​One of those very memorable meals you have in your life, one of the first for me, was at Anthony’s when it was in the Chelsea Market on Montrose.  I was being feted by my parents in 1987 for a birthday and I had the osso buco, the first time I had osso buco.  Anthony’s preparation was braised in sage, lemon, thyme and basil and served in a rich Barolo wine sauce with a side of risotto.  The plump, slowly cooked and properly tender veal shank was absolutely delicious; rich, nearly decadent, but also refined and deeply flavored, and well-complemented by the wine sauce and perfectly cooked, soft risotto.  Different than the typical Milan-bred version, that is still the best osso buco that I’ve ever had.
 
Of the restaurants that Vallone had over the years, including Anthony’s, Grotto, La Griglia, Vallone’s (twice), Los Tonyos – a short-lived Tex-Mex concept on Shepherd that I actually quite liked – and Ciao Bello, it began and ended with the eponymous Tony’s, which remains on Richmond in Greenway Plaza.
 
Tony’s was Tony Vallone’s first and most iconic restaurant was his only restaurant when he passed away last week.  The first incarnation opened in 1965 on far-less-busy Sage Road as what has been called a “spaghetti house” when Vallone was only in his early twenties.  In a few years it transformed into a mostly French restaurant taking its cues from the grand dames of French dining in Manhattan like La Caravelle and Lutèce.  It was then and remained a destination for local socialites, the business elite, visiting celebrities and even presidents, who were more than ably cosseted in its clubby Post Oak Boulevard address where it moved in 1972.  Tony’s proudly served “The poetry of French food” as it proclaimed in a 1975 Texas Monthly advertisement, and doing it very well.  The year before the same magazine thought it was the best restaurant in Houston.  Tony’s kitchen eventually became more Italian following the passion of its owner, whose parentage, I understood, had antecedents in Sorrento, down the coast from Naples, and Corleone in Sicily where many Houston Italian-Americans have roots.  His culinary heart seemed to be in Naples, which showed on the menu and, more so, in later restaurants.
 
John Mariani, the longtime restaurant critic for Esquire now at Forbes, was a big fan of Tony Vallone’s restaurants.  For his list of best new restaurants in the country for the magazine, Anthony’s was on it in 1985, Grotto in 1989, La Griglia in 1991, Anthony’s in its new location in 1994, and Tony’s after its move in 2005.  Anthony’s was even named the best new restaurant in the country in its last incarnation in Highland Village.  High praise, indeed, coming from a well-traveled, seasoned writer based in the New York area and an expert on Italian food, the author of The Dictionary of Italian Food and Drink.  In fact, Mariani listed both Anthony’s and Tony’s among the most authentic Italian restaurants in this country in 1985 joining Tony May’s ambitious, beautiful Palio and Lidia Bastianich’s Felida in New York, and Piero Selvaggio’s Valentino and Primi plus the groundbreaking Rex Il Ristorante in Los Angeles.
 
My favorite of the Vallone establishments was Grotto.  In part, because it was the most approachable and affordable, very important for someone just out of college during its early heydays.  The food was – and is, as the menu has been stuck in amber since Landry’s purchased it – mostly Neapolitan-inspired with some items and tastes from Sicily along with the very thin-crust Roman-style pizza tonda, all done very well.  Not quite authentically Italian but tasting Italian for the most part, and tasting great, regardless of provenance, more vibrant and stylish than most, especially at the prices.  It was usually one of the pasta preparations or veal for me then prefaced by a wonderful breadbasket that included then then exotic, Sardinian cracker-like pane carasau.  The setting and atmosphere in the evenings were terrific, drawing the very well-heeled and still-pretty-after-many-decades, but also a range of ages and with an smart, upscale casualness that made it inviting to me.  Well-made Neapolitan-themed fare will do that for me, too, in most places, to be honest.  I used to even stop by the restaurant to just pick up cans of the Vallone labeled San Marzano tomatoes when it sold those.
 
In addition to the quality of the fare and the attentive service at Tony’s, especially, Tony Vallone had an excellent sense of style and design.  I don’t believe that he received enough credit for that, and it extended to all of his restaurants, at least from the 1980s on.  Grotto featured a sprawling, fun and often bawdy, well-rendered mural adorning the walls and columns featuring Naples-inspired figures street scenes and those from the Italian commedia dell’arte that was part of the draw of the restaurant.  La Grigila was maybe even more attractive, with its seaside motif, if more restrained in the content of its décor.  Anthony’s, after those two, was completely different, but strikingly handsome.  The latest incarnation of Tony’s, which opened in 2005, has an intriguing modern setting, light but sumptuous, punctuated with dramatic late-century works by Robert Rauschenberg and Jesus Moroles.
 
But, for me, the fondest memories from the Vallone establishments are primarily about the food.  Here is a dish that can be made a home, a recipe from Grotto that was featured in the Vallone restaurants newsletter for the Fall / Winter 1993.  I’ve made this a number of times over the years to great success.  Surprising success, at that.  It’s easy, just be sure to have good quality ingredients.  It takes its name from the island off the coast of Naples, in case you are wondering.  Don’t know if it has any connection to Ischia, but the name sounds cool.
 
Mozzarella Ischia – Hot Fresh Mozzarella with Tomatoes, Olives, and Sweet Peppers
 
Ingredients:
 
Mozzarella di Bufala – 3 pounds
Extra Virgin Olive Oil – ½ cup
Garlic – 6 to 8 cloves, finely minced
Flat-leaf parsley – 1 cup, chopped
Balsamic vinegar – 1 tablespoon
Red onion – 1 cup, finely chopped
Gaeta olives – 20, pitted and cut in half
Dried oregano – 1 tablespoon
Tomatoes, large – 6, chopped into good-sized pieces; tomatoes need to be very fresh
Basil – 36 large leaves, torn into pieces just before serving
Red bell peppers – 4, roasted and sliced
Sugar – 1 tablespoon
Salt and pepper to taste
 
Serves 12 as an appetizer.  I usually have thick slices from a crusty loaf as an accompaniment.
 
Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Place thick slices or balls of mozzarella into a well-oiled baking dish and cook for 5 minutes
3. In a large bowl, mix well all of the other ingredients.
4. Place the just-baked mozzarella onto small plates and spoon the mixture over it and then pour on some additional liquid from the bowl.  Serve at once.

Part of a luncheon at Tony's a few years ago.

​Working from home was a little stressful at first with the extent and disruption of the pandemic being brand new.  Looking forward to a cocktail at the end of the workday, which might have stretched a little longer toiling from home, helped both make the afternoons go more quickly and provide some kind of demarcation between the work life and that of home.  Maybe, it was a the alcohol that helped, too.
 
Prompted by my desire to find a recipe for margaritas that I enjoyed and could do a passable job with at the house, aided by Costco’s price for a 5-pound bag of limes for just $4.39, I’ve had a lot of limes to work with.  I was steered toward cocktails that might use lime in addition to those margarita trials.  Gin and tonics, of course, but I had to expand my repertoire.
 
Other than for the margaritas, the mantra was easy and refreshing for our warm climate.  Ice.  Like most Americans I demand it with spirits most of the time.  I didn’t mind squeezing a lime or two, but nothing much more than that other than stirring and sometimes shaking.  And no garnishes.  Other than for the margaritas, I generally wanted lower alcohol, too.  I had grown to appreciate the Italian approach to the apertivo, the pre-dinner cocktails that not only provide some alcoholic pleasure, though not a lot, and also help open the appetite often with their hints of bitterness. For that, vermouth and soda didn’t work out that well for me.  I didn’t really like any of the versions that I made, with Cocchi Americano and another semi-sweet vermouth, Dolin Blanc.  Dolin Dry, which I employ for my martinis, didn’t do the trick either, but at least one Italian product did work.

​​A big take-away from the nearly daily mixing research was that Fever Tree is near necessity for my palate, both its tonic waters and its club soda.  Another is that lime really does help a great many cocktails.  Using limes and lemons – usually half of each at a time – generally makes the drinks more vibrant, refreshing and tastier, adding some welcome balance to the spirit, in part.  Below is a quintet of easy mixers that I’ve quite liked in recent months.
 
(Irish) Whiskey and Soda
 
Tullamore Dew, a smooth and easily enjoyable Irish whiskey, with more balance and flavor than the most popular Irish renditions, was reintroduced to me by the fine folks at The Mucky Duck, where it is used in their excellent version of the Irish Coffee.
 
Two ounces of Tullamore Dew mixed with five ounces of Fever Tree club soda over plenty of ice with two lemon quarters squeezed in, stirred a few times.  Fever Tree’s tonic water very conveniently comes in 8-packs for just about 5-ounce cans that makes for a single drink.  I’ve only seen those at Spec’s, though.  I prefer lemon to lime for this and the similar Scotch and soda, but lime works quite well, too.
 
Scotch and Soda
 
Scotch and Soda /  Mud in your eye /  Baby, do I feel high, oh me oh my / Do I feel high.  The opening words and melody of “Scotch and Soda” from the Kingston Trio recorded in the early 1960s had been a memory of my youth from an LP of my mom’s, many years before my first taste of scotch.  Very oddly and coincidentally, the song was discovered by one of the members in the home of the parents of Tom Seaver, Tom Terrific.   
 
This is a very good way to use an affordably priced blended Scotch.  Save the more distinctive single malts for sipping solo.  Two ounces of good blended Scotch – Famous Grouse is what I am using now – mixed with five ounces of Fever Tree club soda over plenty of ice with the juice of half of a lemon, stirred a few times, just like above.
 
Campari and Soda
 
It took me quite a while to appreciate the assertively bitter Campari, maybe Italy’s most iconic liqueur.  In addition to an occasional well-made Negroni, I’ve grown to like Campari and soda, usually as a pre-dinner refresher and a liter bottle of the bold red concoction has been getting replaced at a greater clip in recent months.  I mix at least two parts Fever Tree club soda to one of Campari along with the juice of half a lime over ice is often an enjoyable and relatively low alcohol starter..
 
Gin and Tonic
 
I’ve long liked gin and tonics, mostly as a warm weather cocktail, much of the year here.  I grew a greater appreciation of these with the wonderful, inventive Spanish-style gin and tonics done up at BCN.  I haven’t tried to replicate the somewhat elaborate versions there, as I’m sure I’ll fall woefully short of its skilled bartenders, but I’ve come to appreciate the quality of Fever Tree tonic waters.  That had been affirmed at Public Services through a few, or many, gin and tonics there.  It is the tonic portion of the gin and tonic that is the most important part of the equation as it’s the largest part, so high-quality tonic water is key.  It makes a big difference.  For me, it’s Fever Tree.  Its tonic waters, in all its forms, I much prefer to the similarly priced ones from Q Tonic.
 
Concerning the fun part, the gin, though long my go-to for martinis, I’ve determined that London Dry gin, with its familiar taste featuring prominence of juniper flavors, is also my favorite for gin and tonics.  The ones I like the best are the ones among the most widely found and modestly priced: Bombay, Tanqueray, Tanqueray No. 10, and Plymouth’s.  Ford’s has been well employed at bars and restaurants.

​For me, an ideal has been either Citrus and Mediterranean Fever Tree tonic waters mixed at 2-to-1 or 2 ½-to-1 ratio to a good London Dry gin over ice with the juice of half a lime and stirred gently a few times.
 
Ranch Water
 
This drink, a popular way to take the edge of the heat in far west Texas, came to my attention in recent years, likely from Texas Monthly.  I had my first one at Eight Row Flint and was nonplussed.  As it got warmer here in the spring, and with all the limes I had courtesy of Costco packaging ethos, I thought I could actually do better at home.  I did, with some guidance.
 
Adapted from a recipe in Texas Monthly, I have been using two ounces of a nicely priced but well-done blanco tequila – mostly El Jimador and its pricier sibling Espolon – two ounces of lime Juice, which usually means two limes, poured into a pint or shaker glass with a salted rim and filled about two-thirds the way with ice.  Topo Chico is then poured over the rest and stirred a few times.  I’ve that the salt helps to balance the flavors of the tequila and lime, and its acidity.  There is a reason that margaritas are served with salted rims.  For a spicy kick, my brother-in-law suggested using jalapeño slices.  I prefer serranos.  It works well, two thin horizontal slices should provide sufficient kick for most.  Three was too many for my tastes.
 
These are the easy ones.  Look for information about the more involved, and alcoholic, ones in the near future.