CHEF DAVID SKINNER
Culinary Talent - Houston, TX
Chef | Restaurateur | Winemaker | Distiller | Inventor | Gastro-Judge | Choctaw Native
aka the “Willy Wonka of Food”
David’s journey to becoming the chef and restaurateur he is today is an interesting one. David’s love of food began at the early age of four when he asked his grandmother “Mimi” a pastry chef to make him a carousel cake for his birthday. By the age of seven Mimi had taught him the basics of cooking – temperature, salt, time, and passion. She instilled in him the importance of cooking with fresh ingredients and that growing your own vegetables makes the dish even that much better.
At age 12 she gave David his first knife, a Sabatier 8” chef knife along with Julia Child’s two volume set “Mastering the Art of French Cooking”. Within two years David he had completed all of the recipes and was ready for the next challenge. That challenge came a few years later when he was able to open his own restaurant called La Vie en Rose, after the Edith Piaf song, in the back of his grandmother’s gourmet cooking store. David would leave school early under the DECA program and prepare for evening service. The small space only housed 10 tables but it was a great learning experience.
After graduating high school David went on to OSU where he majored in Finance and Economics. But the lure of food was too great and after one very late night with a couple of professors he decided to open another restaurant while still in school. To say that David is a bit of an overachiever is like saying the French like wine.
So in 1985 Christopher’s on Washington was opened. By this time David was making frequent trips to California experiencing the new California cuisine at restaurants like Chez Panisse. Christopher’s on Washington featured French infused California cuisine and became a huge success and a fine dining destination in a landscape of burgers and beer.
Upon graduation David had a real dilemma, continue working the restaurant or use his new degree and go into a different profession. Always up to a challenge he decided to pursue a career in commodity trading. A few years later he was lured into a career with Conoco and eventually built one of the worlds largest energy strategy-consulting firms. Along the way he wrote several best selling decision-making text books, became an Adjunct professor at Rice University, and had a series of business start-ups.
Whilst not cooking professionally for two decades he never let his skills or interest dwindle, and his corporate international travels afforded him the opportunity to mix and mingle with the world’s greatest Chefs. His dinner parties were legendary and often featured dishes and ingredients he picked up while traveling the world on business. In 2006 he purchased the eculent building along with an on-site bed and breakfast and a year later purchased a local winery. In 2011 he built a new commercial winery, Clear Creek, and started plans for eculent’s menu and design. By the spring of 2014 David was ready to embark on a new journey and opened eculent. In 2019 he created a record-breaking event “Around The World in 10,000 Bites” which featured 43 Chefs from 10 countries presenting a 101 course dinner to 100 diners in the Dinosaur Hall at the Houston Natural History Museum. In 2020, he opened the micro-distillery Meticulous Spirits above the eculent premises in his winery building. David’s passion, an attention to detail, and a love of food has led to his ultimate creations…eculent, and in May of 2023 he co-opened thprsrv with James Beard Winner for Best Chef Texas, Chef G Benchawan. ThPrsrv is an indigenous ingredients experience featuring the ancient foods of David’s Choctaw heritage and Chef G’s Thai origins.
In April 2024, eculent will pivot into being an international events company, and the Kemah restaurant will change its’ name to ISHTIA (meaning beginnings in David’s native Choctaw) and feature live fire cooking and American heritage ingredients.