Chef-owner Christian Hernandez and his team quietly opened their long-awaited downtown restaurant, Barbacana, in December. Located at 907 Franklin in the former Craft Beer Cellar space on the ground floor of the Bayou Lofts, Hernandez is creating an exciting roster of dishes  built on the foundation of his experiences working at top-level kitchens in Houston, New York City and Mexico City. Barbacana offers multiple dining options, including a tasting experience at the chef’s counter, à la carte offerings in the main dining area, bar bites and lunch. It’s all very on-brand for Houston. The restaurant drips with style and authenticity, and blends swimmingly into its downtown surroundings. Houston Food Finder was invited to try some of the dishes.

As you cross the threshold, your eyes are immediately drawn to the colorful mural behind the host stand from Mexican-born painter and graffiti artist Daniel Anguilu, whose work you may recognize on large-scale walls and freight trains around Houston. It ties together the cool downtown ambiance of an urban loft filled with industrial charm and contemporary comfort accented by mid-century designer furniture in walnut upholstered in Toscana tan and volcanic gray and polished brass fixtures throughout — including in the kitchen and in the well-appointed lavatories. Shelves are bedecked with bespoke tchotchkes and the requisite copies of Larousse Gastronomique, Kitchen Confidential and NOMA cookbooks, though I have no doubts that they’ve all been absorbed by the kitchen staff. Barbacana has an alluring, sharp-yet-unpretentious energy that’s perfect for date night, and it is walking distance from some of Houston’s premier cocktail bars, including Angel Share, One Armed Scissor and Houston Watch Co. Those familiar with the local parlance of our times will recognize that the best word to describe it is “trill”.

The talent behind Barbacana is par excellence thanks to a team of industry veterans, including pastry chef Priscilla Treviño and sous chef Mason Giles. My first point of contact, Nicholas Madison, was a breath of fresh air. Having grown up working in restaurants, I was taught that the guest experience begins as soon as you step foot in the parking lot, but in this case, it was through online messages with Madison, who works as maître’d for the restaurant — a position rarely seen in this day and age. The role was specifically built around him, no doubt after he impressed the team with his effortless savoir faire and protean, outgoing personality. It came as no surprise to learn that Madison also works as an actor, poet and storyteller, and his thoughtful touches ensure each guest arrives and leaves feeling like a celebrity. He is also in charge of booking for the private dining room and can be contacted via email.

Madison was there to greet me upon arrival and walked me to my seat at the chef’s counter where I was left in the very capable hands of general manager and sommelier, Jake Ho. If his name sounds familiar, that’s because he’s also worked for Montrose Cheese & Wine and the Bludorn Hospitality Group, most recently at Bar Bludorn, and was a competitor in last year’s Iron Sommelier. The wine list here is still growing, but already includes a selection of international and domestic wines chosen with food pairings in mind. There’s also a small selection of craft beer and some solid, straightforward house cocktails priced at $14 each.

The music selection gave La Strada brunch vibes and put me in a mood for cocktails. I started with the Spanish Apple, a boozy blend of gin, apple brandy, vermouth and umami bitters served up. It was accompanied by tasty little tapa — a pair of firm and juicy Gordal olives stuffed with mushroom duxelle, breaded and fried. What’s not to love? This riff on one of my favorite drinking snacks — aceitunas crujientes, whets the appetite and keeps things light and social while sipping such a spirituous libation. Other small bites are available on the bar snacks menu, with choices such as Greek Potato Pavé with whipped ricotta and paprika, dry-aged duck rillette and Pain Perdu with pecans, seasonal jam and cinnamon sugar.

Comfortably perched upon a de Sede leather counter stool, I had a bird’s eye view of the open kitchen, which I consider the best seat in the house. The kitchen itself is full of small details to gawk over as you watch the staff move with quiet intensity and precise, exacting motion. It’s a calm, cool and collected parade of thoughtfully curated saucepans and saucier spoons, piping bags and tweezers, all the tools of a gastronomic artist dedicated to an elevated craft. Even during peak dinner hours, it was all inside voices, and I never saw anyone appear flustered or in the weeds. Each station was slick and well-organized, the floors looked clean enough to lay down on (something I seriously considered towards the end of my multi-course tasting), and the staff’s aprons were near-spotless mid-dinner service. What’s more impressive is the fact that the restaurant encourages coursed dining, which requires a greater degree of skill and planning than the ever-so-popular family-style, which has dominated the Houston restaurant scene for over a decade.

There’s something mesmerizing about watching such an efficient back-of-house staff. In one moment, the sous chef meticulously inspected each slice of a carved Texas wagyu Denver steak before it was brought out to a table as chef Hernandez put the finishing touches on an ornate dish with one hand while simultaneously stirring a sauce on the stove beside him with the other. It’s exactly what you’d expect from a chef of Hernandez’s caliber. He worked as a cook at New York City’s Contra before its closure, when it earned a Michelin star in 2017 (the same year I visited the restaurant for the first time, so it blows my mind to think I may have been previously impressed by his wares out of state without knowing) in addition to a stint in Mexico City. In Houston, he honed his skills as chef de cuisine at MARCH and part of the opening team at BCN Taste & Tradition (each awarded a Michelin star in 2024) and other acclaimed restaurants of Houston’s past, including the late Oxheart (now Theodore Rex), Pax Americana and Shade.

At Barbacana, he serves what he calls “Houston-inspired cuisine” made with local and seasonal ingredients and created with a focus on low-waste and sustainability. For my first course I was directed towards the jicama salad on the à la carte menu. It’s not an item I would have gravitated towards on my own, especially against other starters such as bigeye tuna crudo and Texas wagyu carpaccio, but this dark horse was a welcome surprise. The eye-catching roughage evokes the aforementioned murals of Anguilu, assembled with a rainbow of julienned jicama, marinated kohlrabi, flower petals, mango and pepita vinaigrette. It’s creamy, crunchy, tangy and bright with a presentation sure to elicit unusual oohs and ahs for a salad course. The portion is also enough that it could be enjoyed as a light entrée.

As a supplemental hors d’oeuvre between courses, I was served seeded sourdough toast, made in-house and topped with bigeye tuna, whipped, smoked butter, pickled bitter melon and fried anchovies. If it were on the menu as a small bite, I’d happily order it again. This put me in the mood for another cocktail, so I went with The Stoned, which served as a tart, refreshing intermezzo built with gin, grapefruit, peach and apricot served over ice. 

Next, I had the pleasure of indulging in the supreme decadence of the Foie Gras Tart, one of the two tarts currently offered, the other being the Buttered Onion Tart with jumbo crab and celery leaf. A palm-sized pastry shell is filled with beautifully seared foie gras, grapefruit and black pepper honey that pushes the boundaries of flavor intensity and richness. I highly recommend splitting this one with a friend, as a little goes a long way.

The Grilled Gulf Prawns are buttery-soft and succulent, melting away as soon as one touches your tongue. They’re cooked head and tail on over white oak charcoal on a custom live fire grill, concentrating the flavor and giving them a touch of smoky char, served with umami-rich XO sauce and hazelnuts. Other signature items on the à la carte menu include Saucisson à la Mimolette with Robuchon potatoes, Grilled Vermilion Snapper with black lime and caraway and Pollo al Carbon with hibiscus salsa and a mitad y mitad tortilla.

The tasting menu differs, and includes snacks followed by seven courses for $125 with the option to add wine pairings for an additional $75. It currently features yellowtail snapper crudo, crab with buttered onion, cold-smoked red grouper, dry-aged duck, Texas wagyu Denver steak with sunflower suya and fried fufu, and for dessert, a Citrus Financier with grapefruit gel, kumquat creméux, almond ice cream and candied kumquat. I had the pleasure of enjoying the latter with the recommended pairing, a pour of 2001 Château Lafaurie-Peyraguey Sauternes, which would have gone just as well with the foie gras tart. Each dish was finished with the perfect kiss of flaky salt, including the salad and dessert, which added another pop of flavor. 

The last bite was the mignardise course including a toasted coconut husk cherry, chocolate bon bon and a stroopwafel with foie gras caramel. I had a chance to speak with chef Hernandez during this time and was impressed at how affable and down to earth he is, and his passion for his art is palpable. He told me they recently booked the first private dining room buyout, and they are able to create special menus including buffet, prix fixe or à la carte options that cater to different tastes and occasions. A vegetarian version of the tasting menu is also available, and the kitchen can accommodate dietary restrictions and allergens, ideally with a two-day notice.

The newest addition is the lunch menu, available Tuesday through Friday from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m., with exclusive midday bites and handhelds including fattoush salad, mushroom donburi, a fried grouper sandwich with fiery sambal and a stacked veggie sandwich loaded with eggplant, tomato and avocado crème fraîche.

Great for budding foodies, seasoned bon vivants and industry veterans alike, Barbacana offers pared-down, relaxed fine-dining experiences for landmark occasions, a casual meal with friends worth celebrating and my venerable fellow solo diners. While it opened too late for consideration for Houston Food Finder’s Best New Restaurant list for 2024, rest assured that it’s under consideration for this year’s list.

Barbacana is open for lunch Tuesday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., for dinner Tuesday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. and on Saturday from 5 to 10 p.m. Reservations are available on OpenTable and valet parking is priced at $15  on Thursday and Friday.

Mario-Sebastian Berry

Mario-Sebastian Berry is a wine and spirits vendor who has been in the hospitality industry since 2002. Currently, he represents Blanco, Texas-based Andalusia Whiskey Co. He holds numerous wine, beer and spirits certifications including Certified Sommelier. Somehow, he also finds time to be Houston Food Finder’s associate editor and social media manager.