I had had it a couple of times when I visited the northern Italian region of Piedmont some years ago and was looking forward to it when I was traveling there last week, carne cruda, an appetizer minced raw veal or beef that looks just like a slightly garnished version ground beef wrapped in plastic in your local supermarket.  That garnish was usually an egg yolk, a nicely deeply colored one at that.  It’s a dish that might not work for a lot of Americans, at least when in America, but it can be a wonderful start to a meal in the cooler climes of Piedmont, which is known for the high quality of their veal and beef.  The beef from the Alba area where I stayed, grass fed and as natural as can be, might reach its highest expression as carne cruda according to its purveyors.
 
Served a little cool, each time of the several times I had it recently was clean-tasting, fresh and relatively light, much more so than it looked, with more than a hint of a flavorful and fairly light, good quality olive oil, likely from nearby Liguria, and topped the egg yolk that provided some added richness and another, complementary flavor.  The dish is quite simple to prepare, especially in its most traditional and simplest form.  From a recipe from an Italian site, it’s just a bit of olive oil and lemon juice, salt and pepper, the raw egg yolk to crown each serving, and, of course, “the freshest and highest quality beef” ideally minced by hand – this not increasing the complexity but the time and effort.  This straightforward preparation is how I had it in Italy, if just with a small amount of additional garnish, always green.  Other recipes I came across often included mustard, onions, capers and Worcestershire sauce, with greens popular for presentation.
 
Carne cruda was served several times during my brief trip to Piedmont, always as part of the antipasti array, as a starter. It was sometimes pre-made in bulk – there were well over a hundred needing to be fed – and served in plastic containers.  These worked well, very well, to my taste and were fairly attractive, even in the plastic.  It probably didn’t hurt the desirability that I had it solely, or mostly, at Michelin-starred or -recommended restaurants during my recent visit.
 
But I find it hard to believe that carne cruda will ever get much traction here as appetizer.  It’s too bad, though I wouldn’t blame friends and potential guests who might sample the dish in Italy – at a Michelin-starred restaurant – but would hesitate if I served it, even if I told them it was made with beef or veal from Central Market or the like.  So, maybe not surprisingly, carne cruda or anything similar was not in the several American editions of pan-Italian cookbooks that I have, which were originally published in Italy.  A suitable recipe is easy to find online, though I doubt I will attempt it any time soon.  I trust those Michelin-starred restaurants in the Alba and Asti areas much more than I trust myself.


At San Marco in Canelli in Piedmont last week

When I pinged a cousin that I was heading to the Asti area for a few days this past week, she responded, “try the spumante.”  For a great many of us, before the rise of Moscato, Asti meant Asti Spumante.  And, Italian sparkling wine.  There was no other Italian sparkler in this country before Prosecco began its ascent this millennia.  These days, Asti spumante is dead.  Well, that’s not entirely true.  Dropping by the main Spec’s on Smith Street, there are still a few bottles from the big producers Martini & Rossi, Cinzano and Gancia, but these were made a few years ago and Asti Spumante is no longer being produced.
 
One of the sponsors of my trip was the Consorzio Tutela dell’Asti DOCG, the consortium of the wines of Asti.  A recently introduced slogan and one repeated to us is, “’A proposito di una terra, un’uva, tre grandi vini” with the gist “A land with one grape and three great wines.”  Now, from the area comprising 52 towns and villages and 25,000 areas represented by the consortium around the city of Asti in the region of Piedmont in northwestern Italy that sits between Milan and Turin, from the single grape of Moscato d’Asti, three wines are produced.  These three wines are made entirely from the light and aromatic Moscato d’Asti grape, which is known in France as Muscat à Petits Grains and is also widely used in other countries.
 
From the most dry to sweetest, the three wines made from Moscato d’Asti are: Asti Secco, Asti Dolce, and Moscato d’Asti.  The brand new Asti Secco averages just 17 grams of sugar per liter and these are about 11% alcohol by volume.  Asti Dolce usually has between 90 and 100 grams of sugar per liter, and around 6-7% alcohol. Moscato is the third, and undisputed star of the appellation, and also the sweetest with roughly 120 to 130 grams per liter and just between 4.5% and 6.5% alcohol.  Asti Dolce is what used to be Asti Spumante, though a little less alcoholic than in the past.  The bubbles are naturally produced in the bulk Charmat Method or as it’s called in this part of Italy, the Martinotti-Charmat Method, as the Frenchman got the credit for what the Italian invented (a claim that does actually have some merit). 
 
The three wines from one grape can be confusing.  The speaker at an event sponsored by the consortium from Jancis Robinson’s site admitted as much.  It’s all quite new, after all.  The 2017 vintage of Asti Secco was the very first.  If not as usually not as interesting as the wines of Moscato d’Asti, the Asti Dolce wines can work nicely as a digestivo, with its sweetness and notes of peach and lychee that are buttressed by welcome acidity, maybe with a dessert or fruit.  Asti is just another example that the wines of the Old World are ever-changing. 

And, though I didn't drink any Asti Spumante, I drink a lot of Asti, Secco and Dolce, and a lot of spumante, which is simply the Italian word for sparkling wine.


Old school Asti Spumante displayed at the Scarpa winery in Nizza Monferrato the other day

Unencumbered much by geography or topography, Houston, the nation’s fourth-largest city, has been sprawling in nearly every direction for decades and has long been without a true city center until somewhat recently. So, it might be a little odd that one of the country’s very best nexuses of interesting and high-quality restaurants occurs along a stretch of road that’s a shade over a mile-long not too far from downtown in Houston; especially odd since Houston is the only major city in the country without zoning and one dominated by the automobile. But, as the growth has occurred along the edges of the metro area, a growing concentration of restaurants and bars has also taken place in the last dozen years or so in the area between downtown west to the 610 Loop, the innermost of city’s three, increasingly distant concentric roadways.
 
Westheimer is one of Houston’s main thoroughfares, and one that runs twenty miles to the west. Soon after its humble beginnings, when Elgin turns, and turns into Westheimer via a name change less than a mile southwest of downtown, is where many of the city’s best and most exciting restaurants, ambitious cocktail bars and worthwhile coffee joints call home.  Awards and nominations from the James Beard Foundation abound on this part of the thoroughfare. The Houston area is known as the most ethnically diverse area in the U.S., and some of that is also on display in the eclectic collection of often ambitious, high quality establishments along this part of Westheimer.
 
Driving west from its start along the nearly-too-narrow four lanes, the old two-story house on the left-side at 219 Westheimer, now the home of a catering business, is where lower Westheimer began as a culinary destination twenty years ago, when the area was fairly dicey.  The address was the home of Chez Georges that served well-reviewed traditional French fare and was one of the city’s best. In the spring of 2008, Feast moved in.  A modern British restaurant known for its superb snout-to-tail cooking with one of the city’s best chefs Richard Knight in the kitchen about which Frank Bruni, the former restaurant critic of the New York Times, wrote had “no real peer in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and other major cities.” Even with a surfeit of critical attention, the superlative Feast shuttered in 2012, but this part of the city continued to grow as a dining hub.
 
Nearly across the street from the former Feast is a restaurant of note that is actually open, Bistecca, a beautiful, upscale steak joint with central and northern Italian dishes scattered on its menu that is headed by one of the region’s finest Italian chefs, Alberto Baffoni. He might not get the national attention he did years ago when he was at Simposio near the Galleria, but still directs a kitchen that turns out usually excellent fare. Nearly next door is the sleek, brand new Avondale, a unique wine shop-cum-restaurant from the well-regarded Olivier Ciesielski, once Tony’s top toque, which recently scrapped its eponymously-named French concept that might have gone a little stale. A stone’s throw away is two-story outpost of El Tiempo, the city’s top Tex-Mex that excels both with AM and PM fare in numerous guises. Their potent margaritas might flow more freely here than at their other spots.
 
A block further west is Dolce Vita from Marco Wiles, who has other places of note along the way.  It’s easily the best pizzeria in Houston, as it’s been since opening in 2006, whose thin Italianate pizzas, menu of interesting small plates and a well-chosen all-Italian wine list earned it the number three spot among Italian restaurants in the very last of the Zagat surveys. Next door is Indika, an upscale, contemporary Indian restaurant with a flair for fusion that was once named one of the best Indian restaurants in the country by Travel + Leisure magazine among its many accolades. It doesn’t get the press that it once did after Chef Anita Jaisinghani sold it to concentrate on her Pondicheri restaurants in 2017 but the new Nepalese owners have kept things the same, including high quality. The low-slung stand-alone structure next to Indika houses Aqui from Austin’s James Beard Award-winning chef Paul Qui. It does an outstanding job with an array of pan-Asian-inspired refined small plates including sushi in a differently designed, comfortable space with a useful patio that faces Westheimer.
 
A different kind of enjoyment, much lower-key than Aqui but one that’s far easier on the wallet, is found across the street in a strip center typical of Houston, if not of this part of Westheimer. The counter-service Pappa Geno’s is a local mini-chain that serves the city’s best cheesesteaks and some of the best, hot, messy casual sandwiches of any ilk. It’s delicious artery-clogging decadence. After that Westheimer begins to twist slightly right as you continue west, and about a block away is where another small plate place of interest from Marco Wiles, Poscol.  Named after the main thoroughfare in his hometown of Udine in northeastern Italy, this serves dishes, salumi and cheeses, mostly from the provinces well north of Rome. Not incidentally, it was named the best cantina, or Italian wine program, in Houston by the Italian publication Gambero Rosso earlier this year.
 
Not too many steps from Poscol is the busy Katz’s, a present-day rendition of New York deli that never closes. A block away sits a third restaurant whose roots, improbably, also lie in Austin. Serving a creative take on modern Japanese food and known for its sushi and sashimi preparations, Uchi is a version of the most acclaimed restaurant in Austin that won Chef Tyson Cole a James Beard Award several years ago. It quickly became part of the restaurant firmament in Houston soon after opening in early 2012, and remains a top destination for sushi and seafood. Around the corner, at the busy intersection of Westheimer and Montrose, is Aladdin, an inviting and welcoming oasis of very well-prepared and appropriately clean-tasting Lebanese food served cafeteria-style amidst the car and foot traffic, which offers of the best dining values to be found in the Houston area.
 
A block west of Montrose is a trio of establishments that are part of the Underbelly Hospitality restaurant group, a local collective of innovative bars and restaurants led by star chef Chris Shepherd. The first is Blacksmith that occupies a squat brick building and appears in numerous lists of top coffee shops in the nation. In addition to its roasting and brewing capabilities, its savory fare, like Vietnamese steak and eggs, help make it popular brunch stop, too. Travel + Leisure, again, included it as one of its fifteen “Best Breakfast Restaurants in the U.S” a few years. Shepherd won a James Beard Award for Best Chef Southwest in 2014 and he is a big reason for the quality of the food at Blacksmith. 
 
Across from Blacksmith is another one-story building, though bigger, that is shared by the new Georgia James and Hay Merchant.  This is the structure where Shepherd rose to national prominence with his creative cooking at Underbelly that opened in late 2010. Underbelly essentially decamped earlier this year a few blocks away in a smaller space to what is now called UB Preserv while Georgia James took over the original Underbelly with a steak concept opening in October of this year. Houstonians love steak. It got a few-month trial run as the terrific One Fifth Steak a couple years ago. Georgia James is certainly the most interesting steakhouse in Houston and among the very best. It can the most fun, too. On the eastern side of Georgia James is Hay Merchant, a beer bar with an interesting kitchen of its own, and one of the most serious and capable craft beer bars anywhere.
 
Another lauded chef has a place across the street in old Tower Theater at El Real. Bryan Caswell got some national airtime a few years ago as Next Iron Chef competitor and was also one of Food & Wine’s best new chefs before that. El Real is a temple to traditional Tex-Mex largely courtesy to involvement of the city’s best food writers and critics, Robb Walsh. It can be very good, but has been maddeningly inconsistent since opening. Mala Sichuan, a far more attractive version of its original location on Bellaire Boulevard, is about door down. With its traditionally and authentically spicy and vibrant fare from Chengdu and environs, the Mala Sichuan outlets have been regarded as the top Chinese restaurants among non-Chinese, but also a big favorite for folks from China, including my co-workers.
 
Easy for a pre- or post-meal stop from one of these recently aforementioned restaurants is Anvil, a few blocks west at 1424 Westheimer. Almost popular as it is proficient, it was Houston’s first bar dedicated to artisanal cocktails and was a James Beard Award finalist for the Outstanding Bar Program earlier this year. It might be impossible here to order a cocktail that is not terrific – my experience in a number of visits – and there always over one hundred on its ever-changing list. Just around the corner, as Westheimer bends to the right, sits Da Marco and the luxury vehicles that crowd its small parking lot, Marco Wiles’ temple to Italian gastronomy. Very adept at replicating top trattoria and ristorante preparations mostly from the northern regions of Italy like the classic Venetian take on calf’s liver and onions, Da Marco had the top food score from the last Zagat Surveys. Casual counter-service Ramen Tatsu-Ya is across the small street north of Da Marco, about 20 yards and visible from Westheimer, a sister restaurant in Austin was nominated for a James Beard Award this year, it’s possibly the top ramen restaurant in Houston.
 
About a block west is the city’s most accolated Mexican restaurant and on most lists of the best Mexican restaurants in the country, upscale Hugo’s serves modern preparations on a tempting menu that takes inspiration from throughout Mexico. What’s one the plate is serious, but Hugo’s can be fun and loud, especially during the weekend brunches. Led by James Beard Award-winning chef Hugo Ortega, it’s only serious competition for best Mexican restaurant in Houston is its two siblings, Xochi and Caracol.
 
Nearby is UB Preserv, the successor to Underbelly.  Set in the space that once housed Poscol it opened in the first half of 2018 and burnishes the phrase, “The Story of Houston Food” – now also “Without Limits.” Its kitchen incorporates not just products but flavors from the disparate cultures that are part of the Houston mosaic that are combined in non-traditional ways, and it nearly all succeeds grandly. The vast land of Chinese is a bigger component of the mix, as is seemingly the vast dining landscape of New York City. David Wong, an alumnus of David Chang’s kitchens and Grammercy Tavern in Manhattan (and also Cal Berkeley), is the chef de cuisine at this inviting and comfortable, if serious restaurant. With UB Preserv Shepherd had the stated pre-opening goal of creating the best Chinese-style dumplings in the country. They weren’t quite there during an early visit, but the puffy rice salad served during brunch has got to be at the head of the list in some “best of” category.
 
A half-block north of Westheimer from UB Preserv, Goodnight Charlie’s is a contemporary honky-tonk featuring mostly Texas musicians with a clean-lined, contemporary setting that has a partner in David Keck who is one of the city’s top wine professionals, a Master Sommelier, and who is also a former opera singer. Even with that wine expertise, it only has three wines, a red and white on tap, and a rose in a bottle; a great selection of bourbons, though. The food is mostly tacos during the non-brunch times, with the corn tortillas made in house starting with corn – not masa – from a chef who staged for a year-and-a-half at Osteria Francescana in Modena, Italy named again as the best restaurant in the world, before coming to Goodnight Charlie’s.
 
Heading further west just before Dunlavy is One Fifth Mediterranean, the current and third of five 11-month iterations of the space from Chris Shepherd and team. This one is Shepherd’s “interpretation of the flavors of the Eastern Mediterranean and Northern Africa” that features numerous small plates including some of the most incredible hummus and airy pita bread that you will likely ever encounter, larger plates of lamb, fish and chicken, all with light pure flavors in greater complexity than found elsewhere here. The restaurant has struck a cord with patrons who have roots in Levant and Persia, seemingly a testament to its quality and faithfulness in the ethos of the various dishes.
 
Last among the notables is across Dunlavy, is Common Bond, a serious bakery, both boulangerie and pâtisserie in the French tradition, which publicly aired aspirations to be the best bakery in the country and it very well might be. No doubt. With amazing croissants, terrific baguettes and delicious breads and French sweets in a variety of renditions, it’s the best bakery in the city, at the very least, and a nice, popular little restaurant and coffee shop, too. 
 
The best Tex-Mex, pizza, cheesesteak sandwiches, sushi, coffee, beer bar, steakhouse, Chinese, cocktail bar, Italian, ramen shop, Mexican, Middle Eastern and bakery might be found along this dynamic 1.1-mile stretch of asphalt. Though two dozen establishments are highlighted, there are others worthy of a visit here, and there are more on the way. It and Houston, keep getting better and better, and more interesting. And, with a concentration of spots, people can actually be something that is still rare here and visit more than one place on an evening without a car: a pedestrian.

The highlights of lower Westheimer:

1. Bistecca – 224 Westheimer
2. Avondale – 240 Westheimer
3. El Tiempo – 333 Westheimer
4. Dolce Vita – 500 Westheimer
5. Pappa Geno’s – 515 Westheimer
6. Indika – 516 Westheimer
7. Aqui – 520 Westheimer
8. Poscol – 608 Westheimer
9. Katz’s – 615 Westheimer
10. Uchi – 904 Westheim
11. Aladdin – 912 Westheimer
12. Blacksmith – 1018 Westheimer
13. Haymerchant – 1100 Westheimer
14. Georgia James – 1100 Westheimer
15. El Real – 1201 Westheimer
16. Mala Sichuan – 1201 Westheimer
17. Anvil – 1424 Westheimer
18. Da Marco – 1520 Westheimer
19. Ramen Tatsu-Ya – 1722 California (twenty yards north of Westheimer)
20. Hugo’s – 1600 Westheimer
21. UB Preserv – 1609 Westheimer
22. Goodnight Charlie’s – 2511 Kuester (a half-block north of Westheimer)
23. One Fifth Romance Languages – 1658 Westheimer
24. Common Bond – 1706 Westheimer

 

A dish early in Aqui's tenure

​It’s not surprising that the new fried chicken and Gulf seafood joint La Lucha on N. Shepherd that occupies spot of the dearly departed Hunky Dory has a great special on oysters on the half-shell.  It’s siblings with State of Grace, which has terrific weekday special on freshly shucked oysters and even a beautiful, separate room dedicated to those.
 
The oyster program at La Lucha is not quite as robust, there are none of the more flavorful East Coast oysters here, but it does offer $1 freshly and expertly shucked Gulf oysters Monday through Friday from 5:00 when it opens to 6:00 and from noon to 5:00 on Saturday and Sunday.  It’s a great deal, as the restaurant group procures top-notch oysters from around the Gulf that are normally priced at $3.25 per bivalve.  I sampled a trio of each of the half-dozen oysters that were recently offered: Champagne Bay (Barataria Bay, Louisiana); Shellbank Select (Gasque, Alabama); Navy Cove (Bon Secour Bay, Alabama); Mississippi Sound (Dauphine Island, Alabama); and Murder Point (Portersville Bay, Alabama).  All were good, soft but firm, and similar in flavor: mild, even delicate, low salinity and very clean-tasting that were well-complemented by a bit of lemon juice and more so, the racy mignonette sauce. Cocktail sauce and hot, grated horseradish are also provided, but the mignonette worked the best for me with these oysters.  I didn’t feel guilty quickly finishing the eighteen oysters, and maybe even invigorated by the time I finished the last oyster’s liquid.
 
The oysters are just one of the charms at this addition to the Houston dining scene, and one that is worthy of a visit itself, especially during the happy, happy hours.
 
La Lucha
1801 N. Shepherd (at 18th Street), 77008, (713) 955-4765
laluchatx.com


One of the small Murder Point oysters

​I was disappointed with the margherita pizza I had during my first visit to Luna Pizzeria.  Well, I ended up being disappointed with a great number of margherita pizzas during my odd odyssey that was the Margherita Pizza Project, and there were others far worse along the way.  I decided to give Luna another try, as a friend of mine whose judgement I trust is a regular customer.  I am very glad that I did.  On recent visit, I tremendously enjoyed their take on the pepperoni – which their crust is far better suited than for the bare-bones margherita – and stumbled upon an excellent lunch special. 
 
The smaller diameter pepperoni that gives its names to the pepperoni pizza is obviously much better than what Is typically found, and it shed off enough welcome grease to be soaked up with the not-so-thin crust, making it, and the pizza, overall, tastier.  An intermittently blistered and raised crown seemed to help, too.  The other ingredients beyond the pepperoni seemed to be generally better than usual, too.  The judiciously used mozzarella didn’t really stand out, but there was also provolone and the Parmigiano-like Grana Padano mixed and melted in.  Shavings of Grana Padano were also were brought to table on a small plate along with plenty of crushed red pepper and, something different, sprigs of fresh oregano.  Along with bringing complementary toppings to the table, the rest of the service and friendliness of these counter-service pizza parlors are somewhat unusual given the inexpensiveness, and another reason to like these casual eateries.
 
Yet another is that this fairly substantial 9” pepperoni pizza I liked so much is available daily until 4:00 for just $10.50 and served with a small green or Caesar salad, which are actually fairly substantially sized for starter salads.  It is a terrific value.  The other five Signature Pizzas can be part of this lunch special, too: Mushroom (baby portobello, shitake, oyster, button mushrooms, spinach, rosemary and whipped ricotta); Sausage (sweet Italian sausage, red onions and red peppers); Spicy Andouille (also with fresh jalapeños, red onion, red peppers, and green onions); Prosciutto and Arugula (also with tomato sauce, mozzarella, provolone, sliced and a lemon vinaigrette drizzle); and the Margherita, but I recommend one of the other five.
 
Luna Pizzeria
3435 Kirby (at Richmond), (832) 767-6338
7705 Westheimer (just west of Voss / Hillcroft), (281) 974-1818
107 Yale (south of I-10), (832) 834-7532
lunapizzeria.com

​A few years ago I was invited to dinner at the home of one of the city’s top wine professionals who happened to be a very good home cook.  The dinner was great and the array of wines might have been as good or even better.  One of the highlights was a white Hermitage from the cult producer Jean-Louis Chave that was nearly two decades old at the time.  Something that I found interesting, and much more imitable at home, was the pouring of a quality white Bordeaux to start the evening.  Served with canapes, it was more than pleasant, refreshing with its cool temperature and acidity, making it both a welcome aperitif and a fine complement to the light fare to start.
 
With that memory in mind, I recently went to a tasting of the wines of Graves and Pessac-Leognan, a part of Bordeaux, south of the city, that is known for their dry white wines.  It produces much more red, nearly 80% of the total, and is famed for its dessert wines, Sauternes and Barsac, but there are a number of good-value white wines made primarily from Sauvignon Blanc often with Semillon and sometimes a bit of Muscadelle.  These Sauvignon Blanc-based wines from Bordeaux taste unlike than what is popular here – much less fruit-forward, less assertive, and with more evident acidity and often minerality.  The addition of the lemon accents of the Semillon plays a part.  The whites of this area come in a range of different styles, which was evident in this recent tasting.  The wines at the event ranged from $11 to $35 with most under $20.  None of the twenty wines I sampled were great, but most were good and nearly all were enjoyable.  Nothing approached the fantastic, complex and elegant Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte Blanc 2015 ($88) that I sampled at Spec’s 2015 Bordeaux in March that both the Wine Advocate and Wine Spectator gave scores of 96.  A few that I liked included Légende Bordeaux Blanc 2017 ($18), Chateau de Rolland 2017 ($35), Chateau Haut-Reys 2017 ($11), and Chateau Luchy-Halde 2013 ($14). 
 
I asked one of the servers who was from the region how the whites are consumed there, with or as an aperitif.  She said that it mostly with food; fish, chicken, veal, sushi were popular partners.  Oysters, too.  The wines I tasted at the event led me to believe, or confirm my belief, that white Bordeaux, which are almost always medium-bodied at most, works very well, maybe best, for most Americans as an aperitif and with appetizers – like how it was served at that wonderful dinner I had been invited to several years ago.  Served chilled, these pair well with the six-plus months of heat and humidity that we have here.  But, I have enjoyed these with chicken and fish in the past, too.  These white wines of Bordeaux can work well in a number of ways.  

​I’m heading to Asti in Piedmont later this month to taste the wines of Moscato d’Asti and the Barberas from near Asti and Monferrato.  I feel the need to learn more about Moscato, and the Barbera d’Asti is one of my very favorite food wines that enhancing the enjoyment of a variety of dishes.  I visited the area about fifteen years ago, staying in nearby Alba, and loved it, even if the famed wines of Barolo and Barbaresco were too rich for my wallet back then.
 
Since then, what I’ve found has been a great resource for Italian wines is Italian Wines for Dummies that I picked up from a discount bin a few years after its 2001 publication.  Written by Master of Wine Mary Ewing-Mulligan and her husband Ed McCarthy.  Well-written, as it is easy-to-read, concise and filled with insight and recommendations that I have found to be spot-on over the years.  About traveling to the area they wrote:
 
“The region around Alba and Asti, where most of the great Piedmont wines are made, is one of the finest restaurant areas in Italy, if not the world. If you happen to visit between October and December, you’ll assure yourself ample shavings of the special treat of the region – pungent white truffles – on your pasta, soups, meat courses, and anything else you desire (we especially recommend them with egg dishes. But anytime of the year, the restaurants perform their magic for you.”
 
I found that the food was excellent when I went, robust, very flavorful and somewhat refined even for dishes of obviously peasant origin.  Historically, there were a lot of peasants, since region was poor until just the last few decades, somewhat surprising given that it traffics in the luxury goods that are Barolo, Barbaresco and white truffles.  I wasn’t there during truffle season where the precious white truffles (Tuber Magnatum Pico) are auctioned in Alba for a few weeks, drawing restaurants and food purveyors from around the world.  A retail shop from the area is selling white truffles now for 3.29€ per gram, or $1,835 per pound.  Quite a deal, as prices are about half of what they were last year, not that was shopping for them last year nor this year, either.  Yet, at least.
 
Hopefully, a few shavings of truffles are on the agenda during this upcoming trip.  The Dummies are right about truffles and eggs.  I had them in Acqualagna, another truffle capital, a few years ago, and the combination was fantastic, even if the bianchetto truffles in season at the time are not nearly as prized as the white truffles of Alba and the Langhe.

​I recently went to a tasting for the wines of Setubal peninsula, a region south of the Portuguese capital of Lisbon.  It was quite enjoyable and informative, as the region was brand new to me.  The wines were all well-made with a variety of grapes, both indigenous and international, and often interesting.  And, local chef Soren Pedersen did a very fine job with an array of Portuguese dishes to pair with the wines.  I enjoyed the preparations for the quality, though the winery representatives also liked the dishes for its adherence to the tastes of where they had just flown from; especially impressive since Pedersen said that he’s never be to Portugal.
 
While learning about the wines and enjoying myself, I told several of the Portuguese that I had hopes to travel to Portugal within in the next year or two, largely to wine and dine, and that it has long been high on my list of places to finally visit.
 
Then I remembered the next day that I had actually been to Portugal and had had a Portuguese meal there, sort of.  Some years ago, on a trip with the Gruppo Ristoranti Italiani (now Gruppo Italiani) to Italy, I was booked along with an editor of Serious Eats on circuitous return trip home via Lisbon.  Both of us were schlepping oversized cartons of pasta courtesy of the fine folks at La Molisana, a pasta maker we had visited earlier in the week.  So, I’ve been to the Lisbon Airport, though that really doesn’t count for a country visit in my book.  Maybe the meal, more so.  She had on-going assignment, as she traveled internationally quite frequently: a brief article on a signature McDonald’s sandwich in countries around the globe.  In the Lisbon Airport, it was the McLusitano.  I joined in.  It was cheap and I didn’t feel like spending money at that point.
 
Even given moniker, a reference to the Roman name of Portugal, I was unsure of how representative it was of Portuguese cuisine.  And, if I am going to be honest with myself, the not-so-unfamiliar McLusitano really was not quite as good as any the meals that we had had in Italy the past week, on a trip led by one of America’s top Italian restaurateurs.  Nor, what was served the other day.  

​Featuring Creole or maybe more accurately Creole-inspired fare, the restaurant that became Eunice had garnered very considerable buzz beginning in 2016 when it was going to be star New Orleans chef and restaurateur John Besh’s first foray into Houston.  With Besh no longer actively involved in the restaurant group due to allegations of widespread sexual harassment, Eunice, named after the southern Louisiana hometown of its executive chef, Drake Leonards, fell a bit under the radar until almost its opening about a month ago.  And, without realizing it, I had driven by the attractive new setting for the restaurant for that features landscaped area in front of a sleek, contemporary office building that formerly housed Solvay.  Set away from Richmond, it can be easy to miss.  It’s definitely worth seeking out, though, based on my first visit last night.
 
It all started very well at the attractive and expansive bar just inside the entrance with a first-rate dry gin martini, made just with their well-selected well pours, that was a relative pittance at $6.50.  The receipt was humorously, and appropriately, tucked into a Mr. Boston’s cocktail guide.  We then walked to the table, passing through much of the smart and inviting modern setting softened by some comfortable rustic-themed elements like the different Gulf oysters waiting in wire-meshed bags at the counter of the oyster station set near the middle of the restaurants.  High ceilings provide for large, tall windows adding to a lightness along with the light-hued furniture, tabletops, wall treatments, and covered lights hanging down.
 
We started with a series of four appetizers that all worked out very well, vibrant and maybe a little lighter than you might expect from a Louisiana-bred concept, none of which last long on the table.  The roasted oysters with bits of shrimp, blue crab, and then brown butter breadcrumbs were excellent, with the toppings working well with the moist, milky oysters.  Maybe even more pleasurable were the chicken liver mousse served with a fig jam and thin slices of quality toasted bread.  Mild yet flavorful, I believe I liked it as much as the Tuscan version served nearby by at Giacomo’s.  The crispy Boudin Balls looked a lot like hush puppies but tasted far better.  The Dan Dan Shrimp – named after a friend and former co-worker of executive chef, not referencing the Szechuan noodles – were served with widely shaved carrots that added a little texture and sweetness to the excellent, fresh shrimp that were properly sautéed.   
 
For the entrée, I fretted over three items before settling on their version of shrimp and crab etouffee that was served over house-made pasta, "à la Harry,” likely a nod to the pasta dish created at the famed Harry’s Bar in Venice.  The smaller-sized medium shrimp that was studded with occasional pieces of crab were delicious and I enjoyed the dish, overall, but the pasta was overly soft to my palate, very soft and detracted from the rest of the preparation.  It was overcooked, at the least.  And, traditional rice would have been better.  Too many non-Italian restaurants make pasta in house that is rarely that good, in my opinion.  I might be a little tougher than usual having spent nearly a week this summer in Parma, the heart of fresh pasta country in Italy. 
 
My friends’ entrées were better, and terrific: a hanger steak from the lunch menu, slices of duck breast with some dirty rice not that clearly described as “Duck Duck Rice / sweet potato, celery root, dirty rice,” and a sautéed Gulf black drum with some crab and brown butter.  Everything was complemented with good wines at a good restaurant prices, a pleasant Gruner Veltliner by the glass for under $10, a bottle of minerally, nicely acidic yet fruit-laden Sancerre from Joseph Mellot La Chatellenie for $50, a plumpish but balanced white Burgundy that worked out very well with the shrimp, and a 2008 St. Emilion by the glass for only $12 or $13 that had nicely mellowed a bit but featured some nice fruit flavors.  One of the group, a big Sazerac fan, was so enamored with their versions, both traditional and one made with Cognac, that he stuck with them through the meal.  Service was friendly, solicitous, prompt and knowledgeable.  Just a few weeks old, the restaurant seemed to be operating on all cylinders.  It was a very enjoyable dining experience for us, highlighted by very good food.  It’s one of the best new restaurants I have been to this year.
 
Eunice
3737 Buffalo Speedway (at Richmond), 77098, (832) 491-1717
eunicerestaurant.com

​The ‘Stros collapse in the American Championship Series that finished on Thursday night was, and is, tough to take.  The ‘Stros pitching fell apart at the worst time, with the outstanding Garret Cole having his worst outing of the season in Game 2, aided by managerial ineptness by A.J. Hinch, especially in Game 3 with the too-soon departure of Dallas Keuchel who had settled down after a typically rocky first and had pitched four scoreless and had thrown just 83 pitches; his replacement, righty specialist, sidewinder Joe Smith missed his spot by at least 15 inches and a too-easy-to-see-and-then-hit gopher ball.  A miserable failure.  A less debatable decision by Hinch than that was letting Roberto Osuna stay in that game after losing three consecutive batters on 0-2 and 1-2 counts to a walk and two hit batters.  He had clearly lost it.  Unbelievable.  Hinch also stumbled a little bit last year in the playoffs with the pen what I remember, if doing a marginally better job than Dodgers skipper Dave Roberts, but that was understandably washed away with the World Series title.
 
Then there is umpiring especially from Country Joe West, who I have believed is an arrogant, obnoxious and terrible, if impressively jowled, umpire since the days of the Dome.  His blown call of Altuve’s home run cost the ‘Stros at least extra innings in Game 4 and likely a victory.  The slob certainly could not see the play well from his vantage point near second when he made a half-hearted call that it was interference.  The replays showed that the ball was clearly over the fence, so the fans could interfere if they so desired, according to the rule book.  But, the fans did not.  There was no contact and Betts’s glove was closed before the ball arrived.  There is no way Betts would have made the catch, though he has lied egregiously about it.  Though that was the most decisive of West’s bad calls, he overturned a play in Game 2 after review, except that the play in question was allowed to be reviewed.  It did not cost the ‘Stros, but it was wrong and indicative of the slovenly ump’s arrogance.  He also did not move on an errant throw to second from the Red Sox catcher, stopping the ball from going to the outfield and costing a runner at third base and possible extra run.  These are just the three most notable mistakes by West.  He is awful, but gets to work in the Championship Series.  Angel Hernandez, who is likely even worse, also worked the playoffs.  Seniority over competence.  Though not involving West, another egregious miscall was the missed third strike in Game 5 when Verlander threw a beautiful slider on 0-2 to slugger J.D. Martinez that was at least a couple of inches from the left side of the strike zone and an inch from the bottom of it, not a borderline pitch at all.  The umpire missed it.  Martinez hit the next pitch into the Crawford boxes for a 1-0 lead.  This very bad call it clearly upset Ron Darling, a former pitcher calling the game, who showed it a couple of times afterwards highlighting it.  Abysmal.  The poor umpiring did not cost the Astros the series, but it was still very frustrating to watch.
 
The biggest reason for my continued disappointment is that this was the very first team I have ever rooted for – on the professional or collegiate level – that was so good that anything but a championship would be a disappointment.  It is a very strange feeling for me, having grown in Houston and being a longtime Houston sports and ‘Stros fan.  I was even an Astros Buddy while there were in the Dome.  This series loss has been tough.  I could not pick up the phone when I saw a friend from the Boston area called yesterday.  I still haven’t listened to the voice mail message.  Maybe later today.  Or tomorrow.  

Happier times, at the first playoff game against the Tribe.

​When I was leaving the tasting from the producers of the Grandi Marchi, an association of the biggest and most well-known family own and run producers stretching much of the length of Italy such as Antinori and Gaja, I asked an acquaintance who is a wine educator if he had been to the newly opened natural wine bar.  He said that he hadn’t, and that natural wines he’s had had never approached the quality of nearly all of the nineteen wines that we had just sampled.  So true, I was quick to respond even as I still keep an open mind to those often wild natural wines.
 
The wines we tasted were surprisingly good from start to finish, one from each producer.  Maybe I shouldn’t have been surprised.  But, nursing a slight cold, might palate was a bit dulled and in most tasting I have been to, there are always a few wines or more that I find no more than palatable or made in a style that I don’t enjoy.  There were a few wines that I viewed as no more than palate, or just decent, but a surprising fifteen of the nineteen I thought were excellent, including four that were phenomenal.  It was a terrific tasting, one of the best that I have been to.  Complexity and refinement were two notable characteristics found in most of the wines presented.  The only disappointment was from Alois Lageder, a top producer in the Alto Adige in far northern Italy, that decided to bring an obscure wine from its portfolio, a 100% of the very obscure Manzoni Bianco grape, rather than one of its many acclaimed wines.  I thought that they might have been trying to showcase something not currently distributed here in the hopes of some orders for it.  It certainly wasn’t a poor wine, but not one that showed well to me nor as nearly any other wine they might have brought instead would have.
 
Below are the wines from the tasting that you might want to seek out, especially if cost is of little object.  The first four I thought were exemplary.
 
Antinori Badia a Passignano Chianti Classico Gran Selezione 2013 – $46 – Round, long and beautiful and “a richly refined expression of Sangiovese in Chianti Classico” to accurately quote the Antinori representative.
Donnafugata Ben Rye Passito di Pantelleria 2015 – $47 (375 ml) – This famed dessert wine lived up to its billing with its wonderful and strong aromas and a big, mouth-filling presence and flavors not unlike a nice Sauternes whose high sugar content is balanced with a lot of acidity, helping make this “very powerful wine” a gorgeous one, too.
Gaja Conteisa Barolo 2014 – $270 – Refined, beginning with very enjoyable aromas, a beautiful taste with terrific balance including a paucity of tannins that was a surprise for a Barolo so young, and a terrific wine to drink right now.
Tenuta San Guido Sassicaia 2015 - $210 – Big, bold, and polished, this 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Cabernet Franc blend with well-integrated is a gorgeous expression of a common Bordeaux blend that is something all together different from Bordeaux and more so, the Napa Cabernets.
 
Argiolas Turriga 2014 – $70 – 85% Cannanou that was developed by famed winemaker Giacomo Tachis is had a big aroma, with tannins that nicely fades; a proud flagship for the brand
Carpene Malvoti 1868 Extra Dry Prosecco Superiore – $14 – Balanced with good acidity, and though light was mouth-filling and still very easy to drink
Col d’Orcia Poggio al Vento Brunello di Montalcino Riserva 2010 – $125 – Refined, long-lasting and powerful, but with fairly elegant tannins; what you desire from most Brunello Riservas.
Michele Chiarlo Cipressi, Nizza Barbera 2016 – $25 – With prominent acidity as expected with Barbera, it was a very enjoyed wine with less fruit than the others in the tasting, but certainly a very good wine with many foods.
Jermann Vintage Tunnina 2015 – $60 – 25% Chardonnay, 25% Sauvignon Blanc, 23% Ribolla Gialla and 22% Malvasia, aromatic, and almost luscious with the flavors of Chardonnay and Sauvignon taking duty at the first part of the sip while the Malvasia provided a touch of well-matched sweetness at the end
Lungarotti Rubesco Vigna Monticchio Torgiano Rosso Riserva 2011 – $50 – This fairly refined wine made entirely of Sangiovese nicely paired the fruit and acidity of the grape with a proper amount of oak for an excellent result.
Masi Campolongo di Torre Amarone 2011 – $160 – Very dark, rich with prominent dark fruits and tannins, and also noticeable acidity that was not overly rich nor strong for an Amarone, its 16% ABV well hidden by the expertise of the winemakers, and easily drinkable now.
Mastroberadino Radici Taurasi Riserva 2011 – $65 – A refined version of Aglianico that had a lot going on though with tannins only present and the end of the taste and nicely integrated with the rest.  We were told that this will be even much better in five to ten years.
Rivera 2012 Il Falcone Riserva Red – $45 – Mostly from the less known Nero di Troia grape of northern Puglia, this was somewhat aromatic, round and elegant with enough fruit and some tannins
Tasca d’Almerita Rosso del Conte 2014 – $57 – Over 60% Nero d’Avoloa, this wine was long-lasting and balanced with some ripe fruit that was very pleasant.
Umani Ronchi Campo San Giorgio Conero Riserva 2012 – $70 – This 100% Montepulciano was grapey, mouth-filling with ripe tannins that was slightly chewy, but almost elegant, a refined version of the varietal.
 
There is a reason that these wineries sport many of Italy’s most well known labels.  They often make excellent wines.

The Breakfast Klub has deservedly won some national attention in the past for its breakfasts.  I am huge fan, even of the counter service outpost in Terminal A at Intercontinental Airport.  But, it might be not an understatement to write that Goode Co. Taqueria serves the best breakfasts in the city; the state; the country; etc.  I confirmed that on a recent weekend visit with a brand new order for me, the somewhat unusual Hunter’s Delight: two large eggs hard scrambled and covered with a mild but flavorful chili con carne – no beans, of course – and served with excellent diced red potatoes and toasted, distinctive airy house-made bread or biscuits.  It was terrific.
 
The Goode family restaurant has been fashioning gustatory masterpieces with eggs, potatoes, mesquite-grilled meats, butter, nicely discernible manteca de cerdo, a bit of salt and pepper, and the ancillary grease, cholesterol and fat for years during, once only on weekends and every morning in recent years.  The place has long been busy on weekends, but those patrons must come solely from the nearby neighborhoods because, from unscientific polling on my part, seemingly too many people beyond the 77005 are still unaware of the amazing breakfasts here. 
 
The breakfasts are Texan and Tex-Mex in nature.  Strongly influenced by Mexico and south Texas ranch cooking, these are consistently exceptional and hearty.  But, it is all done in a distinctively Goode Co. manner and better than elsewhere.  It begins with top-notch ingredients, which are well-executed no matter how busy the place gets, and an understanding how to improve upon the familiar.  Dishes seem both more robust and refined than typical.  It is doubtful that any breakfast cooked at a run is nearly as tasty as these that Goode Co. turns out each morning.
 
There is the basic American Breakfast that consists of two jumbo-sized eggs, a choice between house-made sausage and thick, smoked bacon, diced potatoes listed as hash browns, and either the soft, house-baked bread or an English muffin.  Though similar dishes are served at virtually all other breakfast places, Goode Co. stands head-and-shoulders above the rest with its exemplary, often robust flavors.  The fresh, house-made bread with a little bit of butter is especially good.  Another breakfast combination offers venison sausage instead of the more mundane meat choices.  Some of the other combinations with eggs are one with pork chops, quail, another with steak, another with beef fajitas, and then one with catfish.  Though fried catfish and eggs may not sound appetizing to that many people, if it is offered here, it’s probably as good as it gets.  You can expect the meats – grilled over mesquite – to be tender, juicy and flavorful.
 
Other breakfast dishes are different Tex-Mex combinations featuring eggs scrambled with a choice of items: tocino (bacon) and egg; chorizo and egg; nopalito (nopalito cactus leaves).  All are excellent.  The fresh tortillas, either flour or corn, provide a nice complement.  There are also the other Tex-Mex breakfast dishes: migas, huevos rancheros; huevos a la mexicana; and a Mexican omelet.  The condiments bar with its pico de gallo, additional dark salsa, chopped onions and pickled jalapeños provide additional flavor to these dishes.  In case you are minding your cholesterol, thick, pecan-topped waffles are also very popular and sinfully delicious.

Breakfasts run between $10.50 and $17.25.  There are also plenty of sides including the meats, freshly squeezed juiced and a Screwdriver or Bloody Mary if the morning allows.
 
Breakfast – Monday through Friday, 6:30 to 11AM; Saturday and Sunday, 7:30AM to noon
 
Goode Co. Taqueria
4902 Kirby (at Westpark), 77098, (713) 520-9153
goodecompany.co

​At MInuteMaid yesterday my brother complimented the bartender in the Club Level working up the third base line for his quick and friendly service contrasting with the pitiful service we had to endure for years when we had season tickets in the upper level.  "For fuck's sake," replied with a bit of a brogue, "those people upstairs have only two speeds: slow and reverse.”  Very true.
 
His compatriot working next to him was quite slow, too.  We got stuck in her line for a while our first time up for beers before he rescued us from another few-minute wait.  In fairness to her, she did have to deal with an unusual request from an ancient woman who was just ahead of us in line.   This woman, whom my brother thought was her in eighties, ordered an entire bottle of wine, Whitehaven Sauvignon Blanc, and had the server pour it into a giant plastic cup, which did not seem meant for sharing.  I had never seen anything like that. 
 
Fun at the old ballpark.  That was even before the first pitch of terrific Astros playoff victory, going up 2-0 in the best of five versus the Tribe.  It was a good day.

Postscript - I was at Game 3 versus the Red Sox, a dispiriting loss, but actually had some good service, very friendly and prompt enough, in the upper deck at the Karbach stand in left field area.  The beers were a bright spot, and helpful, in watching the game.  And, I had good service there last year, too.

​New for this Texans season, po boys from Antone’s Famous Po’ Boys are being served at kiosks at NRG for Texans games.  These are the same ones found wrapped, and often sitting forlornly, in white paper in refrigerator cases in supermarkets across the area.  Though no longer bearing the Antone’s name, there are a couple of other casual po boy outlets that do a much better job representing the Antone’s legacy, serving much tastier sandwiches also wrapped white paper, Paulie’s Poboys and clunkily-named Angelo’z, the latter actually just beyond NRG’s parking lot.  Angelo’z and Paulie’s are still owned and operated by Antone’s descendents, changing the names of their restaurants from Antone’s Import Co. a few months ago.
 
Since its inception as a single grocery store on the edge of the Fourth Ward, Antone’s Import Co. was for many years, into the 1990s, the standard in Houston for cheap and tasty prepared sandwiches.  A family originally from the Levant bought the first Antone’s many years ago (now the site of The Pass & Provisions) and successfully expanded the concept into a good number of branches throughout the city before retrenching.  In the 1990s during the settlement of the estate of the founder’s widow, Antone’s became two separate companies, Antone’s Import Co., the current Angelo’z and Paulie’s, and Antone’s Po’Boys & Deli, now called Antone’s Famous Po’ Boys, the slicker and larger operation. 
 
Usually enjoyably crusty, unlike the smooth, malleable bread of the other concern, the bread at both Angelo’z and Paulie’s is much better than at Antone’s Famous Po’ Boys.  Bread is a rather significant part of a sandwich, after all.  These fresh buns are distinctively a tad dry and slightly crunchy, and help to distinguish these classic Houston sandwiches.  The crusty small loafs, which were similar among the local Lebanese-run po boy purveyors, might be a legacy of the French influence in Lebanon and Syria in the last century or so.  All come affixed with pickle slices, and many with the popular and unique hot chow chow, a fairly spicy mixture of pickled cabbage, onions, sweet green peppers and paprika.  One providing a nice textural contrast and the other some pleasant piquancy.
 
The current po boys at Angelo’z and Paulie’s are a similar array of offerings including the Regular featuring slices of Italian cold cuts and provolone, the similar but more so, Super, Turkey, Smoked Turkey, Tuna, Roast Beef, Chicken Salad, Club, and the love-it-or-you-don’t Piggy (or Porky at Paulie’s), a salty concoction that might not be for the overly squeamish or health conscious.  Prices are about a dollar higher per sandwich at Paulie’s than at Angelo’z, reflecting its setting across from West University Place.  These po boys are made in-house at both Angelo’z and Paulie’s while the po boys at Antone’s Famous Po’ Boys will taste like what you will find at a supermarket – all of their po boys are made at a central commissary according to a cashier during a visit last week.  You can certainly tell.
 
Both of these family run operations also serve other sandwiches, doing a creditable job with a Cuban sandwich, for example.  But, you might want to visit Angelo’z or Paulie’s for a po boy; a still-enjoyable, and fresh-tasting taste of Houston past.  At Antone’s Famous Po’ Boys, one of the other sandwiches will likely be the wiser choice than one of their po boys.
 
Angelo’z
8057 Kirby (between OST and La Concha), 77054 (713) 667-3400
 
Paulie’s Poboys
3823 Bellaire (between Buffalo Speedway and Weslayan) 77025, (713) 218-8383
pauliespoboys.com

​On the small tables for two at Pizzeria Solario there is not nearly enough room for even most of the courses you get with their weekday lunch special: a soup, salad, and a good-sized Neapolitan-inspired pizza made just for one.  Between Monday and Friday from 11:00 until 2:00, you can get a cup of soup, small house salad, and one of five different pizzas for just $10 plus tax and tip.  This is a terrific deal, because it’s all quite tasty – with the single exception of a lame version of a Caesar salad that costs an additional dollar and easy to avoid. 
 
The pizzas are why you are here in the first place, and Pizzeria Solario does a fine job with the thin crust, judiciously dressed pizzas with a slightly wet center that have its roots in Naples.  The noticeably good quality ingredients and a traditional Neapolitan wood-fired brick oven brought to high temperatures help ensure well-done pizzas most of the time with a proper fresh taste including a pleasant, soft crust.  Having eaten far too many mediocre and worse pizzas in my long-lasting Margherita Pizza Project, I’m happy to write that Pizzeria Solario does a far better job than most in the city, and its safe to order a Margherita Pizza here along with the four others that are offered as part of their $10 lunch special.  In addition to the Margherita, you can get the Quattro Formaggio (Cow’s milk mozzarella, Parmigiano-Reggiano, Asiago, and aged Provolone), Pepperoni, the Bianca (Fontina, Cow’s milk mozzarella, Pecorino Romano and fried sage), and Filetti (Fontina, fresh heirloom grape tomatoes, arugula and fresh basil).  There does not seem to be a bad choice, at least three different ones I’ve had have all been quite enjoyable and worth ordering.
 
Though one of these pizzas for $10 would be a worth a special trip by itself, the house salad as probably better than it needs be – there were actually ripe and flavorful tomato halves, unusual for inexpensive Houston restaurants these days – as are the soups.  The oddly named sofrito soup featuring the browned vegetables, a roux, ground sausage pieces, vermouth and a bit of cream has probably been my favorite, though the minestrone-like lentil and cannellini bean soups are both worthwhile.  Three enjoyable courses anchored by a fine pizza for $10, there’s a lot to recommend at this fairly humble Greenway area spot.
 
Pizzeria Solario
3333 Weslayan (just north of Richmond), 77027, (713) 892-8100
pizzeriasolario.com