, and we felt a deep sese of duty and responsibility to give back.

“Since February, we were able to launch fundraising campaigns that invite guests to support their mission – through Super Bowl takeaway menus to two guest chef collaboration dinners, we are honored to use Bludorn as a place of respite but also a vehicle for change.”

Georgia James

Chris Shepherd, chef/owner of Underbelly Hospitality: “I love our wine list at Georgia James and I love seeing recognition for our wine director Matt Pridgen and sommelier Jeffery Young. What I really love about this list from Wine Enthusiast, though, is that it recognizes restaurants that gave back to their communities and the industry during the pandemic. Because of that, being on this list is an even bigger honor.”   

From the early days and throughout the pandemic, Shepherd and his Southern Smoke team have raised millions of dollars for food industry workers in need. More than 2,700 food professionals nationwide have received grants totaling more than $6.2 million from Southern Smoke.

Rosie Cannonball

Mark Sayre, Goodnight Hospitality beverage director: “The last 14 months have demonstrated the full range between devastating and inspiring. Operators, owners and guests have been on this rollercoaster with (hopefully) some balance in sight. All of the lessons learned come down to people — human interaction and response. It has galvanized us as professionals — from prep cooks to servers to sommeliers to managers— taking care of our guests and one another.

“No matter the concept, there’s even more intention behind all decisions for our employees and our guests, helping bridge the relationship between our restaurant doors and the people who are walking through them. We’re so grateful to Wine Enthusiast for not only celebrating great wine lists but also the restaurants and the people within them that kept each other and their communities afloat during the pandemic.”

As Wine Enthusiast points out, “For six months early in the pandemic, (Rosie Cannonball) offered free produce boxes to unemployed hospitality workers.”