Customers looking for Tatemó might have to circle the nondescript parking lot on Dacoma St. in Spring Branch before finding the right spot. Co-owner and award-winning chef Emmanuel Chavez explains that there is no sign on the door to discourage walk-in customers from popping into the exclusive reservation-only restaurant.
Once the door opens, however, guests are immediately transported to the sounds and smells of a traditional Mexican restaurant. Less than 2,000 square feet in size, Tatemó is an intimate space with room for 16 diners at a time. Open Wednesday through Saturday, the restaurant offers two seven-course seatings each evening.
Tatemó, which means to roast, toast, or grill, has only been open for three years but has already upended the Houston dining scene by receiving two James Beard nominations, Food & Wine Best New Chef 2023, Esquire's Best Restaurant in America 2022, and much local acclaim, including Houston Chronicle's Top 100 Restaurants in consecutive years.
Chavez immigrated to Houston from Mexico when he was ten years old. Aside from a few years in Seattle, where he continued his culinary career, he is a steadfast Houstonian. "I can't imagine ever opening a restaurant anywhere else, and I don't think Tatemó would work in any city other than Houston," he says.
Chavez got his start making tortillas and selling them at farmers markets before he and co-owner Megan Maul decided to open a restaurant. After Covid forced them to go through several iterations of their idea, the pair agreed on a reservation-only model where customers prepay for their meals. Chavez explains that this method helps keep food and labor costs down. Although this dining model is standard in other parts of the country, it is a relatively new concept in Houston, and because of this, many mistake the restaurant for a fine dining establishment.
"Houston is so large and there are 20 different places to eat in every strip mall – restaurants are very accessible," says the chef. "Because of how we do things, people want to classify Tatemó as a special occasion or fine dining restaurant. If people want to celebrate something special and eat here, that is great, but it was never our intention."
It was his intention, however, to bring heirloom corn, considered the backbone of Mexican cuisine, to the forefront. Chavez imports all of his corn from Mexico and takes guests on a kernel-to-masa journey during their two-hour dining experience. The seven-course pre-fixe menu at Tatemó rotates every four months, but he emphasizes that small details change daily.
"Every day, we try to make it better," he says. "We add or take away things and find inspiration from a chef or even the produce available at the markets. We bring those things in and try incorporating them into a dish."
One of the menu items that will always remain a staple is the quesadilla, a dish that reflects Chavez's roots in Mexico City. At Tatemó, the culinary team is dedicated to carefully preparing, sourcing, and executing their quesadillas. Chavez was among the first chefs in Houston to add avocado and caviar to his quesadillas. He believes that this innovation comes from the confidence and peace he feels in knowing that he and his team are doing things right.
"Since day one when I signed the lease on this space, I had a personal list of goals I wanted to accomplish before I turned 40, and winning a James Beard Award is still one of those goals," says Chavez.
The chef also has his sights set on being a Michelin-star restaurant and says that he and his team operate with that star in mind from the moment they walk in the door each day to the moment they walk out. "When Tatemó opened, people thought it was crazy for us to try and achieve that, especially because at that time, the guide was not even in Texas," says Chavez. "Fast forward two years, the guide is here. We have a little bit of a head start in that sense, so we are working towards a star next year, for sure." tatemohtx.com