Saturday, September 27, 2008

Beaver’s Ice House – What’s Going On?

Last night I stopped by Beaver’s located at:


2310 Decatur Street Houston Texas 77007
Sawyer @ Washington Avenue
713-864-beav (2328)


after the symphony for a drink and a chat with the new Chef JJ (Jonathan Jones).


JJ has quite the pedigree, having recently worked at Cordova’s Americas in the Woodlands (which I never made it to) and he was founding chef at Max’s Wine Dive (know for its Texas inspired upscale comfort food), amongst many other accomplishments.


I asked JJ what we can expect from Beaver’s as he puts his signature on the place.


Initially, JJ plans to go back to some of the basics, that is Monica Pope’s (founder of t’afia and co-owner of Beaver’s) original recipes designed for Beaver’s and learn what his customers like and do not like. He also plans to add many specials to menu and pump up the desserts a notch or two. JJ and I discussed his admiration for the variety of types of cuisine that represents the Gulf Coast. As JJ said, Beaver’s was never meant to be known as a barbeque place but it got that moniker and it stuck. He plans to continue to tweak the menu with Gulf Coast specialties, representative of the variety of cultures from European, Asian, Creole, and Texan with fresh locally produced food.


Oh - my cocktail was great and strong – to bad I do not remember off the top of my head which one of the special cocktails I had, but I hear they are all delicious (which would be fun to find out myself.) I stopped by with a vegetarian friend and he had Chickpea Two Fry, which he enjoyed. JJ mentioned that the menu will continue to include many vegetarian options, and he is always ready to accommodate vegetarian customers.


I think it is time for me to give Beaver’s Ice House another look see, I suspect something wonderful is happening in the Sixth Ward and I for one, do not want to miss it.