Chef Greg Martin Discusses a Life in Food and Working with Julia Child

Last October, the Menil Collection in the Museum District opened Bistro Menil, their signature restaurant. As head chef, they selected someone who had been knocking around the Houston food scene since the 1980s, and his name is Greg Martin.

Martin's life has always been filled with great food. Whether it was his mother's or her mother's cooking, there was always a love of food circulating through each household, and it infused Martin's life — even though he hadn't necessarily thought it would be a career for him.

But after he got out of college in Austin and returned to Houston in the 80s, he found himself working in restaurant after restaurant. That was, until he landed at Café Annie, a Southwestern cuisine-focused restaurant owned by Chef Robert del Grande. Del Grande took Martin under his wing and hired him to help with their chain of Café Express restaurants.

It was under the tutelage of the Del Grandes — Robert and his wife Mimi — that Martin worked with Julia Child, and he recently talked with Houston Matters producer Edel Howlin about growing up in a food-loving family and working with Child.