Houston’s Newest Steakhouse Enjoys a Lavish Debut — Toro Toro Brings Serious Food Power to the Four Seasons

When Dom Perignon and Ruinart Rosé are flowing and two uber glam DJs are spinning the discs, there is no question that it is going to be a stellar night. And so it was when Four Seasons Hotel Houston GM Tom Segesta hosted one of the most lavish invitation-only restaurant openings in recent memory. Hello Toro Toro.

Houston is the sixth city to get the Pan-Latin steakhouse cuisine of internationally acclaimed chef Richard Sandoval, joining Dubai, Washington D.C., Miami, Qatar and Fort Worth. An accomplished restaurant magnate, the chef’s Richard Sandoval Hospitality group boasts more than 50 restaurants scattered across the globe.

A congenial duo, Sandoval and Segesta welcomed some 250 guests for the evening designed to confirm the Four Seasons as a Downtown Houston destination in itself. The multi-million dollar transformation of Four Seasons Houston from a mere luxury hotel to a pulse point in the heart of the city began in 2006 and culminated on this remarkable night.

A Taste of Toro Toro

The evening was a feast in every sense with chefs creating their magic at myriad food stations. We grazed through the field of options that included a Taco Bar featuring your choice of South Texas antelope anticucho style, short rib smoked beef rib, chicken and blackened tuna tacos. A ceviche bar, a sushi bar and the out-of-this world charcuterie table scape featuring jamon iberico beckoned our tastebuds.

Perhaps most compelling of all was the meat station where the offerings included Toro Toro’s famed 52-ounce mezcal and rosemary flambeed Prime Tomahawks, Brazilian style picanha steak, chicken cusco and lamb chops.

To wash it all down, there were a number of bar stations and plenty of wait staff circulating with bottles of Groth Cab, Casa Madero Chardonnay and Double T Merlot and those previously mentioned champagnes. Specialty cocktails on the night’s menu included tequila drenched Mercado Margaritas and Southside Mules as well as the Casual Encounter, a Texas bourbon concoction.

To top off the culinary adventure, the dessert bar featured yellow corn cake with caramelized almonds, hibiscus mezcal sauce and vanilla crumble and homemade churros with cinnamon sugar, caramel cajeta sauce and goat cheese.

The evening set the stage for a successful, if yet another, downtown steakhouse but Toro Toro sets apart due to the infusion of flavors, the celebration of Latin cuisine with Japanese influences and a riveting decor. That includes an elegant square-shaped bar with lounge area with marble double-sided fireplaces that open to the main dining room.

PC Seen: Toro Toro general manager Pedro Munoz, chef Hugo Ortega and Tracy Vaught, Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce CEO Laura Murillo, KPRC Channel 2 Houston Life co-hosts Derrick Shore and Courtney Zavala, Hines’ George Lancaster, City Council members Robert Gallegos and Tarsha Jackson, Beth Muecke, and Roz and Alan Pactor.