A massive new food festival is coming to Houston this summer. The eyes of the culinary world will be on Houston from August 21-September 5 when Commune&
This story is published in partnership with Life & Thyme.
Jon Yao got off to a prodigious start in the limelight. In 2016, his parents leased a place in a strip mall in Santa Monica with the intention of creating a fast-casual, lunchbox joint for UCLA students. Instead, Yao then 25 years old took it over and opened his restaurant, Kato, which immediately drew attention for its ambitious and photogenic plates, like a buttermilk pudding adorned with rose ice and smoked hamachi with scallion oil.
Squeezed into a 970-square-foot space with a smart tasting menu, it was heralded as a broadly Asian restaurant with Taiwanese, Chinese, Californian and Japanese influences. It was still representative of who I am, but less focused, he says. Halfway through, I served my mom s steamed fish, and it was well-received by our guests. That gave me confidence in the flavors of my childhood.
Red Leaf/Devocion Coffee
Devocion Coffee is betting on a Dumbo comeback
Devocion, the beloved Brooklyn-based coffee roaster, is gearing up to open a coffee shop in Dumbo next year. The coffee roaster with three locations in Brooklyn and Manhattan has signed a lease for a 1,400-square-foot space in the pandemic-stricken neighborhood, located at the corner of Jay and York streets, across from the York Street subway station. The coffee shop is slated to open in spring 2022, according to a spokesperson with the company.
It’s the latest in a series of openings announcements for Dumbo, a neighborhood where restaurants have been hampered not just by lower foot traffic due to the pandemic, but also by ongoing construction projects that can obscure businesses and make the neighborhood harder to navigate for tourists. Still, some restaurants and food businesses are betting on a Dumbo comeback. Cult-favorite brewery Evil Twin plans to open its second taproom in the neighborhood this year,