Max Lappe and Jacques Varon
Baso | Houston, TX
September 2025
Max Lappe wanted to cook since he was a kid. As a 15-year-old in Los Angeles, Lappe—who was desperate to learn how to make a croissant—convinced the team at Maison Giraud to take him on as an unpaid intern. Over the next few years, he mainly worked prep shifts before getting the chance to work the line. After a stint at Pok Pok, Lappe joined the team at Animal when he was 18. He enrolled in culinary school soon after, but dropped out after a year. Lappe then made his way to the kitchen at Destroyer before landing a stage and then a job at Rising Stars alum Jeremy Fox’s Rustic Canyon, where he cooked under Chefs Andy Doubrava and Brittany Cassidy. After living in London for a few months, he went back to Los Angeles and helped open Tartine Manufactory before cooking at Alameda Supper Club and Kismet. Then, Lappe met his friend and future collaborator, Jacques Varon.
Varon, who grew up in Houston, didn’t have dreams of cooking when he left for college. But after the loss of a close friend and a miserable week of school, he dropped out and enrolled in culinary school in the city. Although he left before graduating, Varon worked at restaurants all over Austin before taking a step back from the industry for a year. Encouraged and inspired by a friend, he moved to Japan to work at Inua in 2019, where he was exposed to progressive techniques, exciting ingredients, and chefs from all over the world. When he returned to the United States, Varon moved to Los Angeles. After becoming friends with Lappe, the two cooks made their way to Angler, working and learning under Rising Stars alum Joshua Skenes through the pandemic.
In 2021, Varon moved back to Houston and Lappe returned to the kitchen at Rustic Canyon. After traveling across Europe, India, and Southeast Asia, Lappe went to Dunsmoor to cook under Rising Stars alum Brian Dunsmoor. When Varon’s plans to open a restaurant of his own became more and more challenging, he realized he needed help. Varon called Lappe and the two chefs joined forces to open Baso in Houston in December 2023. With a focus on live-fire cooking, the duo have composed a menu that leans heavily on Texas ingredients, while drawing on flavors and techniques from their time in Europe, Asia, and Los Angeles—creating room for their team, and their guests, to learn something new.
