Jasper – The tall trees and fresh air of Jasper County have been a part of the Lone Star State for a long time. One of Texas’ first 23 counties, the county seat of Jasper is Jasper, and the courthouse here has been standing tall since 1889. Standing on the square of this sleepy town, you can’t help but notice that it is quiet here. “Just very relaxing and peaceful,” said Ed Guizar. “It feels good here.”
Ed is a transplant from Houston who headed this way for an opportunity; the Belle-Jim Hotel. This storied structure sits right across the street from the Jasper County courthouse. “We don’t deal with the commute, the traffic and all that kind of stuff,” said Ed. “No commute. We live here. No tolls.”
With his wife Sujey by his side and the help of his 5 kids, Ed brought life to this old hotel built in 1910 by totally remodeling it and making it the most decadent restaurant in all of town. “This property was in the market for about five years already,” said Ed. “We knew it needed a lot of work to remodel and put it back the way we wanted it. That was the challenge, trying to get it ready to go and trying to open as soon as possible.”
After a career as a chef around Houston and a side gig flipping houses, the chance to own his own hotel and restaurant came at the perfect time for Ed and his family. “I always say God was getting us I was ready for it, for the Belle-Jim,” said Ed. “It was a big project, probably the biggest project that we tackled.”
The magnitude of restoring this old hotel ended up being just what Ed and his family needed to spend as much time with each other as they wanted. “The best part, I think it brought the family together here,” said Ed. “We spend more time with the family. We work together. Family-owned and operated, so I get to work with my wife every day and with my kids, and I get to see them every day, where before I was working these crazy hours at a corporate level, so we got to spend time together.”
Sujey has been Ed’s rock during the whole process. “Oh my God, she’s my backbone,” said Ed. “She’s the one that makes everything run here, efficient and everything.”
As if restoring a 12-room hotel wasn’t hard enough, Ed also has to provide incredible provisions to a part of the state where things don’t deviate too much. Even in this old hotel where home cooking was about all you could find. “We got the best food in Jasper, Texas,” said Ed.”
“It was an anchor in the town, but it was East Texas Fair. And I’d use the term fried, but I won’t,” said customer Bill. “I’ve seen people come in and I’ve seen the look on their face when food was presented to them on something besides a paper plate.”
Things are a little fancier around here now and Chef Ed wanted to showcase three of their most popular dishes, so we headed to kitchen to get to cooking. On a cooktop that has as much history as the hotel, Ed got a French style pork chop grilled up. Once given some good grill marks, the pork chop heads to the oven along with Chef Ed’s signature white chocolate bread pudding. More on that later, first we have to talk veggies. Asparagus and bell peppers get flame kissed on the grill, followed by a healthy amount of garlic. Once the pork chop is perfectly cooked, it stands tall on the plate. “And we’re just going to cut a little bit to make sure it stands up,” said Ed.
It’s then topped with a whiskey glaze and a side of applesauce before Ed moves on to the shrimp tacos. Ed takes shrimp, marinates them in buttermilk and hand batters them in 50/50 flour and tempura mix. After the shrimp is fried, they’re placed on fresh tortillas alongside chipotle aioli, pickle relish with cucumbers, and micro cilantro greens. Now it’s time to break out the bread pudding. “Chocolate chips, raisins, and croissants, and it’s going to get topped off with the bourbon sauce,” said Ed. “So, a lot of whiskey. We got to go heavy. They love it.”
Before having a hankering for Hank, I figured the shellfish would be the way to cast things off. Those shrimps are perfectly fried and that sauce gives a nice little tanginess to the taco, but then when you bite into those cilantro minis, man, that releases some flavor, and that is very good. “Everything from the sauce to the shrimp is cooked perfectly and it’s great,” said customer Debbie.
Now it’s time to take out the tacos and pull in the pork. As nice as the standing chop looks on the plate, it must fall in order to be cut. And once you cut into it, you see what all the fuss is about. The pork is cooked perfectly, not dry at all. And that bourbon glaze gives it a great flavor that fits in fantastically with the apple sauce. That’s fine dining right there. “Tender, juicy, like a pork chop should be,” said Bill. “It’s not just a regular old pan-fried pork chop. There’s something else going on there.”
Before filling all the way up on that giant porkchop, that bread pudding must make an appearance. A little dessert is always welcome on The Texas Bucket List, and this bread pudding is the star of the show. It comes out piping hot and gooey as all get out, and it’s absolutely delicious. It’s got just the right amount of sweetness, and that bourbon glaze fits right in. “The white chocolate on it is just creamy,” said customer Susie. “It’s got a great taste to it, great texture. Ed does a good job.”
Well, if you’re ever in deep East Texas looking for a place to lay your head and get a fantastic bite to eat, come into the Belle-Jim Hotel in Jasper, Texas. It’s well worth a stop on The Texas Bucket List. “There are so many extraordinary places across the state, and if you watch The Bucket List, you’ll see a lot of them,” said Bill. “This one is one of those that needs to be added to that list.”