“Let’s Eat,” Let’s Eat.

Many might have known this man through his outstanding food content, @letseathtx, on Instagram; but with every account, there is a name and a face behind it.

His name is Paul, a natural introvert, who has a day job as a programmer. He started @letseathtx out of his passion for food and photography. Unlike some other so-called influencers, Paul stands by his comments and reviews with every post, story, and video he makes.

We respect how he likes to keep his identity and lifestyle relatively unexposed to the public. However, the night at Social Beer Garden attending Teagu Cafe’s pop-up was one of those rare opportunities for us to get to know him better with an abundant amount of food in front of us.

As we sat down and munched on the Teagu’s freshly made-to-order signature Biang Biang noodles, we revisited how this friendship began— such as many others who only knew him via social media, our friendship was also initiated by a direct message for a now-retired social event, Big Bao Battle. Not only did Paul reply and participate in that event. He went far and beyond to promote every event we did hitherto without asking for anything in return.

He was there every step we took before Sphyrn existed.

Paul placed his faith when we had no connections to the food industry. He supported us when no one saw the value and potential in our events. He was the first to blindly jump into Sphyrn’s first dessert box pop-up with his generous purchase when most thought it was a project doomed to fail.

Nowadays, with every themed pop-up we do, we save a dessert box for him and curate his box carefully to his likings. We try our very best to bring a sense of comfort and intimacy to our VIPs by remembering the details about their preference.

There was a little Filipino boy who was the designated “let’s eat” person. He’d run around the house to collect everyone to join the dining table. Now he may no longer do that every day but he still carries the same hospitality by always ordering a lot of food to share.

“Food is a love language that we all speak so well.”

Paul’s eyes spark joy whenever he talks about good food. The authenticity in his voice and his overjoyed expression is precious and contagious. We cannot imagine a food scene in Houston without his involvement. He has built his name around food, culture, and genuine relationships.

We are very lucky to be able to call him a good friend.