​As much as I like Goode Co. Seafood, it had been a while since I had eaten there.  When picking up a weekend lunch for my parents on the west side, its location on I-10 seemed to be the right call.  And, being lunch, a seafood po boy and fries seemed to be right order.  Actually, we all ordered that, if each with a different po boy.  Fried shrimp for me, and fried oyster and fried catfish ones for my parents.  We all loved what we got.
 
I am big fan of shrimp po boys, that New Orleans-bred sandwich classic.  The crunch of the properly fried shrimp, the succulence of good-quality shrimp – which very easy to get here – the taste of a fresh, crusty short loaf of French bread that’s fully dressed, a complement of shredded iceberg lettuce, tomato slices, a fair amount of mayonnaise slathered on the brad and a few thin rounds of pickles a touch more texture and hint of acidity. 
 
The excellent ones at Goode Co. Seafood are in the same vein, but just little different, a localized take.  The medium-sized shrimp are butterflied before frying and just five to a sandwich, not overflowing as it other places, but not skimpy.  In the finish-yourself version offered via takeout, the shrimp rest in the roll and on the side are an array of possible additions: shredded lettuce, a packet of mayonnaise, small containers of a piquant cocktail sauce, tartar sauce, pickles and another of pico de gallo in lieu of tomatoes, all house-made, of course, and then also a big wedge of lemon to squeeze on the shrimp.  I opted for some tartar sauce instead of my usual, and the traditional, mayonnaise and plenty of pico de gallo.  It all worked quite well together.  Helping the enjoyment were some top-notch fries – not easy to find for takeout these days – skin-on, judiciously salted and crisper and tastier than most, even after a little travel.
 
Liking the meal so much, I had to pick up one to go again the following weekend at the address that is more convenient to me, the original one on Westpark.  I resisted temptation to try something new, and a little healthier, the mesquite-grilled shrimp po boy.  Deep-fried that time, too, and equally delicious.
 
Goode Co. Seafood
2621 Westpark (just west of Kirby), 77098, (713) 523-7154
10201 Katy Freeway (between Gessner and the Beltway), 77024, (713) 464-7933

As bad as 2020 has been concerning restaurant closures, I expected worse.  Hopefully, most can hang on until things improve.  Here are the ones I found most notable that could not.

• Americas – The excitement and once even some magic associated with the Latin American-inspired Americas at its original Post Oak location had long since become muted as the years wore on and the city’s dining scene advanced.  With that and that the founding Cordua family had been forced out not so long ago, made the closure of this long enjoyable stop more bearable.
• Atlas Diner – Richard Knight, formerly of Feast and Hunky Dory and now this counter-laden space Bravery Chef Hall, is one of my favorite chefs in Houston and I believe among the best.  Hopefully, his always adroitly rendered and often imaginative offerings rooted in British, French and American antecedents find a suitable home in the future.
• Barry’s Pizza – The thick Sicilian-style pies were a draw at this casual pizza parlor that made it nearly four decades, announcing that it was shuttering for good at the end of May.
• Bernie’s Burger Bus – All four locations closed of the city’s best burger joint closed on May 31. 
• Bombay Pizza Co. – Something different and usually quite enjoyable on a particularly scruffy short stretch part of Main Street, this closure seems more than temporary, unfortunately.
• Burger-Chan – One of Houston’s best burger places, it couldn’t really continue in an office food court when the offices are emptied of workers.  Thankfully, another one is reportedly in the works.
• The Classic –  The contemporary diner on the western part of Washington from the folks at benjy’s and Local Diner never really excited too many diners, myself included.
• Dak & Bop (Museum District location) – Less fun for the kids in the Museum District and most of us who enjoy spicy fried stuff that is well made.
• Emmaline – A decent spot for a fairly upscale dining experience though never nearly among the city’s top dozens, but it was near my office.  My endearing memory is their valet service damaging tow of my co-workers’ vehicles during one lunchtime visit.
• Helen in the Heights – Though a welcome addition to the Heights, this never seemed to catch on as it might.
• Indika – Though it had lost its shine when founder Anita Jaisinghani sold it to concentrate on Pondicheri, it was still quite worth a visit until changes were made in the menu and emphasis, which didn’t really endear until many, most diners had moved on.
• Kaneyama – On Westheimer near Gessner, this sushi purveyor had its fans over the years but closed in May.
• Kenny & Ziggy’s (Buffalo Speedway location) – Owner Kenny Gruber cited the smallish dining room as making operations unprofitable with the necessary restrictions for service during the pandemic.  A shame, as it is much more convenient for me than the Galleria area spot.  A place I like to go when I feel my cholesterol is too low.
• Morningstar Coffee and Donuts – Well-liked and -regarded, this quirky and likeable Heights-esque spot just closed in December.
• Night Heron – From the folks at Coltivare, Indianola and Vinny’s, this never resonated with its Menil area neighbors – an odd menu off the bat didn’t help – nor too many others as did its predecessors.
• Pappas Seafood – Along with the location of Pappadeaux a little west on Richmond, this little Pappas Seafood place with its largely locally attuned seafood at Shepherd shows a Pappas move away from the inner loop (excepting the grand steakhouse downtown).  Another on Aldine-Bender and I-45 also closed.
• Pappadeaux (Richmond east of Kirby location) – Large and with a seemingly usually filled parking lot during popular dining hours, there are other Pappeadeaux’s left, though none now in the heart of town.
• Poitin – Nicely set with a cool view of downtown to its east, with a fairly expansive dining room and bar area, the odds were stacked against it during these tough times.
• Politan Row Food Hall – Some really neat and well-operated recent vendors made this a destination, more of note as its Rice Village surroundings has become more chain-oriented with its restaurant choices.
• Ragin’ Cajun (Westchase location) – The original location on Richmond Avenue remains open, and this near westside address made it for a couple of decades, a good run for any restaurant.
• Treebeards (on Market Square) – The Cloisters location is still open for your fix of southeast Texas-style red beans and rice.
• Yia Yia Mary’s – Pappas most explicit nod to their Greek heritage was a nice option to have in the area that did not survive the pandemic, either.

 
Bars

• Alice’s Tall Texas – On North Main west of I-45, the cheap Lone Star that was its hallmark has possibly become less of an attraction as surrounding area at the edge of the Heights has become less working class.
• Penny Quarter – One of Houston’s best wine bars, and certainly the noisiest, it will be missed, but the able team behind it – including principals Bobby Heugel of Anvil and Justin Yu of Better Luck Tomorrow – should hopefully be adding to the bar map once the pandemic clears.
• Public Services – This attractive bar a block south of Buffalo Bayou was excellent in turns for its cocktails, wines and spirits, especially whisky, and with service that was always a cut above.

 
Other

• Acadian Bakers – A longtime favorite for cakes closed in March.
• Boomtown Coffee (Main and Congress location) – The smart-looking Main Street location of Boomtown closed its doors in mid-July.

 
There is also Dolce Vita that was long the city’s best pizzeria – in a city rather lacking in quality pizza.  It’s closure was a decision by owner Marco Wiles independent of the pandemic to focus on his other two concepts, Da Marco and Poscol, as he has gotten older.

The whimsical Ants on a Log from the Atlas Diner

​Michelin’s restaurant guides have provided a wonderful and reliable source of dining suggestions for me for years, mostly in Europe but also domestically, in Chicago.  Though I didn’t get to employ any of the guides this year, there is something that I learned during my last trip overseas about a year ago that you should be aware when using a Michelin guide to plan a visit to an restaurant anointed with a star or more.  I wish I would have known this some time ago.  
 
A couple of years ago, my family was dined at Parizzi, reputed to be the best restaurant in Parma, and accolated with a Michelin star.  That star was a reason to visit.  As with all restaurants with stars, La Guide Michelin Italia gave a list of dishes.  For Parizzi, it was a salad with smoked pork, veal tips, and tartare di cavallo, horse tartare.  I remembered the salad as the recommended starter and ordered that instead of the tartare, then the veal tips.  When visiting Michelin-starred places, I have always ordered the dishes that were named in the guide if still offered.  I always assumed that these were the restaurant’s best preparations or the most highly recommended.  Though I really wanted the horse tartare – a sometime-seen specialty of the area – but thought the salad was what was really advised by the guide.  Only one starter could be ordered.  And, I was mollified by my brother sitting next to me who ordered the tartare, saying that he would split it with me.  He loved it.  Quite a lot, in fact, and forwarded maybe only half a forkful. 
 
Really, no matter, though, as my salad and the rest of the food was terrific.  The meal was fantastic, overall, the best during my two week trip to Italy.
 
Last fall, I was on a gastronomic trip to Pavia, south of Milan.  One of the fellow travelers was the longtime, acclaimed food and restaurant writer John Mariani.  He mentioned a tidbit or two about the Michelin guides.  Compiled by understaffed group of reviewers who were unlikely to visit an establishment more than just once: that the dishes that are listed for the starred entries are simply just the dishes that the reviewer had.  These were not necessarily the restaurant’s best dishes, just the ones that were sampled, and probably enjoyed. 
 
It would have been nice to know that – I find the conveyance of the information in the Michelin guides about particular places as rather parsimonious and even Delphic – and in Parma I could have had a full order of delicious horse tartare all to myself.

The tortelli d'erbette at Parizzi with plenty of grated Parmigiano

​The quality of Indian and Pakistani restaurants in Houston has grown dramatically since I started opining about food here nearly two decades ago, as those communities have grown and the general dining public has become more knowledgeable, appreciative, and demanding of south Asian cuisines.  One of my favorites for Indian fare and a fairly frequent stop for takeaway these days is Surya, a small, minimalist spot located in a small space on Durham a couple of blocks south of Washington.  With a concise menu of mostly familiar northern Indian dishes presented attractively and prepared even more enticingly all for a fair price, it is easy to like. One item is indicative of the caliber of the cooking, and accompanies every entrée, the side of rice.  The high-quality, long-grained and inherently fragrant and a bit nutty basmati rice at Surya is cooked fairly quickly to an al dente texture with cinnamon and bay leaves and then some saffron, the last giving it streaks of yellow.  The resulting rice, grains properly distinct and topped with a few peas, is a perfect pairing to the curries, delightful in its own right, and probably the best Indian-style rice I have ever eaten.  It’s just one reason to visit Surya.
 
Surya
700 Durham (two blocks south of Washington), 77007
(713) 864-6667
suryahouston.com

​Yesterday evening, as part of the Week of Italian Cuisine, a worldwide program of the Italian government for promoting Italian cuisine and food products, the Italian consulate in Houston hosted a virtual dinner to honor the 200th anniversary of the birth of Pellegrino Artusi, the author of Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well.  First published in 1891, a scant two decades after the country of Italy was fully unified, Arusi’s work has resonated as “the symbol of Italian cuisine” – if mostly featuring the cooking of Tuscany and Romagna, with a number of regions completely ignored including most of the South.  It was a start to quantify and celebrate some of the amazing diversity and quality found in the disparate cuisines of Italy.  That Artusi’s work is still cherished by many Italian cooks to this day and taught in cooking schools there was quite impressive to learn from the event. 
 
The virtual dinner was created by Amalfi restaurant, which serves some of the very best Italian food in the state of Texas.  Chef and owner Giancarlo Ferrara has long done wonderful work cooking dishes both rooted in his native Salerno area south of Naples, and those from other cuisines he has cooked over the years.  Ferrara and team did a terrific job with the several courses, a difficult task for roughly thirty dinners to be cooked and packed then eaten several hours and at another site after preparation and delivery.  Amalfi’s dishes ranged from Gnocchi alla Romana, Vitello Tonnato with sides of roast vegetables, and a dessert of Apple Strudel were the courses.  Apple Strudel in Italy?  Yes, it is actually popular in Friuli near the northeastern edge of Italy, which was once under the control of the Austrian Empire, and there are plentiful apples.
 
The strudel was excellent last night, featuring a delicate crust, tender and flavor apples and nicely complemented with small sides of caramel and whipped cream.  I couldn’t help but quickly finishing it though I thought I was fun from the previous courses.  Below is the recipe from Artusi, some previous pastry skills are helpful.  Amalfi also seemingly sauteed the apple slices and added pine nuts for its version, which worked quite well.
 
Grande Strudel di Mele [Great Apple Strudel]
 
For the pastry dough:
 
Flour –  250 grams
Warm milk
Butter – About the size of a walnut
Egg – 1
Salt – Pinch
 
For the filling:
 
Apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced – 500 grams
Butter, melted – 100 grams, plus some more for brushing the dough.
Sugar – 85 grams
Currants, dried – 85 grams
Lemon zest – 1 lemon
Cinnamon, ground – 2 or 3 pinches
 
Steps:
 

1. Make a rather firm dough with he flour, warm milk, butter, egg and pinch of salt.
2. Let the dough rest a little before rolling it out as thin as that used for taglierini noodles.
3. Cover the sheet of dough with a layer of the peeled, cored and thinly sliced apples.
4. Scatter the currants, lemon zest, cinnamon, sugar and then the 100 grams of melted butter over the layer of sliced apples.
5. Reserve a little of the melted butter for use later.
6. Roll up the dough with the filling to form the shape of a cylinder.
7. Brush the leftover melted butter on the dough.
8. Place the strudel in a greased copper baking pan and bake until done.

 
Adapted from Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well by Pellegrino.

​My last trip to a Luby’s was a family affair that happened to be in Waco.  My pleas to eat at tiny strip center Mexican restaurant near where we were meeting were ignored and the lot of us ended up at Luby’s.  Mostly for convenience, I was told.  The lunch was awful.  My chicken fried steak, which I quite enjoy time-to-time when it is done at least somewhat well, was terrible: not very tender, if with no gristle, and a less flavorful piece of beef than is typical even for this dish.  The cheap-tasting cream gravy didn’t help that much, though plenty of bottle  hot sauce did some damage control.  It was one of the very worst chicken steaks of the thirty or so I’ve had during the time of my quest for the best chicken fried steak in the area.  The thin mashed potatoes were amazingly tastless even with brown gravy, and the straight-from-a-can-then-sitting-in-heated-tub corn was decent with some pico de gallo splashed on it, though providing no reason to be eaten without it.  The jalapeño cornbread had jalapeños, which was about the best that could be said.  The setting was depressing, even on a bright day with plenty of light, like a school cafeteria in an underfunded middle school built during LBJ’s tenure and with possibly the worst-kept bathrooms in a restaurant that year.  The staff was very pleasant, upbeat if slow and inefficient.
 
It was all not surprising, even if worse than hoped.  Luby’s does not serve good food, in my opinion nor has it ever really done so.  I wrote three guidebooks that highlighted the best inexpensive restaurants in the Houston, Houston Dining on the Cheap.  The first was published in 2002, the third and last one in 2007.  Luby’s was not included in any edition nor was it ever seriously considered for inclusion.  Cafeterias like Luby’s did not feature the most interesting fare, and usually didn’t or don’t use anywhere near the best quality ingredients.  And then those ingredients are used in preparation that were left sitting in steam trays for a while, very rarely helping its enjoyment.  Items cooked to order elsewhere were usually done so in batches well beforehand and left to sit.  The food and value at these weren’t nearly good enough, especially in a city like Houston, which is not only one of the very best restaurant cities in the country, but also most affordable.  Why would I, or anyone who really enjoys food, go to Luby’s when they could go to a taqueria, a bahn mi or pho stop, one featuring well-made Cajun cookery, or a number of other types of restaurants, even those serving the Southern-rooted fare like Luby’s serving tastier food that was also usually cheaper.  The competition greatly hastened the demise of cafeterias, sooner in Houston than in lesser restaurant cities in the state.
 
Luby’s had its partisans, though.  I enjoy reading Mimi Swartz’s monthly columns about Houston and Texas in the New York Times.  She is a longtime contributor to Texas Monthly who appears from her writing to live in the Heights and in it recently wrote a paean to Luby’s.  After reading the article, I began to doubt her judgement.  I should try, I will try, to limit that assessment to her food likes. 
 
Luby’s board voted to dissolve the struggling company last month.  It was recently reported that local restaurateurs Christopher and Harris Pappas of Pappas restaurant fame, and who had run Luby’s since 2001 and own a substantial stake in the corporation, filed paperwork so that they may possibly bid to buy its assets.  After much regional publicity about its demise, we might actually still see some Luby’s in the future.  I certainly don’t need to, nor its disturbingly square fish.

Entrance to Luby's offices, for now, in downtown Houston

​One of those very memorable meals you have in your life, one of the first for me, was at Anthony’s when it was in the Chelsea Market on Montrose.  I was being feted by my parents in 1987 for a birthday and I had the osso buco, the first time I had osso buco.  Anthony’s preparation was braised in sage, lemon, thyme and basil and served in a rich Barolo wine sauce with a side of risotto.  The plump, slowly cooked and properly tender veal shank was absolutely delicious; rich, nearly decadent, but also refined and deeply flavored, and well-complemented by the wine sauce and perfectly cooked, soft risotto.  Different than the typical Milan-bred version, that is still the best osso buco that I’ve ever had.
 
Of the restaurants that Vallone had over the years, including Anthony’s, Grotto, La Griglia, Vallone’s (twice), Los Tonyos – a short-lived Tex-Mex concept on Shepherd that I actually quite liked – and Ciao Bello, it began and ended with the eponymous Tony’s, which remains on Richmond in Greenway Plaza.
 
Tony’s was Tony Vallone’s first and most iconic restaurant was his only restaurant when he passed away last week.  The first incarnation opened in 1965 on far-less-busy Sage Road as what has been called a “spaghetti house” when Vallone was only in his early twenties.  In a few years it transformed into a mostly French restaurant taking its cues from the grand dames of French dining in Manhattan like La Caravelle and Lutèce.  It was then and remained a destination for local socialites, the business elite, visiting celebrities and even presidents, who were more than ably cosseted in its clubby Post Oak Boulevard address where it moved in 1972.  Tony’s proudly served “The poetry of French food” as it proclaimed in a 1975 Texas Monthly advertisement, and doing it very well.  The year before the same magazine thought it was the best restaurant in Houston.  Tony’s kitchen eventually became more Italian following the passion of its owner, whose parentage, I understood, had antecedents in Sorrento, down the coast from Naples, and Corleone in Sicily where many Houston Italian-Americans have roots.  His culinary heart seemed to be in Naples, which showed on the menu and, more so, in later restaurants.
 
John Mariani, the longtime restaurant critic for Esquire now at Forbes, was a big fan of Tony Vallone’s restaurants.  For his list of best new restaurants in the country for the magazine, Anthony’s was on it in 1985, Grotto in 1989, La Griglia in 1991, Anthony’s in its new location in 1994, and Tony’s after its move in 2005.  Anthony’s was even named the best new restaurant in the country in its last incarnation in Highland Village.  High praise, indeed, coming from a well-traveled, seasoned writer based in the New York area and an expert on Italian food, the author of The Dictionary of Italian Food and Drink.  In fact, Mariani listed both Anthony’s and Tony’s among the most authentic Italian restaurants in this country in 1985 joining Tony May’s ambitious, beautiful Palio and Lidia Bastianich’s Felida in New York, and Piero Selvaggio’s Valentino and Primi plus the groundbreaking Rex Il Ristorante in Los Angeles.
 
My favorite of the Vallone establishments was Grotto.  In part, because it was the most approachable and affordable, very important for someone just out of college during its early heydays.  The food was – and is, as the menu has been stuck in amber since Landry’s purchased it – mostly Neapolitan-inspired with some items and tastes from Sicily along with the very thin-crust Roman-style pizza tonda, all done very well.  Not quite authentically Italian but tasting Italian for the most part, and tasting great, regardless of provenance, more vibrant and stylish than most, especially at the prices.  It was usually one of the pasta preparations or veal for me then prefaced by a wonderful breadbasket that included then then exotic, Sardinian cracker-like pane carasau.  The setting and atmosphere in the evenings were terrific, drawing the very well-heeled and still-pretty-after-many-decades, but also a range of ages and with an smart, upscale casualness that made it inviting to me.  Well-made Neapolitan-themed fare will do that for me, too, in most places, to be honest.  I used to even stop by the restaurant to just pick up cans of the Vallone labeled San Marzano tomatoes when it sold those.
 
In addition to the quality of the fare and the attentive service at Tony’s, especially, Tony Vallone had an excellent sense of style and design.  I don’t believe that he received enough credit for that, and it extended to all of his restaurants, at least from the 1980s on.  Grotto featured a sprawling, fun and often bawdy, well-rendered mural adorning the walls and columns featuring Naples-inspired figures street scenes and those from the Italian commedia dell’arte that was part of the draw of the restaurant.  La Grigila was maybe even more attractive, with its seaside motif, if more restrained in the content of its décor.  Anthony’s, after those two, was completely different, but strikingly handsome.  The latest incarnation of Tony’s, which opened in 2005, has an intriguing modern setting, light but sumptuous, punctuated with dramatic late-century works by Robert Rauschenberg and Jesus Moroles.
 
But, for me, the fondest memories from the Vallone establishments are primarily about the food.  Here is a dish that can be made a home, a recipe from Grotto that was featured in the Vallone restaurants newsletter for the Fall / Winter 1993.  I’ve made this a number of times over the years to great success.  Surprising success, at that.  It’s easy, just be sure to have good quality ingredients.  It takes its name from the island off the coast of Naples, in case you are wondering.  Don’t know if it has any connection to Ischia, but the name sounds cool.
 
Mozzarella Ischia – Hot Fresh Mozzarella with Tomatoes, Olives, and Sweet Peppers
 
Ingredients:
 
Mozzarella di Bufala – 3 pounds
Extra Virgin Olive Oil – ½ cup
Garlic – 6 to 8 cloves, finely minced
Flat-leaf parsley – 1 cup, chopped
Balsamic vinegar – 1 tablespoon
Red onion – 1 cup, finely chopped
Gaeta olives – 20, pitted and cut in half
Dried oregano – 1 tablespoon
Tomatoes, large – 6, chopped into good-sized pieces; tomatoes need to be very fresh
Basil – 36 large leaves, torn into pieces just before serving
Red bell peppers – 4, roasted and sliced
Sugar – 1 tablespoon
Salt and pepper to taste
 
Serves 12 as an appetizer.  I usually have thick slices from a crusty loaf as an accompaniment.
 
Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Place thick slices or balls of mozzarella into a well-oiled baking dish and cook for 5 minutes
3. In a large bowl, mix well all of the other ingredients.
4. Place the just-baked mozzarella onto small plates and spoon the mixture over it and then pour on some additional liquid from the bowl.  Serve at once.

Part of a luncheon at Tony's a few years ago.

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

Paccheri with local seafood at La Basilica in Sorrento

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Regina Margherita at Amalfi

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

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