Behind the Creator of Hunger Crush: Mike Kelton's Vision for Food, Wine, and Community
Published Mon, Apr 3, 2023
When Mike Kelton retired from the Wine & Spirits industry in 2018, he was ready to open his first restaurant. He had Italian cuisine in mind, but when the opportunity to buy the Sweet Paris location in The Woodlands came available, he and his wife, Mary, decided that would be their first venture.
The franchise serves both sweet and savory crepes, along with a variety of hot and cold drinks – it’s a perfect place to enjoy watching the chefs prepare one of France’s most popular street foods, or sit and relax on their patio with an espresso.
Mike’s second restaurant brings upscale-casual dining to Lake Conroe. With the support of his wife, Mike opened Hunger Crush in the summer of 2022, where he serves a variety of classic dishes that you can pair with one of their many featured wines. With more than 30 years of experience in the wine industry, Mike wants Hunger Crush to help people experience and appreciate good food and good wine with a more down-to-earth atmosphere than often accompanies such a fine dining experience.
After the recent Patio Wines event hosted at Hunger Crush, we sat down with Mike to talk about his goals for Hunger Crush.
“I wanted to create an environment that was very open, inviting, and comfortable for people to be in, but I also wanted the community aspect to be a very important part of our restaurant”
Mike envisions Hunger Crush as a restaurant that brings the quality of fine dining together with a community-oriented experience. The shareable Breakfast Hunger Board on the menu helps feed more than just the visitors to the restaurant. With every purchase of a Breakfast Hunger Board, Hunger Crush donates the equivalent of 2.5 meals to the Montgomery County Food Bank.
Mike also envisions creating more dining events that introduce and enhance peoples’ knowledge and understanding of what makes a good food and wine pairing, along with events like “Sunday Fundays” featuring live music, mimosas, boat rides on Lake Conroe, and even a cornhole league.
We talked about how Americans have been catching up with the European style of purposely pairing food and wine. The right pairing “really enhances the meal,” Mike says, and selecting wines shouldn’t be a burden to those wishing to make a good pairing.
Mike says that the key to selecting dishes and accompanying wines is all about offering variety, value, quality, and enjoyment.
At the Hunger Crush food and wine pairing events he hosts, he meets all these goals while serving eight different wines throughout four courses. Mike selects the wines to specifically complement the dishes he serves.
The bruschette in the first course balanced creamy cheese, zesty balsamic vinaigrette, and just the right amount of fresh basil that didn’t overwhelm the dish. Mike chose to pair this first course with fruity sangrias - both a red and a white version.
We later enjoyed two red wines alongside a house-smoked pastrami dish and tender and flavorful meatballs with marinara sauce.
We enjoyed the way Mike chose to vary the wine selection to offer both complementing as well as contrasting flavors to compare with each course. While we savored the dishes and wines, Mike prompted the group to discuss the flavors we were experiencing and what made certain wines pair well - or not so well - with the dishes.
Mike continued to emphasize the importance of personal preference and how wines and foods should be experienced at one’s own pace. Everyone has different opinions, after all, and what is a winning wine to some may only earn an honorable mention on others’ lists.
Another important aspect of this event was for people to experience a selection of wines that they may not normally choose. I was personally surprised by how much I enjoyed a few of the pairings. For example, I prefer dry wines over sweet, however I don’t think I could find a more perfect couple than the Ca Bianca Moscato D’Asti and Hunger Crush’s house made lemon cheesecake. Read our full review on the pairings served at the event.
If you’re looking to learn more about how to create the perfect wine and food pairing while enjoying a delicious meal, we highly recommend visiting Hunger Crush at Lake Conroe. The lunch menu features dishes such as pesto chicken served with fresh pesto, grilled pastrami and Swiss with house-smoked pastrami, and chicken fried steak. They also serve breakfast/brunch, featuring some classic breakfast dishes like Belgian waffles, pancakes, and omelets.