{"id":131503,"date":"2025-08-09T10:40:13","date_gmt":"2025-08-09T10:40:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/131503\/"},"modified":"2025-08-09T10:40:13","modified_gmt":"2025-08-09T10:40:13","slug":"joseph-boudreaux-discusses-houston-restaurant-boos-burgers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/131503\/","title":{"rendered":"Joseph Boudreaux discusses Houston restaurant Boo’s Burgers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ronnie Killen is adding some serious culinary firepower to his restaurant group. Known for his two Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand<\/a> establishments \u2014 Killen\u2019s Barbecue<\/a> in Pearland and Southern-inspired comfort food restaurant Killen\u2019s<\/a> \u2014 as well as his eponymous steakhouse, Killen has brought on chef Ryan Hildebrand<\/strong> as his group\u2019s new culinary director.<\/p>\n

Hildebrand is well known to Houston diners. He\u2019s best known for Triniti<\/a>, a fine dining restaurant near River Oaks that operated from 2012-17. Hildebrand also created FM Kitchen, the comfort food restaurant that was recently combined with PKL Social<\/a>. Veteran Houston diners will remember his stints at fine dining restaurants such as Mark\u2019s and Textile. Most recently, he\u2019s been the chef and owner of Hildee\u2019s<\/a>, a restaurant in Wimberly that closed in July. <\/p>\n

From Killen\u2019s perspective, Hildebrand brings skills that pair well with his own. He knows fine dining and Texas culinary traditions, making him a perfect fit for Killen\u2019s, the chef\u2019s restaurant near Washington Avenue that\u2019s best known for dishes like fried chicken, chicken fried steak, and fried seafood. Killen sees an opportunity to elevate the restaurant\u2019s fare and earn an even higher level of recognition. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s been putting his spin on Texas food. I’ve been watching it from afar,\u201d Killen tells CultureMap. \u201cI thought it will go well with the Heights. It has a Bib Gourmand. He can move it up to a one-star place.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hildebrand explains that he wanted to bring his family \u2014 his wife Mollye and their two daughters \u2014 back to Houston. After being connected to Killen by mutual friends, he realized that they could have a productive professional relationship. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re both in a place where we can help each other out,\u201d Hildebrand says. \u201cHe\u2019s got a lot going on. I\u2019m ready to come back to Houston. Personality wise, it\u2019s a great fit. We get along, and we have a common vision for expanding on what he\u2019s already done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although it\u2019ll be about a month before Hildebrand is in Houston full-time, he\u2019ll soon begin spending more time in Houston and getting to know the restaurant\u2019s staff. The chef says he\u2019s already thinking about ways to elevate what Killen\u2019s offers. <\/p>\n

\u201cUtilizing his barbecue in different ways is something I want to explore,\u201d Hildebrand says. \u201cThe building blocks are all there. If we\u2019re utilizing the brisket or sausages in a different way, to push it to the next level and elevate it. The core elements are there for me to utilize and build upon. It\u2019s ready to crystalize an identity of its own to represent him and his brand.\u201d <\/p>\n

Some of the dishes Hildebrand developed for Hildee\u2019s may be adapted for Killen\u2019s. For example, the chef created a variation on the popular miso cod that uses Texas redfish. He also wants to bring back dishes such as fried catfish, which were customer favorites that fell off the menu awhile back. It\u2019s that sort of insight that chef Killen is looking for from Hildebrand.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou very seldom get opportunities to hire people with his skill level,\u201d Killen says. \u201cWe need a set of eyes besides me who can look at the restaurants and see what we need.\u201d<\/p>\n

Expect Hildebrand to focus on Killen\u2019s for between six months and a year. From there, he plans to work with chef Killen at the group\u2019s other restaurants. As Killen discussed in a 2024 appearance on CultureMap\u2019s \u201cWhat\u2019s Eric Eating\u201d podcast<\/a>, he wants the Pearland steakhouse to once again be considered among Houston\u2019s very best. He\u2019s been quietly investing in equipment upgrades to further that goal. With Hildebrand on board, he hopes to achieve the same level of Michelin recognition for the steakhouse as his two other restaurants. <\/p>\n

For Hildebrand, the opportunity to focus on food, cooking, and mentoring is a welcome break from the challenges of operating an ambitious, food-focused restaurant in a small town. <\/p>\n

\u201cA year ago, two years ago, five years ago, maybe Ronnie wasn\u2019t ready to do what he\u2019s doing now,\u201d Hildebrand says. \u201cI wasn\u2019t ready either. We both are now. It\u2019s working out. The universe put the pieces together for me. I think it\u2019s going to be really good. I haven\u2019t been excited like this in a long time. \u201c<\/p>\n

Photo by L. Robert Westeen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ronnie Killen is adding some serious culinary firepower to his restaurant group. Known for his two Michelin Guide…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":131504,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5130],"tags":[27144,4345,1815,12212,5158,358,3187],"class_list":{"0":"post-131503","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-houston","8":"tag-chefs","9":"tag-houston","10":"tag-interview","11":"tag-news-you-can-eat","12":"tag-podcasts","13":"tag-texas","14":"tag-tx"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114998386665419358","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131503","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=131503"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131503\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/131504"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=131503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=131503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=131503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}