Nicolas Vera
Casaema and Papalo Taqueria | Houston, TX
September 2025
At 15 years old, Nicolas Vera—who grew up in Papantla, Veracruz, Mexico—moved to Houston to be closer to family. After graduating from high school, he was dismayed by the dominance of fast food in the city and hungry for something more. Vera borrowed some cookbooks from his uncle’s house and started to prepare dishes straight off the page. The flavors sparked a fierce passion in Vera, who enrolled in the culinary program at the Art Institute of Houston soon after. He went on to stage at Rising Stars alum Chris Shepherd’s Underbelly before moving back to Mexico to take care of his father.
A year later, Vera returned to Houston, ready to learn. He started as a cook at The Westin before joining the team at Chef Lyle Bento’s Southern Goods. While there, Vera had the chance to put up his own Veracruz-inspired dishes on the late night menu, which quickly caught the attention of his manager. With encouragement from Bento, Vera left to take a sous chef position at Xochi, where he dove into Oaxacan cuisine while cooking under Chef Hugo Ortega. After three years there, Vera, along with his wife, Baker Stephanie Velasquez, started hosting pop-ups around Houston.
In 2020, Vera and Velazquez opened Papalo Taqueria at The Finn in Downtown Houston. When the pandemic hit only a few weeks later, they pivoted to wholesale, selling salsas, pan dulces, and handmade heirloom corn tortillas. Building on that momentum, the couple opened their all-day restaurant and cafe, Casaema, in 2024. Along with Velazquez’s pastries and Roaster Marlén Mendoza’s specialty coffees, Vera has created an inviting space that introduces guests to the traditions and flavors of Mexico thanks to an expansive in-house nixtamalization program and dishes like his grilled carrot taco with leafy greens, roasted pumpkin seeds, queso fresco, and pumpkin seed salsa.
