Here’s What to Know About Houston’s ‘Top Chef’ Season 22 Contenders | Eater Houston

"An anticipated tasting-menu restaurant named after the chef’s grandfather’s nickname will showcase elevated Afro-Caribbean cuisine, and the chef is hosting sneak-peek pop-ups while gearing up for the opening. The chef, who moved to Houston permanently in 2024 after earlier stints at Four Seasons Hotel Houston and Pass and Provisions, frames his approach in terms of both personal history and formal training: he is of Trinidadian descent, spent much of his childhood traveling while his mother served in the military (stationed in places like Guam, Japan, and the Philippines), and says that those travels helped shape his love of international flavors. He recalls the start of his infatuation with cooking: “It was the most amazing thing that eggs can go from a shell to this viscous orb — that we could turn into something really delicious,” he says. “That alchemy blew my mind.” After earning a bachelor’s degree in culinary arts and food & beverage industry management at Johnson & Wales and completing a three-year apprenticeship at the Greenbrier Hotel, he appeared on ABC’s The Taste and worked with Marcus Samuelsson — moving to New York to work at Samuelsson’s Red Rooster in Harlem, traveling with him to projects in London, Sweden, and the Bahamas, serving as first executive chef for Cooks & Captains in Brooklyn, and later working as executive chef for Samuelsson’s Miami Red Rooster (which received a Michelin Bib Gourmand). Describing his culinary mission, he says, “For me, it’s about breaking boundaries and showcasing how some unexpected flavors can stand shoulder to shoulder — and most of the time, above the best in fine dining.” Menu examples promised for the tasting format include gumbo made with king crab and homemade duck sausage, stewed chicken with truffle peas and rice, caviar and foie gras here and there, and oxtails." - Brittany Britto Garley