NEW RESTAURANTS, TOP 10 KOLACHES: ENERGY CORRIDOR IS THE PLACE TO BE

KOLACHE BAR ON THE HOUSTON CHRONICLE'S TOP 8 LIST

The Energy Corridor District's very own Kolache Bar was named by The Houston Chronicle as one of the region's Top 8 places to eat the popular Czech pastry.

"It's the secret ingredient," owner Henry Muon says, explaining what makes the kolaches at 1275 Eldridge Parkway so delicious.

"And, tons of years in food practice," he adds laughing, running through the family's storied history owning Italian, seafood and Thai restaurants everywhere from California to Crockett, Texas. "So, we took all that and put it in our kolaches."

Muon's family immigrated from Cambodia beginning with his father in 1975. Muon, though, remained trapped for another five years and didn't make it to California to join his family until 1980. There, the family began their restaurant journey, opening their first in San Francisco.

In 2008, they brought their culinary experience to Texas when a cousin of Muon's wife, Thida, asked them to help out at a seafood restaurant they owned in Palestine. Finally, after trying and failing to get a restaurant going in Crockett, the family brought their talents to Houston, settling down just before Harvey to open their Energy Corridor kolache bakery.

They now have four Kolache Bars in the Houston area, including on Westheimer, Katy and Cypress.

"The Energy Corridor is the best one. We have more variety than the other stores," Muon said. "Kolaches are the hot thing in Texas so we have to be unique, our bread had to be one of kind."

Most of the innovations originate with customers and are then perfected by Thida Muon, who is proud to cook everything from Asian-style seafood to etoufee.

All that knowledge and love goes into the fresh, soft kolache dough, with the most popular being the Kolache Bar Bomber, the bacon, egg and cheese and the brisket. The Muons, though, know they cater to a diverse audience, including many with dietary restrictions, so they offer vegetarian kolaches as well as some with turkey or beef sausage in addition to the more traditional pork.

"This is many years of trial and error," Muon said.

PHO BINH EXPANDS RESTAURANT FAMILY TO ENERGY CORRIDOR

The Pho Binh family of restaurants is opening its latest in The Energy Corridor District, bringing its popular pork sandwich, traditional pho and noodle dishes to Resilience.

The new restaurant at 1140 Eldridge Parkway is opening January 26, making it the 8th location.

"What makes us different is we have a full bar," said Vivian Nguyen, who will be overseeing The Energy Corridor District restaurant. "This location will have handcrafted cocktails and syrups."

The menu will be the same as the Pho Binh restaurant in the Heights and expand further to offer fun and innovative dishes.

The first Pho Binh restaurant, Pho Binh Trailer, opened 40 years ago in southeast Houston at 10928 Beamer Road shortly after Daniel Nguyen and his parents immigrated from Vietnam in 1975. Since then, the family has opened restaurants all around the region from Chinatown in Houston to Katy.

Meanwhile, Nguyen's parents have retired to Vietnam and as he continues to expand the Pho Binh brands he is ensuring to continue their legacy and cultural traditions in big and little ways.

"We wanted to create something that pays homage to what my parents did," he said.

At the Energy Corridor location, this is apparent from the restaurant's name to the small golden teardrop sculptures -- a traditional Vietnamese decoration -- that line the walls. The family has also selected the lotus flower -- Vietnam's national flower -- for its logo and named the Energy Corridor restaurant "Resilience."

The lotus flower represents purity and, because it rises from the ground to transform into something beautiful, it also signifies resilience, Vivian Nguyen explained.

"After the war, our people went through a lot to get to where we are," she said. "We don't want to forget that."

PEACOCK INDIAN RESTAURANT BRINGS AUTHENTIC CUISINE TO ENERGY CORRIDOR

FOUR FRIENDS FROM INDIA OPEN RESTAURANT ON ELDRIDGE PARKWAY

Ramesh Jayaramam and Kranthi Pallegar, both of southern India, met in Houston three years ago. Sharing a culture and a love of Indian food, they began planning how they disseminate it further to others in Houston.

They looked at locations on Hillcroft. They discussed other parts of Houston. They considered a catering business.

"We finally honed in on the Energy Corridor because of the corporate clientele," Pallegar said. "We can give them breakfast, a quick lunch or a long leisurely lunch ... it gives them an option that isn't fast food but rather an option for quality time and good cuisine."

From the food to the culture to the restaurant's name _ Peacock _ the restaurant is designed to bring India's rich heritage to its customers. The peacock, Pallegar said, is India's national bird and its colorful feathers are believed to represent the different cultures, languages and people in the vast country.

Pallegar, who has a day job working in the steel industry, two other co-owners who work as software engineers and Jayaramam wanted to bring all of India's diversity and rich heritage to the Energy Corridor.

Jayaramam, a professionally trained chef who worked as a chef at India's luxury Taj Hotels, heads the Peacock kitchen at 1275 Eldridge Parkway, ensuring the spices are imported from India and have the right flavor, that the halal meat is of high quality and that the spice level of the food caters to various palates.

Pallegar, a lifelong vegetarian who has found that in the United States chefs that cook good meat-based dishes lack on the vegetarian front and vice versa. But Jayaramam has nailed both, making him truly unique, he said.

"To make good vegetarian food is an art ... and Ramesh can do that," he says proudly.

The restaurant opened in October, right before the holiday season when The Energy Corridor District thins out as people leave for the holidays. Still, largely through word of mouth, Peacock has seen business steadily increase each month.

"it's an exciting journey to talk to so many people and interact with them," Pallegar said. "The greatest part is seeing someone enjoy the food. You see it on their face."

VIOLENT CRIME DOWN IN 2022,

FLOCK CAMERAS HELP SOLVE CRIME

2022 IN REVIEW

The Houston Police Department recently shared crime statistics for 2022 that showed violent crime had decreased in the city overall and in The Energy Corridor District in particular.

The image shown here is for the Northwest Division, though the Energy Corridor is in part overseen also by HPD's Westside Command. Both presented 2022 statistics showing similar downward trends for both violent crime and thefts and burglaries.

The divisions attributed the decrease to the $53 million investment in the One Safe Houston program and to new technologies. One Safe Houston takes a holistic approach to battling crime, including tackling some of the underlying social issues that lead to crime, such as economic uncertainty and mental health.

HPD and Harris County Precinct 5 have also invested in and relied on newer technologies, such as Flock cameras. The Flock cameras, which are situated through the Energy Corridor, take images of license plates that can then be used by officers to track down vehicles suspected of being associated with a crime. The officers say the technology has already helped them arrest suspects and close investigations. They expect that as more cameras are deployed their usefulness will increase.