Chef Jonathan Jones out, Xuco Xicana’s future unclear
The owner of Midtown’s El Patio rolled the dice last year when he brought on chef Jonathan Jones to rebrand the restaurant that became the critical hit El Xuco Xicana.
Unfortunately, Jon Deal admits, he rolled snake eyes.
Jones and Xuco Xicana have parted ways.
El Xuco Xicana — an ambitious Tejano-style Mexican menu that Jones called “comida Texano” — simply didn’t catch on with the dining public and was losing money, co-owner and managing partner Deal said. Jones’ menu, popular with foodies, never found a wide following, Deal said, adding that he’s as disappointed as anyone that the concept failed.
“I, like many people in town, felt that ( Jones) hit a home run with what he was doing. But the market didn’t accept it. I guess I overestimated what we could do. I really thought we could create a destination,” Deal said. “It just didn’t work out.”
Deal said that he had informed Jones more than a week ago, per a gentlemen’s agreement they had, that “it was time to dust off his résumé.”
“I’ve lost all the money I could lose,” Deal said.
Jones said he bears no ill will toward Deal but is disappointed that Xuco Xicana never gained popular steam.
“I’m upset that people didn’t see how beautiful it is,” Jones said. “It’s very emotional for me. I put my heart and soul in everything I do. I get really attached to my concepts.”
He said he understands that Deal and his partners needed to cut their losses. “I believe differently than they do about the concept. But the long and short of it is it’s their restaurant and their money,” he said. “They have to be very much more concerned about what’s happening to them in the long run. Nobody wants to lose a bunch of money.”
What becomes of Xuco Xicana (pronounced Chuco Chicana) as a restaurant and a brand remains unclear at this point. The fact that Deal calls the restaurant El “XX” (which he pronounces “El Double X”) says something about the former El Patio’s identity crisis during the time it has been El Xuco Xicana. The young Midtown crowd that Deal said he hoped to attract may have come to drink but weren’t warming to Jones’ critically lauded comida.
“If we’re going to continue to operate at that location, we have to figure out how to cater to that market,” Deal said. “We weren’t delivering what they wanted. They simply didn’t come.”
Deal said he and his partners are mulling changes for the restaurant/bar that for now is keeping the Xuco Xicana menu. But he might bring back some of El Patio’s classic menu items. “I don’t anticipate completely doing away with what he’s done,” Deal said. “What he’s put on the menu is great stuff unique to the city.”
Yet, Deal added, “If we’re going to move past anything, it’s got to be beyond Xuco Xicana.”
He had only praise for Jones, who he called his “food hero.”
“I can’t imagine he doesn’t have a list of people calling him right now,” Deal said of Jones. “He’s super talented and creative.”
Jones said he is unsure about his position with Beaver’s, where he is consulting and Deal is general managing partner.
“All I know is I’m out of work. I don’t have a position in the kitchen” at Beaver’s, Jones said. “I don’t know what’s going to happen, I honestly don’t.”
One thing he is sure of: His plans to team up with sommelier Jonathan Honefenger for a series of pop-up dinners, as reported by the Houston Press’s Katharine Shilcutt.
Jones said the pop-ups, called “crosscurrent,” will kick off with a brunch at El Gran Malo later this month.
greg.morago@chron.com