​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

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

​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.

​This past summer, Marco Wiles, the owner of Dolce Vita put its property on lower Westheimer up for sale, which would have meant that Houston’s best pizzeria – easily its best pizzeria since its inception in early 2006 in my mind – would be shuttering.  I wasn’t even sure that it was still open until a co-worker alerted to the fact that it was.  I had to visit at least one more time.
 
It was as tasty as always last night, with the Neapolitan-inspired pizzas featuring a flavorful and thin crust somewhat charred on the bottom and topped with a judicious and thoughtful, often vibrant, mix of very good ingredients.  Both the Taleggio that’s topped with plentiful arugula, thinly sliced pears, along with the noticeable aroma truffle oil, and the Calabrese, a slightly artisanal take on the pepperoni pizza, were more than satiating.  Paired with a very reasonably price rosé from the Veneto, and a lively setting, it was quite an enjoyable dinner.
 
We had to ask the waiter when the restaurant was closing, hoping for some more time for at least another visit.  Surprisingly, he replied that it’s not.  Seemingly, Wiles could not get the price he wanted and decided to keep Dolce Vita going.  This is great news.  In what turned out to be very dispiriting research into the city’s margherita pizzas, Dolce Vita was the best I had, which further confirmed its primacy among the local pizza joints.  With an engaging wine list, cocktails, and very well-done dishes beyond pizzas, it’s really much more than a pizza joint.  But, I’ll continue to go there for the pizzas.
 
Dolce Vita
500 Westheimer (between Taft and Montrose), 77006, (713) 520-8222
dolcevitahouston.com

It took me at least a couple of times around the block to find Polanquito the first time though it’s right on Shepherd at Feagan, at the light, right by St. Thomas High School.  Its signage spells its name in a mishmash of different fonts and in a way that can be very tough to decipher.  Just a warning.  It’s quite easy to get to once you know where it is.  And you should want to go there, if you enjoy Mexican food.
 
In the world of Mexican dining in Houston, the restaurant occupies a middle ground in both the setting and cooking somewhere between a taqueria and Hugo Ortega’s trio of terrific upscale offerings and also the more casual Cuchara on Taft.  Taking its name from the upscale neighborhood of Polanco in Mexico City – Polanquito is "little Polanco" – this is a nice, if casual, at-times, counter-service spot that serves up well-made, usually enticing and nicely presented versions of unpretentious dishes from several areas of Mexico, and found in Mexico’s largest city.  The chef was quoted in the Houston Chronicle as saying that: “Our food represents many Mexican provinces such as Sinaloa, Veracruz, Puebla, and Yucatán.” 
 
Polanquito provides a welcome, often lighter taste of Mexico, with a welcome array of choices.  It’s evolved since opening from a breakfast, lunch and weekend brunch place that serves lunch and dinner – from Tuesday through Saturday – while keeping the brunch component during the weekends.  The menu is divided among tacos in several guises, larger plates, seven dishes to share, a half-dozen breakfast options, and a handful each of desserts and pastries.  The attractive croissants are made in house, though, maybe a bit oddly, the bread and tortillas are not.  No real matter, though.
 
The dishes look and taste like these do in Mexico, or at least the nicer places where I’ve had similar preparations in years past.  The flavors are usually vibrant and distinct, and properly complex in the case of the mole poblano that is served atop the traditional chicken.  And, also, to a lesser extent with the green mole with the pork ribs, Pipian.  There is even a pink mole preparation on the menu now.  The conchinita pibil, the slowly cooked pulled pork dish from the Yucatan and served with red pickled onions has been a favorite, and it does commendable double duty in both a taco and in a sandwich.  And, the fryer works well for both the beer-battered fish and shrimp taco plates.
 
Portion sizes and prices are moderate.  The piquant, bright shrimp agauchile tops that prices at $12.99 while one of the two single-serving tacos, the neat potato and chorizo version with diced onions and poblanos, is just $2.49.  No alcohol.
 
Polanquito
404 Shepherd (at Feagan), 77007, (713) 485-4047
polanquito.business.site

The Green Pipian Mole with Pork Ribs

​This past year, 2019, was an enjoyable one for me dining out; somewhat indulgent and even gluttonous at times.  Below are my favorite and best meals during the course of the year, listed chronologically.  Fun for me to recount, this list might actually provide some helpful suggestions on where to eat in the future. 
 
Galatoire's (New Orleans) – Oysters Rockefeller; Galatoire Goute (Crabmeat Maison - jumbo lump crab, green onions, capers, creole mustard aioli, Shrimp Remoulade - boiled shrimp, classic spicy remoulade sauce, iceberg lettuce); Oysters in Brochette (fried oysters, bacon, meunière butter); Turtle Soup au Sherry (turtle, trinity, tomatoes, veal stock medium brown roux, sherry); Hashed Browns; Sautéed Lemon Fish with Meuniére Sauce and Jumbo Lump Crab – Friends had been raving about the Friday lunch in the main dining room at Galatoire’s in the French Quarter for years, both for the food and the fun.  It lived up to the anticipation, with excellent takes on classic Creole fare in a very lively setting, complemented by excellent service and nicely priced wines, a white Bordeaux and a white Sancerre, that did very well with the foods and the guests.  The late lunch was primed while having wait at their adjacent bar for a couple of hours, and a cocktail or several, which was a lot of fun in itself.  During the course of the lunch, scanning the packed, very boisterous room where several tables were celebrating birthdays, I thought to myself that this scene is like an upscale wedding reception, except with far better food and service, and maybe even fun, than ever imaginable.
 
Peche Seafood Grill (New Orleans) – Louisiana oysters on the half-shell; Shrimp Toast; Baked drum in a mushroom broth with mushrooms and Cajun hush puppies – Chef Ryan Prewitt, who had won a James Beard Award in 2014, had impressed me with his offering at the annual Southern Smoke event and Peche had recently been highly recommended by friend, a native New Orleanian. So, I had to schedule a meal there during a long and very enjoyable gastronomic-centric weekend in the Crescent City.  It turned out to be the best meal of the trip highlighted by a baked drum, flaky, moist, and clean-tasting but flavorful served in a mushroom broth with a nice complement of sliced mushrooms that worked wonderfully with the impeccable Gulf fish.
 
Georgia James – Chicken Liver Pate; Uni Panna Cotta (with crushed peanuts, scallions, drizzled with a Fresno chile gastrique); Wagyu Zabuton (wet-aged, nicely marbled cut of chuck steak from Snake River Farms cooked in an iron skillet); Brown Butter Roasted Mushrooms; sourdough bread from Bread Man Baking served with liquified smokey butter – Chris Shepherd’s chef-y take on the great American steakhouse and successor to One Fifth Steak was terrific in every regard, starting with the not-so-dry martinis to the rich appetizers, decadent, tender steaks, an well-priced Nebbiolo from well-regarded Scarpa that worked quite well with the meats in a lively, pleasant atmosphere.
 
Vieng Thai – Spring rolls (Thai-style crispy rolls filled with shredded vegetables and tofu and served with sweet chili sauce); Paneang Curry with pork (curry with coconut milk, green beans and kaffir lime leaves) – I hadn’t been to what had been my favorite Thai restaurant in years, and this lunchtime visit proved it had not lost a step.  The rich, piquant curry was especially delicious, with the thin pieces of pork doing a better job as the protein center than always less flavorful chicken.
 
Izakaya – “Tori Kawa” Chicken Skin (skewered and grilled); Pan-Fried Pork Dumplings; Simple Tuna (sashimi with yuzu, soy sauce, crushed black salt, and olive oil); Agedashi Tofu (crispy tofu in a tempura ginger broth) – A modern, locally suited take on the Japanese izakaya concept with influences from Peru and elsewhere done with more subtlety and flavor than in similar dishes elsewhere in town; not surprising in a restaurant that’s a sibling of Kata Robata.
 
Ristorante Cavour – Gnocchi alla Bava (semolina dumplings in a light cream sauce) – For me, a plate of gnocchi is a test of an Italian restaurant, as it is too often delivered with the flavor and near-consistency of a pencil eraser.  Of course, in a kitchen headed by Maurizio Ferrarese there should be no pause for concern about this or any other dish.  It was outstanding and nicely balanced even with a cream-based sauce, as were the two other orders, a risotto with lobster and ravioli with porcini and other mushrooms.  These dishes would do any highly rated restaurant in Italy proud, and I’ve been fortunate to dine more than a few there in the past year or so.
 
Izakaya – Original Peruvian Cebiche (celery, garlic, red pepper, ginger, lime juice, rice wine vinegar, snapper, shrimp, roasted corn, salt, pepper); Steamed Seafood dumplings; Takoyaki (battered and fried octopus, kewpie, bonito, nori); Agedashi Tofu (crispy tofu in a tempura ginger broth) – Delicious dining again and at the bar, even.
 
Indigo – Omnivore Menu: Convict Leasing (shaved, cured and smoked butternut squash tartlet with dried peaches, herbs); Gold Links - Part 2 (dry-aged duck breast with yellow barbecue sauce); Slum Village (ash-aged potato ashcake with okra condiment, caramelized potato crème, crispy shallots and thyme); Forty Acres and a Mule (oxtail and collard green stewed in slabber sauce with Carolina gold rice); Acres of Diamonds (smoked beet red velvet cake, creole cream cheese cremeaux; shortbread cookie – Excellent throughout with a chef who has true skill in creating delicious combinations with evident technique featuring disparate ingredients that might seem unusual or be unfamiliar to many.  It’s dinner with a message as the chef helpfully explained the dishes at this 13-seat restaurant with a version of history that provided inspiration for each. Very difficult to get to for most Houstonians with traffic for the early seating during the week and with no beverage program to speak of, it’s still definitely worth a trip for any dedicated local diner.
 
Goode Co. Seafood (Westpark) – Campechana Extra (Mexican-style seafood cocktail made with al blend of pico de gallo, fire-roasted Anaheim peppers and diced avocados, with shrimp and crab); Gulf Shrimp (marinated then bacon-wrapped and mesquite-grilled shrimp served with fries and a seafood empanada; garlic bread – An exuberant take on the bounty of the nearby Gulf that almost always satiates more than it seems it should.
 
Arnoldo Richards’ Picos – Camerones al Mojo de Ajo (jumbo Gulf shrimp lightly breaded and pan-sautéed in garlic-infused olive oil with shredded lettuce, tomatoes, avocado slices and tomato habanero salsa and sides of Spanish rice and refried beans) – Some more excellent shrimp from a long-standing favorite of mine that has done nice work with seafood over the years.  This visit impressed my cousin and his girlfriend who don’t get food anything like this in suburban Chicago.
 
The Pit Room – Two Meat Dinner (a plate with brisket, jalapeno-cheddar sausage; mac and cheese; potato salad; slice of very white bread) – Highlighted by the brisket, naturally, that was moist, very flavorful, especially the crusty exterior when eaten with a bit of nearby fat.  Excellent.
 
BCN – sampler platter (Spanish Ibérico ham and toasted “pa amb tomaca”; Spanish Ibérico ham croquettes; “Patatas bravas BCN” potatoes, spicy oil and aioli); sautéed calamari – Grabbing one of the nine seats at the bar after work made for another very enjoyable visit featuring excellent, artistic takes on traditional Catalonian and Spanish small plates and along with similarly artful and creative gin-and-tonics that worked very and refreshingly well in seemingly unusual creations from a talented and engaging bartender.
 
Habanera and the Guero – Beef fajitas with flour tortillas, charred onions; guacamole, crema, shredded Cheddar cheese; black refried beans and Spanish rice – This dumpy place off the Gulf Freeway is worth the drive for most, not just for their more traditionally Mexican dishes, but also their first-rate beef fajitas, one of the best versions I’ve had in a while.
 
Pappas Bros. Steakhouse (downtown) – Caesar Salad; New York Strip; mashed potatoes; haricot verts; potatoes au gratin; key lime pie tartlet – This was the best New York Strip I’ve had in memory and also the best Houston Restaurant Weeks meal I’ve ever had.  It was an outstanding meal, period, and wonderful dining experience, even just sitting in the bar area.  For Restaurant Weeks!
 
Cascina Vittoria (Rognano, Italy) – focaccia, eggplant with three consistencies of Parmigiano-Reggiano (an eggplant flan, an involved flan with the delectable Parmigiano served in three states - crispy, as a sauce, and ice cream); risotto with squash and gorganzola; Brasato di Manzo (slices of beef cooked in red wine served with mashed potatoes); panettone – This best meal during a week-long gastronomic trip to northern Italy, which was highlighted by the very best versions of focaccia, an eggplant preparation, and panettone that I’ve ever had.
 
Xochi – Taquitos Dorados (flautas); Ostiones de Lujo (wood-roasted oysters, mole amarillo, cotija, breadcrumbs); Tlayuda Puerco (very large, thin Oaxacan tortilla with mole negro, Mexican chorizo, bacon, egg, Oaxacan cheese cooked over wood); Cacao (chocolate cocoa pod, chocolate textures: tejate foam, milk chocolate cloud, chocolate criollo soil) – The delicious oysters disappeared quickly at the table to start our Saturday brunch, and though my tlayuda was a bit awkward to eat, it was quite tasty.  The dessert that we split among a half-dozen of us was something special: a very cool milk chocolate shell that looked like a squash when presented that was filled mostly with different chocolate ice creams that was absolutely delightful.
 
UB Preserv – Crispy Rice Salad (fresh cilantro and parsley, tomato, cucumber with a serrano vinaigrette); Wok Fried Beets (with a sweet and sour sauce, fried cheese, bits of orange, and sesame crunchies); Lamb Tartare (served with paratha, shabazi spice mixture. habanero aioli); Vietnamese Short Rib Fajitas (slowly cooked 44 Farms beef short ribs with the usual complement of lettuce, pickled carrots and more) – A terrific meal featuring the expected bold flavors coming in interesting, wide-ranging and very intelligently done combinations from Chris Shepherd’s team at this successor to Underbelly, which serves up some of the very best food in the city.  The attentive and friendly staff at the bar proved more than adept at suggesting dishes and drinks that all worked extremely well.
 
Xochi – Ostiones de Lujo (wood-roasted oysters, mole amarillo, cotija, breadcrumbs); Hongos en Mole Amarillo (wild mushrooms, mole amarillo, masa dumplings, green beans); Cabrito con Chichilo (crispy goat with charred chilhuacle pepper mole) – Yes, this place is good.

Sautéed Lemon Fish with Meuniére Sauce and Jumbo Lump Crab at Galatoire's

On a recent tour of the Italian city of Pavia and its environs, a tour mostly meant to publicize its charms for tourists, I was surprised that the restaurant chosen after our visit to the area’s tourist highlight, the impressive Certosa di Pavia, was not the long-standing Michelin-starred one just a mile away.  Instead, it was one called Cascina Vittoria.  After the meal, it was clear that it was a more appropriate choice, and was likely at least as good. The meal was excellent and was the best meal of my weeklong stay in Italy, a week of dining fairly grandly.
 
Whereas the acclaimed Locanda Vecchia Pavia ‘Al Mulino’ was described as “Cucina Creativa” (creative cooking) in a recent Michelin guide and reinforced in the less reliable Fodor’s, Cascina Vittorria proudly offers more locally rooted cuisine, if done in a sensible contemporary fashion at times.  And done terrifically.  The lunch we had there was like a meal I had at Brennan’s in Houston in 2015 when Danny Trace was heading the kitchen.  I had three different items or preparations that were the best of each type that I had ever had.  At Brennan’s it was strawberries – sourced from a small farm in Louisiana during the height of the season – soft shell crabs, and Lemon Meringue Pie.
 
The delicious surprises at Cascina Vittoria began at the start of the meal, with the bread service, with plump, moist-looking squares of focaccia.  I thought that this was a bit odd. Focaccia is something that I hadn’t associated with the region of Lombardy where we were.  But Pavia is just an hour-and-a-half by train to Genoa, the capital of coastal Liguria, and the land of focaccia as much as it is that of pesto. Expectedly soft, a touch oily from the fragrant, light olive oil, the bread was very fresh and absolutely delicious with a long, very pleasant taste.  I had to force myself to eat three (or four or five) pieces before the first real course of the meal.  I do like focaccia, quite a lot, in fact.  I ate it daily, more than daily, during the near-week I spent on the Ligurian coast some years ago, including buying about half a pan of it studded with a few sprigs of rosemary for a light lunch during a few-hour drive.  It made for a memorable, savory crutch before dinner.
 
That had been my focaccia of memory. The version we had at Cascina Vittoria was better, and better than all of the excellent focaccias I had in Liguria, and elsewhere. The chef, Giovanni Ricciardella, came out to explain the focaccia, for which he was very proud.  The flour for it is milled on the property, which is more than a restaurant, and is 100% whole grain.  Spurred on by a starter with more than a few years to it, the bread is baked in a wood-fueled oven.  No herbs are used in the bread, just some salt and olive oil.  That’s certainly all that was needed.
 
Then came the antipasto course, Millefoglie di melanzane e le tre consistenze del parmigiano: cald-freddo-croccante.  This is essentially an eggplant flan, an involved flan with the delectable Parmigiano served in three states: crispy, as a sauce, and ice cream, and so three different temperatures and textures.  Complemented with excellent tomatoes and mozzarella and other complementary ingredients, this imaginative and quite involved culinary exercise succeeded grandly.  It was absolutely delicious and quite interesting when more than one of textures and textures was combined in a bite.  This was certainly the most intricate eggplant dish I’ve ever had, and it was also the best.  Probably not surprisingly, the menu showed that it was the Piatto firma dello Chef, the chef’s signature dish. 
 
After the secondo, the main protein-centered course, the chef returned to describe what we would be having for dessert.  It was to be something that’s never really served at restaurants, but made sense as Christmas was not too distant and we were just south of its home, Milan, panettone. It was especially appropriate because the restaurant and chef had won acclaim for it earlier the year as one of the best versions in Italy from the leading Italian paper, the Milan-based Corriere della Sera, and also because they were selling the panettone.  At least a couple of my travel-mates bought one.  If I had room to spare in my suitcase, I would have, myself, even at €35, more than three times what I typically dole out for one, as I did yesterday.  As wonderful as their panettone was – simply much more vibrant, fresh-tasting, with noticeably better and more compelling ingredients than usual – it was probably worth more than what they were charging.
 
It was an excellent meal, through and through, highlighted by the very best versions of focaccia, an eggplant dish, and panettone that I’ve ever had.  Cascina Vittoria is worth a detour if you are in the Milan area with a car, and the chef told me that about 70% of their patrons come from the big city.  Smart folks, or least ones with fine palates and a few euros to spend.
 
Cascina Vittoria
via Roma, 26, 27010 - Rognano (Pavia)
+390382923772
cascinavittoria.it 

The Millefoglie di melanzane ​at Cascina Vittoria

This year that was has been a fun one for diners in Houston seeking new options.  Among the very best ones to open were Italian-themed, Gulf seafood specialists, a diner of sorts, another desirable Spaniard, and a few others.  Other notable openings were an upscale Indian in Upper Kirby, and a couple proficient, enticing and somewhat unique new Mexican options not too terribly far apart from each other on Shepherd and Yale, respectively, including one serving about the prettiest tacos in town.  There were also a couple of cool new food halls including one that has become a downtown destination; also, an attractive new wine and cheese shop and bar in Montrose, with an exceedingly descriptive name and excellent pasties (if a surprisingly lame selection of wines by the glass the other night).  Not much further west on Westheimer one of the best wine bars in the city, Penny Quarter, opened adjacent to Anvil and so, a small amount real estate for so many tempting alcoholic beverages.
 
Below are the top ten new restaurants to open in Houston in 2019, listed alphabetically, and described in a somewhat concise if occasionally blowsy way.  To note, the approximate average prices for each reflect a typical dinner, which might be an appetizer, side or dessert in addition to the entrée – or a suitable number of small plates – a couple of drinks, tax and a 20% tip. 

Atlas Diner – $25 – Richard Knight of Feast fame is the biggest name associated with Bravery Chef Hall, across from Market Square Park downtown, and his effort, though seemingly still a work in progress, is the most accomplished of the several restaurants in what is easily the city’s best, most interesting, and most fun food court.  This is a diner, but a diner with a British bent including a bit of the British sense of humor, from one of the city’s top toques.  There is breakfast all day in offbeat but enticing forms, very good fish chips, a version of butter chicken, and a copious braised rabbit and white bean filled chimichanga.  Maybe not quite as polished as it could be, there is plenty reason to hope that this will be even better and more fun and possibly some Feast-like preparations in the future. 409 Travis (at Preston, in Bravery Chef Hall), 77002, (713) 364-2481
 
Elliot's Table – $65 – Set in a tiny, newish if ungainly strip center on TC Jester just north of I-10, this quite quaint place – only about 28-seats snuggly fit into an open space fronting an open kitchen – might be described as a neighborhood restaurant that is worthy of a trip across town for.  Some global influences, top-notch local and regional products, and excellent execution of approachable and enticing items such as an excellent and piquant take on shrimp and grits, Gulf fish, steaks, lamb, even duck. along with a fair share of greens that are prepared with evident skill and welcome imagination. 465 TC Jester (just north of I-10), 77007, (713) 485-0340

Eugene's – $100 – The successor to Danton’s, which had to close as its longtime home in the Chelsea Market on Montrose was redeveloped, has found a home in Mockingbird’s former site tucked into the neighborhood between W. Gray and Westheimer.  It doesn’t seem to have lost a step during its hiatus.  The focus remains on locally attuned Gulf seafood preparations with a hearty dose of Louisiana influences.  Its seafood gumbo sporting a really dark roux is still terrific.  There are shrimp, oysters, blue crab, redfish and other fish in a number of delectable dishes served in a handsome dark-wooded setting.  Not chef-driven but a destination for the long-loved Houston-style seafood that’s usually done much better than it was back in the day.  1985 Welch (at McDuffie), 77019, (713) 807-8883
 
MAD – $140 - Sibling to BCN, its name is also an airport designation, this one for Madrid.  And the menu here provides dishes from the tapas scene of Spain’s capital plus a lot more in a distractingly dramatic, dynamic and upscale setting that’s the most intriguing – or wondrously odd, especially the trippy bathroom area – since the original location of Americas in the 1990s.  The best restaurant in the pricey River Oaks District upon opening, the food is the real draw here with excellent chef-tuned takes on traditional Madrileño small plates along with some cool molecular gastronomy tricks that actually taste great, plus paella, and fire-roasted proteins from an easy-to-espy hearth.  4444 Westheimer (in the River Oaks District at Kettering, on Bettis, 77027, (281) 888-2770
 
One Fifth: Gulf Coast – $120 – The fourth concept for One Fifth, this one focuses on the cooking of the Gulf Coast from Texas and points east, especially Louisiana, and is another smashing success. Chef Chris Shepherd builds on his years at Brennan’s to craft a menu that is at once familiar and exciting for lovers of seafood.  “Oysters, crab, shrimp, clams, crawfish—raw, cold, roasted, smoked, cured, fried” mostly featuring the spices and flavors popular here and with our neighbors in the oft-swampy east.  The fish and shellfish preparations are excellent, but there is are also a Slow Roasted Duck Crown served with duck heart dirty rice and a blackened ribeye.  Like its One Fifth predecessors in Mark’s old space, it’s all done with excellent ingredients, considerable skill in crafting combinations that work and a sense of fun.  Plus, there’s an expectedly very well-chosen and fairly priced wine list once again from Matthew Pridgen. 1658 Westheimer (nearly at Dunlavy) 77006, (713) 955-1024

​Rosalie's – $75 – Houston has historically been tough on out-of-town restaurateurs and hotel dining, but things might have changed, as west coast-based television chef Chris Cosentino has channeled his Italian-American roots into what has been a popular and adept smallish spot in a refurbished and now surprisingly hip hotel at the southwestern edge of downtown.  Chef-created Italian-American might be the best description of the offerings here.  The crab cannelloni features Sauce Americane, a French concoction featuring cream and lobster shells.  Fairly rich and redolent of the sea, it’s quite tasty if not what any Italian-American family (or restaurant) makes.  The menu is enticing with other pastas, spot-on sides such as roasted cherry tomatoes with garlic and breadcrumbs, and protein-centered preparations like a spicy Shrimp Fra Diavolo, a hanger steak Pizzaiolo also with peppers and capers, and a milanese with chicken – there’s no veal on the menu.  There are pizzas, too.  Though the crusts are not nearly flavorful nor soft enough to pull off a successful margherita, the other toppings should work well.  This is a fun stop, and it’s in a hotel!  400 Dallas (at Bagby, in the C. Baldwin Hotel), 77002, (713) 351-5790
 
Rosie Cannonball – $125 – The second of five concepts, four serving food, to open in a very smart and neat complex in the heart of Westheimer’s restaurant row directly across the street from the estimable UB Preserv, this is essentially an Italian restaurant with a more than a few nods to the Iberian peninsula on the short menu.  There are a trio of very well-crafted, if quite precious, fresh pasta preparations in the Emilian tradition, pizzas, plus breads and greens and other vegetables, and a quartet of proteins including the requisite steak and a bass filet Basque-style.  These crowd-pleasing dishes and stylish space have made it an attractive stop for the ladies who lunch and a busy spot at night.  The wine list is expansive and mainly Old World, but for an Italian-themed place an odd emphasis on Beaujolais – if with appealing producers like Guy Breton, often in large format.  It’s pricey, too: the average 750ml bottle price is $120 and just a handful of Italian reds are under $75.  1620 Westheimer (between Mandell and Dunlavy), 77006, (832) 380-2471
 
Squable – $90 – Offbeat offerings mostly in small plate format done well are the calling card for this Heights hotspot that pairs the guidance of James Beard Award-winning chef Justin Yu of Theodore Rex and cocktail star Bobby Heugel of Anvil.  They’ve assembled an experienced and skilled squad cooking, crafting and serving in an approachably hip space.  On the menu there are several of each of breads, small plates, big plates and desserts compiled in contemporary fashion. The Common Bond heritage in the kitchen is evident with the baked goods, but there is much more to entice, from the sea, from plants and also tasty mammals like the crispy-skinned heritage pork served with salsa verde and the French cheeseburger – featuring raclette and butter – which is just a whole lot better than any Royale with cheese.  632 W 19th St. (just east of Shepherd), 77008, (832) 834-7362

​​1751 Sea & Bar – $125 – From the folks at The Pit Room who took over the spaces and operations of Cherry Pie Hospitality in 2018 – and grandly improved just about each of the three places – this specializes in Gulf seafood with a raw bar featuring colder water creatures along with over 100 different gins spun into a number of different cocktails.  Those are fun, if not nearly the magic concocted by the gin tonics at BCN / MAD.  Fish from the nearby Gulf are very nicely represented with flounder, a crispy snapper, mahi mahi, and a version of the classic redfish on the half-shell served with collards and Steen’s lacquer.  There’s also a shrimp curry and a version of the increasingly commonly found hot pot, this one Thai-flavored like the curry.  Japanese ingredients and inspirations are found on other dishes on a menu and restaurant that should appeal to any area seafood lover and seemingly it has, as crowded as it’s been.  191 Heights (just south of I-10), 77007, (832) 831-9820
 
​Truth Barbeque – $30 – This fairly spacious contemporary barbecue joint on busy Washington Avenue that began in Brenham is a testament to how much Houstonians love Texas barbecue, top-notch Texas barbecue, as customers continue to fill the parking lot by late morning and queue up for terrific brisket before it sells out as they’ve done since soon after opening early in the year.  Beef ribs are only on Saturday, unfortunately, but more-than-commendable pork ribs, pulled pork and sausage and more join the brisket every day (if not on Mondays when it’s closed).  Among the best ‘cue in the area.  110 S. Heights (at Washington), 77007, (832) 835-0001

Five Ants on a Log, one of the whimsical dishes at Atlas Diner

​The decade is just about to end (or is it?) and it’s time for some reflection or at least another list.  It’s been an interesting one for the Houston restaurant scene that has changed, becoming more dynamic, diverse, and generally much better.  Below are the ten restaurants to open since the start of 2010 that have proven to be the most notable or influential.
 
Crawfish and Noodles – 2010 – Viet-Cajun – Near the western part of Chinatown on Bellaire Boulevard, this bustling and fun outpost helped to introduce and popularize Viet-Cajun crawfish in the area so much so that it’s drawn national attention to the restaurant and proprietor and chef, Trong Nguyen, along with making the dish one of Houston’s signature culinary offerings, a testament to Houstonians love of the Louisiana-instigated mudbug culture and Vietnamese flavors.  Even more, their crabs, wings and more show that casual, communal fare done very well can make the day that much more enjoyable and rewarding.
 
Underbelly – 2012 – Diverse Houston and Chris Shepherd’s restaurant group – Juxtaposing many of the city’s ethnic cooking traditions with an emphasis on those from Asia onto a menu and often on a single plate and usually succeeding in dramatic fashion brought chef Chris Shepherd deserved national acclaim. That spotlight has helped shine more light on other local restaurants and chefs. Underbelly, boisterous and confident, interesting and extremely competent, also helped show that a meal built around small plates can work well. The terrific wine program from Matthew Pridgen encourages customers to drink wine with its palatable price points and that help enhance Shepherd’s cuisine. The space proved more attractive to Shepherd’s steakhouse concept (see below), but Underbelly lives on, exploring new directions in similarly enticing fashion, as UB Preserv just down the road.

Killen’s Barbecue – 2013 – Barbecue – Opening late that year, this barbecue joint in Pearland immediately became a destination for its brisket and beef ribs, especially, and seriously raised the bar for Texas-style smoked meats in the Houston area, providing the spark that has made the barbecue landscape significantly better in the ensuing years.

Common Bond – 2014 – Breads and Pastries – A slick café setting that is both a boulangerie and patisserie in the French sense – baking bread and creating pastries – it excels grandly with each effort, with bread that’s probably the best in the city, and served at many of the city’s top restaurants, and items like croissants that are likely as good as any made in this country. Somewhat like Killen’s for barbecue, Common Bond has made the baked goods scene better since its inception.

BCN – 2014 – Spanish – Though Spain had captured international attention with the ground-breaking molecular cuisine of Ferran Adria in Catalonia and others, and San Sebastian on its northern coast has the most Michelin stars per capita in Europe, the very few Spanish restaurants in Houston over the years had been rather dull and quaint until BCN opened in an attractive older house in Montrose, providing a very well-executed glimpse into Spanish fine dining, both contemporary and deeply rooted.  This helped expand the culinary landscape and paved the way for its sibling, MAD, another and different, somewhat delirious Spanish gem.

Les Ba’Get – 2015 – Vietnamese 2.0 – The second generation of inexpensive counter service Vietnamese banh mi and pho specialists done more slickly, with better ingredients, better service, more alcohol and generally much more attuned to the broader city while still serving excellent food, this Montrose spot proved too popular for its tiny parking lot, but replaced by its sibling with a more limited menu, Les Noo’dle, as it moved to bigger digs in Garden Oaks.  Roostar, the sandwich star, is another shining example of this very welcome concept.

Pepper Twins – 2016 – High quality Chinese inside the Loop – Authentic Chinese food was not to be found inside the Loop until the humble Sichuan specialist Cooking Girl opened deep in the heart of Montrose where it drew crowds, including plenty of Chinese nationals and even national press.  Transforming into the similar, if more proficient Pepper Twins and multiplying into several locations throughout the area, the spots on W. Gray and Kirby are terrific places for affordable and delicious Sichuan-rooted fare notable for serving much higher quality proteins than most area Chinese restaurants.  Not just these, but also Mala Sichuan and Wanna Bao are other Chinese highlights not far from downtown.

One Fifth: Steak – 2017 – Steak – The first yearly concept that’s part of a five-year plan of essentially five different restaurants in five years, this chef-driven steakhouse from Chris Shepherd and team was something much different than the familiar steakhouse concepts, and mostly just better, starring terrific steaks often cooked in an iron skillet that don't include a filet or New York Strip.  Excellent starters and sides, plus and superb wine list on which Cabernet is not king complemented the beef and everything else on the menu.  It lives on as Georgia James in the original home of Underbelly, and along with the Pappas Bros. Steakhouse, the best in the area.

Xochi – 2017 – Downtown Dining – The third upscale Mexican restaurant estimable husband-and-wife duo of Hugo Ortega and Tracey Vaught, this Oaxacan-themed destination joined the other two, Hugo’s and Caracol, as the top trio of Mexican places in Houston, and very invitingly set in the Marriott Marquis across from Discovery Green, it helped show that excellent dining can thrive downtown.  Well-conceived and -presented, Xochi offers dishes that are unique to the area while remaining approachable to most – if maybe not the insect preparations.
 
Nancy’s Hustle – 2017 – EaDo – This fun, and quite delicious spot is well-suited for the still-gentrifying EaDo with its casual and quickly boisterous and nicely casual set-up in a newly constructed strip center in an older part of town coupled with a serious kitchen and an expertly chosen array of wine, cocktails and even beers to complement the evening.  The mostly shareable and fun menu made for dining in stages, with flavors ranging from the Mediterranean on either side of the Bosphorus to stateside, all of which are enticing.  Made for present-day diners, this is favorite of a great many diners, with good reason or reasons.  The only knock on it is, with dishes that aren’t too reflective of the region, this could easily be set in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York or San Francisco.  And likely doing extremely well there. 

Reaching into the refrigerated case at Paulie’s Poboys on Bellaire the other day, I looked among the white-paper-wrapped sandwiches for a Porky, the successor to an old favorite from its Antone’s progenitor, the Piggy.  The exact same sandwich is also served at the similar Angelo’z not too far away on Kirby, where it’s called, even more unattractively, the Pigly. 
 
The Piggy and its descendants were, and are, apparently either loved or, well, not loved.  For most, it’s not really a good idea to open the bread and look into the heart of the sandwich, at least for the squeamish.  Described exactly the same on menus at Paulie’s and Angelo’z as “Ham salad, jalapeno, cheese, mayo & pickles,” its fillings are a surprisingly garish pinkish mixture of minced ham and hard salami, dried oregano and mayonnaise.  The sandwich is finished with jalapeño jack cheese and slices of pickles, for agreeable texture, and Hot Chow Chow, a piquant mixture of pickled cabbage, onions, sweet green peppers and paprika.  The Porky and Pigly are favorites among many customers like myself who enjoyed this odd, and once very cheap, sandwich many years ago in the heydays of Antone’s. 
 
The Porky and Pigly, like the other po boys, are cold sandwiches featuring a 9-inch long, fresh hero-style bun.  These buns are distinctively a tad dry and slightly crunchy, and help to distinguish these sandwiches from many lesser competitors.  These crusty small loafs, which are similar among the po boy purveyors with roots in the Levant, might be a welcome legacy of the French influence in Syria and Lebanon in the last century. 
 
The Porky at Paulie’s is $6.45, but it still seems to be a fairly fair price, especially when an often stomach-unsettling fast food burger will cost you three-quarters of the price.  It’s just $5.25 at Angelo’z.  The Porky the other day was as enjoyable as ever, if a little saltier than desired, and properly leaving crumbs from the sandwich loaf as I consumed it quickly and messily.
 
Paulie’s Poboys
3823 Bellaire (between Buffalo Speedway and Weslayan) 77025, (713) 218-8383
pauliespoboys.com
 
Angelo’z
8057 Kirby (between Main and La Concha), 77054, (713) 667-3400
angelozpoboys.com

The Pigly and a sibling at Angelo'z on Kirby