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

​Char-grilled pork has been what has drawn most Houstonians over the years to the wonders of banh mi, the Vietnamese sandwich. Delicious and easily recognizable, as a sandwich filling, it has long been the centerpiece of a ridiculously cheap lunch option for the savvy diner.  It’s seemingly the easy favorite Vietnamese sandwich among the non-Vietnamese, myself included.
 
The char-grilled pork sandwich, or Banh Mi Thit Nuong, at the bare bones and usually bustling Thien An is especially notable. I hadn’t dropped by there in a while, so I made it a point to grab the sandwich from there for lunch today. The restaurant is more generous than most with the pork, which is nicely cooked, tender and richly flavorful. Tender slices are nestled in a local standard short Vietnamese baguette that is properly crusty and airy. The pork is joined by a light smear of house-made mayonnaise, shredded pickled carrots and daikon radish, a slice of cucumber, cilantro leaves and stems, and prominent wedges of jalapeño. The result is an enticing mix of textures and flavors – predominantly the moist and savory pork – that is satiating while remaining vibrant, not heavy. Even better with a few dashes of vinegar and squirts of sriracha from bottles on the table, it can be tough to eat just one of these.  This is still one of the very best versions in the city.  It’s gotten a bit pricey, though, now up to $3.99.
 
Thien An
2611 San Jacinto (just south of McGowen), 77004, (713) 522-7007
No website

I finally made it to Rosie Cannonball, the new restaurant that’s part of a cluster of related establishments on lower Westheimer that began with the slick neo-honky tonk Goodnight Charlie’s.  The fare from the short menu at Rosie Cannonball is mostly Italian with trattoria fare rooted in the Emilia-Romagna region of central Italy along with pizzas and a handful of Spanish and Portuguese items.  It’s a comfortably attractive and quaint place that seems especially well-suited during the day for the ladies-who-lunch whom made up most of the clientele when I visited the other day.
 
After spending the previous week in Italy dining quite well, I still had the hankering for Italian food and pasta, as usually do in any case.  The Cavatelli Al Sugo Bolognese all’Entra, Parmigiano Reggiano seemed to fit the bill on a crisp day.  It featured a short, sturdy pasta served with a slowly cooked meat sauce that is a specialty of Bologna and its surroundings and seen throughout central and a fair part of northern Italy.  Their sauce, the ragù, is made with ground beef and pork, no veal.  The Entra designation, and likely the recipe, comes from the restaurant north of Bologna where the chef once worked, I was told.
 
I quite enjoyed the dish.  Their cavatelli is made in-house with all-purpose flour that provided a nice bite, flavor and cavities to catch the meaty sauce.  The other pastas on the menu use the softer, more finely milled ’00’ that’s appropriate for those.  The ragù tasted like it should, hearty but not overly so, if with just a touch of chalkiness likely from the beef.  I could have used some bread to sop the remaining little bit of it – “fare la scarpetta” as the Italians say – but none was offered, unfortunately.  Their ragù was maybe slightly less flavorful as the couple ragùs I had eaten the week before in Italy, and what I make at home, using a slight adaption of the Marcella Hazan’s terrific, very long-cooked version. 
 
Though like what I ate, the portion for the cavatelli was quite small.  It was certainly smaller than what is usually served these days as a primo in Italy, the first course, usually pasta or risotto, traditionally meant as a preface the secondo, the protein-centric course.  The portion sizes have grown larger at Italian in the past decade or longer, but it’s been since about the start of the millennium – a span of time that includes nearly a dozen trips to Italy – that I can remember a pasta portion as thriftfully sized as this was.  This might work without much concern for the ladies-who-lunch, or children, but I doubt it will satisfy most diners even at lunch.  Even less so at dinner, as the waitress told me the portions are the same for dinner.  You’ll need another course in the evening to be sure.
 
Another thing caused me a pause in addition to the parsimonious portion was that the price was an outstanding $22.  Not only smaller than what is served in Italy for a similar dish, and nearly everywhere else, it was much more expensive.  On this recent gastronomic trip to Italy, a well-known national food writer and I talked about how pasta prices in Italy have nicely remained around €11 or €12, or so, about $12.25 to $13.50, at most restaurants for the past decade or longer.  Though I enjoyed the cavatelli preparation, I felt that it was one of the worst dining values I’ve had in a while. 
 
Another caveat in addition to those two for the cavatelli, were the wine prices.  Perusing the wine list, I found just eight of the two or three dozen Italian reds were under $100, which I found annoying to state the least.  With two Master Sommeliers with the hospitality group, I expected more.  There are certainly many excellent choices on the list, but the accompanying prices, which may be fair, are on the high side for most diners.  Based on one visit, I believe that Rosie Cannonball is a welcome addition to the local dining scene, one that I plan to revisit.  It’s just one that might be a little pricey for what it is.
 
Rosie Cannonball
1620 Westheimer (between Mandell and Dunlavy), 77006, (832) 380-2471
rosiecannonball.com


Cavatelli al Sugo at Rosie Cannonbal

​A couple of months ago the trade publication Restaurant Hospitality – citing sandwiches that best highlighted some of the sandwich trends across the country and that “won their hearts” – named The Tex-Mex Cheesesteak at Antone’s Famous Po’ Boys here in Houston as the best sandwich in America.  I have been down on Antone’s for quite a while, but reading this and hearing that they had revitalized their menu, I had to give it a try.  It was certainly worth the recent trip.
 
The relatively small-for-a-cheesesteak sandwich priced at $9.95 features thinly sliced top sirloin, sliced sautéed red bell peppers, banana peppers, jalapenos and onions, pepper Jack cheese, doused with some red wine vinegar, salt and pepper and slathered with some chipotle-spiked mayonnaise in a toasted roll from their longtime supplier Royal Bakery.  I found it delicious, the best sandwich I’ve had at Antone’s in memory.  Tasty and tender beef, a good amount of spice and other complementary flavors and a quality bread.  But there could have been a little more cheese on this cheesesteak, and I wish the peppers, skin-on, could have been cooked a little longer for my taste – and stomach, as these seemed to have caused some distress later.  Plus, the nicely toasted, fresh roll provided enough texturally contrast to the soft beef and other fillings.  No real matter.
 
This isn’t the best cheesesteak sandwich in Houston, any of the ones at Pappa Geno’s including the basic one I had there a couple of days ago are better, but it is worth a trip to Antone’s if you have the hankering for a tasty hot and properly unavoidably messy sandwich.
 
Antone’s Famous Po’ Boys
4520 San Felipe (just inside the West Loop), 77027, (713) 623-4464
2724 West T.C. Jester (just north of the North Loop), 77018, (713) 686-4338
antones1962.com


The Tex-Mex Cheesesteak at Antone's (courtesy of Restaurant Hospitality)

​It’s not quite fair to call The Original Fish Tacos at Berryhill a guilty pleasure, as these have long been quite good, in my opinion, and Berryhill Baja Grill Cantina – its ungainly full name these days – a commendable, comfortably casual counter service spot for generally inexpensive Mexican food that’s a little different than most local options.  I’ve been indulging in these for years at the location on 11th Street, which I often do after a haircut, as its just down the road from my longtime barber, Doug’s, formerly Doug and Don’s and Don’s before that, the barbershop in Rushmore.  There’s been comfort in the consistent quality and value in each for me.
 
The Original Fish Tacos at Berryhill consist of two or three large pieces of breaded and fried white fish placed in two soft corn tortillas and served with shredded red cabbage, a fair amount of cilantro leaves and a spiked mayonnaise sauce.   The tacos are large.  The fish is always clean-tasting, often arriving at the table piping hot from the deep fryer with the cabbage adding some firm texture to the usually crispy fish and the cilantro and sauce helping with additional complementary flavors.  I always spoon on a lot of the watery tomato-based salsa found at the condiments bar that helps some more, especially its spicy small pieces off jalapeño.  Berryhill used to use catfish but now, from all I can gather from a cashier who seems to be the manager, it is a white fish from the sea that is not tilapia.  It works well, if not as well as the catfish did.  The pieces of fish sometime become mushy a little too readily, mostly courtesy of the mayonnaise-based sauce and the addition of the salsa.  It detracts from the taco, but it’s still an enjoyable, messier dish.
 
I can’t say these tacos are in the same league as what you will find in San Diego or Ensenada, but these have been more enjoyable than the ones I’ve had up the road in Orange County at cheap chain outposts. I find that an order of two Original Fish Tacos makes for an inexpensive and quick lunch.  Two with water with tax and tip comes to $9.64 these days.  A find value that also includes chips and salsa.  The help-yourself chips found with the salsa are store-bought and really not very good even when there are no hints of the occasional staleness.  Though both the chips and are below par, I can’t help but finish a basket helping make for a properly satiating lunch.
 
There are eight Berryhill locations now.  They used to vary widely in quality.  I am not sure these days, as I’ve only been to the 11th Street location in years.  Not as interesting as satisfying as the original location in the Village many years ago, it can still be a decent stop that’s a at least a decent value.
 
Berryhill Baja Grill Cantina
702 E. 11th Street (a few blocks west of Studewood), (713) 225-2252
berryhillbajagrill.com

​One of the most anticipated, if not the most anticipated, annual area restaurant-related event began the other day on August 1, Houston Restaurant Weeks.  Running through September 2, when diners visit one of the 282 participating restaurant locations and order from the Restaurant Weeks menu that will feature a set multi-course menu with several options, the restaurant will donate $7 during dinnertime and $3 for lunch to the Houston Food Bank.  Lunches are $20 and dinners are $35 or $45, with some optional upcharges at some places.  If you don’t know, the Houston Food Bank is a rather worthwhile local charity, a non-profit organization that collects and distributes food to hunger relief charities, which happens to be the largest food bank in the country. 
 
Helping the community is rather easy, just dine out at one of the restaurants and order from the Restaurant Weeks menu.  It’s not only easy, but enjoyable.  It has resonated with locals: since Cleverley Stone started the event in 2003, it has raised well over $10 million for the Houston Food Bank.  Houston Restaurants Weeks seems to encourage people to visit restaurants, and especially restaurants that are new to them.  In addition to aiding the charity, it has definitely increased traffic for local eateries, both new and familiar.  August was once about the slowest of months for area restaurants.  No longer.  This has helped not only the bottom line for the restaurateurs but also their staffs, who are among the lowest-paid workers.
 
With so many restaurants, there is certainly plenty from which to choose.  The restaurants from Hugo Ortega and Tracy Vaught – Backstreet Café, Caracol, Hugo’s and Xochi – which are known for doing a very good job for Houston Restaurant Weeks, are taking part again.  Some other notables include Amalfi, Etoile, Latin Bites, Pappas Bros. Steakhouse, Potente, Riel, Reef, and Houston’s grand dame, Tony’s.  Do some good and have some fun, visit one of them or one of the many other participating restaurants during this next month.

A delectable dish from one of the participants, Bistro Menil

It was almost exactly twenty years ago today, in July of 1999, that I started work on the first edition of Houston Dining on the Cheap and began to become a professional food writer.  The local restaurant scene was much different then than it is today.  In a forlorn bookshelf at home I spotted a copy of Zagat’s 1999 guide to Houston, which can help provide some perspective.  Zagat’s top restaurant was Deville, a French concept in the Four Seasons, followed by Rotisserie for Beef & Bird, Chez Nous, Café Annie, La Reserve that was in the Omni, Mark’s and Brennan’s.  Four of the top seven were French-themed; I am not sure if Houston was ever a great city for French food.  Another top-rated one was unapologetically Continental, a description that no longer applies to any local restaurant.  The best Mexican and Tex-Mex options were deemed to be Otilia’s and Pico’s and, quite oddly, Little Pappasito’s.  The top Chinese restaurants included Empress up in Champions Village, Hunan and Shanghai River, though laudably, Fung’s Kitchen, too.  Chinatown was much smaller and terra incognito for nearly all Houston diners back then.  And hardly any of the Italian restaurants listed actually served Italian food.
 
In those two decades, the dining landscape of Houston has changed quite a bit, nearly all for the better.  In short, the Houston restaurant scene has improved in every regard than how it was twenty years ago: the food is better and usually more interesting at restaurants, there are many more enticing dining establishments, with a good deal more worthwhile choices in a greater range of cuisines and concepts, and with much wider and better beverage options.  I can’t think of any type of restaurant that’s not as good as it was a couple of decades ago.  Many of these trends are national; a fair number of them are designed to increase the size of the check.  Caviar service, anyone?  With all the changes, a few things have stayed pretty much the same: a level of casualness continues, more so than other top restaurant cities, most likely because the frequent heat and humidity; the level of service remains functional at best at the vast majority of restaurants; and Houstonians still love, love, love steak.
 
Below are the most notable changes to me since I’ve been writing about Houston restaurants.
 
On the plates

• Diversity – Houston chefs have much more fully embraced the diversity of the local dining scene, incorporating a range of influences, cuisines and ingredients found in the Houston area.  This trend is seemingly found at nearly every restaurant that does not have a defined cuisine.  Looking at a recent menu from Riel, a restaurant I like, you’ll find chimichurri sauce, Chinese sausage, kimchi, soba noodles, béarnaise sauce, and mascarpone among the components shown.
• Small plates – The advent of small-plate and sharable dining in recent years, for better or worse.  Though not unusual across the country, it stood out in contrast with New Orleans, where I went for a couple eating trips in the past year or so.
• Local foods – There has been a much greater emphasis on local and regional food sourcing, usually resulting in tastier items on the plates.  The names of nearby farms and ranches are often displayed on menus proudly asserting provenance.
• Humanely raised meats – Along with the more locally sourced products, the meats are often from animals raised without hormones and without constrained quarters.
• Better burgers – The past decade has witnessed the appearance of often-excellent burgers at nice restaurants.  This time has also seen the advent of quality counter-service national chains.  Both welcome occurrences, if not for my cholesterol level and waistline.

 
On the menus

• More and better wine – Wine lists have gotten much longer and much more interesting, with best wine lists having a mostly European in focus.
• Craft cocktails – Cocktails have become a lot more serious, and a lot better. 
• Better beer, too – Well, at least more beer options, mostly from local small breweries.
• More booze – Hand-in-hand with growth in cocktails, the range of spirits have gotten much broader, with much more expensive choices.
• More steak options –There is now a larger – and much pricier – range of steak options including American Wagyu, the famed Japanese breed and steaks from true Kobe beef, and even the most-prized and expensive grade, A5.  To give just one example from an upscale steakhouse, B+B Butchers sells a cut of steak from Hyogo Prefecture in Japan from “100% Tajima cattle, the rarest and most exclusive beef in the world” it proclaims.  Four ounces will set you back $220.
• More crawfish – Crawfish is far more widely found than it once was.  I was part of a group that held the very first crawfish boil at the West Alabama Ice House in the mid-1990s, which was deemed as rather exotic.  Now, there seems to be one there every weekend during crawfish season along with about every low-key bar with a substantial patio.  Then there is even Vietnamese crawfish that has drawn national attention.
• And, more money needed to order from the menu – Dining is generally more expensive, even factoring in the effects of inflation.  Two give a couple of examples, a burger and fries at a non-fast-food restaurant twenty years ago cost me $6.60 on average and a plate of brisket at a barbecue joint was just $7.60.  If the prices had followed the annual rate of inflation since then, I should have expected to pay $10 and $11.50, respectively.  Those same meals in the past year have cost me an average of $14.30 for the burger and fries and $17.50 for the barbecue.  Beef has gotten much pricier since then, especially brisket, but also it’s gotten considerably more expensive to operate a restaurant inside the Loop.

 
On the town

• It’s just better eating – As I mentioned above, the restaurant scene has gotten better in nearly every regard than it was twenty years ago.  There are better restaurants in every category now than compared with twenty years ago and what is on the plate is typically tastier because of the ingredients that are better and the greater skill and imagination of the kitchen staffs involved.
• Gotten noticed – Houston has received deserved national attention for its dining.  One indicator of that is now each year at least one Houston restaurant will be listed among the best new restaurants in the country.  And Chris Shepherd was recently proclaimed the best chef in the world by one publication.
• Chefs as the reason to visit – Who is the kitchen has been why many people decide to visit a particular restaurant.  A Chris Shepherd, Manabu Horiuchi or Bryan Caswell or that a new executive chef who worked for them now heading a kitchen is a how many people choose where to dine.  In that Zagat guide from last year of the last century, the phrase ‘celebrity chef’ hadn’t been coined.  There was probably only a few who would have earned that accolade back then, and Robert Del Grande and Mark Cox were about the only two who drew diners.  They still do today, sort of.
• Captivating ‘cue – Barbecue has gotten a lot better since the opening of Killen’s Barbecue in Pearland in early 2014.  Now the list of terrific barbecue includes Pinkerton’s, The Pit Room, Truth, Blood Bros., and Roegels to name just the best ones.
• Close-in Chinese – Authentic Chinese food has become available inside the Loop, most notably with Pepper Twins and Mala Sichuan, but also Wanna Bao and Spicy Girl.  Though I’m most concerned about inside the Loop, where I live and work, high-quality and truly Chinese food can be found in many parts of the city now, including Sugar Land and in Humble, near the airport, where my boss from China has raved about the a place there that serves the best Peking duck in the area, a recommendation the Chronicle recently seconded.  Chinese influence has greatly expanded in the past twenty years.
• Upscale Mexican – Mexican food has found nicer, more authentic and proficient outposts, led by Hugo Ortega and his team’s trio of Hugo’s, Caracol and Xochi.  Pico’s – which is better than it ever was in the years it was on Bellaire Boulevard – Saltillo and Cuchara are three more, plus several nicely affordable counter-service spots, 100% Taquito, Mexico’s Deli and Polanquito, to name a few.
• Truly Italian today – Italian, more truly Italian, has become much more widespread, if not widespread.
• Superior fare from the sub-continent – Better and more upscale Indian options like Kiran’s and Surya and the more casual but immensely enjoyable Pondicheri; and then there’s the even the much more casual Himalaya.
• Heights on the rise – The rise of interesting dining options in the Heights has been very welcome.  Squable, Better Luck Tomorrow, Calle Onze, Fields and Tides, and Eight Row Flint are places that are worth the drive.  I’m still bummed about the failure of Hunky Dory, Bernadine’s and Foreign Correspondents, though.
• Chinatown expanded – Chinatown has expanded and with a good deal more options than there were in the past, and now includes various regional Chinese cuisines, Taiwanese, Vietnamese, Malaysian, Korean, Japanese and savory, sweet, full-service, counter-service to name an incomplete list of them.
• Valets – Valet-parking at nice restaurants has become the norm, not the exception, as the city’s center has become much more populated.  But, far less diners need parking today with the advent of the ride-sharing services.

 
On the minds (and at the fingertips) of the diners

• Smarter patrons – Diners have become more knowledgeable about food, wine and dining in general.  This has made them more demanding and the Houston restaurant scene even better.
• Smart phones and social media – Social media and smart phones have helped to popularize restaurants and dishes that can beautifully photographed here, there and everywhere.
• Weaponized diners – Diners have a weapon against restaurants that don’t live up to their expectations with Yelp and other platforms.
• More tipping – The expected amount of tipping has increased from 15% to 20%, all while restaurants typically pay there wait staff just $2.13 an hour, a wage that has not changed in years.

 
I’m sure that I’ve forgotten more than one significant item, like delivery services, but this article is already long enough.

One of the artful presentations at Shun, on Shepherd.

​The gin-and-tonic is so very well-suited to Houston’s often hot and humid weather, which lasts for nearly half the year here.  It’s cool with plentiful ice and refreshing with the crisp-tasting and effervescent tonic water – engendering a relaxed feeling because of the complementary, smooth- and usually dry-tasting London-bred booze – and nicely bolstered by a bit of fresh citrus, is easy to drink when even not-so-well-made.
 
The cocktail has the added benefit that the recipe is pretty much in its name if sans lime.  Along with the rum-and-Coke and Jack-and-Coke, it’s the about simplest drink to concoct at home.
 
And gin-and-tonics have gotten better in recent years, part of the advent of the craft cocktail movement that began here a decade ago.  The biggest reason has gotten much tastier is because of the availability of high-quality commercial tonic water, most notably the Fever Tree brand, which is found in most even somewhat serious bars serving cocktails these days.  As Justin Vann, a proprietor of the excellent Public Services downtown mentioned to me after I complemented him on the tastiness of their gin-and-tonic that it’s mostly in the quality of the tonic water, as the drink is mostly tonic water, after all.
 
But, the best gin-and-tonics I’ve ever had have been at BCN, the upscale Spanish restaurant in Montrose.  The offer about twenty different versions these days, half seasonal, using various gins and tonic waters, all of which I’ve had or sampled have been terrific, including a few recently.  The Spanish have done wonders in advancing the range and palatability of the gin-and-tonic.  This seems to have begun around fifteen years ago or so, possibly in reaction to the influx of British tourists to Spain.  I don’t really know, but I certainly enjoy the result.  Aromatics in the form of herbs and citrus play a big role in BCN’s creations like prominent sprigs of rosemary and strips or pieces of lemon or another citrus.  On my last visit I had a summer offering made with blood oranges that had a red hue and drank quickly coming in from the hot sun, another with Fever Tree Elderflower tonic water, lavender grapes, lemon and thyme, and the Mediterranean featuring Gin Mare, Fever Tree Mediterranean tonic water, rosemary, olives, and sea salt.  BCN pours only part of the small bottle of the tonic water into the glass to start and you can add more along the way.  This actually makes the drink more enjoyable as you consume more of it, even as the percent of alcohol in each sip diminishes. 
 
Though the gin-and-tonics taste very good no matter where you sit at BCN, if you can grab one of the nine seats at the bar, you can interact with an excellent bartender, which can add to the visit.  They do an exceptional job.
 
If you need any further reason to consume also drink gin-and-tonics, think about your health.  You surely don’t want to get malaria; the quinine in the tonic water has prophylactic properties against malaria, which is why the British created the cocktail in the first place.  And the cheap gin tasted much better mixed with the tonic water and chilled in the very tropical climate of southern India.  We can believe that the cocktail tastes far better today with much better gin and, more so, much better tonic water.  Add to that inspired creations like you find at BCN, it’s a reason for celebration.
 
BCN
4210 Roseland (near the intersection of Montrose and Richmond), 77006, (832) 834-3411
bcnhouston.com

​By the end of my first trip to Italy many years ago and what proved true in a few subsequent trips, especially in the inexpensive trattorie and osterie that I was visiting, is that with the complimentary bread on the table that’s the custom there, the better the bread, the better the restaurant.  This also proved very true here in Houston during the past week. 
 
In the last several days, for some reason, I’ve had a few meals in Italian-themed restaurants.  First, the new, self-proclaimed Italian-American B.B. Italia in the former longtime home of Carmelo’s on the west side, then the original Carrabba’s on Kirby, which I hadn’t visited in at least a couple of years, and yesterday, Nundini Chef’s Table that is set gloomily in the midst of a windowless retail space.  The bread at B.B. Italia, a small, noticeably fresh, somewhat spherical boule, was fairly mediocre, not nearly as good as the breads later at the original Carrabba’s and Nundini.  And, the food, too, at B.B. Italia was not nearly as tasty, which is an understatement.
 
It’s not surprising that the bread at Carrabba’s was better than at B.B. Italia.  Proprietor Johnny Carrabba bought Common Bond, the city’s best commercial baker, back in 2016.  At lunch at Carrabba’s, the basket of very crusty white bread – that tasted like it was probably even leftover from the previous night’s service – and a brown roll both did excellent work sopping up the olive oil and dipping sauce and then leftover tomato sauce from my pasta dish. The soft squares of the pre-pranzo focaccia at Nundini, if not tasting of coming from Common Bond, was also enjoyable, and better.
 
Though the bread at B.B. Italia might have been disappointing, I didn’t realize right away that it would be a harbinger for the rest of the meal.  That was quick to prove true with the simple Caesar salad that was basically just cut up romaine lettuce, heavily white and pale green, in a straightforward dressing dotted with lame, unevenly and often barely cooked croutons – not helped by the bread, of course.  It wasn’t bad, but measured up poorly to about any version of the salad I’ve had in memory.  The pasta dish I ordered was necessarily better, but also below-par of what you would expect at a restaurant, at least what I would expect.
 
It was the Grandma’s Ravioli, ravioli filled oddly with short rib stuffing, and served with what is described as mushroom Marsala ragù.  Though the pasta shell was actually pretty decent, the filling of minced beef and, more so, the sauce, a thin bit of Marsala wine with mushrooms about, not a ragù at all, tasted discordant to me and made the dish much less than the sum of its parts.  Plentiful grated Parmesan (or maybe it was Parmigiano) could not help too much.  The sauce tasted to be, basically, just quickly cooked cheap Marsala.  My dining companion also had a pasta dish, ravioli topped with a pesto.  That pesto was an overly liquid-y version that tasted almost solely of basil; the pine nuts and taste of cheese was entirely missing.  We agreed that their pesto tasted nothing like that made in its home of Liguria or in the neighboring regions where it is also found; also, a far cry than what I make at home with a mortar and pestle.  It was also not nearly well-done as the version I just had with similarly properly prepared potato gnocchi Nundini, which was appropriately more viscous and richer, more flavorful with evident pine nuts and cheese in the mix.
 
B.B. Italia seems to be playing at Italian-American food.  Both the dishes and the concept seemed to be artifice to me.  What I experienced there was the antithesis of soulful food.  None of this would have mattered too much at B.B. Italia if the food was very good, or good, but it was not.  It was a far cry that the food that I had at Carrabba’s on Kirby the other day.  Maybe it’s not surprising, given that Carrabba’s on Kirby and Voss – not the chain outposts, of course – have long been judicious and often eminently enjoyable destinations for well-made, sometimes upscale Italian-American cooking with a local bent.  I had ravioli at Carrabba’s, too.  It was far better.
 
I have to state that I found the name of Grandma’s Ravioli for what I ordered at B.B. Italia as rather ridiculous, even pandering, as it alludes to the fact that it might have been something a typical Italian-American matriarch might have regularly cooked for the Sunday lunch.  Not so.  The ravioli dishes cooked by the Italian-Americans here were ricotta-stuffed and served in a tomato sauce.  No one cooked ravioli that with minced beef short ribs.  This is just made up.  Then came the ravioli filled with ground meat that were long a staple at Italian-American restaurants.  A well-made version of this, featuring distinctively large rectangle of pasta, is what I had at Carrabba’s.
 
And there were other disconcerting signs at B.B. Italia, in addition to the not-so-great food.  Service, though friendly, was not terribly professional.  The service specifically at the bar, we had wine sold to us as 9-ounces that looked and drank very suspiciously like 6-ounce pours in every other establishment in the city – I usually order a few glasses of wine out each week.  Thinking wine, the restaurant sports a very limited and largely uninteresting wine list for wine list, but which of the three of the wines we ordered were out that night.  I can’t recall that I’ve ever been to a restaurant where a trio of the wines were not available; a very high percentage for B.B. Italia.
 
As disappointing as the visit to B.B. Italia was, I feel the need to give it at least another try.  It had only been open for a month or so, and drawing a final judgement so quickly is not fair and possibly not accurate.  And, with as the owners also have a steakhouse, I have hope that the meat preparations are much better than the couple of dishes that I had.
 
Carrabba’s, The Original
3115 Kirby (between W. Alabama and Richmond), 77098, (713) 522-3131
1399 S. Voss (at Woodway), 77057, (713) 468-0868
carrabbasoriginal.com
 
Nundini Chef’s Table
500 N. Shepherd (north of I-10), 77007, (713) 861-6331
chefstable.nundini.com

A tasty version of ravioli, at Carrabba's on Kirby, showered with plentiful Parmigiano.

I was reminded to revisit this after having a desultory version of the margherita pizza the other day at Laurenzo’s, a place I generally like.  It just confirmed that the most important thing that I learned after eating close to one hundred margherita pizzas mostly in Houston for my more fatuous than fun Margherita Pizza Project over the past three years is that if you see “margherita pizza” on a menu, don’t order it.  The Project was illuminating, if ultimately quite disappointing. 
 
Most margherita pizzas to found in the Houston area, the vast majority in fact, are lousy: tasteless at best, and exposing cardboard-tasting crusts and cheap, worthless slices of tomatoes at worst, with far too many featuring cheap, industrial-quality mozzarella that adds very little to the enjoyment of the pizza.
 
The margherita pizza is very simple – it’s just tomato sauce that’s usually uncooked, mozzarella cheese and fresh basil leaves atop a pizza crust that has been quickly baked – but that simplicity is a big obstacle for most restaurants to overcome in making a good margherita pizza.  A margherita puts a premium on the quality of the few ingredients, which have no place to hide, and the crust, which should be fairly soft and tasty, playing a bigger role than in most pizzas as there are fewer components.  And most local versions are lacking a taste of freshness, a vibrancy, that a good margherita pizza should have.
 
Some other things I’ve learned:

• Definitely do not order one if it is spelled “margarita” on the menu, a sure sign that the restaurant does not know what it is doing with this pizza.  You'd be surprised how often margarita finds its way from the drinks section.
• Be very way if you see tomatoes as one of the ingredients.  A proper margherita uses tomato sauce, which will seep into the crust and complement the cheese.  Tomato slices don’t have enough moisture to do that, and most tomatoes used in inexpensive and moderately priced Houston restaurants are terrible.  There are exceptions like the ones at Amalfi, which leads to another important takeaway:
• Restaurants serving Italian-themed food, especially those with roots in or inclinations to the Naples area, the birthplace of pizza and the margherita, are about the only places you should order a margherita pizza.

 
If you are thinking about ordering a margherita pizza in the future, you’ve now been warned.

Dolce Vita actually has a margherita pizza that you should order.