Barbecue for a Cause

Top Texas BBQ joints team up for Cafe Momentum blowout benefit

For its next pop-up dinner on July 7, Cafe Momentum is embracing summertime with a full-on barbecue picnic. Executive director Chad Houser and the young men of Youth Village Resources of Dallas are teaming up with top barbecue joints Pecan Lodge, Lockhart Smokehouse, Stanley's, Slow Bone and Joseph's Riverport Barbecue in Jefferson, Texas, for a meaty end to Fourth of July weekend.

Slow Bone is hosting the “pitmasters dinner” in which five pitmasters — one other barbecue joint has tentatively signed on — will serve a main meat and side. Houser calls it “a celebration of gratitude.”

There will be tents set up in Slow Bone’s parking lot, and a band will provide live entertainment. It’s considerably different from usual Cafe Momentum dinners.

“We’re going to sell 200 tickets for $50 each, beginning on June 23,” Houser says. “The idea for us is twofold. The first is to increase the opportunity for those who can’t get in to the normal dinners. The second is to offer something at a lower price than the typical $100 or $200 per seat, but guests still get to interact with the guys from Cafe Momentum.”

The pitmasters dinner will also be a change of pace for the young men, who are used to a more dining formal atmosphere. Instead of helping to prep, cook, plate and serve four courses, they’ll be working with each pitmaster to clear tables and hand out food at the tents.

“Part of what we want to do is expose the young men to different facets of the industry,” Houser says. “This is a wonderful opportunity to do that.”

Slow Bone co-owner Jack Perkins says the barbecue lineup is stellar; all of the other participating restaurants made Texas Monthly’s best barbecue list. Slow Bone is the newcomer, having opened in April.

Houser credits Perkins for being the driving force behind the dinner. If it proves successful, Houser wants to make it an annual event.

“The response for this, at our last dinner at Five Sixty, was overwhelming,” he says. “There are seven $1,000 sponsorships between the five pitmasters, the band and Hypnotic Donuts doing dessert, and we sold five of them at that dinner.”

Cafe Momentum is also busy implementing a $175,000 grant from the United Way. Current plans including additional staff, an improved database to help the Youth Village boys get placement, a permanent office location and a catering venture. “Everyone at United Way has invested time and energy and given us an unbelievable amount of resources, from accounting to office space,” Houser says.

“It’s not just my dining room anymore. It’s been all the way from business advisors to networking to nonprofit help. I don’t think you could put a price tag on that.”

As for the upcoming dinner, there are few details about which pitmaster will cook which meat, but Perkins says to expect anything.

“We’re going to do the barbecue standards like brisket and sausage. But you never know. They might pull something out of their ass and do something crazy.”

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Tickets for the pitmasters dinner go on sale Sunday, June 23, at 8 pm.

Cafe Momentum's July benefit dinner will be a more casual affair with top Texas BBQ and live entertainment.

Pecan Lodge Catering Facebook

Cafe Momentum's July benefit dinner will be a more casual affair with top Texas BBQ and live entertainment.

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Sushi News

Frisco sushi restaurant Hinoki does a slimmed-down twist on omakase

Thanin Viriyaki

Hinoki

A new sushi restaurant has debuted in Frisco with a mini version of omakase: Called Hinoki, it's open for lunch and dinner at 8050 Preston Rd. #106, in a space previously occupied by another short-lived Asian restaurant called Imura, and is serving seafood both raw and cooked.

Hinoki is from chef Leo Kekoa, who previously worked for the acclaimed Nobu chain and who also owns the popular Kinzo Sushi in north Frisco, which he opened in 2022 to bring omakase to Frisco.

Omakase is the dining experience in which the chef prepares a multi-course tasting menu of small bites made to order, often at a premium price. While omakase has no set number of dishes, it usually ranges from 10 to 20 courses depending on how excessive the chef/restaurant is.

Hinoki offers a six-course menu they describe as omakase for $75. It's a starter version that rotates but usually includes a sushi course, oyster topped with caviar, soup, galbi, and mochi dessert. The restaurant also has a regular a la carte menu featuring sushi, hot items, and composed bentos boxes for lunch.

Hinoki sushi HinokiThanin Viriyaki

"Kinzo is my fine-dining omakase restaurant," Kekoa says. "Hinoki is designed as its more casual counterpart — still rooted in discipline and detail, but more accessible."

Kekoa created the menu but he says it’s a team effort, with two veteran chefs: Chikau "Harry" Kikuchi, who brings 25-plus years of experience to the sushi counter (he and Kekoa worked together at Nobu); and chef Sachiko Hashimoto presiding over the hot line and overseeing the preparation of Hinoki's home-style and regional Japanese dishes.

No sushi restaurant can ignore basics like the spicy tuna roll, California roll, dragon roll, and shrimp tempura roll, but Hinoki also has a few of distinctive rolls such as the Kumo roll with crab, avocado, and chipotle aioli, wrapped in soy paper, which has a pleasing texture that's a little more toothsome than the standard crisp seaweed wrapper.

There are creative bowls as the Sake Dashi, featuring sushi-grade raw salmon, Asian pear, crushed marcona almonds, yuzu shirodashi, and truffle oil; and hot dishes such as miso black cod, teriyaki salmon, and Kushiyaki skewers with chicken thigh, kurobuta sausage, and shishito pepper. Most items average about $20.

Kekoa calls his lunch offering "honest and efficient."

"We’re bringing back the Japanese bento [referring to the cute boxed lunch with compartments for courses], such as our chirashi bento with fish, sushi rolls, and seaweed salad," he says.

Hinoki also has a full bar with sake, wine, beer, and cocktails.

Kekoa lives in Frisco and is bullish on his hometown.

"With Universal Studios on the way and PGA nearby, I believe this city deserves a neighborhood sushi spot done right," he says. "I want Hinoki to bring fine-dining service at a price more people can enjoy."

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