Main Kitchen
Diners can get a look at the new young chef enhancing plates with elegance
THE CONCEPT: The main dining room and bar in the JW Marriott Houston Downtown has a young new executive chef, Josh Mouzakes, who has completed an extensive rewrite of the restaurant menu that now boasts elegant touches and a commitment to working with sustainable farmers, local Gulf seafood, all-natural beef and other unique local purveyors.
THE SPACE: The airy lobby restaurant with windows that look out onto Main and Rusk sports a contemporary design and an open kitchen where you can see Mouzakes and his team plate sophisticated dishes.
THE FOOD: There’s a lot of finesse and technique in the new menu. Mouzakes’ Pearl Oysters are simple but extravagant: freshly shucked oysters dabbed with passion fruit curry and set under a dome that breathes dry-ice smoke when presented at the table. Asian flavors show up in the roasted cauliflower bisque perfumed and colored with turmeric; mussels wade in Thai coconut broth with lemongrass and basil. And local flavors make themselves known, too: Texas honey ricotta with poached pear and coriander hazelnuts in the butter lettuce salad; and satsuma oranges garnishing the ahi tuna sashimi studded with serrano peppers and local watermelon radish. Several entrees appeal to meat-loving Texans: bacon-wrapped pork tenderloin glazed with a bourbon plum sauce; rosemary-flavored rib-eye with oyster mushrooms and potato millefeuille; 48-hour-roasted veal breast with potatoes, broccolini and caramelized garlic puree; and roasted duck breast with smoked potato puree, poblano pepper and grilled corn succotash and espelette pepper-dusted popcorn.
THE DRINKS: The 806 Lounge bar excels at craft cocktails including 806 Maggie (silver tequila, Cointreau, egg whites, Angostura bitters, fresh lime juice and simple syrup) and The Agave Expression (reposado tequila, allspice flavor, Grand Marnier and chocolate bitters). A perfect Vesper, Pimm’s Cup and Negroni, too. Large wine and beer selection.
THE WORD: The 34-yearold newbie to Houston is intent on getting to know the city’s dining scene better: “It’s going to take forever to get through my list of places I want to eat.” ONE MORE THING: Mouzakes’ résumé includes historical New England inns; the French Laundry, the fabled farmhouse restaurant led by Thomas Keller in Yountville, Calif.; Joel Robuchon in Las Vegas and most recently five years at the historical Hotel del Coronado in San Diego.
THE DETAILS: Main Kitchen, JW Marriott Houston Downtown, 806 Main, 713360-3700; jwmarriotthotelhouston.com