H-E-B taps 3 Houston restaurants to create dishes for select area stores

[Elderberry]

Houston Chronicle by Greg MoragoApril 2, 2020

Three Houston restaurants will prepare to-go meals for select Houston H-E-B stores as part of the supermarket giant's effort to help the local restaurant industry

Imagine going into your local H-E-B store and picking up the famous turtle soup from Brennan’s of Houston or chef Chris Shepherd’s spicy meat dumplings.

Starting this week, you can.

Supermarket giant H-E-B has tapped three Houston restaurants to prepare meals-to-go for its Meal Simple program of chef-inspired grab-and-go meals. Cherry Block Craft Butcher and Kitchen in Bravery Chef Hall joins Brennan’s and Shepherd’s Underbelly Hospitality as the Houston restaurants supplying signature dishes for this unique partnership that H-E-B launched this week in Houston, San Antonio and Austin. Three restaurants in each city will prepare dishes for a limited number of stores as an effort by H-E-B to pump money into beloved Texas restaurants struggling to stay alive during the coronavirus pandemic which has devastated the state’s restaurant industry.

“This is all about the restaurants. They need our help now,” said Kevin Blessing, H-E-B group vice president of bakery, deli, restaurants and prepared meals. “We hope our customers look at it as a way to help the restaurant community. There’s a value there. I hope that’s what they see.”

The participating Houston restaurants will prepare and deliver the meals to a limited number of H-E-B stores in Houston (the exact locations for each restaurant were not entirely finalized Thursday morning). The restaurants will set the price for each meal and H-E-B will pay them for what is prepared. H-E-B will not take any portion of the sales; it will go directly to the restaurants.

More: https://preview.houstonchronicle.com/dining/h-e-b-taps-3-houston-restaurants-to-create-dishes-15173916

[LadyLiberty]

Brilliant.  With so many not eating out like they once did, it puts a big strain on the food supply at the grocery stores and leaves the restaurant suppliers at a standstill. This helps both of those issues.

I've had Jessica's red beans and rice and it is legit good stuff, great flavor.  Pretty sure is has taso ham in it.