I’m always on the prowl for new and interesting places to get a good cup of coffee in the suburbs northwest of Houston. It’s easy to get spoiled by places like Blacksmith in the Montrose area, where every bean is meticulously sourced and the espresso drinks are made with such artistry. And though Spring and The […]
Back Where We Started: Finding Refuge During Wine & Food Week
Recently, we headed back to the place where it all started, way back in June of 2014, when your humble food and wine blogger put pen to paper (so to speak) to share a few thoughts about the The Refuge Bar & Bistro, the popular Waterway Avenue craft cocktail bar in The Woodlands. Local wine expert Denman Moody […]
Feasting on Manna Korean in North Austin
On a recent Saturday in downtown Austin, everyone was moving. Sidewalks were teeming with UT kids, happy to have reached the weekend. Panting joggers darted through intersections. Scullers zipped under the Congress Avenue Bridge that spans Lady Bird Lake (formerly Town Lake). We, on the other hand, just needed some lunch. Preferably Asian in nature. […]
Via Emilia in The Woodlands
Do we throw around an expression like “gracious service” these days? And is there a scarcity of places that provide it? In an age when some of the best upscale dining seems to require the symbols of self-consciously “unselfconscious” informality (sleeve tattoos, chef-owners in ball caps, exposed bricks and beams, communal tables, menus full of […]
Delicious Detours: Giving Thanks at New Zion Missionary Baptist Church BBQ
My dad came to visit from Louisiana a few weeks before Thanksgiving. Sort of an early holiday visit, since John and I had decided to take a vacation with the kids during Thanksgiving week. This time, my dad wanted to get out of the house and “see the sights.” When he told me this, my […]
Gringo’s Shines in New I-45 North Location
The air was more than brisk as we pulled into the Spring Park Village retail development, north of FM 1960 on I-45. Our destination, the new location of Gringo’s Mexican Kitchen. (Disclosure: I was part of a group invited to a pre-opening event held a few days prior to the restaurant’s official opening. As guests, […]
Desperately Seeking Sushi
“You pick your fish, and I will create something, just for you,” says Masa Nagashima, head sushi chef and owner of Masa’s Sushi & Robata Bar in The Woodlands, Texas. It’s a sunny Sunday afternoon, and I am on my third visit to Masa’s, the latest test site in my search for good sushi. I […]
A Kitchen Garden for Fall and Winter
We’ve finally cracked the heat barrier here in Houston, and though summer does not go down without a good fight in this part of Texas, October is the month that our weather makes the transformation from Guam-like heat and humidity to some amazingly beautiful, “California coastal” temperate days. Now that our evenings are a tad […]
Cent’Anni, Pardner! Duchman Winery and the Future of Texas Vino
What will be the standing of Texas wines in the decades to come? Where is Texas wine right now in status? First, where it is not:
Brisket is My Kryptonite
A question that is music to my ears: Would you like lean, fatty or burnt ends? It’s not by choice that I love smoked brisket. Apparently I was born this way. Or maybe all that meaty smoke just overwhelmed my taste buds when I arrived here from Louisiana years ago. Some of my favorite blog […]
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