LOCAL Houston | The City Guide February 2018 | Page 20

FOOD | ARTS | COMMUNITY | STYLE+LEISURE ‘This is not an easy job. You will work all weekends, every holiday. All your friends will make more money than you. Family life is tough. If you are okay with all that I will sign you up. ’ Scallops Tuna Crudo The next day Trace began at the bottom of the kitchen hierarchy, working every stage of the brigade from chef garde manger to sous chef de cuisine – for the lunch shift and then repeating the entire process for the evening shift. He still clings to those classic techniques. Trace calls it the “see it, touch it, feel it method.” “Nothing wrong with sous-vide but it’s not for me.” This philosophy is evident in the succulent Brasato di Costine, the forever braised boneless short ribs – deliriously tender, aggressively and delightfully seasoned, sitting, oh, so pretty on the tiniest slices of fingerling potatoes and a sauté of robust Swiss chard. He procures for Potente from local growers who truck in high-quality seasonal produce. Trace laughs, “I have a farmers market on my loading dock!” Years earlier, his Cajun grandfather instilled in him a love of fresh food. “He lived in Kenner. He was a coon ass – the real deal – real country. Took me hunting for ducks, geese, doves, gators. He had a garden, too. We would hunt and harvest okra and then we would cook it. My mom showed me how to handle a wild rabbit – soak it in vinegar before cooking. Fried fish. We would catch frogs and cook them up,” recalls Trace. When he wasn’t eating local homegrown foods, he ate Italian. “My grandmother was Italian from New Jersey. When we ate out, we ate Italian.” Hints of these early years meshed with Trace’s training and regional ingredients peek thru on the Quaglia – hill country quail with its wondrous fig and duck confit stuffing, a brush POTENTE stroke of marsala espresso lacquer, a fried quail egg and a slice of prosciutto anchoring the bird to the plate. “This is my food – French, Creole, Texas, Italian, all on this one dish. It is definitely a reflection of my training, my work experience and my childhood,” says Trace. Trace is continually tweaking menu items, in search of something different. Premise-made sourdough bread is accompanied with a white bean, roasted artichoke hummus with toasted garlic piquant with a reduced balsamic vinegar glaze. A savory squid ink macaron with a crème fraiche and chive filling as an amuse-bouche sets the tone for an evening of delicious, elegant repast. “I want to do something that no one else is doing,” he says. I would say he has deliciously achieved his goal. 1515 Texas Ave. | Houston, TX 77002 713.237.1515 | [email protected] www.potentehouston.com 20 L O C A L | 2 . 2018 2 . 2018 | L O C A L 21