The Goode family is no stranger to the power of fire in building flavor: When Jim Goode and his uncle, Joe Dixie, started their first restaurant in a Houston barn in 1977, the pair slept there, waking up every hour to check on their mesquite-smoked brisket. Now, over fifty years later, the family restaurant group is headed up by the James Beard Award–nominated chef Levi Goode and boasts eleven restaurants across the city.
Fire still plays a prominent role. At Goode’s latest Memorial City restaurant, Credence, cooking over open flames is the central concept, applied to the likes of Gulf oysters and Texas beef. And wood-roasted baby carrots feature on the Easter menus at the group’s older spots, including the Armadillo Palace and Goode Co. Barbeque Memorial. There, the tender carrots complement pit-smoked ham or mesquite-smoked turkey alongside a twice-baked potato casserole and cucumber tomato salad.
Though Goode loves the smoke and flame-kissed taste you get from starting the carrots on a live fire, the whole dish can be prepared in the oven, too—the rosemary, garlic, and citrus will still shine.
