LOCAL Houston | The City Guide October 2017 | Page 20

“I am here all the time and rarely if ever get out to eat anywhere. But once a week I gotta have my corned beef on rye.“ Riel goose liver in a stunningly sweet toffee sauce tempered with pork blood. Try it. I loved it. He calls it their “offal dessert.” Togarashi – not French but Japanese – is a peppery spice mix tossed with the sunflower seeds in the most delectable compressed watermelon and chilled slabs of chevre salad in town. As to the Asian influence, Lachaine says, “Everywhere I've worked used Asian favors so I decided to as well.” But once again he adds his own spin – in the Fried Rice with rock shrimp, Chinese sausage, ginger, duck yolk and sesame seeds. The purposely overcooked rice is spread out on trays to dry a bit, then deep fried to puff them up before being stir fried with the balance of the ingredients. The results – spectacularly textural and deliriously delicious. Currently, the menu is in transition, with seasonally responsive items being introduced weekly, such as the rare to medium rare, sliced and fanned duck breast with a charred apple and fennel salad and a generous smear of aggressively seasoned and wonderfully orange acorn squash puree. As the weather chills, Lachaine will add the quintessential French Canadian meat pie, the Tourtiere, and, of course, the Ukrainian standard Borscht. Of his adopted home city, Lachaine, a grad of Art Institute Culinary program, loves the camaraderie among his peers but bemoans the lack of neighborhood delis. “I am here all the time and rarely if ever get out to eat anywhere. But once a week I gotta have my corned beef on rye. In Winnipeg there was a Jewish deli on every corner. Here I have to drive out to NY Bagels and Deli in Meyerland.” Lachaine is a modest guy. Neither he nor his menu tout the fact that he supports local farmers and meat growers, believes in tail to snout usage, and that he opened his heart and kitchen to the hurricane flood victims. But he does and he did. Through the Midtown Kitchen Collective, he and his kitchen pushed out endless deep trays of bolognese and pasta. And most recently participated in Feast PDX in Portland, cooking in a massive event to raise funds for relief from the most recent fire and rain horrors – the Wildfires of the Pacific Northwest and the Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund. RIEL 1927 Fairview St. | Houston, TX 77019 | 832.831.9109 [email protected] | www.rielhtx.com 20 L O C A L | 10 . 2017