Montrose Restaurants offer top-notch dining diversity

This is a guest post by Den Hensel

There’s probably no other neighborhood in the City of Houston that has a selection of dining options as concentrated, diverse and celebrated at the Montrose Management District.

This year, My Table’s Houston Culinary Awards, recognized several of the community’s finest restaurants, such as Indika, Underbelly, Canopy, L’Olivier, Uchi, Petite Sweets and more.

In addition to rocking the categories for fabulous cuisine, there was one Montrose waterhole that made its mark with three nominees in the category for Best Mixologist: Bobby Heugel, Alba Huerta and Matt Tanner. Nominated for Favorite Pub, Hay Merchant on Westheimer offers more than 70 beers and ales on tap, as well as a tasty selection of shareable bites, burgers, barbecue, gumbo and duck confit.

It’s no wonder that Hay Merchant’s Antoine Ware was also nominated for Chef of the Year, along with Olivier Ciesielski of L’Olivier on Lower Westheimer, and Anita Jaisinghani of Indika on Westheimer near Montrose. Jaisinghani was also nominated for Restaurateur of the Year. She’s in good company for that category, joined by Claire Smith of Canopy and Shade, Chris Shepherd of Underbelly, Marco Wiles of Da Marco, and Tracy Vaught of Hugo’s.

Hugo’s was also nominated for the Houston Classic award a restaurant in business for 10 years or more, following in the footsteps of last year’s winner, Niko Niko’s on Montrose. Uchi and Underbelly, both popular new spots, are in the running for Best New Restaurant (open since 2011).

If dining al fresco on a cool autumn night sound inviting, you’ll enjoy Baba Yaga on Grant Street–one block off Montrose. It’s another culinary awards nominee noted for its fabulous Sunday brunch overlooking a courtyard ruled by the relaxing sounds of a waterfall.

Need a bite after hours? Both Little Big’s on Montrose and BB’s Montrose location were both nominated for Favorite Late Night Spot.  Dessert?  Nominee Petite Sweets on West Alabama will satisfy your craving for Belgian chocolate, gelato, macarons, and other surprising confections.

And finally, nothing finishes a meal like the perfect cup of java. Black Hole on Graustark, Inversion on Montrose, and Paulie’s on Westheimer offer the perfect environments for sipping your favorite blend, and all three were also nominated for Houston Culinary Awards.

Head over to www.houstonculinaryawards.com and show your support for the best culinary scene in the city.