Wooster’s Garden Brings Back Popular Sunday Pop-ups

Sundays just got a little more exciting for those plugged into the Houston food scene. Each Sunday afternoon from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. starting this Sunday, January 7, Wooster’s Garden in Midtown will again host its popular chef-driven pop-up, the Kitchen Takeover Sunday.

Kicking off the 2018 pop-up series is chef Ben McPherson, an alum of Batanga, Prohibition, and most recently, the culinary mind behind the fast casual Krisp Bird & Batter. McPherson will be offering a sneak peek at his upcoming original concept, BOH, which will debut at Bravery Food Hall in Aris Market Square in early summer of 2018.

“For the pop-up I am featuring some pastas that are near and dear to my heart,” says McPherson. “I spent the first seven years of my career cooking Italian. These pastas highlight it. I am taking it a little further where the pastas will be made out of local farm eggs and heirloom flours that have had freshly milled just for this event.”

Here’s the menu McPherson is planning on serving for the event: spaghetti carbonara with bacon, caramelized onion, peas, egg yolk, black pepper, and parmesan; lasagna bolognese with a veal bolognese sauce; pappardelle with braised duck ragu, ricotta salata, pistaschio, and green olive; and brandade gnocchi featuring clams, capers, and parsley sauce. Dishes will be priced from $12 to $16.

Photos: William Hardin, Stewart Martin, Courtesy of Dory Fung, Aisha Khan, Julie Soefer

The rest of the January chef lineup is set as well. On Sunday, January 14, chef Gary Ly (former chef de cuisine of Underbelly) will collaborate with pastry chef Dory Fung, whose resume includes Yauatcha, Aqui, and Houston Country Club.

Sunday, January 21 will feature chef Hieu Truong of Aqui. Then Patrick Feges of the upcoming Feges Barbecue is taking over on Sunday, January 28.

Brandon Silva, culinary director of Kirby Group (which owns Wooster’s, Heights Bier Garten, Worcester's Annex, and the upcoming Holman Draft Hall), says that the plan is to have a guest chef every Sunday from here on out, adding, “Interested chefs should contact me.”

Bonus: One of the best things about the Sunday Kitchen Takeovers at Wooster’s is the first hour of it coincides with Wooster’s Happy Hour, which runs from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Sundays, and features half off all 45 house cocktails, along with $3 beer and half-off wines by the glass.