​Today is the last day of service at Bernie’s Burger Bus in Bellaire, on Bellaire.  Bernie’s, I believe is the best burger joint in Houston. Greg Morago reported in the Chronicle that the restaurant was beset not by the effects of the pandemic that the business was undercapitalized as it was expanding to its fourth location in Missouri City.  It’s a shame.  Though none of the locations were convenient for me, I was always greatly rewarded with the drive when I made it: meaty, juicy patties cooked to near-perfection complemented with a witty and appropriate selection of toppings and excellent buns and served with fries done better than most.  I’ll especially miss The Cheerleader.  Picante.
 
With this closing and that of Dolce Vita last weekend, the city has, in quick succession, lost its best burger and pizza joints.  The pandemic can’t be entirely blamed for either.  Dolce Vita, the property at least, had been for sale, as owner Marco Wiles looked to streamline his collection of restaurants that also included Da Marco and Poscol, which remain open.  But, as the adverse conditions continue, it’s likely that some other local dining gems won’t make it.  I recommend trying to support those that you can.

​To be honest, I often feel embarrassed to order Pinot Grigio at most restaurants or even to pick a bottle at the wine shop, if a little less so at the supermarket – especially if I have a bag of Cheetos in tow.  I don’t feel compelled to do so very often, but that there might be others to appease and a constrained budget to adhere to.
 
Pinot Grigio doesn’t have a great reputation among many serious wine drinkers.  I never see it on lists at my favorite local wine bars, for example.  Much, too much Pinot Grigio is bland and fairly dull.  But, that inoffensiveness along with is ubiquity and affordability have helped make it popular.  And it is popular.  Pinot Grigio is the most exported varietal wine from Italy, with a huge amount of it coming to this country.  Just those from the Delle Venezie DOC – which covers a huge amount of territory in northeastern Italy and are sure to be in your supermarket – sold over 220 million bottles just of Pinot Grigio last year. 
 
There are Pinot Grigios I do like, and those are usually from Friuli – the Italian region abutting Slovenia and Croatia in the northeast of the country.  When shopping or Pinot Grigio in the past decade or so, I have almost always looked for “Friuli” on the label, the front of the label.  If not Friuli, "Collio" is another one, a small area in Friuili.  In the current issue of the Wine Spectator, longtime Italian-focused editor Alison Napjus mentioned she also enjoyed the Pinot Grigios from Friuli, which she’s found to work well with shellfish and grilled seafood, in addition to its expected easy sippability.  Pinot Grigio from Friuli is typically richer and more flavorful often with pleasant notes of nectarine and melon, and having more apparent acidity while still usually light and quite approachable.  These can be enjoyable with lighter seafood preparations and even more so for me, can work very well as an aperitivo.  
 
A few labels from Friuli for Pinot Grigio you might want to look for here include Attems, Gradis’ciutta, Jermann, Pighin, Radikon and Vistorta.  I am not at all self-conscious purchasing wines like these.

​I had long been working on a list of the top fifty restaurants in Houston, along with the best restaurants in each category for my simple website.  It’s taken some time to try to get to right, though something fun to work on, if somewhat expensive.  I feel that I can do at least as good a job as anyone with these.  I’m the former Zagat editor for the city, after all, among other local-dining related pontifications that I’ve managed to get paid for.  This is before the pandemic hit, and one can only guess what establishments still be around when life returns to somewhat normal, so work has been on hold.
 
With that list of the top places, only one restaurant that was part of a national restaurant group had been under consideration.  That was Vic & Anthony’s from the Landry’s.  It won’t make the list or come close now, but if I were doing a compilation for 100 best restaurants, it could very well.  The local branch of Nobu and maybe Roka Akor are two others that could crack it, of the top of my head (I’m considering Eunice a local spot, even if that might not be intellectually consistent).  The paucity of out-of-towners among the best restaurants, is simply because the best and certainly the most interesting are locally-owned and -operated.  Unfortunately, these restaurants are in danger.  More than the those with a large corporate parent.
 
Many states, including Texas, are allowing restaurants to open up to 50% of prior capacity, which might provide an additional shot of business.  But, with that still-limited capacity, continued fears of the virus that will keep many former customers away from restaurant dining rooms for a while, and with the high rate of unemployment – there’s less disposable income around – means that revenues will drop by 25% or more at very popular places, or once popular places, opined New York bar-restaurant owner Toby Cecchini in an op-ed piece yesterday in the New York Times.  He believes that “there is, quite simply, no possible way for anyone to make those numbers work.”  At least at independently run places.
 
“We’re in a period of a few years where independents lose and chains gain,” a restaurant industry analyst recently surmised in Reuter’s, possibly between 10% to 15% of market share.  This is because the larger chains are far better capitalized than independent places and more immune to the dramatic economic vicissitudes.  We will likely be left with more crap like Jimmy John’s, Subway, Chick-fil-A, Dominos, Wendy’s, Olive Garden, Chili’s, and the like.  In a city like Houston, where the dining scene, led nearly solely by home-grown establishments, has become a hallmark, a source of pride for locals, a great avenue of entertainment, somewhat of an insight into other cultures, and a provider of accessible, simple joy, the near-future might be filled a lot of disappointments.  Try to support these if you can.  I am daily, if still strictly take-out.

A very delectable fish dish at Nancy's Hustle.

​When I decide to end the work day in these times of being nearly fully house-bound and feel like a drink if not spending much effort in making one, I’ve come to rely on either a gin and tonic or whiskey and soda.  Both of these refreshing concoctions have names nearly spelling out the entirety of the recipes, though freshly squeezed lime juice, a fair amount for me, is also indispensable.  And, ice, of course, as we are Americans.
 
What makes these simple cocktails more than simply enjoyable are the tonic water and club soda from Fever Tree.  The biggest reason that gin and tonics, in particular, have gotten much tastier is because of the availability of high-quality commercial tonic water, most notably the Fever Tree brand, found in nearly every somewhat serious establishment these days.  As Justin Vann, a proprietor of the excellent Public Services downtown mentioned to me after I complemented him on the tastiness of their gin-and-tonic some time ago that it’s mostly because of the quality of the tonic water, as the drink is mostly tonic water, after all.  Something I had somehow hadn’t really realized before that. 
 
The current crop of tonic waters from Fever Tree are: Indian, Mediterranean, Elderflower, Aromatic, Lemon, Light Cucumber, and Citrus, along with light versions of a few flavors.  In addition to club soda, the non-tonic products are Sparkling Pink Grapefruit, Ginger Beer, Ginger Ale, Smoky Ginger Ale, Spiced Ginger Ale and Sparkling Lemon soda.  All crafted for high quality mixing.
 
Recently, I’ve had very good luck with the Citrus tonic water.  Light, but noticeably nicely zesty and expectedly a bit citrusy, it’s made with two types of limes, tangerines and a bitter orange, all sourced in Mexico.  Made specifically to match with Patrón Silver Tequila – not my favorite of the blanco tequilas – I’ve found that it paired wonderfully with a pretty good London dry gin.  A friend really enjoys Fever Tree’s cucumber one with the cucumber-accented Hendricks gin.  At the upscale Spanish BCN, I’ve had the best gin and tonics in my life, most featuring a Fever Tree tonic water.  Just a couple that I’ve had there include ones made with the Elderflower flavor, with lavender grapes, lemon and thyme, and another with the Mediterranean, with a prominent sprig of rosemary, olives, and sea salt.  BCN poured only part of the small bottle of the tonic water into the glass to start and you can add more along the way.  At BCN, this actually makes the drink more enjoyable as you consume more of it, even as the portion of alcohol in each sip diminishes.  It's something that I’ve taken to doing at home.
 
Though the club soda only comes in one version, unlike the tonic waters, when mixed with a decent Irish whiskey, it makes for a much more pleasant and a more flavorful experience than with using one of the supermarket staple club sodas.  For me, it’s worth the additional tariff to spend – about $5 for a four-pack of 6-ounce bottles at Spec’s – on both the Fever Tree club soda and tonic waters.  A whiskey and soda and gin and tonic are much more club soda and tonic water than anything else, after all.