Houston is Rocking When It Comes To Food

Nothing makes me prouder of the Houston Food scene than to see local chefs whom I admire get recognition. In a world where empty calories meant no fat, and an unlimited supply of cash, I would be dinning out much more often. But I am not. I still have developed a fondness for several of the restaurants and more importantly the innovative and daring chefs in town.

Recent notable news:

• Chef Randy Rucker gets his due in a wonderful article by Alison Cook in the Chronicle about his cooking at Rainbow Lodge. She rated the restaurant four stars, I rate Randy’s cooking inspired. He is creating wonderful food at a restaurant with beautiful surroundings. If you go during the day, be sure to check out Randy's vegetable garden.
  
• Chef Bryan Caswell is named one of the top 10 best chefs of 2009, an award given to those chefs whom Food & Wine Magazine thinks are the most promising in the country (we knew that.) Bryan is co-owner and chef at Reef. This man really knows his stuff and is doing things to fish that makes you dream about his cooking. Don’t take my word for it, go form your own opinion. (As an aside this is where I am choosing to have one of my many birthday celebrations, but I am also planning to celebrate at Rainbow Lodge.)
  • Check-out his newest “fast-food” restaurant Little Bigs for sliders, fries, shakes, and wine. It has had some growing pains, but things are straightening out. I love the fries and the juicy beef and crispy chicken sliders. As an added bonus, you can often see someone from the Houston Foodie Community chowing down there.
• Most recently, Frank Bruni of The New York Times wrote a glowing article about the food at Feast. Yes Mr. Bruni and all of NYC, we do eat more than steak and Tex-Mex here, next time you visit let me know, I’ll show you. Before I move on two more things of note,:
  • Feast has a very reasonable prix fixe meal $12.95 for two courses (I always have leftovers) or for $15.95 dessert is added.
  • Secondly RUMOR has it that Food & Wine Magazine is about to name Feast one of the top 50 restaurants in the country. Bring it on….
• Alas I did not get a chance to try his molecular food at Max’s Wine Dive but I heard from our very own Cleverly that Chef Michael dei Maggi is moving on to somewhere else in Houston, but where? Meanwhile, do check out Houston Foodie’s excellent write-up of the molecular meal he had there, as we are sure to see Michael back on the local food scene again shortly.

Feasting at Feast: Lunch the Day After New Year’s

I realize that if I do not make some of my entries brief, I will never get to them done. One of my New Year’s resolutions is if I do not have time to write an in-depth review to just post a brief descriptionand some pictures on the blog.

I have reviewed Feast on Lower Westheimer twice already, please refer to the index on the right. Alison Cook put Feast on her list of the top new restaurants in 2008 http://tinyurl.com/a5mhga. I couldn’t agree more.

Originally I had wanted to visit Randy Rucker at Rainbow Lodge, because (1) I am a big fan of Randy’s cooking and (2) I never wrote up a review of my first visit there when I had the chef’s tasting menu (which was wonderful.) I’m never full had just written up the restaurant complete with great photos http://tinyurl.com/99sru9 . But they were closed, due to the holidays.

So Feast with its reasonably priced two course lunch for $12.95, was a worthy second choice. Once I was in the rustic feeling dining room, being waiting on by Meagan, I knew I was in for a treat.

During my visit Feast inadvertently also had some entertainment for me to watch. The couple directly in my view could not keep their hands off of each other. It was quite steamy between the two of them. I know this sounds naughty, but I think they were married and not to each other. I have pictures, but I think I'll just refrain from posting them, just in case I am right.

For my first course I had the “French Fish Soup with Rouille and Croutons”, which I think had mustard rather than rouille, and also had a mild white cheese. The delightful aroma of the soup immediately perked me up, this was going to be a great year in food. I added the cheese, mustard and croutons into the soup. Needless to say, I did not leave a drop of soup and I would have licked the bowl had I been home. This could have been enough for lunch for me, but there was more.


My main course was “Steak Pot Pie with Cauliflower Cheese”. As a child I never enjoyed pot pies, as they always were a mush of vegetables and flavorless meat. This could not be further from the description of the pot pie at Feast. The brown sauce inside the pie was rich with the flavor of the meat and carrots, as well as other spices; I could have eaten that dish without the meat and have satisfied my meat cravings.

I do not know how they did it, but the steak was not dried out or tasteless. A forkful of the crust, with a baking soda overtone dipped in the brown sauce was a delight on the palate. The cauliflower on the side was a roasted piece of cauliflower with just a dusting of cheese and worked well as an accompaniment to the pot pie. I really struggled to finish the dish, but succeeded, which is a testament to how much I enjoyed it.

LOL - it looks like this did not turn out so brief.

Happy New Year and thank you for following my food adventures this past year!

Feast: 219 Westheimer Road, Houston, TX 77006 713.529.7788

Pig Roast at Feast: The Story of Deux Petits Cochons Joined by a Bunch of Houston Chowhounds

Last night I had the pleasure of dining with my Houston Chowhound friends at Feast. There were about thirty of us at four different tables in the private rooms upstairs. We were fortunate to have a cool Houston evening to accompany the festivities and we were able to hang out on the balcony as well.

We gathered to celebrate the birthday of fellow HouCHie JavaPeg. What a celebration we had, sampling, or should I say stuffing ourselves with food from Feast.

Feast: 219 Westheimer Road, Houston, TX 77006 713.529.7788

Menu

Canapés:

(top to bottom) Pork Back Fat, Chicken Liver with Gherkins, Welsh Rabbit or Rarebit,Sweetbreads with Horseradish and Sweet Potatoes

First Course:

Baked Scallops

Salad:

Garden Salad (not pictured) and Pork Cheek Salad with Dandelion Greens and Pork Fat Croutons

Mains:

Roast Pig and Braised Lamb Shanks

Side Dishes:

Brussel Sprouts, Carrots, Kale with Anchovies, Mashed Potatoes and Stuffing

Dessert:

Peach and Date Crumble with Vanilla Custard

Quick Critique -

I like the slightly spicy Welsh Rabbit (no rabbit in it) or Rarebit, loved the Chicken Liver, the sweetbreads were overpowered by the horseradish and so difficult to eat that I saw one go flying across the room and Pork Fat - very different and tasty.

The baked scallops in a cheesy béchamel sauce served on scallop shells were delicious, but could have been a bit warmer (despite the fact that I went back for seconds and thirds.)

The garden salad was fresh and crisp but slightly underdressed.

The pork salad was outrageous, crunchy from the pork and earthy from the greens.

The roast pig was moist and delicious. We had a lot of fun eating through the head, I got to eat one of the ears and some of the check, other were diving in for parts unknown to me as edible in the past (let’s leave it at that.)

The lamb shank was a winner, spiced with mace and juniper and so delicate the meat fell off the bone.

The side dishes were wonderful. We all were raving over the brussel sprouts and the kale with anchovies. The stuffing and mashed potatoes were also good, just not the center of attention at my table. The carrots were pretty and cooked simply.

By the time the dessert of Peach and Date Crumble with Vanilla Custard came around, I could hardly eat another bite. Despite the fact that I was disappointed it was not a chocolate dessert, I loved the warm, fruity and not to sweet taste of the cobbler, the way the flavors blended together, as well as the silky texture of the dessert.

The service was excellent and of course the company, it can not get much better.

Now I am forced to go eat the leftovers, sorry you can not join me in my second feast in two days.

Great Expectations for Lunch at Feast

Today M. and I went out to celebrate my birthday. Yes it was back in April, but good things come to those that wait. At the recommendation of my new found Houston Chowhound friends (see links on the side), we went to Feast for their three course lunch, priced at $22. I had great expectations, not only because of the discussion regarding where I should go for a special birthday lunch, but another member had written about her marvelous experience at a wine dinner there last night.

We had 11:30 a.m. lunch reservations, usually we eat early to miss the crowds, but we picked a day that there were no crowds (there should be, but I am getting ahead of myself.) Feast is located in an old house on Westheimer in the Montrose section. Immediately upon entering one feels transported to the old world charm of Europe. Nothing felt hurried and we had a chance to really dine.

M. and I both ordered a glass of Albert Bichot Pinot Noir, 2006. The bottle was presented to us, we were given a taste and then generous portions were poured. It was a lovely wine, my only complaint is that it was room temperature, which is to warm for me in Houston. At $8.50 it was the most expensive wine by the glass I am not complaining, just noting) and for $29 one could have the whole bottle, which is more then I dare drink in the afternoon. There were several reasonably priced bottles to choose from, if one was interested.

Please see below for the complete lunch menu today.

For appetizers, M. choose the salad of fennel, pears, peppers and cilantro. It was a wonderful melody of flavors and textures. The one bite I had just oozed a mixture in my mouth of tastes that blended together in harmony, yet maintained a certain distinctiveness that added to the taste sensation. I had the scallop and monkfish escabeche with almonds and caperberries. If I may digress, escabeche is similar to ceviche, seafood in an acidic marinade, but from the recipes I found on the internet, escabeche uses poached fish and in ceviche the fish is cooked by the marinade. Back to my dish, the escabeche was wonderful; the blend of the tangy sweet and slightly tart marinade with the fresh taste of the scallops and monkfish was a melding of delight on my palate. At this point I was happy to call it a day, as I had eaten enough food already.

But no, I continued on to the main course. M. had the salmon, fennel, and red potato served in an aluminum foil sack. For some reason I never tasted it, but I smelled it (perhaps because I was engrossed in my own dish), but she raved about the smell as she opened the parcel and then the taste as she gobbled down every bite. I am sure her dish was good, but mine was over the top.

Before coming to Feast, I kept thinking about going to a British restaurant. All I could think about was fish and chips and Indian food, certainly not haute cuisine. I thought of the old joke:

Heaven is where the Police are British, the Chefs are French, the Mechanics are German, the Lovers Italian and it's all organized by the Swiss.
Hell is where the Chefs are British, the mechanics are French, the lovers are Swiss, the Police are German and it's all organized by the Italians.

But this is not just a British restaurant, it is more of an eclectic continental one with a huge nod towards Spanish (as in Spain) cuisine. In fact I thought this restaurant was too out there for M. She admitted, despite having traveled widely all over the world, that she is not an adventuresome eater and had some trepidation about the food at Feast. I say all this as a preamble to the description of my main course. I ordered the duck leg with sweet bread ragout, braised leeks, and potato cake. The meat had been removed from the duck leg and was nestled on top of perfectly cooked sweetbreads laid on a potato cake and covered and surrounded by a delicately flavored ragout cream sauce.

I had gone to heaven and the chef was British and the joke was wrong.

How do I describe my first bite, the mixture of slightly gamey, stringy duck, with the crispness and softness of the sweetbread covered by the cream sauce? (I could not get the potato cake in the same bite.) It was a spectacular sensation of multiple textures and marvelous flavor with not one over competing for the other, not one demanding too much attention, together a chorus of delight rang out on my palate. I wanted to lick the plate at the very end, besides the fact that it is gauche, I had dessert coming up and I had not a clue how I could eat another bite.

For dessert I had the chocolate mousse cake. It came on a bed of warm cream. It was not too sweet and while I would have been happy to end such a meal with fruit, it was a wonderful finale to a spectacular meal. M. had the bitter orange tart with custard. I might have ordered this, but I never feel it is a birthday meal, if I do not have chocolate for dessert. Hers was a wise choice. The bitter orange tart was two slices of orange on pastry with just enough sweetness in it to not be to bitter. I liked the accompanying custard, but M. didn’t care for it, I suspect because it was not the traditional sweet custard we are use to. We finished off with coffee, served in French Presses. Can you believe we dined for almost two hours? I had been transported to Europe.

I do not know why the place is not teaming with people, except that I surmise it has to do with economy. The meal was outstanding, the service not hurried and the atmosphere cordial and inviting.

Between you and me, I ate so much for lunch, I feel like I may never be hungry again. lol

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Today's Menu

Lunch - Wednesday July 23

Pork, Cous Cous and Harissa Soup $6.95

Fish Soup with Rouille and Croutons $7.95

Salad of Fennel, Pears, Peppers and Cilantro $6.25

Scottish Smoked Salmon, Horseradish and Dill $9.95

Scallop and Monkfish Escabeche with Almonds and Caperberries $8.95

Red Cabbage and Pork Salad with Capers and Parsley $6.95

Brawn and Picalilli $7.95

Terrine of Pork, Prunes and Sweetbreads $6.95

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Lamb Shank Pie with Kale and Anchovies $18.95

Salmon, Fennel and Red Potato Parcel $18.95

Pork Confit Tart, Duchess Potatoes and Braised Celery Hearts $17.95

Fish Pie: Cod Sole and Salmon in a Cream Sauce, topped with Mash, served with Minted Peas $17.95

Braised Beef Shank with Prunes, Mushroom Risotto and Roasted Eggplant $19.95

Faggot: Giant Pork Meatball, Mashed Potato and Grilled Zucchini $17.95

Duck Leg and Sweetbread Ragout, Long Beans and Potato Cake $19.95

Tongue in Breast: Beef Tongue rolled in Pork Breast, Potato Gratin and Braised Leeks $19.95

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Cherry and Clotted Cream Ice Cream $5.95

Lime and Angostura Sorbet $5.95

Honey Wheat Cake with Butterscotch Sauce $5.95

Pear and Ginger Crumble with Custard $7.95

Chocolate Mousse Cake $6.95

Bitter Orange Tart $6.45

Set Lunch: 3 courses for $22