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

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

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

​I was finally able to return to Nancy’s Hustle in the EaDo the other evening.  I had not been since their third day in business last December when we had an excellent meal and very fun time.  This contemporary American bistro was one of my picks for top ten new restaurants in Houston last year, a very busy year for ambitious new restaurants.  I’ve wanted to return for a while, but the best of plans had changed, and then there were plenty of newer spots I felt I had to try.  And probably more so, as deservedly popular as the restaurant has been, it has more difficult to find a table there, especially on short notice.  It is not the largest of spaces, maybe seventy seats or so.  Unfortunately, last month they could not accommodate my dinner club with a dozen, as I was told that six is the maximum party size, and there was no chance for two tables to be adjacent on a weekend night.  Oh well.
 
I snuck onto a seat in the bar, at least it felt like I snuck onto it, as the tables were already filled and most of the bar just a quarter hour after opening.  As tough as it might have been for me to decide upon what to eat, I manage to do it quickly.  The mostly shareable and certainly fun menu made for dining in stages currently includes around ten smallish plates, a half-dozen larger ones denoted “medium,” a half-dozen large plates and five desserts.  There are a couple green salads, some vegetables, several protein-centered preparations with many of the main flavors ranging from the Mediterranean on either side of the Bosphorus to stateside, all of which are enticing.  There is even a version of the famed Au Cheval cheeseburger in Chicago, as Nancy Hustle's chef was on the opening team there.  I wanted try new items on this trip – so none of the somewhat surprisingly delightful Nancy Cakes this time – I managed to narrow it down to the Crispy hash browns with sour cream, sautéed duck hearts, and cognac sauce and the Roasted striped bass with melted tomato, Spanish chorizo, capers, and basil.  Both were excellent choices.
 
The hash browns turned out to be four thick rectangles of fried mashed or hashed potatoes arrayed on the plate with fresh flat-leaf parsley, chervil and chives and a half a dozen to eight duck heart halves.  It was very enjoyable with the tasty, light but creamy yellow sauce and the brightness of the fresh herbs that very nicely paired with the all-meat hearts, which had none of the mineral accents that many associate with non-traditional parts.  And fried potatoes certainly go well with pretty much everything, especially these crusty treats.  The fish entrée turned out to be even better centered about an excellently cooked crispy skinned bass featuring a moist, mild white flesh that went well with the acidity and flavors of the ripe, roasted tomato halves and also the creamy textured sauce of a puree of corn cooked with shallots.  The small nuggets of the chorizo sausage and capers, each provided a different but nicely complementary contrast to the fish and its corn sauce.  Delicious.
 
The bartenders were terrific, both with the cocktail and with the service in general.  I prefaced the dinner with the Mystery Plane, what I properly surmised was refreshing on a warm Houston summer after.  Made with nearly entirely Gallic components: Boudier, a dry gin from Dijon, a white wine from Corsica, lemon liqueur, and a spray of absinthe.  It was excellent, not just refreshing.  After it, a white Burgundy for $13 proved to go well enough with the bass entrée.   
 
My one minor quibble with the restaurant is that I wish the dishes were more specific to Houston.  It sports a menu that might be found in most top restaurant cities, especially Chicago.  As good as the food and drinks have been in my two visits, this is a very minor quibble.
 
Nancy’s Hustle
2704 Polk (east of Emancipation), 77003, (346) 571-7931
nancyshustle.com

​I had heard Astros broadcaster Todd Kalas encouragingly remark last season that Tony Luke’s, regarded by some as serving the best cheesesteak sandwiches in Philadelphia, might have a location in Houston.  I expected that Kalas, whose father was the legendary longtime Philadelphia Phillies broadcaster – after leaving the ‘Stros after a half-dozen seasons in 1971 – had presumably spent much of his younger years in Philly and had eaten a fair number of the city’s signature sandwiches.  Not just Kalas’s recommendation of its quality, but Tony Luke’s had been lauded as the best in Philly by The Best Thing I Ever Ate some years ago on the Food Network and is currently in the number two spot on the VisitPhily.com site, for those are worth.  Philadelphia is known for the Liberty Bell, Rocky, and cheesesteak sandwiches.  And those vociferously booing fans.  So, not long after hearing about a possible Tony Luke’s in the city, I had to find and visit it.  Located on the Katy Freeway on 1-10 near Bunker Hill in one of the faceless strip centers, it is pretty good, if I can’t really vouch for how it compares to its locations in its hometown.
 
But, just two or three blocks west in another banal small strip center is a homegrown Pappa Geno’s, which is clearly much better to my taste.  Each of the components tasted a little better than that Philly import, and the combination much more so.  The availability of plastic squeeze bottles of a good hot sauce at Pappa Geno’s helped, certainly for me, with a typically Houston need for some piquancy in many of my meals.  I don’t think that I am alone; we generally like a lot more spice than they do in Philly.  To properly compare, I had very similar half sandwiches at each place one afternoon, which definitely confirmed my earlier observations.  I did enjoy Tony Luke’s well enough, but I don’t think that there really is a reason to visit with a Pappa Geno’s so close by, as the latter is clearly better.
 
Since the back-to-back comparison, I’ve been back to Pappa Geno’s several times at this another location, and it’s been excellent every time.  To help confirm my feelings about the cheesesteaks, I had check out the new location of Texadelphia on Montrose.  It’s ground beef-like steak stuff in the sandwich was a big disappointment in comparison in both taste and texture to those served nearby at Pappa Geno’s on lower Westheimer, if in a much more inviting and comfortable setting.  But, Pappa Geno’s versions are probably among the best hot sandwiches in Houston, at least the ones served in bland, unprepossessing settings.
 
The sandwiches are large and a feature fresh, soft rolls; good bread a necessity for a good sandwich, after all.  The thinly sliced seasoned beef is tender and flavorful and well complemented by the plentiful melted provolone and nearly caramelized onions that come with it in their basic Pappa Geno’s Steak & Cheese sandwich.  The ingredients might not have the provenance of those on many upscale restaurants here, but they are more than good enough and work wonderfully together.  A cheesesteak sandwich here is a nearly glorious, very messy and caloric indulgence that is far from artful in appearance or construction but tastes better than most of the much fancier sandwiches around, not just its cheesesteak competitors.  The other versions I’ve had thus far have also been very enjoyable: the Smothered Philly that adds sautéed mushrooms and brown gravy and the Wicked Philly that has hot oil peppers with the basic sandwich.
 
In all, Pappa Geno’s has seven versions of the Philly cheesesteak sandwich plus five others with the less flavorful chicken.  There are also hoagies, the cold Italian-Americans that called subs here, plus burgers and cheese fries and other artery-clogging sides.
 
Though usually a caloric, cheesy indulgence, Philly cheesesteaks might be overrated, as it is.  I enjoy them, but these are rarely that great.  Cheesesteak sandwiches are popular, to be sure, but among the Italian-American hot sandwich canon, Chicago’s Italian beef sandwich featuring thinly sliced, long-braised boneless sirloin on an Italian-style roll dipped in the cooking juices and served with the pickled vegetable mixture in vinegar oil, giardiniera, is tastier, in my opinion.  Far more time-consuming to make than the cheesesteak sandwich, it has not migrated that successfully much beyond the greater Chicagoland area.  I do enjoy a good cheesesteak sandwich, though.  Unfortunately, there are a plenty of mediocre and worse versions out there.  I had one recently during a layover in the Philadelphia airport at a place called Chickie's & Pete's that was absolutely terrible.  Somehow there are two locations in that airport.  I had had a similarly bad cheesesteak in the same airport a number of years ago, though it might have been another crappy proprietor.  For better or worse, an old roommate and lifelong Philly area resident confirmed that Chickie & Pete’s really sucks, even outside of the airport.  I digress.
 
Pappa Geno’s now has six locations and recently opened a spot not far from my home and my office on lower Westheimer.  I am very happy, though it’s certainly not propitious for my waistline.
 
Pappa Geno’s
1801 Ella (at TC Jester), 77008, (713) 863-1222
6317 N. Eldridge Parkway (north of W. Little York), 77041, (713) 466-8080
515 Westheimer (between Taft and Montrose), 77006, (281) 501-3664
9330 Katy Freeway (on the north side, between Bunker Hill and Witte), 77055, (281) 501-1617
19859 Katy Freeway (on the south side, east of Fry Road), 77094, (281) 578-1900
8035 Spencer Highway, Deer Park (just west of Luella), 77536, (281) 884-8129
pappagenos.com


The wonderful mess that is Pappa Geno's Steak & Cheese sandwich

Tacos are fun, and the new breed of taco places are meant to capitalize on that.  What I mean with Tacos 2.0 are both the tacos – which often go well beyond traditional Mexican and familiar Tex-Mex fillings – and the restaurants, which are fast-casual concepts.  Concepts that are ripe for replication, roughly similar to the burrito chains that have sprung up in the past couple of decades, and featuring soft tortilla tacos in tacos that are cooked or assembled to order, without a steam table in site.  Some of these taco purveyors, like Torchy’s Tacos, have scores of locations throughout the state, and even the mediocre Fuzzy’s Tacos has nearly a hundred restaurants.  Texans like tacos.
 
Most of these new style tacos have begun in the wake of chef Roy Choi’s ground-breaking food truck in Los Angeles almost a decade ago dispensing Korean-infused tacos to ravenous crowds and rave reviews, and which began to get national attention by 2010.  This helped inspire a new range of tacos wherever tacos are sold in this country.  Fusion Taco here was one of the first locally to jump onto this trend, with a well-regarded taco truck in 2013, and then stand-alone restaurants.
 
I found nine different taco places that I thought fit my definition of Tacos 2.0, and visited each at least a couple of times, and for some, several times.  I’ve eaten a lot of tacos recently.  What I found is that you are likely to never have a great taco at one of these places, but you can possibly have an enjoyable and possibly even a pretty funky one.  More so, nothing I ate was as good as at some of my favorite places for tacos like 100% Taquito, Laredo Taqueria on Patton, and Eight Row Flint – especially their amazing beef tacos.  This is due in part to the fact that the tortillas at the Tacos 2.0 spots generally don’t taste as good as at these other places, which are more likely making them onsite.  Interestingly, local La Ranchera supplies a number of the local Tacos 2.0 places, some with seemingly better tortillas than others.  Another factor is that the newer fangled combinations often just don’t work as well as the more straightforward, tried and true ones.  Then each of the Tacos 2.0 joints feel compelled to have a fish or shrimp taco on the menu, for some reason.  These rarely work well, as the quality of the seafood is usually disappointing.  There are notable exceptions, though, like Cabo.  Ordering the seafood fried is usually a safer option, if a seafood or fish taco is a must.
 
These newer-fangled taco joints also cost quite a bit more than any taco at a taqueria or humble taco joint serving the migrant and immigrant communities.  With tax and tip, the tacos I consumed for this piece averaged over $4.30 each, not terribly cheap for a taco that is often on the smaller side.  Though a little more expensive than the traditional taco joint, these newer places offer a nicer setting and other items – chips and queso to start, vegetarian items and salads for the healthier eaters – to entice all of your co-workers to lunch.
 
Below are the Tacos 2.0 chains – and hopeful chains – in order of preference, broken up among three categories: Worth an Occasional Detour; Often Interesting and Usually Enjoyable; and Don’t Bother, as there are Definitely Much Better Options.  The top purveyors were home grown, not surprisingly.  The restaurants are pretty good in Houston.
 
Worth an Occasional Detour
 
Tacos A Go Go
 
What began as a small storefront next to the Continental Club on Main Street in Midtown in 2006, Tacos A Go Go has gotten better over the years and is the best of the Tacos 2.0 spots, in my opinion.  This fun, intentionally kitschy mini-chain hews closely to Mexico and Texas for its tacos, and doing nearly everything quite well.  Its baker dozen of enticing taco options are divided among three different themes and types of tacos: Street Tacos described as “All Mex…no Tex” featuring stewed meats with piquant salsas and topped in Mexican fashion with diced onions, chopped cilantro and queso fresco along with fillings like carne guisada, lamb barbacoa and pork guisado; Go Go Tacos that are “More Tex than Mex”; and the Texas Tacos that are topped with Monterey Jack cheese, shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes and a salsa along with your choice of grilled skirt steak, grilled marinated chicken or a grilled white fish.  For any of these, you’ve also got your choice of tortillas among, corn, flour and for a little extra, whole wheat and puffy.  Those puffy tacos, featuring deep-fried corn tortillas, are a nod to the unique style developed in San Antonio and- provide something a little different, if not necessarily heart healthy.  One of the quality four self-serve salsas help make everything taste better, too.
 
Appeal: Very good tacos done in ways that Houstonians appreciate in casual, inviting settings
What to order: Barbacoa, Pastor, Picadillo, Pollo Guisado
Taco price range: $2.59 to $3.79
Taco size: Medio
Number of different PM tacos: 13 plus create-your-own breakfast tacos
Types of tortillas: Flour, corn, whole wheat and puffy
Tortillas: Sourced from La Ranchera; puffy tacos are fried on-premise
Breakfast taco hours: All day; and these are big for breakfast tacos
Dishes other than tacos: chips, queso, burritos, burrito bowls, quesadillas, breakfast plates, nachos and salads
Beer: Yes
Number of locations: 5
Locations in the Houston area: 5
Founded: Houston in 2006
 
Fusion Taco
 
What began as a taco truck five years ago is now two friendly and inviting counter-service locations, one just outside the Heights and the other, a newly opened spot in a food court in Greenway Plaza.  Fusion Taco does the wide-ranging fillings better than any of the other Tacos 2.0 joints found in the area.  Smoked Brisket, Chicken Tikka Masala, Agedashi Tofu, Falafel, Chicken Fried Oyster and Seared Brussels Sprouts are few of the dozen-and-a-half taco options whose inspirations cover a fair amount of the globe, all of which are thoughtfully comprised with quality ingredients and attractively presented.  These are some of the prettiest tacos in town.  More importantly, most taste at least pretty good and usually better.  One is the Lamb Keema featuring cooling pieces of cucumber slice and a greenish tahini for a refreshing ground lamb taco served in a nicely texturally contrasting fried corn tortilla shell.  Unfortunately, the chicken in a couple of the tacos were a little on the dry side.  For some reason, the near-liter-sized white plastic bottle of the unique San Luis brand hot sauce (mild) available to bring back to your table seems to make nearly all the tacos better, including making those two chicken tacos enjoyable.
 
Appeal: A globally inspired array of taco fillings that usually work quite well
What to order: Chicken Fried Oyster, Lamb Keema, Berkshire Pork BBQ
Taco price range: $3.50 to $4.25
Taco size: Medio
Number of different tacos: 16
Types of tortillas: Corn and Flour
House-made tortillas: Corn
Breakfast taco hours: Saturday and Sunday, 11:00 to 4:00
Dishes other than tacos: queso in several varieties, soups, salads, nachos, quesadillas
Beer: Yes
Number of locations: 2
Locations in the Houston area: 2
Founded: Houston in 2013
  
Often Interesting and Usually Enjoyable

Cabo
 
An attractive exterior on Washington Avenue harkens to a bright, if just slightly blemished, taco and burrito joint that true to its name with roots in Cabo on the Pacific coast where appetizing fried fish tacos are to be found.  There are only seven different fillings for the tacos here: fish – both fried and grilled – shrimp, pastor, the rotisserie marinated pork with pineapple, and ones with grilled beef, chicken or nopales, cactus.  Most tacos are worth ordering, with the properly fresh ingredients used in sensible and welcome combinations and helped by one of their several salsas or fresh lime at the condiments bar.  A bit oddly but enjoyably, you can also add grilled mozzarella to any taco for additional buck.
 
Appeal: Good quality Cabo-inspired tacos
What to order: Baja (Fish), Camaron
Taco price range: $3.50 to $3.85
Taco size: Medio
Breakfast taco hours: all the time
Number of different tacos: 7
Types of tortillas: Corn, Flour
House-made tortillas: Corn; Flour tortillas are from La Ranchera
Dishes other than tacos: chips, queso, burritos, burrito bowls, quesadilla, tostadas, carne asada fries, elote, churros
Beer: Yes
Number of locations: 2, I think
Locations in the Houston area: 2
Founded: 2015 in The Woodlands
 
Dream Tacos, Tx
 
What was a Jenni’s Noodles was transformed in the spring of 2018 into this modern taco restaurant set invitingly in a newish development on Richmond near Greenway Plaza.  More than a pretty face, this approachable spot an serves a number of enticing tacos, several with slight refinements on the familiar fillings like beef fajitas, barbacoa and pastor that will appeal to most.  Most are served on the slightly doughy flour tortillas that are made in house.  The tacos can be complemented with one of the six salsa made in house; just tell your server.  There is more service here than at other places.  In case you are feeling guilty about tacos for lunch – which you don’t have to be here, as the tacos are fairly small – a half-dozen of the tacos are vegetarian.  These can be pretty good, too.  Among the three seafood options, stick with The Fried Shrimp, served with cabbage, pickled onions and jalapeños and a creamy cilantro ranch dressing.  Conversely, the North Shore Garlic Shrimp, with its not-so-appetizing small grilled shrimp, was the only significant demerit encountered.
 
Appeal: Bright and cheery place with fun and usually well-done tacos
What to order: Hot’lanta (fried chicken tenders in Buffalo sauce), Fried Shrimp, Rodeo Barbacoa
Taco price range: $2.25 to $4.00
Taco size: Pequeño
Number of different PM tacos: 16
Breakfast taco hours: All the time
Types of tortillas: Corn, Flour
House-made tortillas: Flour, the Corn tortillas are from La Ranchera
Dishes other than tacos: chips, queso, nachos, salads, soups, meat and seafood plates
Beer: No
Number of locations: 1
Locations in the Houston area: 1
Founded: Houston in 2018
 
Torchy’s Tacos
 
The most popular and well-known of the Tacos 2.0 purveyors – there is even one in centerfield in MinuteMaid announced by two big Torchy’s signs facing most of the seats.  Especially popular among teenagers and those who studied in Austin, Torchy’s provides a slew of fun and sloppy tacos that are fairly unique.  Tex-Mex 2000, maybe.  Big and messy and better with plenty of extra salsa that’s usually mild, but flavorful and often viscous, these can be a guilty pleasure.  But, as I overheard at another taco joint, “Torchy’s, it’s like they are trying too hard.”  Often too many disparate things go into a taco for my taste.  Most work, but sometimes barely.  And, on tacos are on the pricey side, too.  But, there is seemingly always a line; Torchy’s has a following.
 
Appeal: Fun, bold-flavored and often gloppy tacos
What to order: Fried Avocado, Green Chile Pork, Trailer Park
Taco price range: $3.75 to $5.25
Taco size: Gordo
Number of different PM tacos: 16
Breakfast taco hours: All the time
Types of tortillas: Corn and Flour
House-made tortillas: No
Dishes other than tacos: chips, queso, salad, burritos, quesadillas for the kids
Beer: Yes
Number of locations: 59
Locations in the Houston area: 13
Founded: Austin in 2006
 
Tacodeli
 
The slick counter-service spot on Washington Avenue serve a large array of good-looking, small tacos mostly hewing to Mexican traditions, from Mexico City specifically.  The chain feature proteins that are humanely raised ethically or more expensively sourced.  This does not necessarily translate into a tastier taco, though.  The tortillas don’t help; these aren’t bad, just below par for a local Mexican restaurant.  The proteins and sourcing might have menu claims to be better than most, but it’s not really noticeable, and sometimes the kitchen doesn’t really do its job, as with my taco that included rajas.  The supposedly sautéed onions and poblano strips were pretty much uncooked and not adding much to the dry chicken.  The tacos here are on the small side; the smallest of the nine places surveyed.  Most adults will need three, and ordering four won’t make you gluttonous, though a quartet with drink can run you to $20 or more.  Important to note, Tacodeli closes at 3:00 in the afternoon each day.
 
Appeal: A number of different tacos from which to choose, most traditionally Mexican
What to order: Chicken Mole, Conchinita Pibil
Taco price range: $2.85 to $4.50
Taco size: Pequeño
Number of different PM tacos: 26 plus 1 to 3 daily lunch specials
Breakfast taco hours: Monday through Friday until 11 AM; all day on weekends
Types of tortillas: Flour, corn and wheat, plus you can order the taco fillings without a tortilla
House-made tortillas: No
Dishes other than tacos: chips, salads, soups and plates
Beer: No
Number of locations: 10
Locations in the Houston area: 1
Founded: Austin in 1999
 
Velvet Tacos
 
Offering the biggest array of cuisines stuffed into a tortilla among any local taco joint, it might take longer to digest the menu at Velvet Tacos than elsewhere if you are a newbie.  The helpful counter staff can help guide you among the Cuban Pig, Fish and Chips, Nashville Hot Tofu, Shrimp and Grits and Texas Akaushi Bacon Burger, which are a few of twenty taco choices.  Yes, still tacos.  These names, and fillings, can be a bit unusual, but most seem to work, though not the bland Fried Paneer, Grilled Flank Steak or Picnic Chicken tacos that generous amounts of the hot sauce from a squeeze bottle could not quite rectify.  Though these tacos can be pricey, a hungry adult will need three to be nearly satiated.  Decent beer on tap and inviting, laid-back settings help make a visit here a bit easier.
 
Appeal: An array of adventurously laden tacos
What to order: Buffalo Chicken Taco, Cuban Pig Taco, Fish and Chips
Taco price range: $3.50 to $6.75
Taco size: Medio
Number of different PM tacos: 17
Breakfast taco hours: All the time
Types of tortillas: Corn and Flour
House-made tortillas: No
Dishes other than tacos: queso, elote, tater tots and egg, red velvet cake (of course)
Beer: Yes
Number of locations: 10
Locations in the Houston area: 2
Founded: 2011 in Dallas
 
Don’t Bother, as there are Definitely Much Better Options
 
Liberty Tacos
 
After a couple of visits, I got the impression that when creating the menu, Liberty Taco just threw things into a tortilla and hoped it works.  Though there are some familiar tacos like the carnitas, this doesn’t adhere to Mexican sensibilities like many of the tacos Tacos A Go Go and Tacodeli nor the fun, kitschy Tex-Mex like Torchy’s.  The tacos are not nearly as well thought out as at other places and the ingredients generally as not good; a big piece of gristle in a Kogi Beef Taco was the most annoying example of that.  The mushy and tasteless fish in the heart of Grilled Fish taco highlighted a cheap-tasting ingredient that was also cooked poorly.  Their barbacoa taco wasn’t bad, though it was the easily the lamest barbacoa I believe I’ve ever had.  And the Cali Club taco featured a large, stiff chicken tender at its heart.  On the plus side, there are several self-serve salsas from which to choose, which help out with everything, and the tacos are larger than most, though pricier averaging over $4.00 each.  There are also eighteen tacos from which to choose among beef, chicken, pork, seafood and vegetarian headings, so maybe you can find something satisfying.
 
Appeal: Not far from the Galleria
What to order: The Carnitas taco wasn’t that bad
Taco price range: $3.85 to $4.50
Taco size: Gordo
Number of different PM tacos: 18
Breakfast taco hours: All the time
Types of tortillas: Flour, with Corn upon request according to the menu
House-made tortillas: No, sourced from La Ranchera
Dishes other than tacos: chips, queso, quesadillas, salad bowls
Beer: Yes
Number of locations: 1
Locations in the Houston area: 1
Founded: Houston in 2017
 
Fuzzy’s Tacos
 
Two locations of Fuzzy’s Tacos near me went out of business, and I don’t believe that either made it a year.  After eating at Fuzzy’s Tacos a couple of times, I can understand why.  Each of their small tacos are unappealingly topped with a plethora of tasteless-at-best shredded iceberg lettuce and, oddly, bits of cheap-tasting feta cheese, which fill the tortilla more so than the relatively small amount of proteins.  Worse, the tacos rarely rise above mediocre in flavor, regardless of their small size.  To complement the tacos, there are only bottled hot sauces, made by Fuzzy’s Tacos with mostly vinegar, ketchup, corn syrup and aged red peppers, the regrettably named Butt Burnin’ Hot Sauce and Butt Burnin’ Hot Sauce - Habanero.  If not nearly as enjoyable as the freshly made salsas at other places, these do help the tacos, which definitely need some help.  On the plus side, the tacos are inexpensive, the cheapest among these nine places surveyed.  
 
Appeal: Cheap tacos, I guess
What to order: I can’t recommend any of the eight different tacos that I’ve eaten there
Taco price range: $2.59 to $3.29
Taco size: Pequeño
Number of different PM tacos: 11
Breakfast taco hours: All day
Types of tortillas: Corn
House-made tortillas: No
Dishes other than tacos: chips, soups, salads, nachos, quesadilla, burritos, burrito bowls, plates
Beer: Yes
Number of locations: 97
Locations in the Houston area: 5
Founded: Fort Worth in 2003

A trio of tacos at a Tacos A Go Go

​Spaghetti and meatballs are an American creation, the combination of meatballs from the traditional Italian protein-based second course and the pasta from the first course to meet the demands of the much faster-paced American lifestyle.  Though it might be scoffed at Italian food traditionalists – and pretty much every Italian – it remains a staple on America tables and Italian-themed menus in this country for a reason.  It can be delicious if its three significant components are done well; high quality meatballs can make a huge difference in the overall enjoyment of the deceptively simple dish.
 
In Italy, spaghetti and meatballs can be found, but only at restaurants that might find a number of tourists.  There are at a few tourists in Venice during the warmer months, I did notice.  I was in Venice last month, and during a ramble around many of its famous landmarks, we stumbled upon Osteria al Diavolo e L'Acquasanta in Venice not far from the Rialto Bridge.  It turned out to be serendipitous stop.  We each enjoyed our lunchtimes choices, and the Sauvignon from the Collio more than aptly complemented our seafood items and provided some very refreshing and numbing liquid enjoyment on a warm afternoon.  My young nephew, who for a couple of weeks in Italy, ordered spaghetti al pomodoro (spaghetti in a tomato sauce), fried calamari, or spaghetti and meatballs for nearly every meal if pizza wasn’t served.  Osteria al Diavolo e ‘Acaquasanta had spaghetti and meatballs, and so did he.  (OK, it turned out to actually be linguine and meatballs, but not no matter).
 
He loved it.  I got a taste or two of the meatballs and those were terrific.  Soft and delicious, its mild, slightly meaty flavor went very well with the tasty tomato-based acidity of the light and fresh-tasting sauce covering it and the pasta.  The meatballs were made with seemingly equal portions of ground pork, veal and beef.  I am pretty sure that is what I got from the waiter; thankfully his English was far better than my Italian.  These were the type of tender, very savory meatballs I wish I could make at home on a regular basis and some of the very best meatballs that I have had in a while.  These were much better than one might expect from a restaurant where only not-so-demanding, and often younger, tourists would ever order the dish.
 
I just saw, after returning home, that Anthony Bourdain filmed a part of his No Reservations show at Osteria al Diavolo e L'Acquasanta in 2009.  He didn’t eat spaghetti and meatballs, of course.  He might have actually enjoyed them, though.

​I was in Chicago last weekend for a cousin’s wedding with Michelin as a ready guide for restaurants in the West Loop where I was staying.  I was wary of Michelin in this country having heard from at least one restaurateur friend that the reviewers really did not understand American dining habits, though that was a few years ago.  Thankfully, the Michelin guide turned out to be as useful as did last month in Italy, and helped make the weekend even more enjoyable, and caloric.
 
To start the weekend’s dining, I terrific meal at The Publican, which wears a Bib Gourmand distinction from Michelin – very good food and good prices.  In fairness, The Publican would have likely been on my list anyway, having been highly recommended by friends and family and having seen it on more than one of the food and travel shows.  Fresh, flavorful apricots highlighted a salad to start with burrata and a very appropriate supporting cast that included crisp greens, which proved to be perfect feeling warm after the walk from the hotel and also to preface my entrée of crisp veal sweetbreads.  Maybe sweetbread is a better description as it was a single large piece battered and fried, “like a schnitzel” according my very good waitress.  In a seemingly odd and busy sauce that combined a bagna cauda-inspired sauce and that used for veal tonnato, it was quite complementary to the meat / gland with the prominent flavor of anchovy somewhat masking the nickel-taste of the sweetbreads.  I was very happy.  Actually, I was happy soon after receiving my first drink, a half-liter of draft Andechser Weissbier Hell, a Bavarian hefe-weizen from the famed monastic brewery near Munich that is fairly rare in this country.  It was fresh and absolutely terrific, and among the very best hefe-weizens you can find; in the league with the redoubtable Ayinger Brau-Weisse.  There were more drinks and some more food, including a complimentary dessert and a very enjoyable meal in a bustling, fun setting.  I am not sure how it received a Bib Gourmand citation, though.  The food prices were fair and even low for some of the proteins, but the beers – something in which the aptly named Publican specializes – were very high.  The wines are slightly expensive and without much of selection or seemingly that well selected.  Minor quibbles.
 
The Publican was followed digestifs in the form of mescal at Rick Bayless’s’ Leña Brava.  The next morning Roister from the Alinea group impressed me as very deserving of its Michelin even just for a breakfast dish, a not-so-Southern take on biscuits and gravy.  As enjoyable as that was, the michelada I had to accompany it was easily the best michelada I have ever had, spicy courtesy of Japanese peppers but balanced and quite flavorful.  Stephanie Izard’s Little Goat Diner served an even better breakfast the next morning, This Little Piggy Went to China.  This was sesame cheddar biscuit in a couple of halves, on one rested a Sichuan-scented pork sausage then sunny-side up eggs with a chili garlic chive sauce. And chives scattered about with about ten blackberries.  Both Chinese or Sichuan and American at the same time, for breakfast.  Everything was good in itself and complementary like the blackberries whose slight sweetness made a welcome pair to the piquant sauce and sausage, especially later in the dish.  All good.
 
It was a good trip, in a terrific neighborhood for dining and imbibing, and helped by Michelin.
 

​Of all of the stops during a recent two-week trip to Italy, I was most wary of dining in Venice during.  I had never been to ultra-touristy Venice but knew it long had a reputation for restaurants serving poor food at high prices to visitors.  It had been somewhat allayed by the experiences of a fellow food writer who raved about dining in the several days she and her husband had spent there a few years ago.  But, early this year, a restaurant near the touristy center made international news for charging Japanese students over €1,100 (over $1,300) for just four steaks, a platter of fried seafood and a few drinks. 
 
Thanks in large part to the trusty Michelin guide, the three days in Venice saw good and very good meals with just one exception.  It wasn’t recommended in Michelin, of course.  The restaurant that I hoped to visit that evening was, but mobility issues in our group precluded a walk there – or water taxi.  The restaurant we ended up was close by and had a menu filled with Venetian specialties.  It was seemingly as untouristy as a restaurant might be near the Accademia in Venice.
 
Taverna San Travaso might have been, but our meal was pretty lousy.  It was a bad meal and the worst of my two weeks in Italy last month.  I definitely felt like a ripped-off tourist afterwards; the restaurant was not trying at all. 
 
A harbinger of the mediocrity, and worse, was the pitcher of prosecco we ordered to start.  A pitcher of prosecco was quite appropriate with the hot weather, and a cool way to start, especially since we don’t often see sparkling wine on tap and by the pitcher.  It wasn’t really sparkling though.  It was effervescent, if with more than enough bubbles to bring it beyond the level of still wine.  It was not terribly good, either, though deservedly inexpensive.  Soon after the carafes arrived were the mixed antipasti.  The Caprese di Bufala, or Caprese salad, featured pale red, thick and lifeless tomatoes that were about the worst I had ever seen in nearly ten trips to Italy.  Given how good tomatoes typically are in Italy, I had only once had witnessed tomatoes nearly as bad.  Awful.
 
It got worse, though, at least for my brother.  He ordered a seafood soup as his first course.  It was terrible.  Inedible, in fact.  He asked a couple of others to try, too, to their disgust, and had to send it back.  With nothing but a shrug from the waiter.  I am not sure if it was even taken off the bill.  My starter was not nearly as bad, but not what was advertised, and rather fraudulent.  It supposed to be bigoli in a duck ragu.  My bigoli, which is a type freshly made pasta from the region that is like a softer, thick spaghetti was just thin, commercially made spaghetti.  The simple duck ragu was not bad, but straightforward and rather simple without much in the way anything other than thin duck meat and jus.  At least my pasta was thoroughly cooked.  The two orders of gnocchi at the table were vastly undercooked, often doughy and quite unpalatable.
 
The rest of the meal was not nearly as bad.  My veal scaloppine al marsala featured veal that was far from tender, grainy and not very enjoyable by itself in a simple, sweet-than-it-should-be sauce.  The dish was barely mediocre and something I might expect from a below average Ruby Tuesday.  It was probably worse than that.  The bland fish filet that both my father and a brother ordered might have been better but far from what you might hope for from a restaurant steps from the sea, and far from what my brother catches in Galveston Bay.
 
Overall, Taverna San Travaso was very disappointing visit – one that a fair amount of wine and good company could not entirely overcome – and restaurant I would highly recommend missing if in Venice. 

​
This unappetizing gray dish was supposed to bigoli with a duck ragu.  Instead, spaghetti with some dull duck meat was a better description, but there was far worse served for our dinner.

​That Osteria Francescana, the famed and Michelin-three-starred restaurant in Modena from chef Massimo Bottura, had been named the best restaurant in the world just a few days earlier was not in our mind when we day-tripped from our hotel in Parma just a thirty-minute or so train ride away.  It was on our mind much earlier, or in mine, at least.  I had first heard about Osteria Francescana maybe fifteen years earlier, and it had long been a restaurant that I had wanted to visit.  The prices at Osteria Francescana precluded a stop during the trip last week: first courses (primi) currently runs from €60-70 and secondi from €90-120 – and I imagine I would want at least one other course, be it an antipasto or dolce – while ten-course tasting menu is €250, which can be paired with wines for another €140, or twelve courses (€270 + €180).  These prices in dollars are nearly 20% more.  Ouch.  And, reservations in its tiny space are fairly precious to come by. 
 
However, Franceschetta58, its casual cohort or “little cousin” according to its website, was very much part of the hopeful itinerary during a quick jag to Modena. The day to Modena was relaxed; unorganized, too.  We were running later than expected as we got into the city and nearing the end of the lunch service, and without reservations.  After getting out of the station, we flagged a cab and after some confusion about whether or not to scrap Franceschetta58 and just head to the nearby Ferrari museum, we decided to make our way to the restaurant, which was somewhat more than the six-minute walk Google Maps had mistakenly shown the night before.
 
The eight of us stumbled somewhat into the quaint wedge-shaped sliver of a restaurant somewhat obliviously.  There isn’t much to the airy, inviting space; tables seating about thirty people and a fairly thin communal strip of wood seating about ten more.  I surprised that it was a small as it was.  As the lead for our hungry group, I was met very affably, and in decent English, by the front of the house twosome, each of whom proved friendly, energetic, and very helpful.  They also seemed to love their jobs, as my mother later commented to one of them, who then smiled broadly.  No luck: they were fully booked.  We milled about the front for maybe ten minutes deciding what to do.  I was about to ask for them to call us taxis to a café that they recommended, as finding food at that time in Modena on a Monday was not easy, but then they said that diners were leaving more quickly than expected and that we could actually be seated if we didn’t mind not sitting together.  I quickly responded that that was no problem, and thanks – there was only one complaint among us that was forgotten with the advent of the meal and wine – and the eight of us were sat among four small tables. 
 
A fixed three-course menu with five choices for the first and second courses, Smart Lunch at €25, is the only option for lunch at Franceschetta58.  It is an excellent value.  Mostly Italian and mostly Emilian in cuisine, but also featuring global dishes and influences, I found nearly all of the choices tempting and likely would have been satisfied with any of them.  As my starter I went with what proved to be an artful presentation of beef tartare with chives, mustard, yogurt, and thin slices of green apple and cucumber.  I didn’t have enough tartare the night before and, though tempted by the “Emilia Burger by Massimo Bottura,” I couldn’t quite pull the trigger on a burger as my first course.  My brother did and quite enjoyed it and its petite patty.  My father and nephew had nearby tables each made very quick work of the beautiful platter of salumi and cheese. Everyone was greatly pleased with their choices.  As for the wine, the list is not long but there are plenty of welcome choice including a number under €25.  A Sauvignon from the Collio did the trick again for my table.
 
When asked, our server recommended for the second course over the roasted octopus the “Chitarra” spaghetti with anchovy cream, chicory and an impressive amount of crispy chile-spiced bread crumbs.  The chitarra was a nod to the fresh spaghetti-like pasta made Abruzzo region, traditionally by a guitar-looking device that renders a noodle with a square cross section.  Heavy on anchovy flavor, saltiness and bread crumbs, this was a pleasantly assertive dish with toothsome pasta that I really enjoyed; a fairly simple dish, nicely upgraded in a clever, chef-y fashion.  It was the favorite among Italian patrons according to our server.  Italians were outnumbered in the dining room when we were admitted.  Both tables next to me, about a foot-and-a-half away, were occupied by Americans, as were at least another or two, plus British accents from the wealthier strata were heard when exiting.  Though I like being about the only tourist at a restaurant, it didn’t detract at all from the experience.  The conviviality of the place along with the evidenced enthusiasm and knowledgeability of the other diners helped to enhance it.  Especially so, the folks next to us – between two tables of us, actually – were in the hospitality industry and had recently stocked with meats to cook at their rental from lauded Tuscan butcher Dario Cecchini, from whom my family had a great steak luncheon several years before.
 
Dessert was Zuppa Inglese, which was chocolate custard, pastry cream and sponge cake, and with a bit of cochineal tea poured over it, if I heard the server correctly.  Nicely bitter, it was enjoyable and different, if not quite a mouthwatering finale.  It was an excellent lunch on all counts.
 
Franceschetta58 is truly “an unexpected deviation from a traditional osteria” as it advertises.  It served the most unique food that we experienced in a couple of weeks of dining in Italy.  The restaurant was not just eminently inviting, but also one with a palpable world class pedigree along with evident talent and passion throughout.
 
Franceschetta58
Via Vignolese, 58, Modena, Italy, +39 059 3091008
franceschetta.it

​“What’s the best restaurant in Houston?” is what a daughter of an old girlfriend asked me the other weekend while she, her mother and I were at a local wine bar.  I quickly responded that I didn’t know.  I mentioned a few places that might qualify though added that I couldn’t give a confident response.  I was the local Zagat editor for Houston for several years and have been in the process for the past year or so – dining out diligently – of trying to put together a thoroughly researched list of the city’s top fifty restaurants for my blog and website.  I should be in a better position than most to answer what Houston’s best restaurant is or its best few restaurants.
 
In the past, I’ve said that I think Houston might have a number of Michelin one-star restaurants but maybe not too many two-star restaurants, and likely not any three if Michelin plied our fair city (there are only thirteen restaurants with three stars in this country in the four metropolitan areas where Michelin has published guides).  So, for me, there are not any places that immediately jump to the top of my list.
 
In judging a restaurant what’s on the plate and on the menus are the most important aspects.  The quality and enjoyability of the food is paramount, in my opinion, as it is with most diners.  For the best places that usually manifests itself in dishes that exhibit either a complexity or depth of flavor throughout much of the meal.  I also tend to especially enjoy restaurants and dishes that are a reflection of the place and community.  An exhibition of creativity can be important, though that creativity needs to be agreeably flavorful for me.  The food has to be plated attractively in the best places.  Top restaurants need to have a well-chosen wine list.  Wine makes most food taste better, a well-suited wine even much more so.  An excellent, or at least decent, cocktail program also helps make the opening phase of a restaurant visit more pleasurable for me these days.  Beyond the output of the kitchen and from the purview of the beverage director, the level of service is very important when considering the best restaurants. The setting, the design and décor, should help to create a proper stage for diners that can complement the food and make the visit even more enjoyable.  These are just some of the more immediate criteria in trying to judge a restaurant.
 
To circle back to that query, some of the very best local spots for me would be, not in any order: The Pass, Tony’s, Café Annie, One Fifth, Da Marco, BCN, Kata Robota, Uchi, Kiran’s, Hugo’s and Caracol, Kata Robota and probably MF Sushi.  Maybe Xochi, too, which, to me, doesn’t have the value or quite the polish of its Mexican siblings, as much as I like the place.  Getting panhandled while sitting on its patio there probably plays into that.  I haven’t yet been to the rebooted Underbelly, UB Preserv, maybe this weekend.  I’ve been a fan of Chris Shepherd and company since the days of Catalan, and am looking forward to Georgia James, given how much I liked One Fifth Steak.  Brennan’s has been too inconsistent for me since Danny Trace departed as executive chef.  Due to schedule conflicts, I’ve had to at cancel reservations a few times at Potente, where Trace now plies his trade, and also at Justin Yu’s more casual successor to Oxheart, Theodore Rex.  I’ve likely overlooked a few in this short list.  More restaurants to visit and revisit, and likely some revisions to be made.
 
“What is the best restaurant in Houston?”  I hope to know in the coming months, or at least offer a more informed opinion.

​Pizza is from Italy, but pizza is Neapolitan in origin.  It came from Naples, specifically, and actually spread more quickly throughout the U.S. than it did in Italy from its birthplace in Naples, as odd as that may seem.  Pizza initially traveled with the immigrants from Naples and its environs, of whom there were many in this country.
 
One of the most important events in the gustatory history of the country – and an immeasurable future boon to children, college students and the makers of heartburn remedies – seems to have begun officially in 1905 when Gennaro Lombardi, a native of Naples, opened the first licensed pizzeria in America in Manhattan’s Little Italy, Lombardi’s.  He had been making versions of this strictly Neapolitan fast food at the bakery in which he worked, which was also being done elsewhere, at least in his neighborhood.  The New York Tribune noted a couple of years earlier in 1903 in Little Italy that “apparently the Italian has invented a kind of pie. The ‘pomidore pizza,’ or tomato pie.”   These pizza pies were just the province of these Neapolitans; in Italy at the time, it was not found outside of the vicinity of Naples.   “There are only two places in New York where you can get real, genuine Neapolitan pizze. One is on Spring Street and one on Grand. The rest are Americanized substitutes,” reported an informed source, “the Dago,” in a Sun piece in the summer of 1905.   With that first pizzeria at 52 Spring Street, Lombardi used a coal-fired oven, a typical commercial oven at the time.  Though wood was used in the pizzerias in Naples, coal was readily available in New York and burned more efficiently than wood.   The coal-fired ovens would help give New York pies a distinctive crust and a little different taste than their progenitors on the Bay of Naples. It was often charred, crisp yet pliable, though not soggy, as the centers of the pizzas in Naples are. 
 
These pizzas first found an audience with those recently arrived Neapolitans and quickly spread to all the Italians living in the neighborhood.  Pizza has proven to be a very easy sell over the years.  In the 1920s and 1930s Lombardi’s former employees, all Neapolitans, opened pizzerias in Brooklyn, East Harlem and uptown Manhattan that would be destined to become icons in their own right.  But, pizzas were really an ethnic, mostly Italian, specialty until after the Second World War, even in New York City.   Also in the 1920s, pizzerias were opened by Neapolitan immigrants in the Italian neighborhoods of New Haven, Connecticut, Trenton, and Boston.  Philadelphia and Chicago were two of the few other cities with Neapolitan pizzaioli and pizza before the Depression.   Pizzerias were then still run solely by these Neapolitans and their offspring.  Pizzas began its worldwide conquest from Naples and being strictly Neapolitan to being Neapolitan-American then Italian-American and then becoming Italian.  Pizza was very difficult to find north of Naples before 1960 the early 1960s, in fact.
 
Another trademark American quality, in addition to convenience and efficiency, is size.  The size of pizzas grew in diameter from its original ten inches or so, eventually settling at between 12 and 14 inches.  Instead of just one, these now fed two to four people, perfectly suited for families and groups of friends.  This was the result of the ingredients available to those immigrants working in New York. The 00 flour Neapolitan pizzaiolos used was not available, so unbleached flours of high protein took the place of the softer flour. This enabled the pizza-makers to make bigger, but slightly thinner pizzas that dwarfed their progenitors.  The ones made here were all fairly similar, still thin-crust with a minimal number of toppings, if more and different than those in Naples and the earliest pizzerias here.  Cheese, mushrooms, anchovies, ground beef, onions, and that Italian-American creation, pepperoni, were common, and often used in combinations. 
 
The easier-to-manage gas ovens eventually took over from coal in nearly all pizzerias in New York, making for a slightly different crust including a lack of sootiness.  The newer pizzamakers tended to adhere to the American maxim of more is better and put much more cheese on the pizzas than the original Neapolitan-American places, who remained true to their early minimalist ethos.  The margherita morphed into the cheese pizza, more cheese and with dried oregano replacing the fresh basil, which was more difficult to have on hand year-round in New York than in Naples.  The cheese that became popular with the eventually ubiquitous restaurants was use of low-moisture mozzarella over fresh mozzarella, which is not well suited to the lower temperature and longer cooking times of the gas ovens. An even more noticeable change was that pizza in New York eventually became to be served by the slice in addition to the whole pie.  This seemingly very simple thing allowed for smaller establishments  ̶  as a slice is essentially take-away or quick-eating fare  ̶  that are cheaper to start and run allowing for many more pizza shops, further expanding the reach of the pizza.
 
A New Haven pizzeria founded by a Neapolitan immigrant, Pepe's Pizzeria Napoletana, eventually introduced a version topped with clams (in the 1960s), but there still were not many regional differences.   Pizzas were simple, satisfying, affordable, and easy-to-like.  One variation to the standard pie, found in St. Louis to Chicago and east to West Virginia often in taverns, was cut the thin circular pizzas into squares that were easy to eat with one hand, beer in the other.  Pizzerias in St. Louis also began putting Provel cheese on their pies, a bland processed cheese that melts well, an Italian-American Velveeta, and another step toward industrial Americanization.
 
Somewhere along the line, the Sicilian pizza also joined the mix, likely the result of a pizzeria worker or owner from Palermo.  It was derived from the sfincione from Palermo, a type of spongy focaccia usually topped there with vegetables or tomato sauce and cheese or sardines or anchovies. So, customers at some pizzerias began to have two options dished with the same sauce and toppings: the original circular thin-crust, and a rectangular construction, the Sicilian, with a thick, softer crust. 
 
Pizza spread throughout the country after the Second World War, becoming far more common a sight than in Italy where it was still mostly confined to Naples and its environs.  In fact, it was difficult to find pizza north of Naples through the 1960s.   Here, it began to be served well beyond the Italian neighborhoods.  Starting and growing in areas with virtually no competition from pizzerias with Italian antecedents, several regional, national and international pizza companies got their start in the mid-1950s to 1960: Shakey’s in Sacramento (humorously, I guess, named after one of the malaria-damaged owners) in 1954, Pizza Hut in Wichita and Pizza Inn in Dallas in 1958, Little Caesar’s in suburban Detroit in 1959, and Domino’s in Ypsilanti, Michigan in 1960.   The commercially made gas then electric pizza ovens, along with large mixers for the dough introduced in the mid-1950s, helped make the creation of the pizzas easier, far less dependent on a seasoned pizza-maker.  American business know-how helped even more.  The franchise system increased the number of branches and market presence quickly.  Even if far from the best pizzas around – the pies usually featured doughier and blander crusts and lower-quality toppings – these pizza chains have been greatly enjoyed by millions over the years.  Not incidentally, with tremendous insight, or luck, both Pizza Hut and Pizza Inn first opened right near college campuses.  
 
Pizza has helped others gained their slice of the American dream, too.  Greek-owned places created many oregano-heavy pizzas in the New York area, in New England where they developed a distinctive style, and elsewhere.  Beginning in the 1990s, Albanian immigrants have owned and operated many pizzerias in the northeast.   These groups have also helped reinforce the truly American styles of pizzas, all of which have their roots in New York.
 
Chicago began to go a different route starting in 1943 with the first deep-dish pizza, to the everlasting disdain of New Yorkers.  Created at Pizzeria Uno by non-Italians, this hefty dish was really more of a casserole than a pizza (but still a pie), in line with the city’s big-food traditions.   It was baked at lower temperatures for around forty-five minutes or so, far longer than the thin-crust versions, but contained the usual pizza ingredients and flavors and grew to become the fiercely loved, dominant style in and around the Windy City.  Chicago-style has come to mean deep-dish.
 
Another type of pizza was added by a non-Italian, the designer pizza, or the California pizza, introduced in the early 1980s by Wolfgang Puck at his Spago restaurant in Los Angeles.   This helped expand the range of toppings thought possible.  Goat cheese, salmon, chicken, shrimp and even caviar were all successfully found atop Spago’s finely crafted pies.  Its success created a designer pizza craze in Los Angeles in the mid-1980s.  And, though Alice Water’s Chez Panisse might have been the first to do so a few years earlier and inspired Puck, Spago’s example was the one that really popularized the idea that pizza could be served at serious restaurants.  In the past half-dozen years or so, pizzas, and their simpler, easier-to-make cousin, the flatbread, have become a popular starter at many at fine dining or ambitious restaurant across the country.  There are great margins in these.
 
The most significant and interesting development the couple of decades is the emergence of the truly Neapolitan pizza.  There is even a certification body, Verace Pizza Napoletana Association (VPN) that looks at the use of the oven, wood-fired, of course, and the use of Neapolitan ingredients like the soft 00 flour, San Marzano tomatoes from near Naples, and buffalo milk mozzarella, usually along with previous enrolment in one of their classes.  La Pizza Fresca was one of the very first in New York and the country in the mid-1990s.  Others acclaimed ones opening since then include Ribalta, Naples 45, Keste, Motorino and Don Antonio by Starita, a top pizzeria in Naples.  There Una Pizza Napoletana opened in New York in 2004 then relocated to San Francisco that helped to raise the form to great renown here, and stridency.
 
Pizza, more than ever, and in many more forms than ever, is an integral and ubiquitous presence in Americans eating habits.  I've come to know that even more with my ongoing Margherita Pizza Project.  It’s the third popular food in America according to a recent survey.  An example of how ingrained pizza has become in American culture is a vignette related by the former head of the Italian trade mission in New York.  Soon after arriving in the late 1990s he was asked in earnest by an American friend, “Gioacchino, how does one say ‘pizza’ in Italian?”


A margherita pizza, or is it a cheese pizza, at Mascalzone.

I had to track down Lorenzo Ruggeri after he finished helping lead a tasting of wines from northern Italy the other day.  He had just mentioned at the end of the session that the Italian publication hosting the event, Gambero Rosso, was announcing its picks for the best Italian restaurants in Houston later that day.  I had to leave soon and really wanted to know.  Gambero Rosso is mostly known for their thick annual Italian wine guide, but it also has guides for restaurants and now one for Italian food products.
 
I was very curious to learn what it had acclaimed in the city, assuming it would reward authenticity and adherence to native Italian products and flavors.  I make it point to pester foreign transplants and visitors for feedback about local restaurants serving their home cuisine, often finding it useful feedback. Thankfully, I was able to quickly find Ruggeri and inquire about the local winners. 
 
He was quickly forthcoming with the yet-unveiled winners. Amalfi won the top spot for fine dining, Sud Italia for traditional cuisine, Rosso Cane for pizza, and Poscol for the cantina.  I complimented him on the choices of Amalfi and Sud Italia. These are led by two of the top handful of Italian chefs in the state – Giancarlo Ferrarra at Amalfi and Maurizio Ferrarese at Sud Italia – though I was surprised about Cane Rosso.  I haven’t been impressed in several visits, finding the various Neapolitan-styled pizzas much more attractive than flavorful.  He said that it was tough to find good pizza, which I heartily if unfortunately agreed.  My view of the local pizza scene has diminished with the ongoing research for my Margherita Pizza Project.  And, Cane Rosso only got one of three pizza slices versus two of the other things (forks, bottles and no telling) for the other restaurants.  The fourth of the winners, Poscol, does have a very fine wine last, though I like the one better at its sibling a couple of blocks away, Dolce Vita.  But, Poscol has a much more appropriate cantina, or enoteca, setting and vibe.  Nicely, this information and some more is posted on Gambero Rosso’s website under the heading, “Top Italian Restaurants in Houston.”

Click here to see their picks in other cities, too.
 

One of Maurizio Ferrarese's delectable pasta dishes at Sud Italia

I posted this article back in 2011, before Houston began to receive some appropriate – and long overdue – national appreciation for the quality of its dining scene.  We learned today that none of the five chefs or chef duos, that had been named semifinalists were named finalists.  The estimable Anvil, which has to be one of the very best cocktail bars in the country, did finally make it as a finalist.  This could simply be that those nominated were more deserving.  Having not eaten at those out-of-town restaurants whose chefs were named, I cannot offer an opinion.  Alison Cook in the Chronicle today offered one factor that likely played a role: that since Houston is a less touristy city than others in the region like Austin and Santa Fe, there is less of a chance that a James Beard voter will be able to vote for the chef or establishment because these voters are expected to only vote for people and places they have actually visited.  Makes a lot of sense to me.  There is also geography, or geography the way that the city of Houston happens to fit into the way it is applied for the purposes of the James Beard awards.

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The James Beard Foundation has eleven national restaurant-related awards plus ones for the best chef in each of eight regions across the country.  These are the most prestigious awards associated with American restaurants.  The way the regions are comprised, a Houston chef has the most difficult path to win a best chef designation.   Basically, they face more competition. 
 
These are the regions and their respective component states, from most populous to least:
 
Southwest – Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah
Great Lakes – Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio
Pacific – California, Hawaii
Mid-Atlantic –Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington, DC
Southeast – Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia
South – Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi
Northeast – Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York excepting NYC, Rhode Island, Vermont
Midwest – Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin
Northwest – Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, Wyoming
New York City
 
Based on the most recent census data, here are the populations for each, which vary quite a lot:
 
Southwest – 48 million
Great Lakes – 40.1 million
Pacific – 38.7 million
Mid-Atlantic – 37.6 million
Southeast – 36.5 million
South – 34.2 million
Northeast – 25.7 million
Midwest – 25.6 million
Northwest – 14.5 million
New York City – 8.2 million
 
Unlike Europe, the top restaurants in this country are located almost entirely in the biggest cities.  Here are the largest fifty cities for each region to give an idea of potential competition.  There are many more large cities in the Southwest region than elsewhere, sixteen.  The Pacific region is second with six of the top fifty.
 
Southwest – Houston (4), Phoenix (6), San Antonio (7), Dallas (9), Austin (14), Fort Worth (16), El Paso (19), Denver (26), Las Vegas (30), Oklahoma City (31), Albuquerque (32), Tucson (33), Mesa (38), Colorado Springs (41), Tulsa (46), Arlington (50)
Great Lakes – Chicago (3), Indianapolis (12), Columbus (15), Detroit (18), Cleveland (45)
Pacific – Los Angeles (2), San Diego (8), San Jose (10), San Francisco (13), Fresno (34), Sacramento (35), Long Beach (36), Oakland (47)
Mid-Atlantic – Philadelphia (5), Baltimore (21), Washington DC (24), Virginia Beach (39)
Southeast – Charlotte (17), Memphis (20), Nashville (25), Louisville (27), Atlanta (40), Raleigh (43)
South – Jacksonville (11), Miami (44)
Northeast – Boston (22)
Midwest – Milwaukee (28), Kansas City (37), Omaha (42), Minneapolis (48), Wichita (49)
Northwest – Seattle (23), Portland (29)
New York City – New York (1)
 
In the case that the size of the metropolitan area might be a better judge in determining the quality of the restaurants – the wealthy suburbs feed a vibrant inner city dining scene – here is a list containing the top twenty-five metropolitan areas:
 
Southwest – Dallas-Fort Worth (4), Houston (6), Phoenix (14), Denver (21), San Antonio (25)
Great Lakes – Chicago (3), Detroit (12)
Pacific – Los Angeles (2), San Francisco-Oakland (11), Riverside-San Bernadino (13), San Diego (17), Sacramento (24)
Mid-Atlantic – Philadelphia (6), Washington DC (7), Baltimore (20), Pittsburgh (22)
Southeast – Atlanta (9)
South – Miami (8), Tampa-St. Petersburg (19)
Northeast – Boston (10)
Midwest – Minneapolis-St. Paul (16), St. Louis (18)
Northwest – Seattle (15), Portland (23)
New York City – New York (1)
 
Though the size of the city and surrounding area might be the most important factor, there are others.  Traditionally, the best restaurant cities have been large coastal ports, with Chicago as an exception.  During the 1930s, Duncan Hines, before he gave us cake mix, was a top restaurant critic traveling the country who listed “New York, San Francisco and New Orleans as the country's top restaurant cities."  “Over the years from 1939 to 1980, when Galllup polled Americans annually on what cities they thought served the fines food, New York consistently came out on top with San Francisco, Chicago and New Orleans the usual runners-up,” from the Paradox of Plenty, a book about eating in modern America.  By the mid-1980s, Los Angeles was witnessing the rise of California cuisine and became the standard bearer for at least a decade as New York revived from the stagnation that began in the 1970s.
 
A year ago in the December 2010 issue of Esquire, longtime dining scribe John Mariani put together a list of the top restaurant cities in the country:
 
Southwest – Las Vegas (6), Houston (7)
Great Lakes – Chicago (2)
Pacific – San Francisco (3), Los Angeles (5)
Mid-Atlantic – Washington DC (8)
Southeast
South – New Orleans (4)
Northeast – Boston (9)
Midwest
Northwest – Seattle (10)
New York City – New York (1)
 
Not only do Houston chefs have to compete in the most populous region by far, the one with the largest number of big cities, they also have to contend with restaurants in Las Vegas.  It is home to many luxury establishments – including from the top chefs and restaurateurs in the world – that can only exist in Las Vegas; restaurants that act as loss-lenders and perks to high rollers to attract them to the casino that houses them.  What applies to Houston applies to the rest of the region, of course.
 
An award for Best Chef Midwest or Northwest does not seem nearly as notable as Best Chef Southwest.  In fact, a James Beard Foundation Award for Best Chef Southwest might be the most be the most impressive of the regional chef awards.
​

A dish at the soon-to-shuttered Underbelly, home of Chris Shepherd, Best Chef - Southwest, 2014.

A couple of blocks from the Menil, the smallish, low-slung building has housed several restaurants over the years providing the comfortable neighborhood of older bungalows and some newer and larger contemporary structures with something that most Houston neighborhoods lack: an interesting and approachable dining and imbibing option within walking distance.  The new Night Heron from the folks at Agricole Hospitality (Coltivare, Eight Row Flint, Revival Market) continues the trend.  Taking over from the recently departed Lowbrow, the stolid booths are gone, and interior of the space is roomier and airier.  The patio in front remains the same, still a bit ungainly if perfect for folks bringing their dogs with them, though with the big television (that came in handy during the ‘Stros amazing playoff run).  It’s probably the nicest of the iterations this address has seen over the years.
 
Visiting about a week after opening, Night Heron appears to be a good fit for the neighborhood and visitors to the Menil.  The highlights of the visit and seemingly the strong point of the restaurant were the cocktails, which wisely borrows that expertise from its siblings Coltivare and Eight Row Flint.  My friend, who lives a block away, couldn’t wait for me to try the place, she had been the night before for just drinks and had a grapefruit cocktail that she raved about and ordered it again to start, the usually simple Salty Dog.  This one, like the other updated and refined versions of classics on their menu, was a modernized and improved version.  Featuring a honeysuckle vodka, grapefruit juice and a slice of the fruit for garnish and aroma, black pepper, vanilla, and pink salt, it was terrific, refreshing and a far cry from the Salty Dogs I consumed in my youth.  I opted for a much more bitter option, a Manhattan, in regards to the daily atorvastatin.  Served neat and with two Luxardo-like cured cherries, this version went for bourbon in place of rye, amaro for the Angostura, and madeira instead of sweet vermouth, this was different than the Manhattans I have been enjoyably imbibing at Public Services for the past couple of years or so, and elsewhere, but excellent.  The sixteen or so cocktails on the menu come with the provenance of each – the Bloody Mary comes courtesy of Harry’s New York Bar, Paris, 1920s, for example – and are described as: “the canon of America’s classic drinking culture. There are infinite ways to spin these classics. What follows are our favorites.”  These outputs from these two pages are reason enough to visit Night Heron, if you like those sorts of things.

As for the rest of the adult beverages, the restaurant offers something nearly unheard of these days: most of its wine by glass are priced at $10 or less.  About 70% of the roughly sixty bottles offered are food-friendly Old World wines.  The beers are mostly hoppy and alcoholic, with a handful of Belgium classics in the form of a saison, a dubbel, a Flemish red ale that is the favorite of Antwerp, and the Trappist Orval.
 
The food at Night Heron, all meant for sharing with the possible exception of the cheeseburger, seems also meant as accompaniment to the various drinks.  Most of the ones we ordered worked the other night.  The star, by far, was the Salt & Pepper Pork Ribs that comes as four spare, lean ribs in a bowl.  It’s not an impressive sight, but the taste is terrific, moist and nicely incorporating the lemon and sumac the menu states are in the preparation.  The Singapore Chili Clams were the second best, a preparation of numerous clams made with fermented black beans and a tomato-y broth with mint and some spice.  As tasty as the broth at the bottom of the bowl was, frustratingly there was no bread to sop it up, a similar misstep that Coltivare did, or maybe still does, make.  The waiter, earnest if often absent and still learning the ropes of the newly opened spot, suggested we use some of the Fried Curry Spiced Potatoes for the broth.  It did not do the trick as well as some bread, and those small potatoes, charred and dull, were a disappointment.  All of its minimal spice were in the mild ketchup that came with it.  More enjoyable was Turmeric Chicken Frites made with a noticeable buttermilk marinade along with some dill and yogurt.  Its taste was enjoyable, subtle, and pieces judiciously sized.  It was a welcome bar snack and a ways from Raising Cane’s.  The last dish was even more lackluster than the potatoes, Jasmine Rice Congee.  Though the congee, rice porridge seemingly inspired by those served in Vietnam or China, came with mushrooms, almonds, a little bacon, plentiful scallions and a poached egg, it was a bland rice porridge, as rice porridge is apt to be, after getting past the nicely cooked egg.  For some reason it was served in an oversized portion.  A small cup would have been sufficient.  I found it to be a very odd addition to the menu.
 
Though I would have liked more spice in the dishes, I have to applaud the kitchen for embracing subtlety and nuance.  Very nicely, the food items run from just $4 for a snack of olives to $16 for a take on jerk chicken. 
 
I’ll be back, and I think my friend is quite excited about it.  And Night Heron is a very welcome neighborhood restaurant, and a cool place, in general.  It might not be the best restaurant in the immediate vicinity with the Bistro Menil right there.  Or, maybe it is not really worth the drive across town, well, maybe for the cocktails, but a worth a reasonable drive, especially when drinks are involved.  Drinking responsibly, of course.

 Night Heron
1601 W Main (at Mandell) (713) 527-8010
agricolehospitality.com/night-heron/

​The mantra at Underbelly, from where Chef Chris Shepherd won a James Beard Award a few years ago, is “The Story of Houston Food.” The wine list, however, strays far from the region and even the continent; two-thirds of it is dedicated to wines from Europe, the Old World. This affection is not unusual among the top local restaurants including, or especially, those with a strong locavore attitude in their food-sourcing and a penchant for creative cooking. Not just Underbelly, but places like Oxheart’s successor Theodore Rex, Pass & Provisions, Nobie’s, the new, casual neighbor of the Menil, Night Heron, and even the notably locally attune State of Grace, all boast wine lists where the majority of the space is dedicated to bottles from the historic wine-producing countries of Europe.  These make up over 80% of the list at Theodore Rex and about 70% at State of Grace.
 
Even at the upscale steakhouse, an unabashedly American restaurant concept, the wine lists, which were once dominated by big Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignons, are finding more room for Old World wines, well beyond the long-present expense-account trophies from Bordeaux. Highly regarded Pappas Bros. Steakhouse has the lengthiest and possibly best wine list in the city and wines from Europe make up 60% of its offerings. Gary Lapuyade, who once led the wine program at another excellent home-grown steakhouse, Vic & Anthony’s. His top recommendation for steak?  A Hermitage from France’s Rhône Valley. When queried the other night about her top wine preference with a steak, Adele Corrigan, who runs 13 Celsius, responded with Cornas, another Syrah from the northern Rhone.
 
The reason for this European predominance at top local restaurants is rather simple. “At Oxheart, we use a great deal of Old World wine because it pairs with the food better than New World wines,” Justin Vann explained a few years ago. “Old World wines,” he continued, “have lower alcohol and higher acid, which generally make them more food friendly.”  Wines from the New World, which includes the United States, Chile, Argentina, Australia and New Zealand, tend to be much more fruit-oriented, sometimes aggressively so, less acidic, and often feature prominent flavors and tannins from oak aging. Most New World wines seem meant to be enjoyed first as a standalone beverage, without food. Contrastingly, most Old World wines seem to naturally complement food and some even need food to be enjoyable.
 
Matthew Pridgen, who manages the very personable and easily enjoyable wine lists both at Underbelly and One Fifth a few blocks away, opined, “I find Chris [Shepherd]'s food to be deeply flavored, and layered, but not heavy, and I think wines that have similar qualities make for the best pairings.”  Those just happen to be mostly from the Old World.


At a wine tasting in the Collio a few years ago.