Memorial Examiner - News
redefining houston’s tastes
 |
| The signature dish: churrasco with chimichurri. |
By JENNIFER HEATH
This isn’t Michael Cordua’s dream.
He wanted to create the restaurant that existed only when he closed his eyes.
He wanted to open a legendary company, a place where he would not be considered a cook, but a chef.
He wanted to share his Latin American background with anyone who loved to eat, loved food and loved the art of dining out.
But he didn’t.
Cordua admits his restaurants are not even close to what he wanted to create decades ago.
They’re more than what he ever imagined.
“Let’s put it this way,” he says. “My dreams could not contain my reality. What I‘ve learned, I‘ve learned that my dreams can not contain me.”
Cordua has created a Latin American monopoly in Houston with his legendary restaurants Churrascos, Americas, Amazon Grill and Artista. This year, Cordua celebrates his 20th year on the Houston restaurant scene.
First Course
Cordua began tinkering with the idea of cooking in the early 1980s. He left his homeland of Nicaragua and traveled to Houston where he worked in the shipping industry. He loved to cook, but held himself back, because his culture had taught him that men were not supposed to be in the kitchen.
“But this kept calling me,” Cordua says. “I was still young enough to believe that you do what you like, and the money will eventually follow.”
He didn’t know if Houston was ready for a Latin American restaurant, though. Dining out 20 years ago still meant either a fat filet and a buttery baked potato or Tex-Mex tortillas filled at the local cantina.
Cordua purposely chose not to attend culinary school or even work in the food industry. He wanted to create a restaurant from the client’s perspective, something he knew so well. He made decisions based on what he would want if he chose to eat out.
“I think a restaurant needs to try to create unforgettable pleasures. That’s what it should do,“ he says. “Those plantain chips were the best mistake I ever made. They cost a fortune. It was stupid to do it.”
The homemade, hand-peeled chips and chimichurri sauce greet customers at all of Cordua’s restaurants. It’s not cheap, but it’s what Cordua would want if he were a customer.
That theme vibrated on through his other creations.
Main Course
Soon after opening, Cordua had plans to move the original Churrascos restaurant into a more up-and-coming neighborhood in Houston. However, when he went to the bank to get financing, the banker told Cordua he needed to open a second restaurant instead.
So before Cordua’s premiere restaurant reached its first anniversary mark, plans began to open a second location.
In 1993, he ventured into Americas, a restaurant unlike Churrascos. This time, Cordua wanted to create not just a restaurant, but a sculpture. He hired Chicago architect Jordan Mozer to design an unforgettable experience to the eyes to accompany the experience to the mouth the food would produce.
The walls became baskets, a symbol of the way the country weaves together people from all different backgrounds. The lights became unique chandeliers that featured unused bomb casings as their centerpiece. The stone walls became a way to show off the hand tiled tree that pierces through the second floor dining room.
The price tag became out-of-control.
“We overshot our budget for this restaurant by 600 percent,” Cordua says about Americas on Post Oak.
Cordua offered the contractors and workers equity or a personal note guaranteeing their pay. No one took the equity.
“The restaurant wasn’t an instant success,” he says. “It wasn’t until ‘Esquire’ magazine voted us the best new restaurant. Then the people followed.”
And so did the accolades.
“Food and Wine” magazine named Cordua one of the best new chefs in 1994. Slowly Cordua saw more people come into his restaurants expecting something different than the typical.
“You won’t find any weird ingredients or something that you have to have an acquired taste for,” he says. “We just try to create unforgettable pleasures.”
The highlight is still the churrasco steak, a char-grilled, center-cut masterpiece. However, the menu changes with new dishes making their way alongside the classics. The mantra for the menu has to fit within the four corners of Cordua’s vision. The food must be "yummy, Latin, artistic and of value."
Bill Osterhout, Cordua’s Chief Marketing Officer and the former part-owner of Saltgrass Steakhouse, says Cordua can create a symphony of flavors like no other.
“Nobody is better at food. Period,” Osterhout said. “Nobody has the food savvy like Michael does.”
Finale
Cordua went on to create Amazon Grill, a family-friendly, self-serve Latin American restaurant in 1999 because he had children of his own. Later in 2002, he built Artista on the second floor of the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts after his proposal was chosen as the winning concept.
The newest endeavors for Cordua include the opening of another Americas restaurant on Waterway Avenue in the Woodlands. He also has ventured into catering, Michael Cordua Events, where clients can count on his Latin hospitality to resonate through the food, decorations and event planning.
Americas on Post Oak Boulevard will also go through a major change. In Fall 2009, the restaurant will move next door into a new area of the Pavilion Mall it currently occupies. The current Americas will be demolished.
Next fall, another Churrascos will open in Sugar Land on Highway 6 near Whole Foods Market. Cordua would love to see his restaurants spread to Austin, Dallas and San Antonio.
Despite the company’s appetite for growth, the economy hasn’t overlooked this multi-million dollar business.
Osterhout estimated Churrasco’s is down 5 percent from where it was last year in sales. Part of that decrease can be blamed on Hurricane Ike. Americas on Post Oak is down 26 percent from this time last year. They blame those low numbers on the construction in the building for the new Americas.
“By industry standards, those are pretty good numbers for upscale dining right now,” Osterhout said. “We’re holding our own.”
Cordua credits the continued success to his food and the experience he creates for his customers.
“You can go have a New York strip in about 15 great steakhouses in Houston,” he says. “But if you want to have a churrasco, it’s here.”
Who would have dreamed that one day Houston would be known for its Latin-American cuisine?
Michael Cordua.
Cordua Bites
- From a typical 2,000-pound steer, only 10 churrascos can be made.
- The homemade plantain chips are made fresh for lunch and again for dinner.
- The tres leches is made fresh everyday. Legend has it that the tres leches cake came from the back of a Nestle can of condensed milk. The Cordua family perfected the traditional tres leches cake to create their own.
- The company buys 10,000 pounds of plantains a week.
- Cordua buys all his beef from Austin.
- Cordua employees more than 600 people in his company.
- When guests fill out comment cards, those remarks -- whether good or bad -- are shared company-wide.
- “Esquire” magazine named the churrasco one of the 20 Best Steaks in America in the September 2008 issue.
- Cordua and his wife, Lucia, were childhood friends in Nicaragua. They have four children, and their son David, is the Vice President of Brand Development for the company.
- In Fall 2009, Americas on Post Oak will open in its new location next door to the current restaurant. The current Americas on Post Oak will close the day the new Americas location opens. Also, Churrascos in Sugar Land will open.
A RESTAURANT EMPIRE
www.cordua.com
Amazon Grill
- 5114 Kirby Drive
713-522-5888
- 9600 Westheimer
713-933-0980
Americas
- 1800 Post Oak Boulevard in the Pavilion Mall
713-961-1492
- 21 Waterway Avenue, The Woodlands
281-367-1492
Artista
-800 Bagby in the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts
713-278-4782
Churrascos
- 2055 Westheimer at Shepherd
713-527-8300
- 9705 Westheimer at Gessner
713-952-1988
Cordua Catering
- 1050 Post Oak
713-961-0911
He wanted to create the restaurant that existed only when he closed his eyes.
He wanted to open a legendary company, a place where he would not be considered a cook, but a chef.
He wanted to share his Latin American background with anyone who loved to eat, loved food and loved the art of dining out.
But he didn’t.
Cordua admits his restaurants are not even close to what he wanted to create decades ago.
They’re more than what he ever imagined.
“Let’s put it this way,” he says. “My dreams could not contain my reality. What I‘ve learned, I‘ve learned that my dreams can not contain me.”
Cordua has created a Latin American monopoly in Houston with his legendary restaurants Churrascos, Americas, Amazon Grill and Artista. This year, Cordua celebrates his 20th year on the Houston restaurant scene.
First Course
Cordua began tinkering with the idea of cooking in the early 1980s. He left his homeland of Nicaragua and traveled to Houston where he worked in the shipping industry. He loved to cook, but held himself back, because his culture had taught him that men were not supposed to be in the kitchen.
“But this kept calling me,” Cordua says. “I was still young enough to believe that you do what you like, and the money will eventually follow.”
He didn’t know if Houston was ready for a Latin American restaurant, though. Dining out 20 years ago still meant either a fat filet and a buttery baked potato or Tex-Mex tortillas filled at the local cantina.
Cordua purposely chose not to attend culinary school or even work in the food industry. He wanted to create a restaurant from the client’s perspective, something he knew so well. He made decisions based on what he would want if he chose to eat out.
“I think a restaurant needs to try to create unforgettable pleasures. That’s what it should do,“ he says. “Those plantain chips were the best mistake I ever made. They cost a fortune. It was stupid to do it.”
The homemade, hand-peeled chips and chimichurri sauce greet customers at all of Cordua’s restaurants. It’s not cheap, but it’s what Cordua would want if he were a customer.
That theme vibrated on through his other creations.
Main Course
Soon after opening, Cordua had plans to move the original Churrascos restaurant into a more up-and-coming neighborhood in Houston. However, when he went to the bank to get financing, the banker told Cordua he needed to open a second restaurant instead.
So before Cordua’s premiere restaurant reached its first anniversary mark, plans began to open a second location.
In 1993, he ventured into Americas, a restaurant unlike Churrascos. This time, Cordua wanted to create not just a restaurant, but a sculpture. He hired Chicago architect Jordan Mozer to design an unforgettable experience to the eyes to accompany the experience to the mouth the food would produce.
The walls became baskets, a symbol of the way the country weaves together people from all different backgrounds. The lights became unique chandeliers that featured unused bomb casings as their centerpiece. The stone walls became a way to show off the hand tiled tree that pierces through the second floor dining room.
The price tag became out-of-control.
“We overshot our budget for this restaurant by 600 percent,” Cordua says about Americas on Post Oak.
Cordua offered the contractors and workers equity or a personal note guaranteeing their pay. No one took the equity.
“The restaurant wasn’t an instant success,” he says. “It wasn’t until ‘Esquire’ magazine voted us the best new restaurant. Then the people followed.”
And so did the accolades.
“Food and Wine” magazine named Cordua one of the best new chefs in 1994. Slowly Cordua saw more people come into his restaurants expecting something different than the typical.
“You won’t find any weird ingredients or something that you have to have an acquired taste for,” he says. “We just try to create unforgettable pleasures.”
The highlight is still the churrasco steak, a char-grilled, center-cut masterpiece. However, the menu changes with new dishes making their way alongside the classics. The mantra for the menu has to fit within the four corners of Cordua’s vision. The food must be "yummy, Latin, artistic and of value."
Bill Osterhout, Cordua’s Chief Marketing Officer and the former part-owner of Saltgrass Steakhouse, says Cordua can create a symphony of flavors like no other.
“Nobody is better at food. Period,” Osterhout said. “Nobody has the food savvy like Michael does.”
Finale
Cordua went on to create Amazon Grill, a family-friendly, self-serve Latin American restaurant in 1999 because he had children of his own. Later in 2002, he built Artista on the second floor of the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts after his proposal was chosen as the winning concept.
The newest endeavors for Cordua include the opening of another Americas restaurant on Waterway Avenue in the Woodlands. He also has ventured into catering, Michael Cordua Events, where clients can count on his Latin hospitality to resonate through the food, decorations and event planning.
Americas on Post Oak Boulevard will also go through a major change. In Fall 2009, the restaurant will move next door into a new area of the Pavilion Mall it currently occupies. The current Americas will be demolished.
Next fall, another Churrascos will open in Sugar Land on Highway 6 near Whole Foods Market. Cordua would love to see his restaurants spread to Austin, Dallas and San Antonio.
Despite the company’s appetite for growth, the economy hasn’t overlooked this multi-million dollar business.
Osterhout estimated Churrasco’s is down 5 percent from where it was last year in sales. Part of that decrease can be blamed on Hurricane Ike. Americas on Post Oak is down 26 percent from this time last year. They blame those low numbers on the construction in the building for the new Americas.
“By industry standards, those are pretty good numbers for upscale dining right now,” Osterhout said. “We’re holding our own.”
Cordua credits the continued success to his food and the experience he creates for his customers.
“You can go have a New York strip in about 15 great steakhouses in Houston,” he says. “But if you want to have a churrasco, it’s here.”
Who would have dreamed that one day Houston would be known for its Latin-American cuisine?
Michael Cordua.
Cordua Bites
- From a typical 2,000-pound steer, only 10 churrascos can be made.
- The homemade plantain chips are made fresh for lunch and again for dinner.
- The tres leches is made fresh everyday. Legend has it that the tres leches cake came from the back of a Nestle can of condensed milk. The Cordua family perfected the traditional tres leches cake to create their own.
- The company buys 10,000 pounds of plantains a week.
- Cordua buys all his beef from Austin.
- Cordua employees more than 600 people in his company.
- When guests fill out comment cards, those remarks -- whether good or bad -- are shared company-wide.
- “Esquire” magazine named the churrasco one of the 20 Best Steaks in America in the September 2008 issue.
- Cordua and his wife, Lucia, were childhood friends in Nicaragua. They have four children, and their son David, is the Vice President of Brand Development for the company.
- In Fall 2009, Americas on Post Oak will open in its new location next door to the current restaurant. The current Americas on Post Oak will close the day the new Americas location opens. Also, Churrascos in Sugar Land will open.
A RESTAURANT EMPIRE
www.cordua.com
Amazon Grill
- 5114 Kirby Drive
713-522-5888
- 9600 Westheimer
713-933-0980
Americas
- 1800 Post Oak Boulevard in the Pavilion Mall
713-961-1492
- 21 Waterway Avenue, The Woodlands
281-367-1492
Artista
-800 Bagby in the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts
713-278-4782
Churrascos
- 2055 Westheimer at Shepherd
713-527-8300
- 9705 Westheimer at Gessner
713-952-1988
Cordua Catering
- 1050 Post Oak
713-961-0911
Copyright © 2009 - Houston Community Newspapers Online