MIKE RICCETTI
  • The best of Houston dining
    • Bakeries for bread
    • Banh mi
    • Best Values
    • Breakfast tacos
    • Cajun and Creole
    • Chicken Fried Steak
    • Cocktails
    • Crawfish
    • Downtown Dining
    • EaDo and East End Dining
    • Fajitas
    • French
    • French Fries
    • Fried Chicken
    • Galleria Area Dining
    • Greek
    • Guinness pours
    • Houston-centric
    • Italian
    • Italian-American
    • Japanese
    • Kolaches
    • Mexican
    • Middle Eastern
    • Midtown Dining
    • Montrose Dining
    • Pizzerias
    • Pizza at Non-Pizzerias
    • Raw Bars
    • Rice Village Dining
    • Sandwiches
    • Seafood
    • Splurge-Worthy
    • Steakhouses
    • Sushi
    • To Take Visitors
    • Tex-Mex
    • Thai
    • Tough Tables
    • Wine Bars
    • Wine Lists
  • The margherita pizza project
  • The martini project
  • Musings on Houston Dining
    • The top 10 new restaurants of 2022
    • The top 10 new restaurants of 2021
    • The top 10 new restaurants of 2019
    • The top 10 new restaurants of 2018
    • The dozen best Inner Loop values
    • Dining recommendations for visitors to Houston
  • Italian restaurant history
  • Italian & Italian-American
  • Entertaining tips
    • Booze basics
    • Styles of Cheeses
    • Handling Those Disruptive Guests
  • Wine
  • Beer
  • Cocktails and Spirits
  • Miscellaneous
  • Blog
  • The best of Houston dining
    • Bakeries for bread
    • Banh mi
    • Best Values
    • Breakfast tacos
    • Cajun and Creole
    • Chicken Fried Steak
    • Cocktails
    • Crawfish
    • Downtown Dining
    • EaDo and East End Dining
    • Fajitas
    • French
    • French Fries
    • Fried Chicken
    • Galleria Area Dining
    • Greek
    • Guinness pours
    • Houston-centric
    • Italian
    • Italian-American
    • Japanese
    • Kolaches
    • Mexican
    • Middle Eastern
    • Midtown Dining
    • Montrose Dining
    • Pizzerias
    • Pizza at Non-Pizzerias
    • Raw Bars
    • Rice Village Dining
    • Sandwiches
    • Seafood
    • Splurge-Worthy
    • Steakhouses
    • Sushi
    • To Take Visitors
    • Tex-Mex
    • Thai
    • Tough Tables
    • Wine Bars
    • Wine Lists
  • The margherita pizza project
  • The martini project
  • Musings on Houston Dining
    • The top 10 new restaurants of 2022
    • The top 10 new restaurants of 2021
    • The top 10 new restaurants of 2019
    • The top 10 new restaurants of 2018
    • The dozen best Inner Loop values
    • Dining recommendations for visitors to Houston
  • Italian restaurant history
  • Italian & Italian-American
  • Entertaining tips
    • Booze basics
    • Styles of Cheeses
    • Handling Those Disruptive Guests
  • Wine
  • Beer
  • Cocktails and Spirits
  • Miscellaneous
  • Blog
MIKE RICCETTI

Mostly food and drink...

...and mostly set in Houston

A refreshing traditional Houston Martini at Reef

6/3/2019

0 Comments

 
​Reef has just reopened after the damage it suffered from Hurricane Harvey, if not quite completely.  There is service in the bar area for dinner and, beginning today, lunch.  The main dining room still needs to be furnished and I was told that that should be ready in a couple of weeks for patrons.  I’m very happy that the Gulf seafood-centric Reef is finally open again, as it had been one of my favorite local restaurants.  Given the recent and sudden closings of Pass & Provisions and Canopy and the announcement that Indika will be shuttering at the end of June, it’s nice to have former top eatery – with one of the city’s top chefs working in the kitchen, Bryan Caswell – getting back into the game.
 
I visited the other night and necessarily having to sit in the bar on a Friday night, it seemed appropriate to have a Martini to start.  Among the several cocktails on the relatively short beverage list, each for the short price of just $8, was the Gin Martini, which I ordered.  No questions were asked about type of gin or garnish and a few minutes later a familiar, long-stemmed Martini glass was placed in front of me, dripping with condensation that was filled just with a clear liquid punctuated by some small pieces of ice floating top but unmarred by any garnish.
 
Though missing a cocktail olive or two (or three) skewered by a toothpick, this was the Martini you would have received at any decent establishment in Houston over the years until the advent of the craft cocktail movement and discovery of the qualities of quality and unspoiled vermouth in less than the past decade.  This was gin, pure and simple, served straight-up in a Martini glass.  At Reef it was very readily consumable Bombay Sapphire Gin that was shaken until very cold and poured alone into a frozen Martini glass.  No vermouth.  Certainly not a single dash of bitters.  I like vermouth to be a part of my Martinis, but this drink was very enjoyable, and refreshing coming in on a warm and muggy evening.  It was tough not to consume it too quickly, and I still had to look at the food menu.  The palatability of the Bombay Sapphire was the biggest reason why this Martini went down so easily, but being served into a glass pulled from a freezer was another significant reason.  Very cold gin tastes better than just cold gin, after all.
 
Reef
2600 Travis (at McGowen), 77006, (713) 526-8282
reefhouston.com
Picture
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Mike Riccetti is a longtime Houston-based food writer and former editor for Zagat, and not incidentally the author of three editions of Houston Dining on the Cheap.

    Picture

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016

    Categories

    All
    Beer
    Cocktails
    Italian
    Margherita Pizzas
    Recipes
    Restaurants
    Wine

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.