A Fresh Take on Winter Squash from the New Venice Restaurant, Chez Tex

Venice Beach is home to some truly wonderful restaurants. Chez Tex, from husband and wife team Hayley and Jesse Feldman, is one new addition to the list. The 36-seat beachside spot is named after Jesse’s grandfather, Tex, and aims to bring together the warmth and style of a Paris bistro with the casual comfort of a California restaurant. Hayley and Jesse brought on Ashkan Ghassemzadeh of Republique as their chef, and Ash turns out some really incredible but humble dishes to complement the restaurant’s great wine and coffee programs.

I got together a few friends for lunch at Chez Tex recently and we dined on the perfect combination of small but intensely satisfying plates: For something light and fresh we enjoyed a salad with little gem lettuce, Persian cucumber, and mint as well as a pumpkin, red Russian kale, and pomegranate dish. Small boiled potatoes with Buerre de Baratte and wild mushrooms topped with olive oil and egg yolk gave the meal some warming winter richness. But my favorite plate was the honeynut squash with Greek yogurt and honey. The combination of flavors was just heavenly, and I loved how simple it was. The team at Chez Tex was kind of enough to share the recipe with us below—I hope you enjoy it as much as I did! XXJKE

Feel free to have fun with this recipe. Play around with the seasoning until you find a balance that suits your palate. It’s all about cooking with what you have in season, close to you. If you don’t have honeynut squash, use any other winter squash or pumpkin.  If you don’t like yogurt, replace it with sour cream or crème fraiche.  If you’re vegan or lactose intolerant, that’s fine too, try a tofu puree and season it just the same.  If you don’t like olive oil…I don’t know what to tell you, because olive oil is delicious! —Chez Tex chef, Ash Ghassemzadeh