The Day That Cocktails Really Caught My Eye

Please note that I plan to be writing for a Houston on-line publication shortly. Quite frankly I was embarrassed that while I have been actively twittering my dining experiences, I had not written in this blog since traveling this summer. I choose to write about Anvil as my bridge article because there is so much similarity between my experiences at Anvil and those traveling.

The other day someone asked me what my passion about food and travel have in common. I would say it is simply this; I enjoy history, tradition, architecture, innovation, beauty, and being around people who enjoy it. There is no food or drink establishment in Houston that captures these feelings more than Anvil.

A visit to Anvil can be a place one where you go to meet friends or a chance to leave the outside world behind and be transformed. When I walk in Anvil, I want to be wearing my little black dress, pearls, gloves, high heals, and a pill box hat. I love sitting at the bar and sipping my drink out of the antique cocktail glasses, watching the bartenders mix the various libations, gazing around the room at the other patrons, and giggling with my friends.

Do you know that they serve over 100 different types of cocktails?

Anvil does it with such flair that one feels transported back in time to another place. For me, it is a little bar in a hotel in Lucerne, Switzerland. The drink was a Brandy Alexander and my mother told me that this was a drink a girl could order and say to her date she could only drink one because it was so rich. I loved the taste of the drink, the twilight colored light in the bar and the beautiful glass. It is a drink I will never forget.

For me a cocktail is about the total experience, the taste and everything that surrounds it.

Currently, I would identify myself as a martini drinker. In retrospect, that became my drink of choice because I enjoyed the total experience, that of watching the preparation and then sipping my drink out of long steam glasses with a wide mouth. Drinking out of martini glasses enables me to elegantly raise the drink to lips, fill my nostrils with a large bouquet of the citrus (if it is made with a lime), then tip the glass back and fill my mouth with a refreshing cool liquid.

Therefore it is not surprising that I keep on returning to Anvil. When I order a cocktail there, each drink has a history, is crafted by knowledgeable bartenders, and served in vintage stemware.

Anvil’s New Cocktail Menu

On Thursday Anvil unveiled their new fall cocktail menu. Arriving close to opening time, I was greeted by several of my friends in the food industry, including one of the newest foodie power couples: Ecky Prabanto and David Buehrer co-owners and baristas at Tuscany Coffee in Greenway Plaza Randy Rucker of Tenacity as well as other associated local personalities.

I got a chance to take a sip of several of the new cocktails that my friends were busy sampling, it was the Pliny's Tonic that blew me away. I ordered the drink. Bobby Heugel the chief mastermind behind Anvil told me the cocktail is named after the first century philosopher and naturalist, Pliny the Elder who wrote about medicinal uses for cucumbers. The blueprint: gin, lime juice, turbinado syrup, cucumber slices, mint leaves and tincture of habanero/serrano/thai chile or a complex journey in one glass. At first sip the drink tastes sweet, then it tastes tart, and finishes spicy. I was falling in love and it was just a cocktail.

The other cocktail I enjoyed last Thursday was the Balmoral, named after Queen Victoria’s Balmoral Castle in Scotland. The Balmoral at Anvil is a mixture of Old Town Gin, Dolin Blanco Vermouth, and lavender-vanilla bitters. The drink was on the sweeter side and for those of you who like a boozy tasting drink without any tartness (no citrus), this is one for you to try.

On the Food Side

There are several cheese and charcuterie options, I have not tasted their newer choices.

Thursday I had a few nibbles of the Campari popcorn (made with sea salt, olive oil and dehydrated Campari) which was tasty. They have also added sweet potato beignets made by Plinio Sandalio, whose far from pedestrian dessert creations can be tasted at Textile in the Heights. Bobby tells me there are more food choices to come.

For now, I frequently head over for a couple of quick burgers and fries at Little Bigs on Montrose on the way home.

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.

Somewhere Over @ the Rainbow Lodge

Yesterday Alison Cook gave the Rainbow Lodge 4 stars in her review in the Houston Chronicle. I have eaten at RL twice since Randy Rucker became chef this fall. Apparently despite my enthusiastic feeling about the food, I have yet to review it on my blog. This has been a terrible oversight on my part.

Between you and I, I was so excite about Alison’s review that after I read it, I jumped in the car and drove the few minutes it takes to get to the restaurant from my house, just to give Randy a hug.

I first met Randy this past summer, when the was doing the Tenacity diners. Here are links to my reviews: http://tinyurl.com/create.php and http://tinyurl.com/b22r7y.

I immediately fell in love with his innovative preparation of food. Randy has a knack for delicately balancing the flavor of the food with an extraordinary eye towards presentation. As Alison said: “There is real brilliance now in his immaculate raw seafood dishes,…”. I couldn’t even find the vocabulary to describe the wonderful fish dish I had a couple of weeks ago there, but Alison found the words.

Eventually I will go back, sit down for the full tasting menu and write a review. But for now, I recommend you read Alison’s article. If you enjoy well prepared, interesting food, and have been waiting to go out for that special meal, this is the place to go. The setting is beautiful, slightly rustic and with a backyard that sits on a ravine of sorts, but don't go for the just the beauty of the restaurant, go for a knock your socks off experience and one of the best meals you will have in Houston. Let’s support our local chef Randy Rucker, who deserves the praises he is receiving.

Location: Rainbow Lodge 2011 Ella, 713-861-8666

Sauté World Bistro: Where Are They Going with their Food?

I was thrilled when I got the invitation to attend a free sampling dinner for food bloggers at the two-month old Sauté Bistro. I have drank excellent free-trade tea and eaten at their first Houston restaurant, Té. Therefore I was looking forward to eating at one of similar ilk with a more expanded menu.

The place is pretty, built originally as a house and added on to over the years, it left its domestic heritage behind and has been used as a restaurant for a while. The venue, albeit a bit noisy where we sat in the front room, is charming.

On a frigid Tuesday evening, about twelve of us bloggers gathered to try Sauté‘s menu and a few new dishes which the restaurant choose for us. As I entered, I was greeted warmly by one of the owners, Kevin Lacobie and we were later joined by his wife, co-owner Connie Lacobie. The chef, Garry Hollie, who comes from New Orleans, presented and explained each course.

I wanted to love this restaurant for many reasons, most notably the graciousness of the owners, their philosophy of using local ingredients and the comfortable interior of the building. The location on Richmond near Kirby and next to Blue Fish and the Hobbit seems like a place that would get a decent amount of traffic.

First of all the place was fairly empty. A scene I am starting to notice more and more as I dine out during the week. Perhaps Houston is finally feeling the consequences of the current economic slide and people are starting to eat out less. If this is so, it is now a more difficult time for new restaurants to survive.

At Sauté the eclectic menu features dishes influenced by a variety of food cultures including; Asia, the Mediterranean, Europe, Mexico, South America and the United States.

But instead of feeling like I was on a journey through variety of world cuisines, I felt like I was sampling a hodgepodge of highly or not spiced foods. There was not one dish, beyond the Mexican chocolate cake, that married the flavors of a particular cuisine seamlessly with all the ingredients. Additionally the menu we sampled was heavy on spice, protein and starch – where were the vegetables?

Please keep in mind that as guests of the restaurant, the menu was chosen for us. I personally would not have picked the mix of dishes we had for a group like ours and this may had been one of the fatal flaw of the evening.

We began with an aperitif, a “Teatini” called Aloha Sunrise Waikiki, made with tea, tequila, orange juice, and simple sugar. It was yummy, with a good balance of flavors that were not overpowering. This drink worked.

During our meal we tasted two reasonably priced wines one a Casa Nostra, a French Rosé ($32) and a Ca ‘del Santo, Italian Pinto Grigio ($28). They both paired nicely with the food, but we could have used a wine bucket to keep them cooler.

Our first course was a current menu item, the spicy chicken pastelitos with salsa verde and sweet chili sauce on the side. The pastelitos tasted mainly of pastry and spices, I could hardly make out the flavor of the meat and if there were any other ingredients stuffed inside.

Next we were presented with two small pieces of bread with melted gorgonzola cheese and honey drizzled on it. I found it tasty but too sweet. It was curious to me why we received them as a separate course, as a piece of the bread shows up later as an accompaniment to a pasta dish and no bread was ever served during the meal.

I truly disliked the cold Crab Salad with Crispy Wonton. The crab meat tasted fishy, the melted Parmesan cheese was cold on the top of the crab meat mixture and it was served in a fried wonton. The taste of the crabmeat was more similar to canned crabmeat than fresh, perhaps it was old?

The chef’s love affair with fried food continued, I was willing to say stop – none of the fried foods I had so far were worth the extra calories frying adds, but no we were continuing. Voila, the cheese steak eggrolls.

I found them soggy. I could hardly taste the mushrooms or make out the flavor of the cheese. It is served with a cheese dipping sauce on the side and had the flavor of the kind of sauce one expects on Fettuccine Alfredo.

At this point, I am getting hungry. I have not finished a course yet and I thinking when are we are getting a green salad or a vegetable dish to balance the protein and carbohydrate heavy meal we have been consuming. Perhaps I should be eating the leafy green vegetable under the eggrolls? But I choose to drink a little more wine, which is fruit, is it not?

The Creole Pasta had one piece each of shrimp and crawfish. The dish comes with a somewhat over the top peppery cream sauce. That overly sweet bread with cheese and honey has returned, sitting on the rim of the bowl.

Now I am starting to think what kind of vegetables do I have at home and will I have the energy to cook them? I pray silently to myself, asking the gods of food to provide us with some sort of vegetable or salad for the next course.

But no, what comes next is a real surprise, Alligator Piccata with Forbidden Rice , a Cajun-Chinese fusion dish. I taste lemon, as I should, but the dish is garnished with lime. The picatta breading is cooked perfectly. Tell me, what was the point of using alligator when it did not add anything special to the dish? Tasting a bit more, I could tell that the picatta was a little to salty for me and the rice is bland. Some of the plates around me have capers on them; my plate looked like it had one, although the rest may have ducked under the rice.

The dessert choices were more of a hit with me. The Banana Layer Cake with fresh fruit was decent.

I really enjoyed the Mexican Spice Cake.

My advice is simple; do what you do best. Té on Fairview works well. Ask yourself why?

The menu at Sauté is all over the place. I could not really click with the what the meaning of world bistro theme was in any positive light. The owners and or chef of Sauté need to figure out who their clientèle is and cater to them.

Furthermore, upon reflection, Sauté left me confused. Confused as to what the intention of calling the restaurant a "World Bistro" really meant? Confused as to who are the target customers? Confused about the meaning of the web tag line: Dining Drinks Dancing?

I want to support restaurants that are committed to using local fresh foods, and local chefs who are taking a chance but at this point I am not ready to support Sauté.

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.

Congratulations Voice on Making Esquire's Best New Resturants of 2008 List

I am glad to see that Voice made the list. To see more details go to Cleverley's Blog.

Houston is fortunate to have such innovative chefs like Michael Kramer. When you get a chance head on over to Hotel Icon and make a visit to Voice . If you do not want a full meal, do what I do, stop off at the lounge for some yummy drinks and appetizers or splurge go for the full meal. I do not think you will be disappointed.

For a treat, award winning chef Albert Roux will be cooking a special dinner with Chef Kramer at Voice on Thursday, October 23, for details go to Voice Box. The dinner will take place in Voice's wine cellar with a view of the kitchen.

Tenacity Supper Club: Thursday September 4, 2008

I will continue to say, as much as you are willing to listen, that if you are looking for some of the best and most innovative food that Houston has to offer, look no further than Chef Randy Rucker's Tenacity Supper Club. Certainly, I am not the first to say this and I am sure I will not be the last.

On Thursday, September 4, I once again attended a delicious Tenacity dinner. But the experience is more than well preparded food, it is the presentation, Randy's description, and the venue, which this time was Modern B&B.

As I began each course, the flavors of the foods burst with freshness and combine to make a symphony in my mouth. I am grateful that the dinners are not rushed, so I have time to recover from the assault of the wonderful sensations that wash over me as I eat each course.

If you have not tried one of the Tenacity Dinners, there are several coming up soon.

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Menu and Pictures

location – modern b&b

japanese hamachi, daikon radish, watercress consommé & ruby red grapefruit

live scallop, badia a coltibuono olive oil, preserved papaya puree & candied kombu

composition of tomatoes, fromage blanc & shaved bonito

local corn soup, miso, gulf shrimp & malabar spinach

confit of louisiana frog’s legs, fennel, smoked potato gnocchi & foamy parmesan water

crispy pork rillette, celery branch, almond cream, green apple & kecap manis

soft bittersweet chocolate, basil seeds, sweet & sour hijiki & cherimoya soup

Beaver’s Ice House – What’s Going On?

Last night I stopped by Beaver’s located at:

2310 Decatur Street Houston Texas 77007
Sawyer @ Washington Avenue
713-864-beav (2328)

after the symphony for a drink and a chat with the new Chef JJ (Jonathan Jones).

JJ has quite the pedigree, having recently worked at Cordova’s Americas in the Woodlands (which I never made it to) and he was founding chef at Max’s Wine Dive (know for its Texas inspired upscale comfort food), amongst many other accomplishments.

I asked JJ what we can expect from Beaver’s as he puts his signature on the place.

Initially, JJ plans to go back to some of the basics, that is Monica Pope’s (founder of t’afia and co-owner of Beaver’s) original recipes designed for Beaver’s and learn what his customers like and do not like. He also plans to add many specials to menu and pump up the desserts a notch or two. JJ and I discussed his admiration for the variety of types of cuisine that represents the Gulf Coast. As JJ said, Beaver’s was never meant to be known as a barbeque place but it got that moniker and it stuck. He plans to continue to tweak the menu with Gulf Coast specialties, representative of the variety of cultures from European, Asian, Creole, and Texan with fresh locally produced food.

Oh - my cocktail was great and strong – to bad I do not remember off the top of my head which one of the special cocktails I had, but I hear they are all delicious (which would be fun to find out myself.) I stopped by with a vegetarian friend and he had Chickpea Two Fry, which he enjoyed. JJ mentioned that the menu will continue to include many vegetarian options, and he is always ready to accommodate vegetarian customers.

I think it is time for me to give Beaver’s Ice House another look see, I suspect something wonderful is happening in the Sixth Ward and I for one, do not want to miss it.