Bryan Caswell is Back in the Culinary Spotlight He Helped Shine on Houston

It seems like only yesterday when Bryan Caswell was doing Houston proud as one of the It Boys of the industry – a hotshot chef with his own game-changing restaurant landing on the cover of Food & Wine’s Best New Chefs issue in 2009. 

Today, he’s not the same man. Or the same chef. But he remembers what that bolt of electricity felt like when his game-changing Gulf Coast cuisine was recognized by elite national press. It was the start of a glorious era when Houston became known as one of the country’s greatest dining cities. Caswell’s was a food story that kept on giving. 

It still is. On a recent visit to New York for an epic Food & Wine reunion of Best New Chefs alums, Caswell got to meet up with industry veterans and peers who are still duking it out in the unforgiving restaurant business – and who are still loving the work. 

“I got to see old friends and rekindle old relationships,” he said. “It was exciting because it reaffirmed everything I knew and thought about the industry.” 

Lightning can strike twice, too. He came to the reunion with a new restaurant and new energy in his game. He credits Latuli founder Allison Knight with the vision, leadership and energy that makes it possible for him to thrive in the kitchen. 

Knight’s stewardship – and her role in the restaurant’s success since Day One – made Caswell’s Food & Wine reunion that much sweeter, he said. 

With his new partner, a new bounce in his step, Caswell is back again. Houston couldn’t be happier.