From left to right: Maham Qureshi, Joseph Boudreaux, and Kristine Nguyen were chosen for the September issue. (Courtesy Shakkar, Michael Anthony, and Bludorn)
As someone who’s spent her recent years exploring the culinary treats that Houston has to offer, it’s a relief that the city is finally being acknowledged as the foodie destination it is. Twenty-four magazine issues since Houston was first chosen, the city was front and center again for the September issue of StarChefs Rising Stars magazine. A variety of 22 food professionals were chosen, ranging from chefs to bartenders to bakers.
I was immediately intrigued by the diverse lineup and wanted to find the common thread—why this group? After I interviewed three of the Rising Stars, it became clear that the commonality they all shared was a love for the service industry.
From Pakistan to Houston: How one woman traveled the globe to fulfill her dream
As I made my way through the wide many food stands of POST Houston to find pastry shop Shakkar, I was eager to see the creations I had salivated over on social media in real life. And wouldn’t you know, the first thing I was greeted with was a replica of the bakery’s viral giant croissant.
I sat down with Maham Qureshi, who originally started the business out of her kitchen and eventually opened her brick-and-mortar with the help of her husband in October 2023. But before she was juggling being a business owner and a new mom, Qureshi was a little girl making box cake mixes in her kitchen in Lahore, Pakistan. Her mother was an amazing cook, she told me, but was never into making dessert.
“ Me and my dad have really, really big sweet tooths,” she said. “So my mom would never make dessert for us. And I started trying to make different things.”
“ This is the first time I feel very proud of myself,” Qureshi said. “ It’s nice to see that your effort’s appreciated, and people recognize your effort.” (Courtesy Shakkar)
Though baking was always a fun hobby, it wasn’t until her brother decided to go to culinary school that she saw a career for herself in the industry. Sparking a friendly competition between the two, the siblings moved from their home in Pakistan to the US in 2017. Qureshi obviously still works as a chef. As for her brother? He’s an engineer now.
Qureshi enrolled in the Culinary Institute of America in San Antonio, and went on to work for Houston staples Tiny’s Milk and Cookies, and Magnol French Baking. On the side, she was selling her pastries at farmers markets, longing to develop her own bakery menu one day. Eventually, she decided to quit the 9-5 life and become her own boss.
“ It was a little scary because I went from commercial equipment to a hand crank sheeter at home and a little mini KitchenAid again,” she said.
The hard work paid off, as she now employs a full team to staff the store, and often sells out of items quickly after posting the rotating lineup on social media. Qureshi tried to stick to the same menu for three months straight, but found herself experiencing, in her own words, “the hardest three months of my life,” due to boredom. Now, she sticks to a weekly menu.
The menu usually includes classics like butter croissants and pain au chocolat and then she’ll add in more uncommon items like orange cinny morning buns, dum ka keema (a Pakistani spicy smoked ground beef dish), and aloo paratha (an Indian breakfast flatbread). After the interview, I had my first rose and pistachio croissant from the shop. If that life changing pastry was any indicator, visitors will be glad to see a weekly menu.
As one of the two bakers picked as a Rising Star, Qureshi sees being one of the two bakers picked as a Rising Star as a milestone in her near-decade long career — particularly as the mother to a two year old. Juggling new motherhood along with her business for the past few years has been challenging.
“ This is the first time I feel very proud of myself,” Qureshi said. “ It’s nice to see that your effort’s appreciated, and people recognize your effort.”
Former finance bro finds fulfillment in flipping patties for the community
My next Rising Star stop was in the Second Ward, where I found Joseph Boudreaux of Boo’s Burgers. Boudreaux is a born-and-raised Houstonian, with family from Louisiana. And he serves burgers out of his food stand.
He tells me that his earliest memories revolve around food, remembering the warm feeling of his family gathering for cookouts and spending time together. It was this feeling he missed years later as he worked on digital projects for international banks, slogging through corporate America.
But before he opened his wildly successful burger shop, he set his sights on jobs that would allow him to connect with people in a restaurant-style atmosphere after being laid off from his tech job. And since he couldn’t work nights as a new father, he decided on becoming a barista and opened a coffee shop, The Tipping Point, with one of his best friends in 2018.
The Tipping Point taught him a lot, but he kept going back to the feeling his family cookouts produced. In 2020 he set his sights on opening up his own pop-up burger stand, which eventually turned into the brick-and-mortar he owns today.
“ This was something that I was just dreaming about five years ago,” he told me. “But we’re still learning. We’re still growing. It’s not just about cooking anymore. It’s about managing people, running a business, doing payroll, all that kind of stuff.”
While Boudreaux likes to infuse his Louisiana roots into the food—the sauce for his burgers is a Creole remoulade. He’s got his own methodology for a good burger, following a few rules.
His number one rule? Only using American cheese.
“ I’m just thankful that people enjoy the food.”
(Courtesy Michael Anthony)
“ It’s about balance, right?” he asked. “So for me, I try to get people to try the burger how it comes. I get it if you don’t do vegetables and stuff, but I think everything on the burger is there for a reason. And the cheese is there because American cheese is very mild. It does have a distinct flavor, but it doesn’t overpower anything.”
Though his recent successes are something Boudreaux appreciates, what really brings him pride is the community he’s been able to cultivate. In the future, he hopes to do activations for the surrounding neighborhoods. In his mind, this could include a fundraiser with the nonprofit Reading With A Rapper, a Little Free Library to help encourage literacy for kids, and making their own dog treats for canine owners as they’re out walking their pets.
But it all goes back to the main star of the show: the burgers.
“ I’m just thankful that people enjoy the food.”
Seattle native shakes up Houston with her spin on classic cocktails
My final stop took me somewhere I wouldn’t usually find myself on a Wednesday morning at 9 a.m.—standing at the bar inside of Bludorn Restaurant.
I’m here to chat cocktails with the only bartender chosen as a Rising Star, Kristine Nguyen. As soon as we take a seat at the bar, I instantly clock her vibe—there’s no way she’s a Texan. Her tattoos, her outfit, etc. Although she was raised in Seattle, she’s been in Houston for 13 years. A Texatonian?
When she first arrived in the city, the cocktail scene was just starting to ramp up. With little bartending experience on her resume, Nguyen scored a job at the now defunct Down House in the Heights under the tutelage of brothers Stephen and James Corona.
“ It was a lot of learning on the fly,” she recalls. “ But I picked things up pretty quickly. That’s one thing I will say about myself, but it wasn’t easy. I think once I got into the bar world, in that restaurant specifically, I found it a lot easier.”
Coming over to Bludorn Restaurant happened pretty organically; one of Nguyen’s good friends works as the Bar Director of the restaurant group and recommended her for the job. As she was looking for a job that would let her push her creative limits, it seemed like the perfect match.
Nguyen’s focus centers on classic cocktails with a personal riff, her tendency is to utilize more unexpected ingredients. A prime example? Her spin on a Hanky Panky that she originally developed when she worked at Bad News Bar. For those unfamiliar, (like I was), a Hanky Panky is typically made with gin, sweet vermouth, and Fernet-Branca. Instead, Nguyen’s version used reposado tequila instead of gin.
A traditional Hanky Panky cocktail. (Brent Hofacker/Shutterstock)
And surprisingly, outside of work, you won’t see her ordering cocktails, unless she’s in a different country—alcohol is surprisingly not her thing due to an allergy. Don’t be fooled though—she still loves the art of spirits, and plans on revamping the beer menu to better pair with the food menu.
When receiving the news about being named a Rising Star, Nguyen reacted with total surprise, even asking them if they had the right person.
“I’m not really good with compliments,” she told me.
Eventually, Nguyen said, she would like to own her own bar or liquor store, some kind of business where she could maintain relationships with other Houston bartenders—just maybe at a slower pace, once all the press settles down.
