Top Chefs
One may not associate the rich culinary traditions of India with Texan cuisine, but Revolve Kitchen + Bar, in Houston’s Hotel Derek, is capitalizing on both via
the talents of its new executive chef as well
as the city’s standing of having the largest
Indian population of any U.S. city outside
of New York (as well as with its Korean
population).
Roshni Gurnani took the helm of the hotel’s F&B effort in July and at press time was
set to unveil an innovative new menu Sept.
5 fusing Texas and Indian cuisines.
“Some of the highlights are our Indi-Tex
Lamb Burger, which incorporates my cul-
ture into Texas cuisine, and also traditional
dishes that are deconstructed, such as
chicken fried steak, which is a tenderloin
of chicken stuffed with collard greens and
served with a chipotle cream gravy and
roasted jalapeno mashed potatoes—defi-
nitely things that are common to Texas,
but have a twist on them and are unique
and edgy,” said Gurnani, whose parents are
from India. “I incorporate some of my own
culture into traditional dishes that people
know when coming to Houston and Texas.
I want to integrate both of the cultures and
present fusion, as Houston is a melting pot
of cultures now and very international.”
Other menu highlights will include
Tamarind BBQ Pork Ribs with roasted
jalapeno mash and slaw; Popcorn Crawfish
with chipotle aioli; hand-cut New York
Strip with a pumpkin silk; and Fall Rooted
Vegetable Salad.
Gurnani, who grew up cooking Indian cui-
sine on a daily basis and perfected her craft
of preparing Asian cuisine during her work in
the region, will stage her marquee perfor-
mance in the trendy modern-lifestyle brand’s
Revolve, but will also helm the F&B effort for
banquets and meetings at the property.
“We’re one of the only independent ho-
tels in Houston—it’s totally different than
walking into any hotel,” she said. “The first
time I walked in I was mesmerized. It’s su-
per cool, swanky and edgy. It almost feels
like you’ve walked into the future, and as a
restaurant we want to be known as having
that connection to the hotel.”
Always one to push herself, Gurnani
has competed on culinary TV shows Hell’s
Kitchen—no less than hard-to-please celeb-
rity chef Gordon Ramsey described her as a
“passionate, well-rounded chef that blended
flavors magically”—and the Food Network’s
Chopped, as well as counting stints at Park
Hyatt Resort & Spa, The Sagamore and This-
tle Hotel Marble Arch on her resume.
Group Offerings
In keeping with its unique, contemporary
stylings, the Hotel Derek and Revolve pride
themselves on serving up engagement and
innovation to its meetings guests, especially through F&B programming that carry
themes such as Motivational, Fitness (with
apropos music in the background) and
Poker Night.
“The [meetings dining] space we have in
the restaurant feels very much like a restaurant, so that’s unique to play with,” Gurnani
said. “We can do a poolside cookout, poker
night, kitschy. We’ve done a breakout
where we’ve incorporated a mechanical
bull in the center of it, with cured meats,
jerkies and local craft beers, as well as use
food trucks, to incorporate an element of
doing something formal and elegant inside
the meeting space, and allow them to walk
outside to the food trucks—take it from
fine-dining to street tacos, which shows
them the range available in Houston and
Hotel Derek.”
INDI-TEX
LAMB BURGER
1 lbs. ground lamb
1.5 oz. curry powder
1.5 oz. cumin powder
1.5 oz. chopped garlic
1.5 chopped cilantro
1.5 oz. chopped mint
2 oz. sour cream mint sauce
2 oz. sliced red onion
4 slices of beef tomato
4 buns
Combine all spices with lamb in a bowl and make patties.
Grill patties to medium, toast buns and add sauce, sliced red
onion and tomato to top of patties.
ROSHNI GURNANI // EXECUTIVE CHEF
HOTEL DEREK // HOUSTON // WWW.DESTINATIONHOTELS.COM/HOTEL-DEREK
By Tyler Davidson
YIELD: 4
the agenda
Sour Cream Mint Sauce 2 oz. sour cream
1 glove garlic
1/2 jalapeno
2 tbs. bunch mint
½ tbs. red onion
½ tbs. tomato
¼ tbs. lime juice
