​I was on a webinar the other day about how restaurateurs are rethinking the fine dining model during the disruption caused by the pandemic.  One of the panelists was the owner of the Il Gattopardo Group of Neapolitan-rooted restaurants in New York and the chairman of the Gruppo Italiano, which promotes authentic Italian food products and dining, Gianfranco Sorrentino.  He made an assertion that struck a chord: “Nothing can replace the experience of dining at a busy Italian restaurant.”  Something that is not currently available in New York, or here.
 
Though I have greatly enjoyed busy, quality restaurants of all stripes over the years, maybe there is something special about busy Italian – and also Italian-American  – ​restaurants at dinnertime: the oft-gracious and gregarious owners and staff, that there is wine at every table, the greater volubility, and the seeming pleasure of the patrons, maybe more so than at other types of restaurants.
 
The comment made me think of some of the more memorable or enjoyable times at a “busy Italian restaurant” over the years.  Grotto in Houston, during its glory days in its original location in the early 1990s when it garnered some national attention, was a go-to first date place for me for years with its usually excellent, vibrant Americanized Italian fare that drew on owner Tony Vallone’s familial ties to the Naples area in always bustling, festive setting aided by slightly bawdy murals and in an atmosphere that I found eminently comfortable. It also drew plentiful numbers of patrons with a lot more money and taste than I had at the time, leading me to believe I knew more than I did about dining Italian-style.
 
Without the same type of style, though as busy, or busier, was Cunetto House of Pasta in St. Louis where I traveled for work later that decade.  It was packed each of the few times I went, usually having to wait with an appropriately stiff drink or two in the homey, somewhat tacky (or just Midwestern) bar area before proceeding to the dining room that was invariably filled with pasty and plus-sized St. Louisans to fill up on wonderfully over-sauced and tasty plates of Italian-American pastas or tender, succulent pieces of veal along with the din of diners doing the same, happily. 
 
Il Latini in Florence was recommended by the owners of the pensione where I stayed along with a couple friends and it initially seemed that it might have been a tourist trap as we waited in with other visitors in a queue for a table, but the food and experience were terrific – excellent versions of the robust Tuscan classics including an entire roasted rabbit on a spit that evening and well-made, too-easy-to-drink vino rosso della casa served in fun 1 ½-liter fiaschi – and all for a comparative song.  There is a reason why it has long been a Bib Gourmand selection in the Michelin guide, and a wise detour for a couple of hours of gastronomic fun while in Florence.
 
Maybe a year or two after that initial visit to Il Latini, my brother and I were in New Orleans for a pre-wedding celebration for our other brother.  That first evening we ended up at the very popular Eleven 79, a Creole-accented Italian-American that shuttered a few years ago.  The visit to a prime table in the middle of a very crowded, boisterous dining room, courtesy of a connected local, was prefaced by an arguably obscene number of drinks, in typical New Orleans tourist fashion, and possibly helped in the enjoyment of the crawfish bisque and tender, excellent veal scallops cooked with spinach.
 
On a first night in another city some years later, Sorrento, La Basilica was the busy Italian restaurant that my family and I visited to great luck.  Sitting in one of the numerous tables in a small piazza adjacent to the restaurant, both the Neapolitan classics, especially the pastas and preparations with local shellfish, and the atmosphere, were excellent.  The wine, beginning with a top-notch Prosecco from the Cartizze region and then a fair amount of local Fiano and Greco white wines, aided it all.
 
The most recent of the most enjoyable visits to a busy Italian restaurant was to the least Italian of these.  It was a couple of summers ago, again with my family, to Franceschetta 58 in Modena, the sibling to the high-flying Osteria Francescana, which had just been named the best restaurant in the world for a second time.  Its cuisine, somewhat reflective of its staff, was wide-ranging and not necessarily all Italian.  No matter, it was in Italy and a lot fun.  And, I had a really tasty pasta dish – Abruzzese-style chitarra spaghetti with bread crumbs and an anchovy sauce – in any case.  The visit was particularly memorable, in large part, because we nearly didn’t eat there at all, arriving late in the lunch hour without a reservation and with ten people.  Initially turned away, the very accommodating front of the house folks, eventually found room for us, scattered in several tables in the small dining room.  The closeness of tables and the conviviality of the guests from around much of the globe and the waitstaff made for a memorable visit complemented by interesting, mostly all delicious fare.
 
These are first of the visits that come to mind.  Yes, there does seem to be something about “a busy Italian restaurant.”

Paccheri with local seafood at La Basilica in Sorrento

​Just recently, the best burger and pizza joints have shuttered, Bernie’s Burger Bus and Dolce Vita, respectively.  The best stop for kolaches, by far and away the best place for kolaches in the area, in my opinion, is still open, the Kolache Shoppe, with two locations.
 
As I try to support worthwhile local restaurants as much as I can, safely and daily, I’ve visited the Kolache Shoppe a few times, with the drive-thru at the Heights spot being especially handy.  It’s been wonderful; I’ve had a couple of the best meals from there since the shuttering of the restaurants in March.  The kolaches, both the traditional and savory, are the best of breed.  The savory ones are technically called klobasniky in the plural in Czech, at least for the pigs-in-a-blanket versions, but seemingly only the uptight writers or editors at Texas Monthly really care about that.  They are all kolaches in the common parlance here: the traditional Old World-derived fruit-or-cheese-filled pastries, those sausage-centric pigs-in-a-blanket, the nicely caloric breakfast ones often with Tex-Mex fillings along with the newer styles featuring beef brisket or boudin inside.  All the versions at the Kolache Shoppe are excellent.
 
The quality begins with the dough, just slightly sweet, airy, fresh-tasting, and flavorful, unfailingly complementing whatever filling it surrounds.  It’s the best kolache dough I’ve encountered in memory.  And, those fillings are usually terrific, too.  Breakfast sausage, egg, pickled jalapeño and cheddar cheese; Pinkerton’s brisket, egg, cheddar cheese and pickled jalapeño; Kiolbassa brand sausage link and cheddar cheese; and strawberry and lemon cream, both of these topped with a judicious amount of sugar, are a few of the ones I’ve really enjoyed in recent weeks.
 
I’ve eaten a lot of kolaches over the years, most of them not that great or worse – mostly courtesy of The Kolache Factory, which is cheap and convenient, a once guilty pleasure, often when hungover.  There have been better ones than those around here, if not quite the Kolache Shoppe level like from Original Kolache Shoppe on Telephone Road, a long-shuttered place called Bright and Early, and ones from Underbelly and also Monica Pope at the Saturday farmers market.  Kolache eating in earnest for me began with trips to and from Austin years ago when I was in school and afterwards.  Weikel’s in La Grange became a near-must stop either way, and was long a benchmark for me.  It’s been eons since I’ve been there or nearby Hruska’s in Ellinger.  I’ll need to revisit those and probably a few others before stating definitively that the Kolache Shoppe serves the best kolaches in the state. I haven’t had any better thus far, and that includes all four places in West, Texas, the small Czech-American community north of Waco that is known for its kolaches, and Kenner’s Kolache Bakery upstate in Arlington that has a good reputation, the furthest from home I’ve had kolaches.
 
No matter where the Kolache Shoppe might eventually rank among the best kolache shops of the state in my research, it continues to make brilliant kolaches right here in Houston.
 
The Kolache Shoppe
3945 Richmond (just east of Weslayan), 77027, (713) 626-4580
1031 Heights Boulevard (entrance on Yale just south of 11th Street), 77008, (281) 846-6499
kolacheshoppe.com

​Last night was going to be the first night in the villa my family had rented overlooking Verona.  After that it was to be a week in Trieste as a home base to explore the surrounding areas, both in its region of Friuli and nearby in Croatia and Slovenia.  We did this last a couple of years ago in and near three different cities.  Parma was one of them.  We ate a lot of prosciutto there.  Prosciutto crudo, the familiar raw version served thinly sliced.
 
Parma gives its name to the famed prosciutto di Parma, which is made in the vicinity.  In the region of Trieste, the similar salted and air-cured raw ham produced nearby is prosciutto di San Daniele.  It’s just as revered as its Parma cousin, if maybe a little less known over here, as it is produced in lesser quantities.  I’ve found it is slightly sweeter in taste, but quite similar, and a similarly excellent product.  I was planning to eat a lot of it while staying in Trieste, probably Verona, too.
 
In Parma, the recommended wine to accompany prosciutto di Parma eaten as antipasto or a snack is locally produced, fizzy low-alcohol Lambrusco in the amabile, or off-dry style.  It is an excellent pairing, better than with the dry version of Lambrusco that I had drank more frequently.  In recent contact with wine producers in Friuli I queried them on what they drink with the regionally produced prosciutto di San Daniele.  A couple replied it was Friuliano, typically a dry, light- or medium-bodied white wine that is often aromatic, with notes of pears or citrus, and a bit of welcome minerality.  I quite enjoyed the Friulianos during the week I spent in the region some years ago.  I remember that it was an excellent match for the seafood we ate, and I’m sure it complemented the prosciutto quite nicely, if my memory is a bit hazy on that.  One producer recommended Pinot Grigio ramato, a unique richer style in which the grape must is in contact with the skins for about 10 hours or so.  I was looking forward to trying that, too, especially since it is tough to find here.
 
I found it interesting that wildly different wines, the slightly sweet, effervescent, light red wine and a couple richer white wines might complement the not-so-different-tasting hams.  I was looking forward to confirmation of the latter this week and next.  Though that won’t come to pass, I might have to do some prosciutto pairings at home in its place.  It won’t be as enjoyable, but good prosciutto and good wine are always fairly enjoyable wherever you are, I’ve found.

An advertising poster hanging in the only commercial prosciutto di Carpegna factory I visited a few years ago.

​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.

Since restaurants and bars have shuttered here in mid-March, I’ve tried to pick up a meal or some wine each and every day, at least something small that I can do to support the local hospitality industry, which such a big part of many of our lives.  Though certainly everyone knows that a great many restaurants are still serving in some limited capacity, many might not know that wine can be purchased at a number of these restaurants for consumption at home – that couldn’t be done before – and, also, a number of wine bars are also offering wines for takeaway.  Wine shops really need your help, too.
 
Below are a few restaurants that Houston wine aficionados might want to visit.  Though prices are likely higher than what you usually spend on a comparable bottle at a store, just think of this as something you might be at the restaurant, where prices are necessarily more expensive.  You are trying to help the restaurant, after all.       
 
Restaurants

• a’Bouzy – The fantastic array of champagne that is terrifically priced is now 10% off with a food order.  The food is no great shakes here, but it’s certainly worth stomaching for the discount.
• Amalfi – One of the city’s best Italian restaurant is offering their mostly Italian list at 25% off.  Unfortunately, the list is currently not shown online.
• Bravery Chef Hall – The wine bar at Houston’s best food hall has a pretty decent selection of wines, both from the New and Old World and even some on tap.
• Brennan’s – A limited selection, but pretty nice wines and pretty decent values: Hexamer Riesling ($24), Le Suffrene Bandol Rosé ($28), and Jean Louis Chave Cotes du Rhone ($30).
• Georgia James – Wine Director Matthew Pridgen has long curated some of my favorite lists now here, One Fifth and UB Preserv, and now every wine on this list, if available, has the following discounts: one to five bottles are 20% off; six to eleven bottles are 30% off; and a dozen and more are 40% off.
• Giacomo's - Has reopened and wines from its excellent and quite interesting list of mostly Italian and French labels that are priced more gently than most restaurants is even 25% now for take-away.
• Riel – This Montrose stalwart has an eclectic fairly wide-ranging list.
• Theodore Rex – The funky-edged list from local wine star Justin Vann – also responsible for the wines at Public Services, Squable, and Penny Quarter – is available for 15% off. 

 
Though one of my favorite wine bars, and cocktail bars, for that matter, Public Services, stopped selling wine for takeaway after an initial go at it, and the slick La Grande Rue in the Heights shuttered, hopefully temporarily, earlier in April, there are still a number of laudable wine bars and wine shops to frequent:
 
Wine bars and shops

• Avondale – A restaurant with one city’s most underappreciated chefs – the very skilled and experienced Olivier Ciesielski a former executive chef at Tony’s – this does double duty as a wine shop with some neat selections, some with some age on them.
• Camerata – This serious wine bar is kind of pricey, but there are certainly some nice wines, and a fine place for enological exploration.
• D&Q Mini Mart – Known more for its beer choices, especially Belgian and hop-laden, there is a small but cool selection of wines here that make it well worth keeping an imbiber’s radar.
• French Country Wines – Offering a small selection of small producers largely from the south of France and the Loire, there is also an excellent Burgundy producer and welcome wines from Bordeaux, often the Right Bank and south of the city.  Since the shutdown, the store has been offering a couple of daily discounts that can be tough to ignore.  And, nicely, for retail sales, it has absorbed the tariffs on French wines.
• The Heights Grocer – This shop on N. Main bordering the Heights has a smallish but interesting selection that can appeal to the refined, eclectic palate of the nearby well-healed.  Prices aren’t bad; there are even a few under $20.
• Houston Wine Merchant – The city’s best wine little wine store is just open for curbside pickup, so you’ve got to do your browsing beforehand online.
• Light Years – Specializing in natural wines, the labels will likely be much more unfamiliar, the wines more variable – and typically not-so-cheap – but this small house-based shop near the Menil can be a place to explore, and it offers day deliveries that are free on orders above $60 inside the Loop.
• TuttiLilli – An Italian counterpart to French Country Wines a few doors down from it, this has a small collection of wines, mostly from different regions and different names.
• 13 Celsius – My favorite wine bar in Houston, and the best, I believe.  The expansive selection is very well-chosen and now 35% of the previous menu prices, which weren’t that bad at all for a wine bar.  One example, Raina Grechetto is $29.25 here versus $36 at Camerata.
• Vinology – About 350 labels, mostly from the Old World, this is an enticing stop for wine lovers not far from the Upper Kirby and Rice Village.

During this very strange time of sheltering in place, with restaurants open just for take-away and delivery, if open at all, I’ve been trying to safely support worthwhile, local establishments on a daily basis.  Restaurants certainly need more customers, almost without exception, as daily turnover is a fraction of what it normally is.  Those that have remained open have had to shift operations often dramatically to be able to serve customers solely outside of their premises.  This has meant limited menus in most cases and some inevitable hiccups along the way.  I think that it’s been a good idea to ignore these for the most part, as this is all so new.
 
Some of the places where I have had good luck so far, and which I recommend, are: Backstreet Café, BB's Café, Christian's Tailgate (of which only the Midtown location is open), Common Bond, Cuchara, Hugo's, The Kolache Shoppe, The Mucky Duck, Surya, and Underbelly Hospitality (Chris Shepherd’s restaurants).  Along with a substantial portion of their regular menus, both Backstreet Café and Hugo’s are now serving breakfast tacos for $2.50 each daily from 9:00 to 11:00.  Fairly hefty and tasty, these are great values.  I wish I could include Izakaya, where I had a very good lunch featuring tuna poke, but it has since stopped serving.  This is in order to protect staff and customers according to the notes posted at the restaurant.  Another of my favorite spots, Giacomo’s, also started and then stopped service for a similar announced reason.
 
Though spending a little more at better restaurants has been satisfying both in terms of the quality of the food and believing that I’m helping in a small way to give places like those mentioned above a chance to survive this very trying time, I’m sometimes busy, or just feeling cheap, and a drive-thru has made the most sense.  Oui Banh Mi on Richmond remains a generally reliable, usually fresh-tasting and always inexpensive option for banh mi and spring rolls, even if its intercom, annoyingly, has never worked slowing down the drive-thru experience.  Much less satisfying, but more convenient, Brookstreet BBQ and Whataburger have also gotten my business in the past couple of weeks.  And, KFC, too.  That’s easily been the best of the drive-thru fare thus far, I’m a tad bit surprised to admit.  Original Recipe.  The Colonel is still killing it, mostly, at least recently.

The brisket and egg breakfast taco at Backstreet Cafe this morning.

During this unprecedented and very sudden closing of restaurants to dine-in customers that began Tuesday morning here, it is possible to support these businesses during this time of pandemic.  Necessary, too, if you enjoy dining out in Houston.  With the immediate reduction in the vast majority of their traffic and a limited amount of cash on hand facing most establishments for what could be a number of weeks or longer, these will have to try to remain viable on what may develop with their take-away and delivery operations.  My admonition is order from your favorite and worthwhile local places for pick-up or delivery meals.  And, be safe. 
 
Food is almost always in better condition when you pick it up directly, but you’ll have to take time to transit – almost always driving, albeit on largely uncrowded roads now – so it is more of a hassle, but it will also be cheaper.  Those delivery services are quite expensive, after all.  Some restaurants have set up online ordering, making it easier to order, but be patient.  These aren’t large online retailers, so you might encounter a glitch or two.  Some have also transitioned to more functional take-away and delivery menus like H-Town Restaurant Group (Hugo’s, Xochi, Caracol and Backstreet Café) and Underbelly Hospitality (UB Preserv, One Fifth, Geogia James and Hay Merchant).  Morning time, from 9:00 to 11:00, both Hugo’s and Backstreet Café are serving breakfast tacos for just $2.50, which is cheaper than most places these days.  The Underbelly Hospitality menu includes the Vietnamese Short Rib Fajitas that I had at UB Preserv just after Christmas.  Those are terrific.  I recommended trying to order from these, as these two groups include a number of the best restaurants in Houston and also can certainly use your business, as we don’t know how long current conditions might last and which places might not be able to survive.  To that, I heard word this afternoon that two long-time, small area chains might be closing permanently or might have already closed.
 
From Underbelly Hospitality you can also order wine.  The selection is not terribly broad, but it is well-chosen, as can be expected from Matthew Pridgen, its wine director, who puts together some of my favorite area wine lists.  That ordering of wine, also allows non-restaurants like Public Services to sell wine and beer.  An order of food is also required with the alcohol, which is easy to do with a selection of cheeses and excellent Spanish preserved seafood.  I really like Justin Vann’s selection of wines at Public Services, and I go there frequently to expand my wine horizons.  Some of the cool stuff there includes a few from the estimate orange wine producer in Oslavia on the Italian-Slovenian border, Radikon, the excellent and idiosyncratic Rioja-based Lopez de Heredia – with a rosé from 2009 – plus more than a few of Vann’s pet petillant naturel sparkling wines, and a lot more.  Public Services is one of the best wine and whisky bars in the city – and among the very best cocktail bars, too – it would be a shame if it cannot weather this violent storm.
 
Just think, you can be very helpful in aiding what is part of the very enjoyable fabric of the city, by eating and drinking; eating and drinking very well, at that.
 
Relatedly, charities need assistance, too.  Among the area charities that you might want to support is the Southern Smoke Foundation, Chris Shepherd’s effort, whose stated goal is “provides funding to individuals in the food and beverage industry who are in crisis.” Also, the Houston Food Bank, for those facing food insecurity, which might be many more these days, or soon, with the stark economic toll the pandemic is seemingly already taking.

Even the sandwiches look great from Chris Shepherd and company, and they are the menus.

​I make very regular use of the Houston Public Library, and I made what could be my final trip there for a while yesterday.  The libraries in New York and Los Angeles have just closed and Houston could soon follow suit.  While strolling the food- and restaurant-related aisles at the Central Library downtown, I noticed a familiar title that I was a bit surprised to still see on the shelves: the third and final edition of my Houston Dining on the Cheap – A Guide to the Best Inexpensive Restaurants in Houston.
 
Published in July 2007, it is somewhat dated.  That information is almost thirteen years old, after all.  Given the thankful longevity of that many of the city’s best inexpensive restaurants have had, two-thirds of the places recommended in it might still be open.  Quite possibly less than that.  Though proud of the effort, I haven’t really recommended the title to anyone in a while as the distance from the publication date has lengthened.  Good material fairly well rendered, but not so fresh, I believe.  In addition to the local libraries, the book is still available on Amazon, and it still sells in drips and drabs.  The book works as a historical document of Houston dining, at the very least.  And it’s pretty cheap, too.

I had enjoyed my first pizza at The Gypsy Poet, a smart and friendly, newish pizza joint in a slower of Midtown, and decided to sample their version of the margherita on my second visit.  It was fairly disappointing.  Order another pie there.  I had shied away from ordering margheritas after the slog that my Margherita Pizza Project turned out to be, but I have occasionally craved a good or even decent version, with memories of the vibrancy and tastiness of an excellent slightly charred dough combining with seemingly magical amalgamation of pureed tomatoes, quality mozzarella, and a few basil leaves that a well-made margherita offers.  I had one at an outpost of the lauded Gino Sorbillo in Milan in October. 
 
Where to get a good version in Houston?  The top margheritas in Houston take inspiration from Naples, not surprisingly, since this is where the margherita was born and is still one of its most popular pizzas. 
 
Where you should order a margherita pizza:

• Dolce Vita – Nicely light and Italian-tasting if not really Neapolitan in style, even with its soft wet center and raised crust.  Dolce Vita remains the city’s best pizzeria and it will remain open, thankfully, after news this summer that it was going to shutter.
• Amalfi – More Neapolitan-tasting than Dolce Vita’s, even with the addition of sliced tomatoes to the sauce.  This is one of Houston’s best Italian restaurants and the chef / co-owner Giancarlo Ferrara hails from Salerno, down the coast from Naples.
• Da Marco – The version at Dolce Vita’s big brother might have been the first really good version of the margherita pizza here

 
Where you can order a margherita pizza in decent conscience, in order of preference:

• Fresco Italian Café – Rectangular-shaped and cut into squares, the small and inexpensive pizza seemed to me to be almost a cross between the traditional thin, cracker-like crust pizza of Rome and its thicker, spongier pizza al taglio.  This features fresh tomato slices, noticeably good quality ingredients and a nicely tasty crust.
• Osso & Kristalla
• Solario – Featuring nicely clean flavors and pretty decent ingredients, if not quite the highest quality, and done in the traditional Neapolitan or at least Italian style that is a great value during lunch.
• Grimaldi’s – Easily the best of the New York-style places for the margherita; lighter and more flavorful crust that was more Italian than New York-style
• Fratelli’s
• Weights + Measures
• Tiny’s No. 5
• Prego
• Pizaro’s
• Cane Rosso – It’s alright.

The Regina Margherita at Amalfi

​Located in a small strip center on Durham and 21st Street near the Heights, Salsa’s appearance doesn’t really seem to warrant it a visit.  I drove past it more than a few times before I decided to dine there.  And, it’s a worthy stop, at least for the tortas, those hot Mexican-style sandwiches served on a crusty roll. Though not primarily a torta-specialist like, say, the excellent Mexico’s Deli on Dairy Ashford, nor in quite the same league, Salsa’s does do these very well.  It’s been tough for me to order anything else after my first one about ten visits ago.  
 
Served on a crisp, tasty and fresh-enough bolillio bread along with a smear of refried beans, mayo, sliced tomatoes, lettuce, a few slices of avocado, a ring or two of raw white onions and some pickled jalapeños, these come with a number of choices for meats among beef fajita, chicken fajita, shredded beef or chicken, a version of the Cuban sandwich, milanesa with beef, pastor, lomo, and the Hawaiian.  Lomo is the boiled then shredded pork, and is the star of the meats for the tortas.  It was recommended when I asked the server for the best one, and it’s been my favorite among the several I’ve tried.  The lomo has been tender, moist and clean-tasting with an enjoyable, subtle pork flavor.  The similar Hawaiian might be the next best; the lomo with pineapple, ham and cheese.  But each of the meat choices, dished in an adequate portion, have made for an enjoyable sandwich, which are even much tastier for me with some of the piquant spicy and viscous jalapeño salsa that’s available at the small salsa bar that gives the restaurant its name.
 
The sandwiches might be an average size for a local torta, and have been priced at $6.99, which makes for a decent value.  With some waffle fries made with new potatoes, a fairly hearty lunch has been had for $10.99 or so before tax and tip.  Those prices might be changing.  When I was in quite recently, I was told that the lomo torta I had ordered was now $10.99 but larger.  When it arrived, it was the same regular size as always though I was charged the same $6.99 as before.
 
Salsa’s is an odd place.  Sometimes it is counter-service.  Sometimes not.  Sometimes chips and salsa come.  Most often not.  What was initially a breakfast and lunch place, is now open for dinner, but not breakfast.  And what was a Mexican restaurant is now Mexican and Chinese.  It seems that the restaurant had changed hands.  Now there are two separate menus, one with the Mexican dishes it has long served and a second one with all of the familiar Chinese-American preparations.  Though it might not have the best tortas in town, Salsa’s certainly serves the best tortas at any Mexican-Chinese restaurant in town.
 
Salsa’s
2025 N Durham (at 21st Street), 77008, (713) 426-3259
ordersalsasmexicangrill.com

​Recently in the Spec’s on Smith Street where I have shopped for years, I was amazed at the number of wines in the sales or closeout section.  I instinctively shudder when I see those wines: I had been burned far too many times thinking I had gotten a deal only to drink the wine that inevitably turned out to be far past prime or worse.  Every single wine I’ve purchased over the years on steep discount at Spec’s has been bad.  Every single one.  I certainly don’t do it anymore.  And it might be physically impossible for me to purchase one of these wines now, as deeply scarred as I’ve been. 
 
Words to the wise wine drinker: avoid wines that are substantially marked down at Spec’s, unless you want to waste your money, of course.  

​My friend John was paraphrasing what he had read in the Wall Street Journal, as we were scratching our heads over the not-so-good, not terribly professional service we had been receiving at various stops in New Orleans a couple of weekends ago.  Surprising, because both of us were of a similar mind that the service at restaurants in New Orleans is typically higher because of a seemingly larger class of professional and dedicated servers.  And, he had a very good perspective having been to New Orleans over a couple of hundred times over or more the years.
 
It was also surprising given the restaurants where our group was dining: Brennan’s, Galatorie’s, SoBou – part of the Commander’s Palace family of establishments – Emeril’s, and Drago’s near the river.  In contrast to the others, the service at Commander’s Palace was fantastic, as it always is – the food was even better.  At the others, the service was at varying degrees brusque – especially at the terrific tiki bar in the Quarter, Beachbum Berry’s Latitude 29 –unfriendly, not polished, and at the worst, at SoBou, unknowledgeable, even in terms of their menu, and nearly incompetent.  The wine service was laughably bad.  The staff never responded to several calls over an hour-and-a-half that the women’s restrooms was out of toilet paper.  And, our group of twelve, was told that they would only accept four credit cards.  I had never heard that before.  Thankfully, the food was very good.  We all enjoyed the meal, with a number of smirks along the way.  The quality of the service was in shocking contrast to what we had at its sibling Commander’s Palace the next day.
 
Thankfully, the service issue didn’t really affect our enjoyment.  A big group of friends, usually excellent food helps.  Not to mention a fair amount of alcohol.  But, it was unexpected, given past experiences there.

An excellent fish dish at Galatoire's, where the service was not terribly good.  The food was great, though, as was the lunch.