One of the most anticipated new restaurants of the year has opened.
Located at 250 W. 19th Street in the Highlands, Agnes and Sherman is a restaurant that features Asian-American home cooking in the former Alice Blue space. The project is the brainchild of Houston veteran chef Nick Wong and his business partner, Lisa Lee, a first-time restaurateur with experience at tech companies like DoorDash and Facebook. Wong is best known locally for his tenure as executive chef at UB Preserv, where he led the global fusion restaurant to Texas Monthly’s 2018 Best New Restaurant.
“As a uniquely Houston restaurant, we aspire to be a neighborhood restaurant in the city that amplifies the meaning of American culture, tells stories through food, and combines socially responsible business practices to promote equality and equity in society,” the restaurant’s website states.
At Agnes and Sherman, Wong has created a menu of dishes that puts his own spin on classic comfort foods. One example is the scallion waffle, which brings the flavor of traditional Chinese scallion pancakes to breakfast cuisine, with sambal sauce for added heat. Chicken fried steak is drizzled with gravy inspired by bo kho, a Vietnamese beef stew. Steak fries are served with fries, prepared the same way as the Chinese staple salt-and-pepper seafood. Other dishes on the menu include Korean rice cakes with beef sauce, al pastor fried rice, fried crab rangoons, and a Chinese barbecue club sandwich made with barbecued pork and ginger-scallion mayonnaise. Burger Bodega owner Abbas Dhanani showed off some of the restaurant’s dishes on Instagram.
General manager Pam Cantu, whose resume includes Uchi, Rosie Cannonball and Bludorn, has curated a wine list that features both traditional and natural wines, available by the glass or bottle. Bar director David Perez (Lei Low, Maven)’s cocktail menu puts Asian twists on classic drinks like the Pandan Pina Colada and Bamboo Martini.
“Everywhere I’ve lived and worked, I’ve felt unfulfilled, restless, and always had to prove my worth to survive. So I’m excited to make this dream come true in Houston, a city that has welcomed me so warmly from day one,” Huang wrote on the restaurant’s website. “I’ve found a deep community and culture here that I can’t touch no matter how hard I dig. I hope our little restaurant can add to the city’s character, but more importantly, I hope it can become a home for Houstonians, just as Houston has become a home for me.”
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