LOCAL Houston | The City Guide January 2018 | Page 12

FOOD | ARTS | COMMUNITY | STYLE+LEISURE
DINE WRITE
NEW HEIGHTS
MAISON PUCHA SOARS ON THE STRENGTH OF FAMILY
By Janice Schindeler
Photography by Sarah Miller
Ceviche
Steak Frites
12.17.2017
5:24pm
Skuna Bay Salmon
“NO ENGLISH. NO MONEY. MANY BILLS TO PAY.”
MANUEL PUCHA, executive chef and, with three of his brothers, owner of the refined, recently opened French
restaurant, Maison Pucha, in the Heights area, matter-of-factly explains how he found his passion. His simple statement
illustrates the adage that there are many paths to success. Some aspiring chefs attend culinary programs, two-year
community colleges or the four years of intense study at prestigious and expensive culinary schools. Manuel simply
went to work in a kitchen as a result of necessity.

“My family moved from Ecuador to NYC. I needed to help pay bills. In Ecuador, I studied art for three years. But here,
I had to work.” And he got lucky scoring a job during the glory days of the popular Union Square restaurant Steak
Frites, learning the hospitality business from the bottom up and falling in love with it.

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“At first it was just a job, a paycheck. But after a while, you get to love it. I put
in hard work and think, why not pursue this as a career?”
He learned on the job from some of the best in NYC, absorbing French
techniques and a reverence for tradition and fatefully crossing paths with
Philippe Schmit. When Schmit came to Houston to open Bistro Moderne,
Manuel came, too. When Schmit opened Philippe, Manuel was there –
cooking, learning, absorbing and taking notes.
“What I love about French cuisine – all the dishes, escargot, duck confit, beef
bourguignon – everything was invented centuries ago. All the classics – people
have expectations.”
A plate is like a canvas.
But a canvas can take
three months or more
to paint. A plate – in a
matter of minutes – you
have to create in the
moment
At Maison Pucha he honors traditional preparation techniques, adds a few flairs
from Ecuador and feels that his job is to be creative in plating, adding “lots of
color, lots of movement, lots of volume.”
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