The butter-yellow walls and red booths at Agnes and Sherman give a subtle nod to what might be the most iconic restaurant in America: McDonald’s. The cheeseburger fried rice, which chef Nick Wong tells me comes drizzled in “Big Mac” sauce, only drives home the connection. It arrives at the table on a familiar sturdy, white oval plate, the kind that just about every diner in America has.
It has shredduce (shredded lettuce) tossed until just wilted with rice and ground beef. Melted over the mixture are two perfect squares of American cheese, a shower of sesame seeds, and the aforementioned reddish-pink burger sauce. It’s both a child’s dream and ideal hangover food—and it tastes just like a burger, despite no bun in sight. It also exemplifies what this new restaurant strives to do: reinvent American diner dishes with Asian flavors.
Vivan Leba
Cheeseburger Fried RiceRedefining The Diner
As one of the most diverse cities in America, Houston is no stranger to fusion food. Viet-Cajun and Tex-Mex are staples of the city, and Agnes and Sherman is building on this tradition.
Fusion can sometimes be tossed around as a dirty word, but chef Wong demonstrates beautifully what has always been true of Southern cooking: that it’s the result of different cultures coming together—like gumbo or yakamein, to name just two examples.
Vivan Leba
Savory Scallion Waffle
If there was one dish on the menu Houstonians recommended most, it was the savory waffle. Wong opts for a Belgian-style waffle, with deep cups ready to absorb the golf-ball-sized mound of sambal-honey butter on top. It’s flecked with ribbons of green onion, and one bite in, you immediately pick up the scallion-pancake inspiration. For the full experience, add the fried orange chicken, which channels Panda Express vibes into one of the best chicken-and-waffle combos in the South.
Spice lovers should try the Kim-Chilaquiles; a colorful confetti of sauce-soaked tortilla pieces, peppery kimchi, pickled red onions, and avocado, topped with two expertly fried eggs. Like any good diner, there are sweet breakfast options too. A bright green pandan French toast comes with a crunchy layer of toasted shredded coconut on top and a house-made kaya jam—a Southeast Asian coconut jam often used on toast à la Nutella.
Family Ties
Opened in April, Agnes and Sherman is already a local darling. The restaurant is a joint venture of chef Wong (formerly of Momofuku Ssäm Bar in New York), and former DoorDash executive Lisa Lee, his childhood friend of more than 20 years.
Arturo Olmos
Nick Wong and Lisa Lee
Down to the artwork on the walls, the two pay homage to Asian-American culture. This includes a photo by Jill M. Kunishima of the Crystal City internment camp in Texas where Japanese Americans were interned during World War II. Another photo hung on the banquette wall entitled “I am an American” by Dorothea Lange, captures a Japanese grocer in Oakland, California the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
There are also family heirlooms on display, such as a letterman sweater belonging to Wong’s father— after whom, together with his mother Agnes, the restaurant is named. Family rice cookers sit on a shelf near the kitchen pass, adding a sweet sense of nostalgia echoed in both the design and menu. But the restaurant doesn’t dwell in the past; Agnes and Sherman is a diner for a new generation that builds upon all that came before.
Read the original article on Southern Living