My Table October-November 2016

Sake to Me Could It Be Kobe?

Japanese Highballin' Eating Up Osaka

DISPLAY UNTIL NOVEMBER 28

ISSUE NO. 135 AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2016

i OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2016

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DON’T FORGET

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DOWNTOWN HOUSTON GALLERIA • NATIONWIDE mortons.com

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RIVER OAKS lagrigliahouston.com

Work the party, not the kitchen C U S TO M I Z E D M E N U S • P R I VAT E RO O M S Plan your next event with us.

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OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2016

octobernovember16

inside the pages F E A T U R E S

14 16 18

D E P A R T M E N T S

THE KING RISES A look at King Bakery's Chinese breads Text and photography by Melody Yip

7

8

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

KOBE IS HERE, AND THAT'S NO BULL

By Melody Yip Photography by Becca Wright

8

TABLE TALK

BEHIND THE SCENES

What we’ve been doing between issues

What’s going on in the Houston restaurant world?

BEHIND THE LENS Get to know photographer Ben Sassani of Shoot My Chef

By My Table staff Photography by Ben Sassani

12

NOTEWORTHY OPENINGS & CLOSINGS

24

COOKING PICTORIAL

Munching on Mochi 28

JUST DESSERTS

The Lash Supper 32

FOOD LOVER’S QUIZINE

You Hungry?

36

MAKE IT JAPANESE, PLEASE Dig deep into Osaka's street-food culture and Japan's quirky desserts Text and photography by Melody Yip

60

Lost in Translation? The Japanese Whisky Highball is a Delicious Window into a Culture of Simplicity 66

46 54

WINE & SPIRITS

RESTAURANT REVIEWS

Ritual Cane Rosso

THE BOUNTIFUL BÁNH MÌ Text and photography by Mai Pham MAKING THE CASE FOR SAKE A look at how sake is made, plus sake cocktail recipes from Elyse Blechman of Bad News Bar

By Taylor Byrne Dodge Photography by Becca Wright

67

ADVERTISER DIRECTORY

70

MIGRATING TASTE

From Kebab to Karhai 72

TASTING THE TOWN

Batter Up!

4 OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2016

A NEW COLUMN!

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5 OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2016

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Houston, TX 77056 713-871-1200 www.uptown-sushi.com

MY TABLE EDITOR & PUBLISHER

Teresa Byrne-Dodge teresa.byrnedodge@my-table.com CREATIVE DIRECTOR &

ASSOCIATE EDITOR

ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER

& DESIGN

Taylor Byrne Dodge taylor@my-table.com

Becca Wright becca@my-table.com

Sake to Me Could It Be Kobe?

EDITORIAL

INTERN

Bill Albright Sarah Bronson Eric Gerber Nicholas L. Hall Dragana Arežina Harris Stephanie Madan Micki McClelland Mai Pham Robin Barr Sussman

Melody Yip

ART

Sarah Bronson, Dragana Arežina Harris, Chris Hsu Devyn Park, Mai Pham, Doug Pike Ben Sassani, Cindy Vattathil

Japanese Highballin' Eating Up Osaka

ADVERTISING

Jodie Eisenhardt 713-818-7508 jodie@my-table.com

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ISSUE NO. 135 AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2016

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ABOUT THE COVER ARTIST Devyn Park was born and raised on the Big Island of Hawaii and received her BFA in Illustration at the Rhode Island School of Design. She currently resides in Bellingham, WA. To view more of Park's work, visit devynpark.com.

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DETAILS My Table magazine is published by Lazywood Press (lazywoodpress.com). A one-year bimonthly subscription (six issues) is $30. Some back issues are available, $9 each. CUSTOMER SERVICE Our website lets you change the address on your account or order a subscription. Click on “customer service” if you are missing an issue, receive duplicate issues or need to temporarily suspend your subscription. Go to www.my-table.com. LETTERS For the quickest response,

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My Table: Houston’s Dining Magazine (USPS #011972, ISSN #1076-8076). Issue No. 135 (October-November 2016).

Published by Lazywood Press at 1733 Harold, Houston, TX 77098. Established January 11, 1994. All rights reserved.

Material may not be reproduced by any means whatsoever without written permission. The opinions expressed by My Table’s writers do not necessarily reflect those of the publisher or Lazywood Press.

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6 OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2016

BEHIND THE SCENES

@becswright workin' the cocktails during our #sake photoshoot #behindthescenes #magazinefeature Flip to page 54 for sake cocktail recipes

Intern Melody Yip researches #Japanese sweets during her summer vacation #travelwriting Melody gives us the lowdown on osaka street food and japanese sweets on page 36

Check out this #cheeseporn from @thepitroom. Photo by @becswright #montrose #barbecue #opening

the social network | @HoustonTaste Thanks so much to the team @MyTableMagazine for the SideDish shout-out!

TASTE OF THE NATION

| @ThePathofTea Looks delicious! A Snapshot of the new Oui Banh Mi on Richmond and Mandell by @MyTableMagazine THE PATH OF TEA

read about japanese whisky highballs on page 60

| @Brasserie19 Proud finalist for @MyTableMagazine "Outstanding Wine Program" BRASSERIE 19

| @thisgirlLC Felix is so deserving! RT @MyTableMagazine: Have you met our 2016 Legends of Houston Restaurants award recipient?

BAE DONOVAN

ON THE ROAD BUDAPEST, HUNGARY

My wife and I recently visited Hungary. Here's the Danube River and Parliament House. Budapest now has four Michelin-starred restaurants. We enjoyed Onyx and Costes, both outstanding.

— Gabriel N. Hortobagyi

Next time you pack for a trip, slip My Table in your suitcase.

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7 OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2016

let's party, y’all! my table magazine’s 2016

HOUSTON CULINARY AWARDS

Sunday, October 2, at The Corinthian

Did you know that Houston’s first Chinatown was located near the Alley Theatre on Smith Street? In the early 1950s the Chinese Merchants’ Association decided to move Chinatown to Chartres Street to the area where the George R. Brown Convention Center now sits. Thirty-five years after that, the area we commonly refer to as “the New Chinatown” in far Southwest Houston began to develop, almost spontaneously.

I suppose we could call it “Even Newer Chinatown.”

You only need to spend a Saturday afternoon creeping along over-burdened Bellaire Boulevard near the Sam Houston Tollway to appreciate how popular – and integral – this part of the city has become to our local culture.

When out-of-town friends visit, Chinatown is one of our favorite destinations for dining and shopping.

Houston didn’t always have the most ethnically diverse population in the country. In a pamphlet entitled Chinese in Houston, Dr. Edward Chen wrote that until late in the 1930s, there

TABLE TALK BRASSERIE MAX & JULIE, which

were fewer than 50 Chinese in the city, most of them in the laundry business.

Indeed, it was not until 1955 that the local Chinese population even reached 1,000.

The Japanese population was similarly spare. The earliest Japanese moved to the Houston area around 1902, invited here to become rice farmers. By 1910 the Japanese population in all of Texas numbered just 340, mostly in the Webster and Beaumont areas.

In the early 1970s there were scarcely 100 ethnic Vietnamese in Houston, mostly students and the wives of former U.S. servicemen. The big wave of immigration began when Saigon fell to the North Vietnamese in April 1975, sending thousands of refugees to our area.

And today? We have tens of thousands of folks from Korea and Thailand, Indonesian and Taiwan, Laos and The Philippines, Malaysia and Cambodia, in addition to Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese and many others.

This edition of My Table attempts to

headquarters on Portwall Street. The

ILLUSTRATION BY CHRIS HSU

(A Welcomed) Asian Invasion

take a very small bite out of this enormous and enormously varied culture. I hope it makes you curious and hungry. *** The Houston Culinary Awards celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. Thank you for the terrific voter turnout throughout the month of August. We hope to see you at the gala dinner and awards ceremony, set for Sunday, October 2, downtown at The Corinthian.

editor & publisher

Over at CULINARY INSTITUTE

Houston Food Bank and Keegan Center

LENÔTRE, KRIS BISTRO has been

merged in 2008. The Keegan Center

rebranded as LE BISTRO. As you will

building, named for the late MARY

recall Kris Bistro namesake KRIS JAKOB

closed July 31, plans to reopen in

BARDEN KEEGAN who founded the End

left the cooking school to open his

late September with a new operating

Hunger Network in 1985, is being sold.

own restaurant (BRASSERIE 1895) in

partner, SYDNEY DEGAIN. He and the

DOS BRISAS, the luxury resort and

Friendswood. And in Montrose, MARIA

original owner CHRISTOPHE PAUL plan

restaurant near Washington-on-the-

SELMA RESTAURANT has morphed into

to replace the classic bistro menu with

Brazos, reopened in late July after a

TEXAS SHRIMP SHACK.

a new focus on Provençal cuisine with

five-month retooling. Among the staff

Northern Italian touches. A new name

changes: MATTHEW PADILLA, who was

COOKING GIRL now has a sibling,

for the new concept has not yet been

at ELEMENT 47 at THE LITTLE NELL in

PEPPER TWINS, which took over the

announced. Montrose's BABA YEGA

Aspen, is executive chef; JONATHAN

1915 West Gray location that was NAM

CAFE, which originally opened in 1975,

CARTWRIGHT, previously at the

NOODLES. It’s from YUNAN YANG,

has been purchased by FRED SHARIFI,

WHITE BARN INN RESTAURANT in

who opened Cooking Girl with her sister

who owns the Hungry’s restaurants.

Kennebunkport, Maine, is the visiting

LILY LUO in the summer 2015. FARM

The KEEGAN KITCHEN is moving from

Popular hole-in-the-wall Sichuan spot

chef in residence; and RUBEN CAMBERO

TO TABLE, an Austin-based company

its current home at the MARY BARDEN

SEDANO, previously at the Relais &

founded by JOHN LASH that distributes

KEEGAN CENTER on I-45 to its new home

Châteaux HOTEL EL PEREGRINO in

locally-grown produce, eggs, meat and

within the HOUSTON FOOD BANK’s

Spain, is GM.

dairy products to restaurants, grocery

8 OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2016

theBest Bestand and Service Rest!

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TABLE TALK stores and school districts, is opening

is planning his first Houston-area TONY

STAYSHICH will help create the menu

LUKE’S CHEESESTEAKS, opening in the

for Bebidas – it may be open by the time

Bunker Hill/I-10 area in October.

you read this – as well as for their new

ON THE DRAWING TABLE: Chef

ELOISE NICHOLS GRILL & LIQUORS,

a 6,000-square-foot warehouse in the

RYAN HILDEBRAND of TRINITI

which opens this fall in the new

Bellaire area in September.

RESTAURANT is slated to open a second

Westheimer Oaks mixed-use develop-

REPLICATIONS: Pearland-based

concept, FM BURGER, this fall at 1112

ment at Mid Lane. Also planned for

GRAZIA ITALIAN KITCHEN has opened

Shepherd Dr. The menu will feature a

Westheimer Oaks: BOSSCAT KITCHEN &

a second location in Clear Lake. PAPPAS

selection of burgers, shakes, hand-cut

LIBATIONS, a whiskey bar from Newport

RESTAURANTS recently opened its 24th

fries and desserts. TRINITI’s ROBBY

Beach, Calif. serving comfort food. This

PAPPASITO’S CANTINA, this one in

RODRIGUEZ (formerly of PROHIBITION

will be Bosscat’s first and flagship Texas

The Woodlands. JUICE GIRL is opening

SUPPER CLUB) will oversee operations as

location. TAI NGUYEN, a Houston native

a second location in Montrose at 214

GM, and JIM HERD of COLLABORATIVE

previously at RUGGLES GRILL, will be

Fairview where FLOW JUICE BAR

PROJECTS (UNDERBELLY, JULEP, HAY

GM.

was. Downtown’s THE CAJUN STOP is

MERCHANT) is doing the design.

replicating itself in Spring – but with a

NICK ADAIR and KATIE ADAIR

Work is underway around downtown’s DISCOVERY GREEN for a series of new

twist. It will join with TAMALE POT to

BARNHART, who have ADAIR KITCHEN,

restaurants that will transform the area

create a Cajun-Mexican, best-of-both-

are planning BEBIDAS JUICE, COFFEE

into a restaurant destination. Some of the

worlds cafe. Philadelphia’s well-known

AND BITES at the corner of Edloe and

new eateries will be on the ground floor

Philly cheesesteak guy TONY LUKE JR.

Westheimer. Executive chef JOSEPH

of the Brown Convention Center, while

9 OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2016

Tapas, Paella & Wine in Rice Village

2425 University Blvd.

713.522.9306 www.elmeson.com

TABLE TALK

Chef/Sommelier Pedro Angel Garcia

The concept, which has yet to be

summer, has left. He’s been replaced by

named, is located at 544 Yale and

ALBERTO VASQUEZ, most recently of

was previously home to DRY CREEK

THE DEL. The OCEANAIRE SEAFOOD

others will be in the new Marriott Marquis

CAFE. Downtown, the FOUR SEASONS

ROOM has hired LAWRENCE KIRKLAND

Houston. Among those announced:

HOTEL is getting a new lobby bar and

as the restaurant’s new executive chef.

GROTTO, BUD’S PITMASTER BBQ,

restaurant by renowned restaurateur

CONGRATULATIONS … to MOLINA’S

XOCHI (a new concept from TRACY

RICHARD SANDOVAL. It’s part of a

CANTINA, Houston’s oldest family-owned

VAUGHT and HUGO ORTEGA, who

major renovation of the hotel; unveiling is

and –operated Tex-Mex restaurant. The

have BACKSTREET CAFE, HUGO’S and

set for January. After several months of no

Molina family – including third-gen-

CARACOL), KULTURE (a soul food cafe),

visible activity, work has begun in earnest

eration operators ROBERTO, RAUL

PAPPADEAUX SEAFOOD KITCHEN and

on RYAN LACHAINE’s new spot, RIEL,

and RICARDO MOLINA – celebrated

several others. They will join the recently

which takes over the old TÉ HOUSE OF

the restaurant’s 75th anniversary in

announced BIGGIO’S (Houston Astro Hall

TEA location at 1927 Fairview.

September … to THE HAY MERCHANT’s

of Famer CRAIG BIGGIO’s sports bar)

OUR PERIPATETIC CHEFS ET AL:

KEVIN FLOYD and his wife SHANNON

and BRASSERIE DU PARC, the second

FLEMING’S PRIME STEAKHOUSE AND

LEIGH FLOYD on the birth of lovely

restaurant concept for ÉTOILE CUISINE ET

WINE BAR has named ELIAS MIRANDA

PENELOPE on August 31.

BAR owner/chef, PHILIPPE VERPIAND.

executive chef/partner of its River Oaks

For more news about restaurant

Longtime friends and colleagues

location. Jonathan Honefenger has left

openings and closings, comings and

BOBBY HEUGEL and JUSTIN YU are

RICHARD’S LIQUORS & FINE WINES.

goings, follow us @MyTablemagazine

teaming up to open a neighborhood

JORDAN ASHER, the executive chef

and subscribe to our twice-weekly

business in The Heights in early 2017.

who helped get RITUAL open this past

newsletter, SideDish.

10 OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2016

Giving energy a whole new feeling.

We teamed up with McGonigel’s Mucky Duck for our small business Ambassador Program because of their dedication to quality and open-arm approach to people.

Owners Rusty and Teresa Andrews selected the Reliant Business Power Plus plan to help maintain their budget and keep things cool for the busy supper club that puts live music in the limelight.

“

Reliant helps us set the stage with wow factor — whether it’s powering our kitchen, setting the mood in the dining area or lighting up the stage.

”

Rusty Andrews co-owner, Mucky Duck

Together we’re powerful.

1.866.660.4900 | reliant.com/business 11

Reliant is a registered service mark of Reliant Energy Retail Holdings, LLC. Reliant Energy Retail Services, LLC (PUCT Certificate #10007). © 2016 Reliant Energy Retail Holdings, LLC. OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2016 All rights reserved. 506650

noteworthy openings ARTHUR AVE ITALIAN AMERICAN 1111 Studewood at East 11th, 832-582-7146, arthuravehou.com

The restaurant group behind Houston’s notable Helen Greek Food and Wine launched their second concept, Arthur Ave, this summer. Taking its name from The Bronx’s famous Little Italy district, the restaurant serves hearty ItalianAmerican comfort food as imagined by executive chef William Wright. Pretty much everything is meant for sharing, family-style. Early feedback from friends and colleagues has been very positive.

ARTHUR AVE

that runs under the brewery’s location.

Tours are available on Saturdays when the tap room is also open for sampling.

The beer is available on tap around the city.

GOVINDA’S VEGETARIAN RESTAURANT 1320 W. 34th east of Ella Blvd., 832-831-9951, iskconhouston.org

Attention, vegetarians! Govinda’s is an inside-the-Loop Indian vegetarian satvik buffet (no onions or garlic) located in The Heights behind the Iskon temple, which was established in 1969 for local Hindu worshippers. The daily buffet spans a range of tasty eats, including favorites like palak paneer, curry, aloo gobi (potatoes and cauliflower) and dal (lentils). We even tried the barbecued tofu. Open for lunch and dinner.

LE COLONIAL 4444 Westheimer in River Oaks District, 713-629-4444, lecolonialhouston.com

PHOTO BY BECCA WRIGHT

EUREKA HEIGHTS BREW CO. 941 W. 18th west of Durham, 832-953-4677, eurekaheights.com

The city’s newest microbrewery is named for the Eureka Heights fault line

This gorgeous new spot across from jeweler Harry Winston is an upscale Vietnamese restaurant, a two-story jewel box that is a paean to 1920s French Colonial Indochina. The kitchen is under the direction of Nicole Routhier, an instructor at Central Market’s cooking school. Dan Nguyen is executive chef, and Martin Theis is director of operations.

noteworthy closings BRAMBLE

2231 S. Voss

2324 Bissonnet

HAMMOND FARM

BRASSERIE MAX & JULIE

PAPPAS MEAT CO.

4315 Montrose BYZANTIO

403 West Gray DRY CREEK CAFE

544 Yale

Another food truck finds a brick-andmortar home, this time next to a Shell station in the former Kipper Club Test Kitchen. Chef Jason Hill (H-Town StrEATS, Hugs & Donuts) and business partner Cyrus Nasr opened in July. The menu – could you guess from its name? – is built around fried chicken tenders.

OUI BANH MI 1601 Richmond at Mandell, 832-831-5172, oui-banhmi.com

Just what the neighborhood needed: a drive-thru bánh mì spot (where Lucky Burger once stood). Besides 15 kinds of sandwiches, the menu includes vermicelli bowls, soup and rice plates.

(Love bánh mì? See writer Mai Pham’s round-up on page 46.)

PI PIZZA 181 Heights Blvd. just south of I-10, 832-767-2433, pipizzahtx.com

Bradley Ogden’s defunct Funky Chicken has been made over by Lee Ellis and his restaurant group Cherry Pie Hospitality this summer into a new home for food truck guy Anthony Calleo. Pizzas offer traditional combinations as well as some highly original – e.g. Sgt. Pepper Redux with black pepper chèvre, blackberries and pesto. Envision locally sourced salads, original cocktails and ice cream sandwiches (made with Lee’s Creamery ice cream) added to the menu mix, plus skateboards as interior design.

KAY’S LOUNGE

BRC GASTROPUB

519 Shepherd

LUV ME TENDERS 4400 Yale at Crosstimbers, 346-204-5864

New Caney

12010 East Freeway

PEPINO’S ITALIAN RESTAURANT

1421 Richmond ROYAL OAK

1318 Westheimer

12 OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2016

THE PIT ROOM 1201 Richmond two blocks west of Montrose, 281-888-1929, thepitroombbq.com

Barbecue joints are popping up all over Montrose, and this newest addition – previously an adult bookstore – looks to be among the most promising with chef Bramwell Tripp (formerly of Coltivare and Revival Market) teaming up with owner Michael Sambrooke. The menu includes smoked meats by the pound or

the plate, as well house-made sausage, tacos, chips and queso, chicharrones and chili.

RELISH RESTAURANT & BAR 2810 Westheimer just west of Kirby, 713-599-1960, relishhouston.com

After five years as a River Oaks-area fixture for gourmet goodies, Relish Fine Foods closed its San Felipe location in August and moved two miles east to an evolved concept at 2810 Westheimer, where Bird and the Bear used to be. It continues under the direction of partners (and newlyweds) Addie D’Agostino and executive chef Dustin Teague, who offer “classic and simple American fare with Mediterranean influences” and a full bar. Fast casual service will remain for lunch and weekend brunch, while dinner will be full service.

SEIWA MARKET 1801 S. Dairy-Ashford bet. Westheimer & Briar Forest, seiwamarket.com

Prepare to bag your own groceries, Japan-style, after you finish shopping at this highly anticipated Japanese grocery store. Shop for fresh seafood, produce, esoteric ingredients, Japanese toiletry items, drinks and dry goods, not to mention an exciting hot foods section where you can pick up chicken karaage (Japanese fried chicken), onigiri (rice triangles with things like tuna and salmon) and gyoza (dumplings) for dinner tonight.

SNOOZE AN A.M. EATERY 3217 Montrose at Lovett Blvd., 713- 574-6655, snoozeeatery.com

Pancakes make a statement here, which makes it one of the hottest brunch places in Houston at the moment.

Located on Montrose (with a tricky parking situation, beware), Snooze’s bright orange umbrellas provide a sunny atmosphere for diners. Try a pancake flight, where you can pick three unique options such as pineapple upside down, red velvet and cinnamon roll. Or go for the eggs Benedict, another classic brunch choice. The line’s still going out the door, but customers say the wait is worth it.

13 OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2016

king

the king rises

bakery is

Text and photography by Melody Yip

known for its baos

PINEAPPLE BREAD

DRIED-PORK BUN

EGG TART

Houston’s Chinatown has a bakery gem hiding in plain sight among the boba bars and Taiwanese restaurants. It’s King Bakery, a Hong Kong boulangerie that sells traditional breads and sweets.

The shop is also widely known for its excellent barbecued pork buns, or baos.

King Bakery is a family-owned business, where the father, Mr. Kin, bakes all the bread himself and the rest of the family run the store. Inside, there are dilapidated shelves holding up trays of breads. A couple of round tables and metal chairs might be occupied by a bunch of grizzled older men sipping milk tea and discussing the latest Chinatown gossip (namely the nearby grocery store going out of business).

This modest setting is reminiscent of what you might find in Hong Kong, where quality food is often found in the most humble of places. Here the star is the bread.

Chinese breads tend to be soft and dense rather than airy and crusty. Think of challah bread or Hawaiian sweet bread. It’s typical to buy several loaves at once, perhaps for the family or to eat over the next several days.

When you arrive at King Bakery,

pick up a pair of metal tongs and a tray, then go through the various bins and trays to select what you want to buy. Prices are low, around $1 to $1.50 per item.

I grew up eating these breads for breakfast, rather than English muffins and French baguettes. My first love was the pineapple bread, a sweet and crumbly yellow confection made of eggs, sugar, flour and lard that’s baked to create a golden brown sheen. There’s actually no pineapple in the pineapple bun, but the pattern on the top looks somewhat like a pineapple’s epicarp.

King Bakery has a variety of pineapple buns, some rotund in shape and others more slender. They may be plain or stuffed with various fillings such as custard, taro or red bean.

Try also the dried-pork buns, which are somewhat similar to the pineapple bread. But instead of the sugary yellow crust, tufts of pork sung (a cotton candy-esque, fluffy dried pork, also called pork floss) dot the bun. Its appearance is somewhat unappetizing, at least by American standards. Just eat it. The pork sung’s fine texture blends in well with the bun’s own

14 OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2016

yeasty softness, and it's very satisfying.

Don’t pass up an egg tart, another of King Bakery’s claims to fame. It’s a little buttery pastry that’s delightfully flaky with a contrasting filling of a gelatinous, soft egg custard tinted a sunny yellow.

Egg tarts are the kind of food that are messy to eat but comforting to the soul, and King Bakery makes some of the best I have ever had.

This unassuming bakery transports customers to the neighborhoods of Hong Kong with a couple bites of their baked goods. But note that these folks often sell out quickly, so come as early as you can. The sign says they close at 10 pm, but they’re often sold out far earlier. And note: As in many Chinatown stores, it’s cash only.

KING BAKERY 9889 BELLAIRE BLVD. JUST EAST OF SAM HOUSTON TOLLWAY IN THE DUN HUANG PLAZA, 713-367-6616 Melody Yip is My Table magazine’s intern. She is a student at Rice University majoring in English.

15 OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2016

e r e h s kobe i

LL

NO BU 'S T A H T D N A

By Melody Yip Photography by Becca Wright

The rarest steak in Houston is at B&B Butchers & Restaurant on Washington Avenue.

No, we’re not talking about a bloody, cold-in-the-middle cut of meat, but rather a highly prized kind of beef (and namesake of a basketball legend). This is about Kobe beef, of course.

Only nine restaurants in the United States are certified to sell genuine Kobe beef from Japan. Which means that those thousands of other restaurants claiming that they sell Kobe beef hot dogs, Kobe beef brisket and Kobe beef strip steaks are, well, mistaken.

True Kobe beef comes from a line of purebred Japanese black cattle from the mountainous Tajima province in Hyogo Prefecture, Japan. Each animal’s pedigree is carefully recorded, and all Kobe cattle are descended from one of

the 12 ideal bulls kept in a special facility maintained by the Hyogo government. Calves and heifers are raised like royalty on small farms that provide a special diet for fattening.

(However, the beer diet and daily massages you may have read about are mostly myth.)

“The Japanese have a real respect for their food,” said Benjamin Berg, proprietor of B&B Butchers. “And Kobe beef is a magnification of that care.

The Japanese believe in strong tradition and a humane way of raising cattle and slaughtering it, along with an extremely regimented style of presentation.”

The process of even getting certified to sell Kobe beef is long, arduous and confusing. “I wanted the real deal. I wanted the crème de la crème,” said Berg. “And I also wanted to offer every

kind of steak possible at B&B Butchers.

The challenge of finding it, the chase – that drew me in.

“I first researched who has [Kobe beef ] in the United States, then I found a Japanese importer in California. He helped me with the whole process. I got an application from the Kobe Beef Association, which was mostly written in Japanese and only a bit of English, so I even had to go to the United States consulate to get it translated. I submitted the application, then just basically waited. The association doesn’t just give the certification to anybody; it carefully chooses who can become certified.”

Each certified restaurant is bestowed with a golden cow statue, and each cut of imported meat is marked with a special lotus stamp and serial number.

B&B butchers is the onlY kobe-certified restaurant in Houston

16 OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2016

MEATS

By Comparison

KOBE'S FINE MARBLING

KOBE TENDERLOIN

10 to 12 pounds

AMERICAN WAGYU TENDERLOIN

8 pounds

STANDARD CHOICE TENDERLOIN

5 to 6 pounds

What’s most remarkable about Kobe beef is the marbling. There are more strands of white fat than red meat – the raw meat actually appears to be pink – which results in a melt-in-your-mouth buttery flavor that just about dissolves on the tongue. Prime cuts from American corn-fed cattle, such as Angus and Hereford, have thicker pieces of marbling and fatty pieces we commonly call “gristle,” which are harder to chew.

Currently, the average price for Kobe beef is $55 per ounce. For a four-ounce piece, that’s $220. Yet despite the price – the meat is so rich you can only eat a

small serving anyway – B&B Butchers has received a greatly positive reception to the Kobe beef on its menu.

Berg takes whatever cuts he can get from Japan, sirloin being the most popular thus far. It’s almost double the size of a USDA Prime sirloin. The tenderloin, from which the filet mignon is cut, is the least marbled of all beef cuts, but a Kobe tenderloin has far more marbling than does any other tenderloin.

For the ribeye cut, B&B Butchers serves the “eye,” where the marbling is very extreme, as well as the top part of the cut – Berg dubs it the “butcher’s butter”

HAIL TO THE

CHEF

– which has the most marbling of all.

No matter what Kobe beef cut you choose, expect a unique experience. The meat is pan-fried – think of dropping a stick of butter into a skillet – which produces a rich, almost creamy and slightly gamey taste. Some compare the flavor and texture to foie gras. You won’t need a steak knife to slice into the meat.

It yields without resistance.

Melody Yip is My Table magazine’s intern. She is a student at Rice University majoring in English.

Find fabulous chef-prepared dishes made fresh every day with your schedule in mind. From crab cakes and kale salad to almond-crusted tilapia and lasagna al forno, enticing entrées, side dishes, salads, and specialties of the day are available in any amount you need and come with easy-to-follow reheating directions.

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17 OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2016

GET TO KNOW BEN SASSANI OF SHOOT

MY CHEF

BEHIND THE LENS of

SHOOT MY CHEF

We first met Ben Sassani in the back of a refrigerator. Or at least that’s how it felt.

We caught his images of culinary professionals peering into their appliances – part of his Shoot My Chef series – on our Facebook feed and admired them for more than a year. We finally got to meet the man behind the lens.

How did Shoot My Chef start?

I was walking around with a friend of mine, and he said he had an idea – he would execute it if I took the pictures.

He wanted to take pictures of the contents of chefs’ fridges and make a book out of it. Six months later this friend actually passed away. So I got caught up with shooting weddings, and then the girl who shoots weddings with me, she started her own personal photography project and prodded me to start this idea of shooting chefs’ fridges back up. So she’s the one who finally said she had a friend that was a chef that

wanted to do it, but he was moving in two weeks, so we had to get it done.

Afterward, I posted it on the website and social media. Another photographer saw it, asked me to shoot her brother who was a chef, and then everybody saw it.

Other chefs started seeing it and started asking, “What about me?” The more I would do, the more people would see it.

Is photography your full-time job?

Yes, I worked in oil and gas about two months ago, but now I am shooting full time. I also shoot weddings and

18 OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2016

portraits. My company’s name is Sassani Photography.

What’s the funniest thing that’s happened during a shoot?

So I was at [chef ] Greg Lowry’s place, and we were sitting there taking pictures and he asked if I drink on the job. I was like, “Drink on the job? This isn’t really a job.” He said “Good! We’re taking shots!” He hands me a shot of whiskey, and the next thing we know, we’ve killed half a bottle of whiskey while he’s making pasta.

Who in food photography do you admire?

I love the local people – I love Debora Smail’s stuff, Julie Soefer’s stuff. Two of my favorites are Penny De Los Santos, who did Hugo Ortega’s second cookbook, where he traveled around Mexico. She can shoot food, but she’s great at shooting people. And Dennis Prescott, who Philip Speer actually introduced me to, is phenomenal. He

ERIN SMITH AND PATRICK FEGES

TRACY VAUGHT, HUGO ORTEGA, RUBEN ORTEGA AND DAUGHTER SOPHIA

GABRIEL MEDINA AND FAMILY

BOBBY MATOS AND FAMILY

does simple, clean pictures. He is a photographer and a chef, so he knows.

What’s your most memorable shoot?

When I shot Philip Speer. I met him three years ago at a dinner, and we talked and hit it off. When I approached him relatively recently and told him I would be in Austin and I wanted him to be the first Austin chef, his response

was, “What the hell took you so long to ask?” That made me feel great. While we were doing his shoot, he suggested I do a couple other chefs, and he actually put me in contact with them. It was one of the most recent and most memorable shoots. He is such a genuine person.

TO DATE, How many shoots WITH CHEFS have you done?

I think I’m around 30 or 31.

photography by ben sassani of shoot my chef GREG LOWRY AND FAMILY

MANABU HORIUCHI AND WIFE

19 OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2016

ZIGGY GRUBER AND WIFE

Favorite Houston hangout?

We love Crawfish & Noodles, which is owned by someone in my wife’s family.

We go there during crawfish season and get the crawfish, the boiled shrimp and a plate of fried shrimp with the shell on and it’s so good. Then when we get done we go to the Juice Box and get a big bowl of shaved ice with condensed milk, three fruits, a scoop of ice cream

JUSTIN TURNER AND SON

and then a scoop of flan. We’ve been going there since 2006. We don’t deviate much.

What is the greatest challenge of Shoot My Chef?

Making connections and getting initial contact. Now chefs recognize the name and know what it is, but even getting in touch with chefs is hard.

What’s the future of Shoot My Chef?

I know I want to do something with it, and I can’t keep going at the same pace.

I just shoot everybody and anybody. I want to do a book. I want to shoot in other cities. But I want to be able to pick and choose whom I shoot. I want to be sure the chefs are socially active, to get the Shoot My Chef name out there.

VISIT SHOOTMYCHEF.COM TO see these chefs in their homes

DANNY TRACE AND WIFE

PHILIP SPEER AND DAUGHTER

RANDY EVANS AND FAMILY

REBECCA MASSON AND PUPS

20 OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2016

here's a First Look at a NEw

SHOOT MY CHEF featuring

Annie Rupani of

Cacao & Cardamom PHOTOGRAPHY BY BEN SASSANI OF SHOOT MY CHEF SHOT THE LAST WEEKEND OF JUNE 2016

2121 CET RO B R O– VN O BV E RM B OCTOB – EN EM 2 E0 R1 62 0 1 6

what's on the menu

• Pani puri (Indian street food) • Shashlik (chicken) • Papri chaat (chick peas) • Gajar ka halwa (dessert pudding)

22 OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2016

22

OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2016

23 OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2016

MUNCHING ON

MOCHI Text, recipes and photos

by Dragana Harris

24 OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2016

24

OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2016

Imagine a very large wooden mallet and a bare hand taking turns in rapid-fire succession: one beating, the other slapping and turning a thick, heavy mass in a large mortar. Grunts and barks from both parties add to the rhythm of the process; they are completely in sync with each other. When timing and communication are synced perfectly, the participants can average an unbelievable three beats per second during this process called mochitsuki.

Search “pounding mochi with the fastest mochi maker in Japan,” and you’ll be astounded by the speed and enthusiasm of the proud mochi maker.

In Japan, mochi is a food steeped in tradition and it’s enjoyed at every celebration. Carl Rosa, founder and president of the Sushi Club of Houston and frequent visitor and tour guide in Japan, says, “The sakura (cherry blossom) signifies the onset of fullfledged spring. Sakuramochi, a pinkcolored mochi surrounding anko (sweet red bean paste), and wrapped in an edible salted cherry leaf is ubiquitous during spring.”

It all begins with prized mochi gome, a strain of japonica rice that is shortgrained and translucent. When cooked, it becomes very sticky, hence “sticky rice.” It’s also called sweet rice or

glutinous rice because of its glue-like character, which makes it easy to eat with chopsticks. Since rice doesn't contain gluten, the name can be misleading.

During mochitsuki, the steamed, mashed rice is transformed into a stretchy soft mass called mochi. The Japanese enjoy both sweet and savory versions of mochi.

Describing the mouthfeel is a challenge for me: It’s dense and tenacious, more so than Turkish delight or gummy bears. Our editor finds mochi’s combination of give and resistance intriguing, and Rosa describes it as “soft, gummy, elastic bread.” When eating mochi, it’s recommended to take small bites. Mochi’s stubborn character is the cause of death by choking every year in Japan. The elderly, who are unable to chew their food properly, are most susceptible.

“These days,” says Rosa, “the traditional method of making mochi is used for important ceremonies; however, there are still some cities that take it very seriously. And I’ve observed an interesting trend: During my last visit to Kyoto, I spotted artists using mochi to make elaborate sculptures.

They pounded the mochi with a little added polysaccharides and heat to form

it like clay. Later it’s eaten by those who observed it being made.”

Mechanization has taken over mochimaking, and in the U.S., mochi-covered ice cream and the inevitable fusion offerings such as s’mores, PB&J and salted caramel mochi can be found on the market. As far as I know, mochi-making via traditional methods has not been attempted in Houston.

The chefs whom I quizzed pointed me in the direction of Asian food markets, which is where they source their mochi – already packaged for sale. A visit to Nippan Daido on Westheimer and the new Seiwa Market on Dairy Ashford resulted in a discovery – sweet rice flour, also known as glutinous rice flour.

Ground from mochigome rice, sweet rice flour is quite different from common rice flour ground from medium or long-grain rice in that it has a much higher starch content.

When it thickens sauces, it’s a given that there will be no separation, and best of all, it provided me an alternate way to make mochi.

With three boxes of Koda Farms’ Mochiko sweet rice flour in hand, I was ready to do my homework. How difficult could it be for a capable baker who believes that one should try, within reason, to make everything at least once?

anko sweet red bean paste

25 OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2016

After viewing a few instructional videos on YouTube and reading several articles online, I decided to make a go of it.

Daifuku is very popular in Japan, and it’s pretty too. Mochi is filled with anko (sweet red bean paste) or a combination of fruit and anko to make daifuku. My recipe uses a microwave to cook the sweet rice flour into mochi very easily.

It’s the second stage of mochi making – the shaping – that is a challenge. Halfway through the process, I realized I could’ve used a couple of helping hands.

Mochi is extremely sticky, and the powdered starch I used to form it and release it from my fingers began to cake up, resulting in repeated hand washing between steps. But having stuck through the process, I was rewarded with some tasty and pretty treats – and a sense of great accomplishment.

The second recipe below is an adaptation of Dory Fung’s Coconut Butter Mochi Cake. Fung, a member of the Fung’s Kitchen family, pastry

arts instructor at Houston Community College and engineer of several popup events, served her sweet creation recently at a pop-up at Lincoln Bar on Washington Avenue. Coconut Butter Mochi Cake with lemongrass ice cream, candied seaweed, sesame and rum sauce – the sort of combination of flavors that true pastry chefs create – was divine. My simplified version has flaked coconut sprinkled on top for extra coconut flavor and a bit of crunch.

with strawberries and sweet red bean filling

paper. If the red bean paste is lumpy (i.e. you can see whole beans), mash it quickly with a potato masher or give it a couple of turns in a food processor. Using a measuring tablespoon, scoop paste and roll into balls.

If the paste is too sticky, use some potato or cornstarch on your hands to prevent stickiness. Cover 12 strawberries with a ball of red bean paste, shaping with your fingers, and starch, if necessary, until the strawberry is completely covered. Place balls on tray and refrigerate while making mochi.

Make red bean paste balls with the remaining paste and place in refrigerator.

FOR THE FILLING

FOR THE MOCHI

DAIFUKU

12 strawberries 1 lb. can (454g) anko, sweetened red bean paste, available at Asian markets Wash strawberries and pat dry.

Trim stems and ends with leaves.

Line a medium tray with parchment METHOD:

1 cup (150g) Mochiko sweet rice flour 1 cup (200g) sugar 1 ⅓ cups (320ml) water pinch salt one drop food coloring, optional about 2 cups potato starch or cornstarch, for dusting

Dory Fung

place

anko coatedstrawberry on mochi circles

OR Place red bean paste balls on prepared mochi circles

26 OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2016

butter mochi cake

Whisk Mochiko flour, sugar, water and salt in a large microwaveable bowl until smooth. Cover with plastic wrap. Microwave on high for 2 minutes.

Stir batter until it’s smooth, making sure that you incorporate the batter around the edge of the bowl. Continue to microwave dough in 1 to 2 minute increments until the dough is very thick but not dry. Mine thickened up in only 4 minutes. Add a drop of food coloring if desired, and mix the dough thoroughly until the color is completely incorporated and the dough has cooled.

The mixture will be very thick and sticky so you’ll really have to beat well.

Sift potato starch or cornstarch onto a large sheet pan. Using a spatula, scoop the mochi onto the potato starch or cornstarch. Dust liberally with potato or cornstarch. At this point you can cut the mochi into squares using a knife dusted with the starch and eat it plain.

To make daifuku: Using a generous amount of starch, pinch pieces off the mochi and pat it with your fingers until it’s about 3 to 4 inches in diameter and about ¼-inch thick. You can work some of the starch into the dough if it’s still sticky. If desired, use a cookie cutter to cut mochi into circles. Place rounds on starch on the same pan.

Remove strawberries and red bean paste balls from refrigerator. One by one, place strawberries (tip side down) or bean paste balls on prepared mochi METHOD:

circles. Using lots of starch on your fingers, wrap the mochi around the strawberries and bean paste balls.

Pinch the ends to close and place on a starch-dusted tray. Serve now, or store in an airtight container at room temperature. Makes 12 of each type.

BUTTER MOCHI CAKE

Adapted from a recipe by Dory Fung 1½ cups plus 2 Tbsp. (227g) Mochiko sweet rice flour 1¼ cups (240g) sugar 1 tsp. (5g) baking powder pinch salt 3 eggs 1 tsp. (4g) vanilla 1½ cups (315g) coconut milk or whole milk ¼ cup (56g) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled ¼ cup (20g) sweetened or unsweetened coconut flakes, optional Prepare an 8-inch-by-8-inch baking pan by lining it with parchment paper the length of the pan and up two opposite sides. Grease parchment generously with butter. Preheat oven to 350˚F. Combine Mochiko flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.

In another bowl, whisk eggs and vanilla for a minute. Add coconut milk or METHOD:

27 OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2016

whole milk and butter to eggs. Whisk until combined. Pour milk mixture over flour mixture. Whisk until well combined and there are no dry areas.

Pour into prepared pan. Sprinkle with coconut flakes, if desired. Bake for about 45 minutes or until the top is light golden brown.

Cool completely in pan. Run a knife along the edge of the pan to release the cake. Pull mochi cake out of pan by grasping the parchment on sides. Cut into fourths lengthwise and crosswise with a sharp knife. Butter mochi cake is best eaten the same day it is baked.

Yields 16 2-inch squares.

FOR CHOCOLATE VARIATION:

Prepare batter as above with the following additions: 1 tsp. (2 to 3g) instant espresso powder and ¼ cup (20g) cocoa powder to the dry ingredients. When the batter has been whisked, add ½ cup (88g) mini chocolate chips. Pour batter into pan. For added interest, place 16 pitted cherries – 4 each in 4 even rows – in the batter. Bake as instructed. Cool and slice into 16 squares.

Dragana Arežina Harris is a life-long food, wine and travel enthusiast. She blogs about food at draganabakes. blogspot.com and dabbles in chocolate at dragana-bakes.com

the lash supper

By Stephanie Madan

awry around my eyelid and brushed a finger across it. It is useful to know that I had decided on a glamorous look and attached a number of individual false eyelashes to my paltry real ones. This is a formidable undertaking, demanding intricate eye-hand coordination, unless you are willing to be slapdash, as I was.

I was in no way skilled in such matters. I had bought the lashes on Amazon for the reason I have bought several mistakes there. I still believe Amazon recommendations take into account not only my shopping history, but my hopes and dreams and ENFJ personality. (If you do not understand that last part, have a look at the Myers-Briggs personality test available online. Be open to finding yourself summarized by a four-letter code that, once disclosed, lets others discern your

CARTOON BY DOUG PIKE

Paul and I, along with our new friends, Sal and Sid, had just been served our first course. We were dining at Just Dinner on Dunlavy – a bungalow populated with white table-clothed tables, those topped by conversation-stimulating Paper City pages. Although chatter is plentiful, most transpires at indoor-voice decibels. The restaurant maintains a “bring your own wine” policy as yet another plus. It is a favorite.

The four of us were celebrating mutual insight that we had moved into friendship from acquaintanceship. Goodwill and comradery had blossomed into affection – if not yet in full bloom, certainly well-budded. The story of the friendship had begun. So far so good.

That evening I felt something slightly

28 OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2016

psyche with no effort whatsoever. Fun.) So I more or less glued multiple diminutive two-hair tufts to my eyelids.

It was messy and tedious and I was soon bored. The regrettable result that night was, with that rub across the eyelid, an inadequately glued tuft surrendered its meager purchase and found itself spinning into my soup.

It is worth noting this was not just any soup. This was the restaurant’s signature grape and almond gazpacho.

I loved it, though the eyelash winking at me from its surface that moment diminished the appeal. If I had chosen the roasted beet salad, I reflected, opportunities to nudge the fluttery item under the frisee would have no doubt presented themselves. But, no. There it floated, stark, prominent against the soup’s pale hue.

My bonhomie that evening became forced. The others hadn’t noticed the eyelash, but were developing a last-minute enthusiasm for my specific soupe du jour. I had suggested they order it. They had not. Possibly they felt it was too soon to trust my gazpacho savoir-faire. (I conceded to myself around then that it was trop taxing to think in French. It can come off as affected, anyway.)

Sal adopted a deeply intrigued and hopeful tone, one echoed by Sid, as they reconsidered the soup description provided by Tony, our capable and affable server. The gazpacho contained no cream, creamy though it appeared.

Abundant cucumber and breadcrumbs, along with the grapes, almonds and a select few of the kitchen garden herbs were emulsified to produce that marvel of a dish.

When recommending it, I had gone

29 OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2016

so far as to opine that if a wine-country breeze could be tasted, its taste would be that signature gazpacho. Every time I lapse into this lyrical descriptive mode, it is a mistake. That night it triggered delayed popularity of a soup that needed privacy. I began to deliberate regarding transferring blame should the Eyelash Incident develop into a Situation.

I was pleased to find I was too noble to advance an amusing and deflecting theory that perhaps the restaurant introduced playful garnishes to energize the atmosphere. Instead, I merely pushed the eyelash down into the gazpacho, simultaneous to Sal and Sid pleading for tastes.

As it turns out, nobility exists on a continuum. Although I am fairly sure I would dash into a burning grocery store to save never-frozen wild salmon or a well-behaved recently bathed toddler, the current circumstances were at once less dire and more nuanced.

To bone-deep friends I could confess my dilemma, knowing they would merely categorize the quagmire as

another in which only I could become mired. However, I feared it was in no one’s best interests to assume Sid and Sal would enjoy a hearty laugh (with me – not at me) and leave it at that.

I suspected that, even if they laughed the hearty laugh, they would go on to entertain each other with replays of the moment as they drove home, since that is definitely what I would do. Would they be kind?

I weighed the possibilities that they would actually encounter the tiny lash cluster if permitted to dip their own spoons into the somewhat defiled soup.

I weighed this against the possibility that I might accidentally retrieve the lashes myself, should I scoop on Sal’s and Sid’s behalf. I passed them my bowl of gazpacho, planning to act shocked as warranted, meaning I would discover, only if one of them spat it out, that I was missing a lash.

They dipped, they sipped, they swooned in gustatory delight. No horrified cries or dramatic choking noises were evinced. I ate the remaining gazpacho, lash-free as far

as I could tell. (It seemed sensible to forego speculation about where exactly the cluster’s wanderings concluded.) I relaxed and bonded further with our new friends (I’m guessing ESFJ personalities) as dinner proceeded. It was a great success.

Someone once observed, “A happy ending cannot come in the middle of the story.” Friendship is its own story, writing itself. It simply proceeds, with those involved following the plot as best they can, knowing that full control of the trajectory is impossible.

One day, when the moment is right, I will confess to Sal and Sid the Eyelash Incident.

The point is this: There is no rule prohibiting the story of a friendship from including a happy middle – only that it cannot be the end. The story must continue. I am glad for that.

Stephanie Madan writes about her encounters with food, friends and travel calamities along with her relentless search for metaphorical rainbows.

We’re One Big, Happy Family!

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31 OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2016

⡹껠✫ – Food Lover's Quizine –

YOU HUNGRY?

By Micki McClelland

We’re taught never to make fun of what other people choose to eat. I remember in grade school in the 1950s pointing at a classmate’s ham and cheese croissant and saying something like: “Hey kid, that’s not Mrs. Baird’s bread – everybody in Houston knows Mrs. Baird’s is the only way to make a sandwich – what are you, nuts?!” Later in the principal’s office it was explained to me that French people don’t eat Mrs. Baird’s bread, and it would serve me well in life to be not only more respectful of another’s right to eat weird-looking food, but to keep my mouth shut if I didn’t have something nice to say.

I may write about steamed tuna eyes, but to keep my opinion silent will require duct tape.

Just as during the Passover Seder in Jewish tradition a place is set at the table for the prophet Elijah, in the traditional month-long Hungry Ghost Festival celebrated by both Taoists and Buddhists in many Asian countries, meals are served to empty chairs assumed to be spiritually occupied by dead ancestors. The ghost ritual began when a monk named Maudgalyāyana had a vision of his deceased mother wandering around in the netherworld hungry as hell. The monk approached the Buddha and asked if there might be a way to bring his mother back to Earth so he could feed her. The Buddha complied, telling the monk to put bits of food on a clean plate, recite a mantra seven times, snap his fingers and then toss the food on the ground.

Miraculously the monk’s mother did toddle up from Hell to join him for dinner. But because she had lived very selfishly in her first life her reincarnation was most inauspicious. What did Maudgalyāyana’s mother come back 1

as in her second life? And was there an upside to her lowly state?

How is the Chinese dish called Drunken Shrimp prepared and eaten?

2

During his 63-year reign, Hirohito, the 124th Emperor of Japan, had some odd notions. When the haiku-loving fellow assumed the Chrysanthemum Throne in 1926, he said that he was descended from the gods. Equally daft was his decision to authorize the use of toxic gas in the 1938 Battle of Wuhan.

And soon after that he buddied up with both Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy to form the Axis bully squad. Not smart.

Even less smart, it was Hirohito who, when finally convinced that Japan was losing the war, issued an imperial order for Japanese citizens to commit suicide rather than be taken prisoner. But 1,000 cliff-leapers aside, after General Douglas MacArthur patted the Emperor on the head and promised he wouldn’t be tried for war crimes, over the course 3

32 OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2016

of his remaining years Hirohito was invited to participate in photo op sessions with luminaries such as Queen Elizabeth II and Ronald Reagan. And in 1975 he got John Wayne’s autograph and acquired a Mickey Mouse watch that he wore until his death in 1989.

The question is: What was Hirohito’s favorite dish, and why does the dish lend insight to his character?

Born in 551 BC, the Chinese philosopher Confucius had great respect for food. In fact, he believed food to be metaphorically tied to good government, as well as being the nudge that pushes a nation toward cultural excellence. Confucius made lists. All good thinkers make lists – lists are what keep us on track, keep us from missing dental appointments and remind us when it’s time to pick up kids from school. Below are some of the philosopher’s recommendations for living well through good eating habits. Check the ones you believe were on the list 4

devised by the philosopher, X-out the ones you believe are not Confucian but confusing, and draw a smiley face next to the ones you believe are paraphrases of what the great man truly said.

Dinner and A Movie

(a) Eat only at meal time. (b) Don’t eat food that smells bad. (c) You may reach across the table to snatch something from someone’s plate, but be sure to cry, “Look! It’s a gorilla!” to distract attention away from the snatch. (d) Only eat ginger in moderation – it can adversely affect your stomach lining. (e) The way you cut your meat is a true reflection of how you conduct yourself in life. (f) Hairnets must be worn when preparing food. (g) Stop eating when you get the hiccups – it’s a sign you’ve stuffed your gut way past its limit. (h) Drinking liquor needn’t be done in moderation, but never drink to the point where you think it’s funny to steal a policeman’s horse. (i) Too much meat-eating is bad. No need to be a vegetarian, but no need to be a slavering, carnivorous beast either. (j) Wash your hands. (k) Chop food into small pieces, even a cheeseburger Which Asian country goes gaga for steamed tuna eyes flavored with garlic and soy sauce? And do the citizens of that Asian country also enjoy eating their tuna eyes raw?

5

Of the following, which are foods that can be typically purchased from street vendors in Cambodia: 6

(a) Fried tarantula (crispy exterior, gooey interior) (b) Fertilized duck embryo (boiled alive and eaten in the shell) (c) Marinated cow hoof (served in a banana leaf) (d) Grilled whole frog (on a skewer) (e) Pickled chicken beaks (costly) (f) Stinky tofu (after fermentation, the aroma resembles smelly feet)

ILLUSTRATION BY CINDY VATTATHIL

Who said You can’t run a revolution without eating lots of chiles? Hint: His favorite food was hong shao rou – cubes of braised pork belly glazed with caramelized sugar and hot peppers – washed down with Shaoxing rice wine.

7

You won’t find General Tso’s chicken listed on a menu in China. The general himself, Tso Tsung-t’ang (or, Zuo Zongtang), may have been born in the Hunan province in the 19th century, but the dish was not. It’s a creation of North American origin, where there are more than 15 different spellings for the sweet and spicy deep-fried chicken dish. In one particular U.S. restaurant 8

33 OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2016

kitchen even the “General” has been dropped from the dish’s title. Where is the kitchen located, and what alternative name has been slapped on General Tso’s chicken?

Answers appear on page 35.

Writer Micki McClelland warns that the Hungry Ghost Festival can be a dangerous time. Since restless spirits will be roaming the earth looking to cause mischief, celebrants are told not to go out after midnight, not to swim, not to sing or whistle, not to wear red and not to take selfies during the month-long period. How will Facebook survive?

34 OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2016

C E L E B R AT I N G 3 5 Y E A R S O F S E RV I N G H O U S T O N !

ANSWERS 1 Maudgalyāyana’s mother was reincarnated a dog. But, on the up side, she was

adopted by a good family.

2 The recipe: Put live freshwater shrimp into a bowl filled with hard liquor. The alcohol

®

®

will make the shrimp dopey and put them off their guard. How to eat: Lop off the live, but drunken, shrimp’s head and pop the still wiggling body into your mouth.

3 The favorite dish of Japan’s Emperor Hirohito was fried wasps served over rice

with a dash of sugar.

4 Check marks go to (a), (b), (d), (e), (i) and (j). X-marks go to (c), (f) and (g).

Smiley faces go to (h) and (k).

5 The Japanese enjoy eating tuna eyes, both steamed or raw.

6 Only (c) and (e) are fictional; item (f) is a street treat found in China. The

remaining foods on the list may be purchased from vendors in Cambodia.

7 Chairman Mao Zedong

8 The kitchen at the United States Naval Academy often whips up this dish for

hungry midshipmen, but there it’s called Admiral Tso’s chicken.

W I N ES · S P I R I TS · F I N E R FO O DS

STOCK UP AND

WINE DOWN!

With Spec’s selection and lower prices, you could try a new wine every day without exhausting your options - or your bank account.

K e v i n M c G owa n Photography print & web commercial photography

CHEERS TO SAVINGS!

www.kevinmcgowan.com 35 OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2016

®

LOCATIONS ALL ACROSS HOUSTON (713) 526-8787 SPECSONLINE.COM

T I E K MA

, E S E N A P A J E 36

S A E L P

OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2016

Writer Melody Yip chronicles her travels to Osaka, Japan.

WE GAVE HER TWO ASSIGNMENTS: 1) DIG DEEP INTO

OSAKA’S STREET FOOD CULTURE 2) GIVE US THE SKINNY ON

JAPAN'S QUIRKY DESSERTS

37

OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2016 OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2016

37

OSAKA’S SPEEDY SNACKS I did not have a single bowl of ramen during my trip to Japan this past summer. My goal was to become familiar with other kinds of Japanese street foods. It didn’t take long to get started.

On a Tuesday afternoon in Fukushima, a residential ward in Osaka, I stopped at a little restaurant in a narrow street. A curious under-inflated octopus balloon dangled from the awning. I watched as a kind old granny used chopsticks to flip over sizzling balls of batter hiding hunks of octopus. She was cooking these in a set of half-sphere molds – imagine something like a large metal egg carton on the grill. She was making a fresh batch of takoyaki. In an instant, I was inside, seated at a table and served.

There were six takoyaki on the plate, dusted with bonito flakes and smeared with a tangy dressing reminiscent of

Worcestershire sauce. With the first mouthful, there was the sharp bite of pickled red ginger bits flecked in the takoyaki as the hot batter, still a bit gooey, seared my tongue. It’s the kind of food that typically gets gobbled down so quickly that “fresh” becomes an irrelevant adjective, and it was extraordinarily delicious.

As I ate, passersby on bikes stopped and hopped off to buy takoyaki for themselves. Meanwhile a solemn man at a table opposite me wolfed down yakisoba (fried wheat noodles with pork and savory sauce) while an older woman nearby drained a Coke between bites of okonomiyaki. I eyed her plate with interest. After observing her relish the meal so thoroughly, I ordered a plate for myself, too.

Okonomiyaki – a bit of a mouthful to say – is a thick Japanese-style savory

pancake cooked on a griddle. The batter is tossed together with an array of ingredients from sliced octopus to cabbage, and it typically includes Japanese mountain yam flour, called yamaimo powder, for extra binding. Some restaurants offer a do-it-yourself service where customers cook their own pancakes; others just serve it up for you.

At this mom-and-pop street-food stand, there was nothing flamboyant about the presentation. It was just a rectangular slab of okonomiyaki scattered with pieces of squid, pickled ginger and green onion. Unlike the takoyaki’s lightly-fried outer layer that dissolves in the mouth, the okonomiyaki had a much heartier, chewier texture.

Takoyaki and okonomiyaki seemed to embody the spirit of Osaka, a perfect reflection of the city’s rapid pace of

takoyaki

38 OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2016

At your service Delight your diners and grow your business with OpenTable, the simple solution used by restaurants everywhere. restaurant.opentable.com

39 OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2016

life. Both snacks are quickly made, affordable and filling. After being swept along by crowds of people dressed in white-collar business shirts and black pants, I quickly learned that there’s rarely time for rest in this city. Some of the best moments for stillness are on the train or while sitting on a stool in a hole-in-the-wall restaurant, chopsticks perched on a bowl of lukewarm noodle broth.

In Japan, getting off work often means it’s time for sake or beer and some snack bites. At one small bar I

tried traditional yakitori – chicken on skewers – and attempted to blend in with locals who sat at the bar refreshing themselves with Asahi beers.

Unlike in the U.S., yakitori in Japan doesn’t involve just chicken breast meat. There are skewers of chicken gizzards, chicken cartilage, hearts, skin, intestines and wings, as well as other meats (e.g. pork belly), tofu, mushrooms and ginkgo nuts. No part or organ is wasted. I ate plates of chicken neck meat, tenderloins and breasts slicked with barbecue sauce, cleansing YAKITORI

my palate with spoonfuls of a creamy Hokkaido potato salad.

Sound good? The Japanese are fond of many kinds of quick-and-casual snacks, both savory and sweet. Some others you will want to try here in Houston or in Japan include gyoza (fried pork dumplings), ikayaki (grilled whole little squid), taiyaki (fish-shaped waffles filled with cheese, azuki bean, custard or chocolate), shioyaki (baked and salted fish on a stick) and yaki imo (baked sweet potatoes cooked over a wood fire).

SUSHI BAR

WHERE to get a taste of osaka in HOUSTON Takoyaki

Yakitori

SEIWA MARKET

AKA SUSHI HOUSE

1801 S. Dairy Ashford, seiwamarket.com

2390 W. Alabama, akasushihouse.com

This brand-new Japanese market has an array of hot Japanese street food such as chicken karaage (deep-fried chicken), pork katsu croquettes and takoyaki. The takoyaki come in a pack of eight for $3.99, drizzled with sweet Kewpie mayonnaise and filled with generous tidbits of octopus.

Aka presents its yakitori just as they do in Japan, with slivers of green onion wedged between each chicken piece. For a good yakitori skewer, there should be an even tenderness and slightly charred outer surface. Note: There aren’t any chicken gizzards or the like here. aka’s Yakitori

seiwa’s

Also try Japanese snacks at: CAFE KUBO’S SUSHI BAR

9889 Bellaire Blvd. #234 IZAKAYA

318 Gray St. JINYA RAMEN BAR

3201 Louisiana KATA ROBATA

takoyaki

3600 Kirby NIPPON

4464 Montrose SAMURAI NOODLE

1801 Durham & 1010 Prairie TIGER DEN

9889 Bellaire Blvd., #D-230

40 OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2016

Japanese Sweet treats The Japanese are famous for their polite hospitality. This past summer, while I perused a plethora of bakeries all clumped together on a single floor of Osaka Station, employees greeted me with respectful bows. When I selected a cake to purchase, the box included ice packs neatly tucked inside to keep the cake cold during transportation. As I left, the staff bowed again. The attention to detail, efficiency and kind service left me deeply impressed with Japan’s attitude towards customer service.

And speaking of cake, I soon came to realize that Japan has quite a sweet tooth. Folks love a sweet treat, either as a dessert or mid-day pick-me-up. Although chocolate is popular, of course, Japanese sweets often embrace iconic flavors of the country, from red bean to white peach. Amid all the unagi and uni, the udon and the sake, Japan has a treasure trove of sweets that can be staunchly traditional or reminiscent of French pastries – and sometimes both.

Here are little impressions of some of the unique treats I tried this past summer, including sea bream waffles

and tofu donuts.

In Osaka, there are countless establishments designed for quick, on-the-go eating. Walking the streets feels something like being in New York with the throngs of people, stacked buildings and cacophony of noise. But the atmosphere doesn’t get quite as frantic. People walk with a quiet sense of purpose.

And that’s how I sought out my meals. I’d walk familiar streets around our apartment building, studying menus and displays outside. Many places advertised heaping plates of tempura with a bowl of udon noodles and crispy katsu plates with rice.

Occasionally, I’d stumble upon a dessert place. But if I really wanted something sweet to nibble on, I’d head for Osaka Station, the major railway station in the city’s Umeda district.

It’s a massive hub with a cornucopia of both humble and sophisticated bakeries, many of their goods modeled on Western desserts. I walked past a bright yellow stand called Beard Papa’s – an Osaka original – numerous times, eyeing piles and piles of cream puffs

filled with various flavors. I opted for the classic vanilla cream puff filled with thick custard. Compared to traditional French cream puffs, Japan’s version has a lighter, softer shell with a delicate, browned exterior. Now you can find franchised Beard Papa’s in the United States, mostly in California.

For a more posh taste of Japanese desserts, I found Nana’s Green Tea in Grand Front Osaka, which is a swanky shopping mall also attached to Osaka Station. Matcha and Japan go together like sweet tea and the American South. Matcha is finelyground green tea, and many places in Japan offer beautiful and creative matcha desserts like the parfait from Nana’s. But the biggest surprise? The layer of corn flakes drenched in the sweet, creamy milk. The parfait showcased numerous layers as well: a sliver of matcha pound cake and whipped cream on top, then green tea ice cream, frosted corn flakes, red bean and grass jelly with milk. It was one of the most interesting jumble of flavors I’d ever tasted. matcha parfait

cream puffs from beard papa’s, an osaka original that now has franchises in the us.

41 OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2016

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T H U R S DAY, O C TO B E R 6

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OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2016

Designed by: Katie Guidroz

For more traditional eats, I lingered around my own neighborhood. Osaka divvies up into wards, similar to Houston. We lived in Fukushima, a pleasant, family-friendly place dotted with convenience stores and ramen nooks. Since Fukushima is small, I could walk to nearby Kita Ward and order a taiyaki waffle from a venerable establishment called Naruto Taiyaki Honpo Tenjinbashi.

“Taiyaki,” which means “baked sea bream,” is unlike your typical diner waffle. These treats are crafted from egg batter and stuffed chock full of red bean or sweet potato. The griddle consists of sea bream-shaped molds that flip out piping hot snacks perfect for noshing and walking.

Hello, I’m a taiyaki!

WHERE to get taiyaki HOUSTON? KAMALAN BAKERY

9889 Bellaire Blvd. just west of Corporate Dr. in Dun Huang Plaza, kamalanbakery.com

If you’d like to try a green tea parfait and taiyaki combined, take a trip to Chinatown in Southwest Houston.

There, in Dun Huang Plaza, you will find Kamalan Bakery, which specializes in an array of Asian breads and desserts. They have sea bream waffles filled with either red bean or custard and served with your choice of ice cream – red bean, vanilla, plum or matcha. With a spritz of whipped cream, a strawberry Pocky stick and marshmallows, this is the sort of treat that delights your inner child.

The ko hi (coffee) scene As a result of my years in the U.S., I almost always craved a cup of coffee to pair with my Japanese sweets. Like many a naïve traveler, I assumed that only tea was celebrated in Japan. Fortunately my assumption evaporated after prowling the streets of Osaka in search of java.

At first, the destinations I found were small, simple cafes serving coffee in its barest form – simple drip brew, some-

times a café au lait on the menu, sugar syrup in tiny plastic cups like Coffeemate creamers.

But there is no doubt that Japan’s coffee culture is burgeoning. It’s everywhere – think Montrose’s network of coffee shops, for comparison.

I lost track of the number of vending machines on the streets displaying inexpensive cans of coffee. These were small, eight-ounce pick-me-ups, includ43 OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2016

ing lattes, mochas and iced coffee that I often saw pedestrians clutching while waiting at crosswalks.

I also saw people heading to cafes for casual meetings with friends or to catch a break while munching on a sandwich (which are almost always crust-less, interestingly enough). I poked my head into one such cafe called Fukushima Coffee, a dimly lit establishment with a garish green carpet and no non-dairy

MONDIAL KAFFEE il k s o ft

tofu

e -s

ym so

e rv

soybean donut

kuzukiri

alternatives. But I appreciated the lack of frills. There was none of that agave nectar and coconut milk hubbub to distract from the coffee itself.

Still, Osaka’s coffee culture is veering more towards the “third wave” movement, where coffee is regarded as a high-quality artisanal good rather than a commodity. In Osaka Station’s basement restaurant floor, I found coffee niches that looked like pop-ups – Lebresso, a new bread-and-coffee concept with minimalist décor serving various toasts along with cold brew, and All Day Coffee, a pour-over station.

Meanwhile, Mondial Kaffee in Fukushima swirls latte art in stunning beauty.

About an hour northeast of Osaka’s busyness is Arima, a famous hot-spring destination. It’s a charming town with traditional curved roofs lined with ruffled tiles. The town offers public and private baths, even an open pool tinted gold with a high content of minerals.

Tourists and locals alike take a break from the heat by dipping their feet in the pool. Arima is the sort of place

for retirement, a peaceful town with a healthy amount of tourism that doesn’t feel overwhelming.

Here in Arima I found some fascinating sweets that deviated from the usual creamy creations typically found in Osaka. One quiet little dessert shop offered kuzukiri – little squiggles of translucent jelly made from arrowroot starch powder. While arrowroot helps thicken sauces, it’s also a delectable summer treat when pressed out in noodle shapes and served chilled in syrup. Since chopstick attention is required, I struggled a little while fishing it out from the refreshing white peach juice.

The kuzukiri place also sold soft-serve ice cream. Unlike the West, Japan favors soft-serve over hard ice cream. The flavors can get a little wild, too. On a previous trip to Japan I’d tried a cherry blossom flavor while touring Mount Fuji, and this time I rejoiced at the prospect of a soy milk flavor while in Arima.

Soy milk is a massive industry in Asia as a whole, and as I tasted the soy milk soft-serve I thought back to my child-

44 OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2016

hood years of drinking boxed soy milk on the curb outside my house. The softserve had a hint of soy milk’s earthiness and a smooth creaminess spun with a pleasant amount of sweetness.

Even donuts have been affected by soy. After demolishing the soy milk softserve, I walked further down the street and discovered a baked tofu donut bakery. Sampling the matcha and chocolate flavors, I decided that they taste more like spongy waffles with a hint of cake texture. The addition of soybeans made the donuts seem a bit more healthful – but that was probably wishful thinking.

What I learned while traveling in Japan this summer: Always save room for dessert. Sometimes and in some places the last course is more of an afterthought. But Japan cherishes it well with an impressive range of sweets that offer unique sensory experiences.

Melody Yip is My Table magazine’s intern. She is a student at Rice University majoring in English.

Sugar Land Wine & Food Affair

APRIL 6-9, 2017

The 14th Annual Sugar Land Wine & Food Affair is one of the most highly anticipated culinary events of the year. Look for more than 75 chefs and restaurants, creating original dishes with their signature touches. Over 2,600 bottles of wine will be poured, tasted and paired.

Tasting Tents Educational Seminars Dinners Wine Classes Bidding Auctions & Much More! sugarlandwineandfoodaffair.com | 713 - SIP - WINE (747 - 9463)

#SLWineFood 45

OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2016

www.facebook.com/SugarLandWineAndFoodAffair Beneficiary: Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management

the Bountiful

Bánh Mì OF THE BAYOU CITy Text and photography by Mai Pham

46 OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2016

46

OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2016

In 2014, travel writer David Farley, writing for the BBC, posited: “Is the bánh mì the world’s best sandwich?” I’d like to think so, though, as a second-generation Vietnamese raised in the United States, I might be a bit biased. For me, it trumps the Louisiana po’boy, the traditional American club sandwich, the Philly cheesesteak and the Jewish hot pastrami – all sandwiches that I love … just not as much as I love a good bánh mì.

The shattering crunch of the thin-crusted bread. The mix of meats – usually chả lụa (likened to Vietnamese bologna or ham), thịt đỏ (red-rimmed, char-siu-flavored pork belly) or head cheese.

The condiments – freshly made mayonnaise, French butter, pâté with a dash of Maggi sauce. The fresh vegetable toppings – shreds of tangy pickled carrot and daikon, ovals of heatproducing jalapeño, a spear of cucumber and a tuft of cilantro.

All of it combines in a blend of flavors and textures that enliven the palate, producing a sandwich that is quite addicting. It’s the kind you don’t get bored with, that you can eat multiple times a week.

One of the greatest culinary legacies of French colonialism in Indochina, the bánh mì is the result of two culinary worlds colliding. “Bánh mì” literally translates into “bread of wheat,” referring to the baguette bread that the French introduced to Vietnam, where the diet was largely based on rice and rice products. The Vietnamese took that French bread (which the French traditionally ate with just a smear of butter or pâté) and turned it into a sandwich using local produce and proteins like pork, chicken and fish.

The BBC’s Farley traveled for two weeks throughout Vietnam to sample 15 bánh mì, but the good news for Houstonians?

With the third-largest Vietnamese population in the U.S., you can find plenty of fine bánh mì all over Houston. It’s gone mainstream, even appearing on the menu at Local Foods in Rice Village. I’ve seen versions popping up here and there at chef-driven restaurants.

Available at more than 50 cafes, sandwich shops and restaurants throughout Houston, it would be impossible to try them all. So I’ve eaten my way through some of Houston’s best, presenting you with nine spots around town whose versions of bánh mì exemplify, for me, the best sandwich in the world.

CAFE TH’S BÁNH MÌ XÍU MẠI CAFE TH’S BÁNH MÌ THỊT NƯỚNG

cafe th’s mural was designed by local street artist Daniel Anguilu

cafe th 2108 Pease at Jefferson, 713-225-4766, cafeth.com

When Minh Nguyen left his corporate job and took over Cafe TH in 2007, it was still known as Thiem Hung. In fact, drive by his restaurant now, and the Thiem Hung Sandwiches sign is still there. Nguyen had a vision for taking the flailing bánh mì shop to another level, which is why he rebranded it as Cafe TH and began building a menu that would take it to the future.

These days, though bánh mì are still a staple offering at Cafe TH, the cafe also features ample seating, a boldlycolored wall-mural by local street artist Daniel Anguilu and a Vietnamese menu filled with things as traditional as bún thịt nướng (grilled pork and vermicelli noodle) to more progressive offerings like the phenomenal vegan curry.

“None of our meats are frozen,” says Nguyen, who takes pride in sourcing his produce from local farmers and prepping his ingredients daily. Sandwiches come in two sizes, large ($4) and small ($3), which can be customized to your heart’s desire. A section of fan favorites, such as the “Gluttonous Ellis,” was created in honor of his regular and most loyal customers.

What to order: If you want something traditional, you won’t go wrong with the xíu mại (meatballs), thịt nướng (chargrilled pork) or the thập cẩm (combo). When you want to get into deep cuts, try the vegan Mattvacado (double tofu, avocado, no butter) or the meat lover’s The Heart Throb 2016 (double meat, two eggs and bacon).

What they’re known for:

47 OCTOBER – NOVEMBER

ROOSTAR VIETNAMESE GRILL 1411 Gessner near Long Point Rd., 832-649-8955, myroostar.com

“When I was 16, I decided that I wanted to start a business, and I’ve been planning it since then,” says 29-year-old Ronnie Nguyen.

Born and raised in Houston, Nguyen – a second-generation Vietnamese – attended the University of Houston, majoring in hospitality management. “I created the business plan for Roostar when I was there,” says Nguyen.

When he graduated in 2012, he and his partner Linda Nguyen took out a small business loan, combined their savings with some financial help from family and opened Vietnam Poblano. It earned a strong following and garnered several accolades, among them, a spot on Yelp’s national Top 100 list and an award for Best Bánh Mì by the Houston Press in 2015. Earlier this year, they rechristened the place Roostar Vietnamese Grill and recently signed a lease to open a second location in Uptown Park.

Just about everything on the menu is made in-house using recipes passed down by Linda’s mother. This includes the aioli (garlic mayo), pickled carrots and daikon, pâté, the red-rimmed pork belly and the grilled meats.

Sandwiches range from $4.29 for the fried egg or avocado, to $4.75 for their special, $5.75 for their chopped ribeye, topping out at $7 for smoked salmon.

What to order: It’s hard to go wrong with anything you order here, but if you can only get one thing, the chopped ribeye (formerly known as “gogi beef ”) is probably the most flavorful. The meat is marinated like Korean bulgogi, chopped and generously stuffed to make a formidable sandwich you won’t find anywhere else in Houston. The cold cut sandwich is another good one to try. It’s similar to the cold cut bánh mì you’ll find all over town, but better tasting because of the creamy homemade pâté.

What they’re known for:

roostar’s bÁnh mÌ LINE-UP

NGUYEN NGO FRENCH CAFE 11210 Bellaire Blvd. at Boone, 281-495-2528

NGUYEN’S FAMOUS CHICKEN BÁNH MÌ

The history of Nguyen Ngo French Cafe dates back to 1968, when Tuan Nguyen’s mother opened the original Nguyen Ngo (named after his father) sandwich shop in the French Quarter of Saigon. Her specialty was a sandwich filled with shredded, French-style gà rôti (rotisserie chicken). She operated the shop until the family fled Vietnam in 1975, leaving the business behind.

Fast forward 20 years. Nguyen, who had been working in the computer industry in Canada, searched fruitlessly for the bánh mì of his childhood. Unable to find it, he left his corporate job and relocated to Houston, opening Nguyen Ngo French Cafe in 2004 and introducing his mother’s famous sandwich to a new generation of Vietnamese.

“Our bánh mì gà is unique.

It’s a mix of flavors between France and Vietnam,” says Nguyen, who says the secret is not only in the way that he seasons and roasts his chicken, but also in his house-made mayonnaise. “People come from all over the world to buy our sandwiches, often ordering dozens at a time to take home,” he says.

What to order: Start off with the bánh mì gà (chicken), 48 then experiment by adding proteins such as imported French ham (jambon) or pâté. Change up the traditional bánh mì – NOVEMBER 2016 bread with a croissant for a more French-ified spin.

What they’re known for:

OCTOBER

48

OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2016

les ba’get 1717 Montrose at Bomar, 832-548-1080, lesbaget.com

Les Ba’get got its start as a food truck in 2013 serving rice bowls, noodle bowls and a limited selection of sandwiches, but the plan was always to open a brick-andmortar. So when owner Cat Huynh and his wife Angie found a 1,450-square-foot location right on Montrose, they suspended food truck operations and spent a year building out what has since become the go-to spot in Montrose for Vietnamese food.

I’M FILLED WITH PORK

The name says it all: “Les Ba’get” is a play on the French les baguettes, which means French bread. Your bánh mì will arrive in two halves, standing upright side-by-side in a custom wooden tray stamped with the Les Ba’get logo. The pickled vegetables here are sliced with a mandolin so that the cucumbers, daikon and pickled carrots are flat sheets that sit flush together. Prices range from $5.50 for tofu or Vietnamese ham bánh mì, to $6.50 for sous vide pork belly and $7.75 for coconut basil shrimp bánh mì, which are a bit higher than what you’ll find in Chinatown but worth it for the quality of the sandwich you receive.

What to order: One of the great things about the bánh mì here is the bread. Always toasted, with just enough innards to complement the proteins and accompaniments, the consistency of the bread ensures bite after bite of excellent sandwich. If you don’t mind a fattier bánh mì, the 24-hour sous-vide pork belly bánh mì is pretty formidable.

Second to that, I recommend the lemongrass-grilled pork for its tastiness, and the oak-smoked brisket for a Texasmeets-Vietnamese experience.

BELLY!

What they’re known for:

LES BA’GET’S SMOKED BRISKET BÁNH MÌ

thim hing 11107 Bellaire Blvd. at Boone, 281-564-1692

An old-school bánh mì shop run by brother and sister duo Trung and Berdina Duong, Thim Hing’s roots date back to 1986, when their father Tam – who had owned a bánh mì place in the Cho Lon district of Saigon before they came to the United States – set up shop on Bellaire and Cook and called it Thiem Hung. One of only a handful of bánh mì shops open at the time, the business grew to three locations before they were sold in 1995.

Subsequently, Duong opened a spin-off shop and changed the name to Thim Hing.

In lieu of the oblong bread rolls that are commonly used for bánh mì, Thim Hing makes their sandwiches with just-toasted French baguette. The bread itself makes the sandwich – crispy-crunchy on the outside, moist and pillowy white on the inside. You can order the bánh mì in two sizes: small (8 inches) for $3, or large (12 inches) for $4.

Fillings include đặc biệt (special with everything in it), thịt nướng (grilled pork), gà (chicken), xíu mại (meatballs), trứng (eggs) and more.

What to order: The đặc biệt sandwich is probably the best bet for a first-timer, because it comes with an assortment of cold cuts and meatballs and is quite hearty in and of itself.

However, the claim to fame here are the xíu mại meatball sandwiches. Just make sure to order them with a dollar or two 2016 of extra meat, because they tend to be very sparsely filled.

What they’re known for:

thim hing’s bÁnh mÌ with three meats 49 OCTOBER – NOVEMBER

thien an sandwiches

2611 San Jacinto at Dennis, 713-522-7007, facebook.com/Thienanrestaurant

A fan favorite in the Midtown, south-of-Downtown area since its days as a small hole-in-the-wall at the Vietnamese mini mall that now houses Reef, Thien An is one of the those places that people continue to patronize because it keeps its prices low and its food authentic. Now a standalone restaurant located across from Weights + Measures, Thien An continues to attract in-the-know business people and devoted Vietnamese, who flood the restaurant during lunch for their fix of Southeast Asian cuisine and, of course, bánh mì.

What they’re known for: Serving

everything from

phở (noodle soup) and bún (rice vermicelli) to bánh xèo (sizzling cake) and boba tea, the fact that they opted to

keep the “sandwiches” in the restaurant name says it all.

The bánh mì here run $2.50 to $4.25 depending on the filling, which ranges from grilled pork to vegetarian, beef, ham and meatballs.

What to order: You can’t go wrong if you order the grilled pork with an egg on top. If you want to get fancy, try the Bánh Mì Bò Lúc Lắc and Hột Gà Dĩa – a deconstructed plate that contains a toasted bánh mì loaf, stir-fried beef cubes on top of dressed green salad and a sunny-side-up egg. Break off the bread and dip it into the yolk, eating the meat as you would an entrée, or stuff it all in the loaf and eat it like a sandwich.

THIEN AN’S CHARGRILLED PORK

DON’S GRILLED PORK BÁNH MÌ

don cafe & sandwich 9300 Bellaire Blvd. at Ranchester, 713-777-9500, doncafes.com

Now with two locations – one in the heart of Chinatown on Bellaire Blvd. and one in Sugar Land – Don Cafe is easy to recognize and well-known because it’s been around for so long. The Chinatown location sits in its own standalone building and can be easily spotted from the street. Ample free parking and a fast-casual seating area make this an ideal stop for a grab-n-go meal or sit-down lunch. A full menu of other Vietnamese dishes, ranging from noodle soups to rice plates, are available as well.

What they’re known for: Traditional

bánh mì on the oblong roll filled with a generous amount of protein. In other words, one sandwich is definitely enough to make a good meal here. The majority of the bánh mì are simply priced at $3.25.

What to order: The first item on the menu at Don Cafe is definitely their bestseller. Ringing in at $3.50 – 25 cents more than the other bánh mì on the menu – the thịt nướng (grilled pork) is tasty and chock-full of pork. Order with an egg on top for maximum enjoyment.

50 OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2016

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51 OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2016

Acai Bowls

new location! - 214 Fairview St. 238 W. 19th st. - 713-478-7486

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my table magazine’s 2016

HOUSTON CULINARY AWARDS MY TABLE MAGAZINE SALUTES THE FINALISTS OF THE 2016 HOUSTON CULINARY AWARDS, PRESENTED BY SYSCO.

RESTAURATEUR OF THE YEAR

CHEF OF THE YEAR

UP-AND-COMING CHEF OF THE YEAR

PASTRY CHEF OF THE YEAR

BEST NEW RESTAURANT

Agricole Hospitality Cherry Pie Hospitality F.E.E.D. TX Gr8 Plate Hospitality Rick & Shiva Di Virgilio Shepard Ross Treadsack Group

Bobby Matos (State of Grace) Danny Trace (Brennan’s of Houston) Justin Yu (Oxheart) Lyle Bento (Southern Goods, 60 Pioneers) Richard Kaplan (Weights + Measures) Richard Knight (Hunky Dory) Terrence Gallivan & Seth Siegel-Gardner (The Pass & Provisions)

(age 35 or younger as of May 31, 2016)

(must have opened since June 1, 2015)

Adam Dorris, 33 (Pax Americana) Gary Ly, 35 (Underbelly) Graham Laborde, 32 (Bernadine’s) Joe Cervantez, 29 (Killen’s Steakhouse) Omar Pereney, 22 (Peska Seafood Culture) Vincent Huynh, 31 (Coltivare, Revival Market) William Wright, 28 (Helen Greek Food and Wine)

Alyssa Dole (Coltivare) Chris Leung (Cloud 10 Creamery) Julia Doran (Hunky Dory, Bernadine’s) Karen Man (Oxheart) Samantha Mendoza (Killen’s Steakhouse) Susan Molzan (Petite Sweets) Vanessa O’Donnell (Ooh La La)

BEST INTERIOR DESIGN

SERVICE PERSON OF THE YEAR

OUTSTANDING BAR PROGRAM

HOUSTON CLASSIC

OUTSTANDING WINE PROGRAM

Caracol The Kitchen at The Dunlavy La Table Peska Seafood Culture SaltAir Seafood Kitchen State of Grace Steak 48

(includes dining room managers)

Arnaldo Richards’ Picos Backstreet Cafe Canard Captain Foxheart’s Bad News Bar & Spirit Lodge Eight Row Flint Reserve 101 Wooster’s Garden

(a restaurant in business for 10 or more years)

Brasserie 19 Camerata Helen Greek Food and Wine Hugo’s Oxheart Pax Americana The Pass & Provisions

Annie Balest (Vallone’s) Arthur Mooradian (Del Frisco’s) David Keck (Camerata) Evan Turner (Helen Greek Food and Wine) Jeb Stuart (Coltivare) Sam Governale (Fleming’s, West Alabama location) Shepard Ross (Pax Americana)

Arnaldo Richards’ Picos Benjy’s in the Village Churrascos Irma’s Original Ouisie’s Table Tony’s Truluck’s

Bernadine’s Helen Greek Food and Wine Hunky Dory La Table Southern Goods State Fare Kitchen & Bar State of Grace

We also congratulate the finalists for the 2016 houston foodie star awards.

FAVORITE BAKERY

FAVORITE BARBECUE

FAVORITE BARTENDER

FAVORITE BREAKFAST

FAVORITE BURGER

FAVORITE COFFEEHOUSE

Dessert Gallery Flo Paris Bakery Fluff Bake Bar Kraftsmen Bakery Macaron (in La Table) Moeller’s Bakery Rustika Cafe & Bakery

Burns Original BBQ CorkScrew BBQ (Spring) Pappa Charlies Barbeque Pizzitola’s Bar-B-Cue Roegels Barbecue Co. Southern Goods The Brisket House

Chris Morris (Hunky Dory) Judith Piotrowski (Pax Americana, Zimm’s) Justin Ware (Johnny’s Gold Brick) Kimberly Paul (Étoile) Leslie Ross (Canard) Monica Richards (Arnaldo Richards’ Picos) Steven Salazar (Wooster’s Garden)

Blacksmith Common Bond Dish Society Kenny & Ziggy’s Marché (in La Table) Revival Market Tout Suite

B&B Butchers & Restaurant Fielding’s Wood Grill (The Woodlands) Grafitti’s at Union Street Hopdoddy Burger Bar Hunky Dory Jonathan’s The Rub The Burger Joint

Catalina Coffee Greenway Coffee & Tea Inversion Coffee House Morningstar Siphon Coffee Southside Espresso The Honeymoon Cafe & Bar

FAVORITE FARMER’S MARKET VENDOR

FAVORITE FOOD TRUCK/CART

FAVORITE LATE NIGHT SPOT

FAVORITE MOM & POP ETHNIC

BBQ Godfather Blood Bothers BBQ Brooks’ Place, LLC Cousins Maine Lobster Craft Burger Lucky Fig The Rice Box

Conservatory Jinya Ramen Mai’s Pho Binh by Night Spanish Flowers Theo’s Velvet Taco

Cafe Piquet (Cuban) Cafe TH (Vietnamese) Cooking Girl (Chinese) Fat Bao (Asian fusion) Himalaya Restaurant (Pakistani) Mala Sichuan (Chinese) Pondicheri (Indian)

FAVORITE OUTDOOR DINING

FAVORITE PUB OR BAR

FAVORITE SWEETS/ICE CREAM

B&B Butchers Batanga Cafe Annie Caracol Hunky Dory Punk’s Simple Southern Food The Burger Joint

Eight Row Flint Johnny’s Gold Brick La Grange Lei Low Moving Sidewalk Poison Girl Reserve 101

Cacao & Cardamom Fluff Bake Bar Hugs & Donuts Macaron (in La Table) Michael’s Cookie Jar Ooh La La Petite Sweets

Animal Farm Atkinson Farm Gundermann Acres Hattermann Poultry Farm Sinfull Bakery Texas Hill Country Olive Co. Wood Duck Farm

Tickets to the gala dinner on Sunday, October 2, are available at 52

HOUSTONCULINARYAWARDS.COM

OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2016

ALPHA BAKERY & DELI 11209 Bellaire Blvd. at Boone, 281-988-5222

The busiest bánh mì shop in the Hong Kong City Mall, Alpha Bakery & Deli is one of those places where you kind of need to know what you want before you walk in. There is no menu other than a piece of paper taped to the window that tells you how much the sandwiches cost. A true sandwich shop in the sense that this is the core of their business (many places have morphed into Vietnamese restaurants selling sandwiches), you order over the counter, watch as they make your sandwich and then pay cash at the register.

A favorite of Houston Chronicle food critic Alison Cook, who put it on her Top 100 Restaurants in Houston list for 2014, Alpha Bakery & Deli makes its sandwiches with a Vietnamese palate in mind. The pickled vegetables pack a little more punch here than they do elsewhere, and the cold cuts and mayo – all made in-house – taste homemade. The sandwiches are easy on the pocketbook, too, because whichever you choose – gà (chicken), thịt nướng (grilled pork), thập cẩm (combo), xíu mại (meatballs) – are all priced at just $3.

What to order: I stopped by on several occasions and each time found the ladies behind the counter working on an assembly line of large to-go orders of the thập cẩm combo sandwich, which has everything in it: pork belly, Vietnamese ham, head cheese, pâté, mayo, pickled carrot and daikon, cilantro and jalapeño. A few drops of Maggi seasoning adds a savory flavor boost.

What they’re known for:

ALPHA BAKERY’S BÁNH MÌ ASSEMBLY LINE

EAT ALL YOUR VEGGIES HERE!

duy sandwiches 6791 Wilcrest at Bellaire Blvd., 281-498-2880

Open for seven years now, Duy Sandwiches specializes in vegan and vegetarian bánh mì. In fact, the restaurant started out selling sandwiches only, eventually expanding its menu to offer a full roster of vegetarian Vietnamese dishes such as bún riêu (tomato and crab rice vermicelli soup) and cà ri chay (vegetarian curry). The small, nondescript strip mall cafe is clean and incredibly inexpensive, with a large following among the vegetarian community.

Duy Sandwiches offers a seven-item menu of vegan/vegetarian bánh mì, all priced at $3.25 each. They also offer extensive food-to-go options, along with a very inexpensive three-item lunch special for $5. All of the dishes are prepared in-house using the owner’s personal recipes.

What to order: Start with the No.1 bánh mì thịt chay (vegetarian meat sandwich) stuffed with a vegetarian ham made of ground corn, soybean and peas and be amazed at how meaty it tastes! Another interesting bánh mì to try is the vegetarian shredded pork or bì chay, which is crisp, with an almost nutty, toasted flavor to it that is quite excellent.

What they’re known for:

53 OCTOBER – NOVEMBER

Mai Pham is a Houston-based freelance food and travel writer. Follow Mai @femme_foodie on Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat for delicious finds around Houston and 2016 wherever her travels take her.

E S A C E H T G N I K A M R FO

E K SA Dodge r Byrne

By Taylo Wright y Becca Photos b

54 OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2016

Enjoyed by the Japanese for about 1500 years, but probably discovered 4500 years ago by the Chinese, sake is a fermented rice drink that carries approximately 16 percent alcohol by volume. Let’s take a look at how it’s made.

A sake master (or toji) decides what flavors he – and it typically is a he – wants his finished sake to have. There are nine varieties of rice that might be used in making sake, so the toji can mix and match. The rice is scrubbed and milled in order to better extract the flavors during the brewing process.

It is then soaked and steamed. Each kernel quickly absorbs much more water once the outer shell of the rice has been scrubbed off.

The choice of water used is as important to the final product as the rice; in fact, sake masters think about water the same way winemakers think about terroir. Alkalinity, sea-elements and natural minerals found in water from different locations affect the nuances of the final product.

Koji, a kind of mold (or fungus) used to start the fermentation process, is sprinkled on the prepared rice. The wet moldy rice then rests in something like a rice sauna for two or three days. This is the seigiku phase.

Specially formulated yeasts (or shubo) are mixed with the moldy steamed rice, and allowed to sit and grow in a large tank known as a shikomi for three to four days. During this growing period, additional amounts of yeast, koji and rice are added to the mash mixture (now called moromi), increasing the volume of the rice. The mash is covered and rests for another couple weeks to grow and ferment. It becomes very funky.

Here’s where things start to take a cheesy turn: In the old days, when the toji decided it was time to stop the fermentation process, the mash is divided up and placed into canvas bags.

The bags are then squeezed – think of how you’d squeeze liquids from the solids held in cheesecloth when making goat cheese. A newer way to separate the mash from the sake is to put the moromi in an accordian-like machine that squeezes the substance together and allows liquids to drain off into tanks.

The liquid that comes out is the sake.

The sake is then filtered. Depending on the method used, the filtration process can greatly affect the flavor of sake, which is then quickly heated and pasteurized to kill the growing bacteria. This completes the fermentation process. However, some sake is not pasteurized. Instead, the namazake (unpasteurized sake) must be chilled in a refrigerator until consumed, in order to protect the quality of the brew and the fresh flavors that unpasteurized sake is prized for.

While making sake isn’t very different from making beer, or wine, or even bourbon, it has some very exclusive rating levels used to identify the quality of each brew, which depend on factors like rice and any additional distilled alcohol added.

FROM BIGSTOCK.COM

55 OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2016

sake terminology Junmai The sake rice is polished so

that 30 percent of the kernel is worn down. A junmai labeling means that no distilled alcohol has been added to the product. Considered rustic or common.

Junmai ginjo The sake rice is

polished so that 40 percent of the kernel is worn down. Medium grade.

Junmai daiginjo The sake rice is

polished so that 50 percent of the kernel is worn down. Better grade.

Koshu The term for sake aged more

than six months.

Kura The wooden house built near an

“elite” water source in order to collect and preserve water for the sake-making process.

Nigori The term for the cloudiness

found in unfiltered sake.

Sparkling sake Recently gaining

popularity, sparkling sakes usually have slightly lower alcohol at 10 percent ABV. While diluting sake to lower the ABV disturbs the product, it can be done without upsetting the balance of flavors and integrity of quality by formulating sparkling sake during either the tank fermentation process or during bottling fermentation, depending on the producer. This style is growing with younger sake drinkers in Japan.

Tsuyoi mizu “Strong” water, ter-

minology used by toji. Elements found in water such as magnesium, potassium and phosphoric acid help maintain yeast propagation and also assist in koji development and are necessary for fermentation. Iron and manganese, on the other hand, adversely affect the flavor, aroma and color of sake in a relatively short amount of time. Both strong and weak water (yowai mizu) can be good to use, depending on their chemical makeup and the kind of rice used. One is not better than the other.

sake cocktails COURTESY OF ELYSE BLECHMAN, BARTENDER AT CAPTAIN FOXHEART’S BAD NEWS BAR & SPIRIT LODGE

Aloha, Kariyushi!

Plum vinegar is used to add bold notes of salt, tang and fruit in Japanese cuisine. Here it adds a depth and balance to an otherwise sweet cocktail.

1 oz .Yohu “Rhythm of the Centuries” Junmai Yama-Oroshi ½ oz. Kiuchi No Shizuki, Distilled Hitachino White Ale 1 oz. of canned purple yam & coconut cream, blended together ½ oz. simple syrup ½ oz. lemon juice ½ oz. plum vinegar, Umeboshi

pickled baby plums

Build in a cocktail shaker. Shake and strain into tiki mug or a Collins glass over ice.

Garnish forever.

METHOD:

56 OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2016

56

OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2016

Shiso Needy

This cocktail is meant to cater to someone who enjoys cocktails that are bright with citrus or green and vegetal, such as the Aviation or The Last Word. Available off-menu at Bad News Bar, upon request. #secretsakesociety 1 oz. Wakatake Onikorishi ”Demon Slayer” Junmai Daiginjo 1 oz. Choya Umeshu plum wine 1 oz. Aviation American Gin 1 stalk lemongrass 1 package of shiso leaves (available at Asian markets) 1 jar of yuzu jam (substitute with lemon jelly if needed) Build in a cocktail shaker with 1-inch cut of fresh lemongrass, 2 shiso leaves and 1 barspoon of yuzu jam.

Shake vigorously to muddle the fresh ingredients and fine strain in a cocktail glass. Enjoy thoroughly.

METHOD:

Maneki-Neko Highball SHISO NEEDY PEARL AND PEAR

A traditional Japanese highball is a work of art in itself, but Blechman was interested in softening the cocktail with the creamy unfiltered mouthfeel of a nigori, juxtaposing the sharp effervescence of the sparkling water while complementing the round gentleness of Toki Whisky.

1 oz. Suntory Toki Whisky 1 oz. Rihaku “Dreamy Clouds” Nigori Tokobetsu Junmai 3 oz. Mountain Valley sparkling water Combine ingredients in a highball glass over ice, or chill ingredients in the freezer beforehand to serve up.

METHOD:

For more whisky highballs, see page 60.

garnish with a pear horse’s neck

Pearl and Pear

If you love crisp pears and strong fruity aromas, you will enjoy this cocktail.

1½ oz. Minato “Harbor” Tsuchizaki Yamahai Nama Genshu 1½ oz. Clear Creek Pear Brandy 2 dashes of Berg & Hauck Lemon Bitters Combine ingredients in mixing glass with ice. Stir well and strain over large format ice. Garnish with pear horse’s neck (i.e. a long, continuous pear peel).

METHOD:

57 OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2016

sake to savor AS RECOMMENDED BY ELYSE BLECHMAN

Wakatake Onikorishi “Demon Slayer” Junmai Daiginjo

I particularly enjoy this Junmai Daiginjo for its bright acidity and fruitful aroma with a slightly dry finish, which is a great expression for most wine drinkers to understand and enjoy. This sake is bold on the palate and holds its own when incorporated into cocktails.

Sho Chiku Bai Nama

Nama sake is “raw” or unpasteurized sake.

The crisp aroma and fresh flavor can be quite tantalizing in comparison to other expressions that are softened by double pasteurization during the brewing process. Sakes that undergo pasteurization are not at risk of attack from enzymes and bacteria that could compromise their character and quality. The bacteria that could deteriorate Nama sake becomes inactive below 50° F, so it is important to store and serve this product cold. For this reason, I particularly enjoy Sho Chiku Bai Nama sake for its thoughtful packaging of a single serving bottle for the individual consumer who can’t commit to slaying a larger bottle of this time-sensitive expression alone.

Rihaku “Dreamy Clouds” Nigori Tokobetsu Junmai

Dreamy Clouds is one of my favorite nigori, or unfiltered, sakes. The milling rate of 41 percent is higher than most other nigori sakes, which grants this creamy, starch-forward expression a bright acidity and bold bouquet.

My pick for sake newbies.

Yohu “Rhythm of the Centuries” Junmai Yama-Oroshi

This sake is made by utilizing a traditional technique of pole-ramming to mix the yeast starter, granting a more pronounced flavor and complexity.

Sichuan “Drunken Heart” Junmai

The sweet aroma and full body of this Hiroshima expression is delightful to enjoy on its own, with a meal or in a cocktail. I’ll take it all three ways, please.

Minato “Harbor” Tsuchizaki Yamahai Nama Genshu

This Nama Genshu rings in at 21 percent ABV, which really helps to boost the acidity and mouthfeel, while carrying a strong bouquet. This sake is perfect for sharing over dinner or incorporating into cocktails with bold and contrasting ingredients.

58 OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2016

sitting down for sake with elyse blechman BARTENDER AT CAPTAIN FOXHEART’S BAD NEWS BAR & SPIRIT LODGE she’s a sake superstar

When did you first learn about sake?

Kinetically? The same way most of us do, pounding our fists on Kona’s patio tables with a circle of happy-hour friends, attempting to shake a hot shot of futsu-shu sake into a tepid glass of Kirin Ichiban.

I first began looking at sake under a microscope in 2014 when I took a bar position at Hot Joy in San Antonio and fell in love. Working for a bar concept

where to sip sake cocktails bad news bar

308 Main

Izakaya

318 Gray

Jinya Ramen

3201 Louisiana, Ste 105, and 18299 Egret Bay Blvd.

Ninja Ramen

4219 Washington Uchi

904 Westheimer Wooster’s Garden

3315 Milam

that provided a spectrum of junmai grades and expressions had me in constant conversation and consumption of this mysterious and ritualistic drink. I had found the rabbit hole and fearlessly began my decent.

What do you wish more Americans understood about drinking sake?

With the explosion of sushi bars and izakayas (Japanese bars serving bar snacks) throughout the Western world, we now have access to an incredible array of Japanese imports and goods.

Investigating this new sphere of booming cultural interest puts us in direct access to some beautifully made sake, rooted in tradition and meticulous production. We need to respect sake for what it is and abandon the need to understand it through comparative exercise. Although it’s easiest to express our interaction with sake in wine-speak, we need to isolate the two upon consumption. Don’t disappoint yourself with your own expectations.

Why do you think some consumers shy away from sake and sochu (a distilled spirit, also made from rice)?

Sake and sochu, although exotic and intriguing, taste really weird on Western palates when first experiencing them.

They register in nearly an uncharted area from what we conventionally perceive to be a beer, wine or spirit.

59 OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2016

Drinking umami is a sensation nearly exclusive to the culinary vein. It’s not often that we discern such nuances of flavor in the form of libation, and I think our minds can’t quite understand the rich characteristics of sake at first taste.

Which sakes do you recommend for beginners?

Shirikabe Gura “White Wall” Tokobetsu Junmai is a great expressive sake for the beginner, and I stand behind most nigoris, like “Dreamy Clouds” that I mentioned before, to caress a virgin palate in the kindest way possible.

Mystery can be both intriguing and intimidating, but don’t fear the baby steps, y’all.

If you could sit down and drink sake with one person, who would it be?

I would love to enjoy a glass of sake with Takayuki Kazuoka, assistant professor at Tokyo University of Agriculture, who has been developing methods that isolate flower yeasts from Japan’s native flora to introduce to sake brewers. Kazuoka is at the helm of yeast research, and his efforts to revitalize domestic consumption and interest in sake have been embraced by over 30 breweries.

Taylor Byrne Dodge is My Table magazine’s creative director.

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Japanese Whisky Highball 60 OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2016

is a Delicious Window into a Culture of Simplicity

The Highball is dead. Long live the Highball. The Japanese Whisky Highball, to be exact.

The highball may well be the world’s most ubiquitous mixed drink. Scotch and soda; Jack and Coke; gin and tonic.

These are all highballs. To many people, such indulgences are simple to the point of being unworthy of serious consideration. In the past few years, the air surrounding highballs has gotten just a bit rarer, with bartenders bringing their simplicity into sharp focus.

First, the gin and tonic craze struck.

House-made tonic syrups and painterly garnishes in lovely, broad-bowled glasses became de rigueur, and the G&T has a newfound sophistication.

Now we turn our attention to whisky. Japanese whisky, to be precise, and the Japanese whisky highball.

While this form of highball may steer (mostly) clear of ostentation, that doesn’t mean that its few simple elements are careless in their combination. Rather, it is exactly the opposite.

More than anything, perhaps, the Japanese whisky highball is a drinkable treatise on just how thoughtful a two-ingredient drink (three, if you count the ice, which perhaps you should) can be.

Depending on where you’re drinking in Japan – a train station or a high-end cocktail haunt – you may take your highball from a vending machine or be treated to a stylized work of performance art. Japanese culture is rife with ceremony and ritual, with precision and focus guiding the movements of a master as he elevates seemingly inconsequential everyday tasks, imbuing the draw of a knife across fish or the motion of a whisk in a bowl of tea with a greater sense of importance. Through the very act of focus, the everyday becomes something greater or, rather, we are drawn to see that the everyday is already worthy of our attention.

So it is with the highball, where the most studious versions come stirred 13.5 times, the ice stacked just so, a little swizzling motion at the end to draw a bit of froth. While some argue that this precision is integral to the drink itself, it also seeks to inform the

experience more broadly, to focus both the bartender and the customer on the moment.

“If you find yourself sitting down in front of a bartender spending the three minutes to mix you a two-ingredient drink,” explains Christopher Huang of Ninja Ramen, “I think the drink deserves your attention in a way that’s different than when you’re trying to down a Jack-and-Coke at a club because you’re too anxious to go talk to that chick that didn’t even look in your direction.”

Carl Rosa, a tour guide for visitors to Japan and founder of several Japancentric Houston food clubs, agrees that the focused nature of the highball reflects Japanese culture in a way that may not be immediately apparent.

“The end result of almost anything ‘Japanese’ is a direct reflection to one point – simplicity,” Rosa says. “Although the creation of a Japanese highball may appear to be somewhat complicated and methodical (and that might be true), it’s a reflection of the devotion to the craft of the server/bartender. Regardless of

61 OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2016

the topic – mixed drinks, sake, whisky, sushi, tempura, ramen ... it’s all about two integral factors: maintaining a simplistic understanding of the creation (and a respect for the basics) and the pursuit of customer satisfaction and absolute hospitality called omotenashi.”

Of course, not every version of the highball is so studious, and a focus on simplicity can take many forms. Anvil’s Terry Williams found that out on a recent trip to Japan, where he relied on the highball as a sort of liquid safety net, a sure thing regardless of where he found himself. Most of these were simple affairs, focused more on balance than on a carefully choreographed series of motions. The notion of hospitality also shifts with the intended audience, meaning that a highball crafted in the pursuit of customer satisfaction changes depending on the customer.

“I’m not sure that Houston is really the place for the ritual of hand-carving ice, stirring 13.5 times,” says Williams.

“Houston is a casual city, we dress casual to go to dinner or the theatre, we drink casual. Houstonians aren’t enormous

Reserve 101 uses Hibiki harmony in this whisky highball

fans of waiting either. I think a balance” – there’s that word again – “has to be struck.”

In finding that balance, Williams’ team still focuses on the components of the cocktail, taking care to ensure that every component is carefully considered to deliver maximum satisfaction in a minimal amount of time, an essential consideration for a bar that gets very busy, very quickly. That leaves them with a style borrowed from Williams’ experiences at Bar Track in Tokyo,

where the drink is served sans ice, no carefully calibrated stir required. All of the calibration for Anvil’s highball happens before the bar even opens. “We serve ours with whisky from the freezer, a frozen glass and ice-cold sparkling water. No ice. We tasted around 20 different waters before we settled on the one we use for our highball,” says Williams.

The careful consideration of components – as with Williams’ water tastings – is one of the ways in which the highball focuses on the perfection of simplicity. When all you’ve got is whisky and water, you’d better make sure you’re paying attention to both of them. For Williams, this means Japanese whisky, for starters. “There is something about the Japanese blended and malt whiskies that just pairs well with a nice soft, carbonated water. Everything is in balance when it is done right. After months of experimentation upon returning home from Japan, I found that very few Scotches or American whiskies were able to strike that same balance in the glass.”

Frank Krockenberger specializes in Japanese whisky for distiller/importer Beam Suntory, which produces some of Japan’s finest whiskies. Among these is Toki, the highball spirit of choice for many Houston bartenders (and this author).

“Suntory Whisky Toki is ideal because it’s light but still complex,” says Krockenberger. A blended whisky, Toki brings together spirits from several of Japan’s distilleries, combining them for an elegant balance that is at once light and refreshing, but also nuanced and refined. “You get a lot of fruity notes imparted from the Hakashu (unpeat-

ed) side of the blend, more complex notes from the Yamazaki, and a good bit of texture and body from the Chita distillery, in which Toki uses the heavier grain whisky variety,” explains Krockenberger. “I’d argue that most all Japanese whiskies make great highballs, but the elegant complexity, availability and cost of Toki make it a superb choice.”

Of course, the American predilection for tinkering often leads to variation on a theme, with bartenders taking the concept of the whisky highball and expanding on it. Reserve 101’s Mike Raymond prefers to take his highballs with Hibiki 12 (“Let’s be honest, that would be a pretty expensive highball”), but takes the drink in a different direction on his menu. There, the Licking Our Wounds highball combines Hibiki Harmony, oloroso syrup, lavender bitters and tonic. It’s a few steps away from the studiously simple classic, but Raymond feels that you can walk the highball line without crossing it, as long as you keep a few things in mind.

“I don’t think you lose the integrity until the soda goes from a long pour to a splash, or if other flavors are added and overpower the drink.” The Licking Our Wounds comes pretty close to the line, with its flavor-adders and tonic-swap, but provides its own reflection on the subtle phrasing of whisky and water.

At Canard, Leslie Ross takes similar liberties with the highball, though you can go the classic route as well. For a more classic take, Ross prefers a combination of whisky (“Suntory Toki, [or] Hakashu 18. Those are polar opposite, but that shows the range that the Japanese are capable of when it comes

Midori Japanese Highball

By Leslie Ross, Canard 1 PART HIBIKI JAPANESE HARMONY

1 PART

YOUR

MIDORI

FAVORITE

MELON

SPARKLING

LIQUEUR

MINERAL WATER

METHOD:

Pour into a chilled highball glass filled with ice. Stir and top with sparkling mineral water. Stir again and garnish with62 a melon ball and a wide strip of lemon peel.

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congratulates the finalists of the

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HOUSTON CULINARY AWARDS

Sponsoring the Houston Culinary awards Family-owned since 1829 and based in the village of Aÿ in the heart of the Champagne region, Champagne Bollinger is revered around the world for its elegant and complex champagnes produced from their exceptional vineyards, with an emphasis on the Pinot Noir grape, and a uniquely rigorous nurturing of their wines. Bollinger’s carefully farmed 410 acres of primarily Grand Cru and Premier Cru vineyards make them one of the most important vineyard owners in all of Champagne. The family’s tenacity in continuing with labor-intensive handriddling, vinification in small, old casks, and long aging of reserve wines in magnums under cork, results in Champagnes of true individuality and excellence.

Reserve Magnums aging in Bollinger’s caves.

“One of Bollinger’s great assets is a massive stock of reserve wine, including 600,000 magnums held under cork. Gilles Descôtes tends those reserves, working with the blending team to subsume the variations of the current vintage into Bollinger’s Special Cuvée by using a majority of reserve wines in the blend. The result is a rich and harmonious Champagne with deep reserves of flavor. Its substantial, formal structure feels polished, its flavors balancing the cool earthiness of a limestone cave and the sunnier, bright floral notes of fresh cream. Built for food, whether emphasizing the freshness with lobster bisque, or the depth with beef Wellington and chanterelles.”

93 Points Wine & Spirits Magazine “I love Champagne, and this is one of my go-to bottles for its rich, complex flavors and mouthfeel. Consistently one of the best non-vintage cuvees, it’s a full-bodied, vinous style courtesy of the high percentage Pinot Noir (60%) in the blend, partial barrel fermentation of the base wine, and reserve wines of up to 15 years of age.”

93 Points Wine Spectator, Critic’s Choice 64 OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2016

EXCLUSIVE US IMPORTER

anvil’s japanese whisky highball METHOD:

Freeze both the highball glass and the Toki. Pour the

chilled Toki and ice-cold sparkling mineral water into the chilled glass.

1.5 oz. Suntory Toki

7.5 oz. Mountain Valley Sparkling Water

to making whisky.”), plus Topo Chico, an ice spear (“less surface area means less dilution!”) and a lemon “cheek,” which is a round coin shape, mostly peel, but with the tiniest bit of flesh on the inside.

“This is my personal go-to, and also I think these are what keep Alex Negranza (Anvil bartender and noted highball enthusiast) alive,” Ross says with a laugh. For a spin with its own particular Japanese inflection, Ross adds Japanese Midori melon liqueur to the mix, lending a fruity and refreshing nuance well in keeping with the quaffable character of the drink.

While many versions of the drink (including Anvil’s) omit ice entirely, the cold stuff can be a defining element for a highball. Pretty much every professional surveyed for this story agreed that, if you’re using ice, details matter.

Moving Sidewalk mastermind and ice impresario Alex Gregg sees the dual nature of the highball, however, allowing both for a carefully considered and artfully wrought drink and an easygoing and casual concoction, moving effortlessly between these modes based on time, place and temperament.

Though this may result in wildly differing takes on the highball, it’s well in keeping with the notion of omotenashi that Carl Rosa sees as so elemental to Japanese drinks and culture.

“I think it has as much importance or as little importance as you want it to, depending on what you are trying to achieve,” Gregg said when asked about the role of ice in highballs. “In my opinion, a vodka soda in a plastic gocup with pillow ice and yesterday’s lime wedge on a steamy day in the Marigny

is as proper a highball as a 17-year Japanese whisky in a nine-ounce etched crystal highball glass with a perfect diamond-cut highball cube and bubbly water selected by Terry Williams himself, flown from Japan weekly. Two very different drinks, both great highballs.”

Differing highball scenarios aside, Gregg points out a few ways in which your choice of ice will impact the resulting drink, from clarity to shape, dilution to flavor. Controlled sizing on ice cubes allows for a more consistent drink, freeing you from the tyranny of jiggered soda (“always looks kinda weird in my opinion”) by giving a consistent level (no odd-shaped cubes to throw off the volume) for pours. Size and shape also control dilution and chilling, largely a function of surface area.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the clarity of your ice “is a good way to control every flavor component in the drink. Ice that has trapped gases and minerals (poor clarity) may have a flavor impact on a drink, whereas ice that is 99.9 percent pure water with no trapped minerals or gases won’t,” Gregg notes. “This gets super important once you get into double digits with your spirit selection and the mixer is given heavy consideration as well. I prefer a fatter ‘spear’ with lots of volume (for more chilling power, thermal mass, etc.), so clear that at most angles you cannot even tell there is a piece of ice in the glass.”

Whether you want yours with or without ice, modified with liqueurs or bitters or constrained to the basics, stirred with the precision of a chemistballerina or crafted with a more casual hand, the one thing everyone agrees on is that the highball is a friendly drink.

65 OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2016

“Highballs are so great because they are a lower ABV, are light, crisp and refreshing,” says Leslie Ross. “It makes it so much easier to pair with food.”

That’s exactly how Christopher Huang advises his customers to enjoy highballs at Ninja Ramen. The walls in Ninja Ramen are emblazoned with the suggestion to pair whisky with food, and Huang often obliges with a highball. “I love recommending it when someone asks me how they should do that. The now-faux-classic of Hakushu 12-year with a sprig of mint is often served.”

As for when and where to drink a highball, the consensus seems to be “when and wherever you can.” If you need a better reason, take it from Terry Williams: “We’ve begun referring to it as ‘healthy whisky.’ I mean it’s just water and whisky. No sugar, no additives. It’s practically just hydration. Zero calories … okay, maybe a few.”

Or, to allow Bill Murray to translate, “for relaxing times, make it [Japanese highball] time.”

Note: All of the bars mentioned in this article will happily make you a highball.

Though the details of ice, spirit and stircount may differ, the simple, refreshing deliciousness of the resulting drink will not.

Nicholas L. Hall is a husband and father who earns his keep playing a video game that controls the U.S. power grid. He also writes about food, booze and music, in an attempt to keep the demons at bay. When he’s not busy keeping your lights on, he can usually be found making various messes in the kitchen, with apologies to his wife.

reviews

ritual ADDRESS

Oak

602 Studewood at White

TELEPHONE 832-203-5180 WEBSITE ritualhouston.com CUISINE “Texas to table” CREDIT CARDS All major HOURS Open 11 am-10 pm Sun.-Thu.,

11 am-11 pm Fri.-Sat. RESERVATIONS Recommended NOISE LEVEL Lots of hard surfaces to bounce noise

EAT, LOVE, PAY

By Eric Gerber

Now, this was one memorable appetizer – even if the restaurant chose not to call it that, opting to label this part of the dinner menu “Odds and Ends.”

Well, I’m still not sure if the smoked lamb bacon and blue cheese in tomato halves ($12) qualified as an odd or an end, but for me it served a great

introduction to Ritual, an occasionally perplexing but very promising eatery in The Heights.

It has set up shop in the refashioned gas station previously occupied by El Cantina Superior. Ritual is another well-executed exercise in the current trend of slamming together casual ambience with serious culinary attitude – in this case, kind of Texas-influenced comfort food.

Inside, it is faux industrial warehouse, with commercial pipe, raw wood, garage roll-up doors and concrete floors the order of the day. There are even a couple of meat lockers, with big picture windows, where you can admire (or cringe from) sides of beef and other carcasses waiting to be properly butchered. Softening that no-nonsense effect is a clever retro touch with a row of circa-1950s armchairs in stubbly, lima-bean green upholstery. It’s so ugly, it’s cute.

Shortly after my great lamb bacon starter, the server presented me a steak knife that Jim Bowie would have been proud to brandish. This was

RITUAL PHOTO BY BECCA WRIGHT

66 OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2016

some bodacious blade all right. For a moment, my mind reeled – had I ordered Fred Flintstone’s brontosaurus prime rib and forgotten? No, my entrée order was a relatively modest surf-andturf combo ($21) – shrimp and a locally sourced pork cutlet.

“Uh, is it going to fight back?” I joked, waving the no-joking knife at the server.

Little did I know.

As it turned out, the knife was more than put to the test, with me sawing away at a surprisingly tough slab of pig and trying to excavate an outsized, head-on crustacean that seemed welded into its shell. It was apparent these were high-quality ingredients, but they had been mishandled – likely overcooked to begin with and/or held too long under the warming lamp.

So … which was the real Ritual? That first-rate appetizer or the second-rate main course?

As it turned out, that disappointing surf-and-turf was the only notable stumble and just about everything else – from a succulent Butcher’s Beef Steak

ad directory OCTOBER – NOVEMBER Arnaldo Richards’ Picos (inside back cover) Berkel (page 9) The Butcher’s Ball (page 15)

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Japanese Highballin' Eating Up Osaka

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($29) and a nicely seared piece of red snapper ($24) to a steaming bowl of kielbasa, red beans and rice ($16) – was properly prepared with dash and brio.

The kitchen here, launched by Jordan Asher and then taken over by Albert Vasquez, is not shy about pushing its flavors forward, and the operating principle appropriately seems to be “go big or go home.” There’s even a somewhat playful attitude at work here, offering some winking novelties like Boudin Corn Dogs ($12), little Cajun dollops served with pickled okra and a piquant celery salad, and a Texas Picnic Board ($21), a charcuterie platter that includes deviled duck eggs and pork rinds. But all novelty aside, these are still good eating.

The desserts are intentionally limited, with only a few so-called “pies” when I visited. I slapped on the quote marks because these are not conventional crust-encased concoctions but reconstructed creations like a Blackberry Cobbler ($9) or Pecan

Fudge ($9) that intermingle all the ingredients into a single slab. It’s creative without being particularly satisfying.

Dominating Ritual’s minimalist décor is a large marquee that covers most of one wall, not unlike a baseball scoreboard, not only listing and describing the multitude of craft beers that are currently available, but also specifying their origins, alcohol content and International Bitterness Unit scores. You will find the energetic staff extremely knowledgeable about the offerings and not afraid to shoo you off a so-so selection and recommend something more suitable. Such genuine enthusiasm is very much appreciated.

As much as I was generally impressed with Ritual, I found myself frowning at a few things. Its location, sharing a busy intersection with Fitzgerald’s, Woodrow’s and BB’s, makes for a pretty challenging parking situation (even with valet). And for those given to grousing – and I don’t mean hunting 67 OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2016

Louisiana Foods (page 61) My Table subscriptions (page 68) Oak Farms Dairy (page 71) OpenTable (page 39) Pappas Restaurants (page 30) Reliant, an NRG company (page 11) River Oaks Houston (page 69) Spec’s (page 35) Sugar Land Wine & Food Affair (page 45) Sysco Foods (page 1) Truluck’s (inside front cover) UberEATS (page 31) Uptown Sushi (page 5) Vintus Wines (page 64) Waterman Steele Real Estate Advisors (page 29)

game birds – there’s a wee bit of pretension here waiting to be punctured. Instead of salad, for example, the menu invites you to partake of “roughage.” Ah … so tell me again: Which one of these is my roughage fork?

Despite all the restaurant’s flowery language on its website about its fervent desire to salute “our proud state of Texas,” I counted exactly zero by-theglass offerings of Texas wine – and only a couple of Lone Star vintages on the full bottle list. Now, that’s okay – it’s still a decent wine list. (To be fair, the beer list is much more Texascentric.)

Ritual? Call it Shorty’s or Slim’s or Ethel’s or Doc’s or Duck-DuckGoose or the Collared Peccary. Call it Neches, Brazos, Pecos or Nueces. Call it Chinati, Packsaddle or Sawtooth. Or maybe just 86 the first three letters and go with “U-Al” as a hipster version of “You All.” But Ritual? For a “Texas” restaurant? C’mon, bubba.

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W. 19th

1835 N. Shepherd at

TELEPHONE 713-868-0071 WEBSITE canerosso.com/theheights CUISINE Traditional Neapolitan pizza, CREDIT CARDS All major HOURS Lunch 11 am-3 pm

verdan t veggie during s the dar k season meatball roll call pros on (knife) experts talk tools point of the trad e pomegr ana the jeweled tes fruit

ISSUE NO. 126

ADDRESS

etc.

BLE

! le Swizz d Sizzle

cane rosso

Tue.-Sun., dinner 5-10 pm Mon.-Thu., 5-11 pm Fri. and Sat. and 3-9 pm Sun. RESERVATIONS Only for six or more NOISE LEVEL Daunting when crowded

NEAT-A-POLITAN

By William Albright

N 2015

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I don’t gnaw.

Ribs? Strictly knife-and-fork food.

Corn on the cob? I cut the kernels off as though I’m making corn chowder (pronounced chow-dah). Fried chicken? Goes under the knife. Burgers and dogs? They require surgery, too.

Apples? I don’t unsheathe a blade, I use one of those gizmos that reduce Galas and Fujis to slices. Ah, but what about bananas, you ask? No, I don’t shank them. But I do break off pieces with my fingers and pop the bits into my shell-like mouth.

Thus, I was delighted to learn that Cane Rosso informs patrons that its authentic Neapolitan-style pizzas come out of the wood-fired oven with thin crusts so soft they are meant to be eaten with cutlery. When I visited the new, buzz-fetching pizzeria in The Heights I did see a few die-hards who, perhaps chastened by all the politicians running for office who get slammed for taking tools to pizza, folded slices down the middle like they’re making a paper airplanes. But for me the policy of this Dallas import was completely old hat, not to mention ever-so-civilized.

The very attentive servers here immediately launch into an informative lecture about the place’s wares, explaining that the pies’ infrastructure is chewy, not crisp like a cracker.

Truth to tell, though, the crusts in this new operation, which opened June 6 68 OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2016

on the North-Shepherd-at-19th spot where Houston Alternator Shop used to be, aren’t much softer than those undergirding the baked goods at the more American-style pizza parlors dotting the landscape.

Cane Rosso (“red dog” in Italian) is the brainchild of former corporate sales exec Jay Jerrier, who fell in love with genuine Italian pizza when he honeymooned in Italy in 1995. After operating a mobile catering business in Dallas for two years, he had a wood-burning oven built, trained with master pizza-makers at the Associazone Verace Pizza Napoletana (which works to spread the gospel of Neapolitan-style pizza) and in 2011 opened a brick-andmortar eatery in Dallas’s Deep Ellum district. There are now five branches in Big D, a Montrose outpost is coming to 4306 Yoakum soon, and an Austin store is in the works, too.

Cane Rosso’s executive chef is Naples-born Dino Santonicola, one of two people holding the prestigious title of Fiduciary of Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana and the 2012 winner of the gold medal at the AVPN Olympics in his home town. In his kitchens, authenticity is maintained with fresh-daily dough made with all-natural flour from Italy. The sauce is hand-crushed San Marzano tomatoes from The Boot, and the fresh mozzarella and hot soppressata (a kind of salami) are made in-house.

Unlike the pizzas in American-style pizzerias, Cane Rosso’s 14-inch pies are not piled high with toppings. They are cut into six pieces. (Of course I thought of the old joke: “I don’t think I can eat six slices all by myself, can you cut it into four?”) The 900-degree Fahrenheit, blazingly gold-foil-plated, wood-burning oven cooks pies in 90 seconds or less (which should really expedite drop-in take-out orders), and they have won various awards in Big D and nationally.

The Heights is no longer that foodie desert it was for years – Ka Sushi, Southern Goods, Hunky Dory, Benadine’s, Hugs & Donuts and Fat Cat Creamery are all nearby neighbors – and Cane Rosso gives residents that

CANE ROSSO

RIVER OAKS HOUSTON

PHOTO COURTESY OF CANE ROSSO

opportunity to enjoy Neapolitan-style pizza without hiking down to Lower Westheimer’s Dolce Vita or Pizaro’s.

And enjoy them they will. I tried several pies and didn’t find one I didn’t like.

I started with the one named for the establishment. Sprinkled with nuggets of excellent local Italian sausage, the Cane Rosso ($16) was also outfitted with roasted onions and peppers and finished with mozzarella and parmesan.

The sausage on the Zoli ($15) is joined by hot soppressata, a mild version of which is available if kids or tablemates don’t like spicy food. Small bowl-shaped discs of pepperoni ride the Joan Marie ($16), which is bracingly enlivened with goat cheese and a swirl of roasted jalapeño pesto.

The most unusual pizza I tried was the Delia ($16). Under a blanket of fresh arugula and mozzarella lurked a scatter of tiny roasted grape tomatoes and a bacon relish that balanced heat with a bit of sweetness. But maybe the best pie was the one I tried to test the old saw that the simplest things (a roast chicken, mayonnaise, spaghetti carbonara) are the real tests of kitchen skills. The Regina Margherita ($15) is nothing but tomato sauce, a few blobs of imported buffalo mozzarella and a leaf or two of basil, and the bare-bones combo really pops.

Coltivare, another Italian-focused Heights eatery, makes a wonderful

dish of spaghetti lightly dressed with olive oil and black pepper, and so does Cane Rosso ($12). I much preferred that as a shared starter to the decidedly meh meatballs ($8), while wondering whether the $12 Johnny C sandwich (coppa, prosciutto, hot soppressata, grape tomatoes, parmesan, provolone, arugula, balsamic vinegar and giardiniera) was named in honor of our own Johnny Carrabba.

Dessert pizzas are nothing new, of course, and Cane Rosso makes a very enjoyable one topped with apples and cinnamon called the Bella Mela ($10).

But if you want to gorge yourself on dough and love s’mores, there a large, rather thickly mantled calzone-like $10 pastry oozing chocolate and marshmallows and dusted with powdered sugar.

I never went camping as a kid and didn’t taste s’mores until I moved to Texas as an adult, so I went first for the fine $8 tiramisu served in a cocktail glass and based on executive chef Dino Santonicola’s family recipe. I bet he never had s’mores as a kid, either.

Eric Gerber is the director of communications at the University of Houston.

William Albright has reviewed local restaurants for more than 20 years for The Houston Post, Inside Houston, Houston Business Journal and others.

69 OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2016

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In Houston, buying and selling property reaches its zenith in River Oaks, where homes are often stunning … with prices to match. It is the most intensive level of residential real estate.

We are the chain that links your property, advertising, sales promotion, persuasion, negotiation and successful closure.

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– Migrating Taste –

From Kebab to Karhai

By Sarah Bronson

Growing up in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, Omer Yousafzai loved helping prepare meals at home. “But in my culture, men don’t cook,” he said. Instead, he studied law, eventually bringing his family to the United States and earning a graduate degree at Southern Methodist University on a scholarship.

His subsequent work as a lawyer and contractor took him across the globe, through Turkey and Dubai and back to Afghanistan. Tasting the cuisines of other countries only intensified his interest in food. So he returned to Houston, the place he had come to call home, to begin a new line of work.

For the past four years, Yousafzai and his family have operated Afghan Village. The spot on Hillcroft just south of the Mahatma Gandhi District feels home-like inside, with pillows covered in jewel-tone fabrics, seating pads on the floor and fierce art on the walls. Friends warned Yousafzai that he had no experience running a restaurant and could go bankrupt in months, but the place hasn’t had a bad day.

Yousafzai had an inkling from his most recent stint overseas that an Afghan restaurant would succeed in Houston. Working among Americans in the military, he remembers, “We would bribe locals to bring in Afghan food from the outside.”

Here, too, dinners are shuttled across borders as out-of-towners ask the Yousafzais to pack karhai to go. The goat tenderly cooked with house-ground cumin seeds and cilantro, onion and lemon, tumbling off marrow-filled bone reminds them of home – assuming home falls among the eastern Afghani provinces, where spicier foods reflect

Pakistani influence, unlike Afghan’s northern regions with their simpler kebab styles.

Guests sometimes visit from far away on recommendation alone. Yousafzai points out a group sitting on a raised platform and says they came straight to the restaurant after flying in from Atlanta.

About those curtain-encircled wooden platforms at either end of the restaurant, where diners are seated on carpets: Afghans often prefer the floor for mealtimes. “It’s for cultural and religious reasons,” Yousafzai explains.

“Our prophet said that sitting up while eating prevents overeating. You are to divide your stomach in three: one part for water, one part for food, and one part for oxygen.” Advice I definitely did not follow earlier here.

Our first meal began with eggplant seasoned with what seemed like red pepper, thoroughly cooked with tomatoes and topped with yogurt.

Called bouranee baunjan, the eggplant behaved as a kind of dip for our fresh flatbread and began to sate us like chips and salsa never could. We hadn’t even ordered it, but our server, a man with a bright smile, gave us some on the house so we wouldn’t wait too long to eat. The bouranee baunjan would make yet another appearance after I finished talking with Yousafzai a few days later: He didn’t want to send me home empty-handed.

Afghans are so hospitable, Yousafzai tells me, that one does not need hotels when traveling between regions of Afghanistan, as you can depend on finding friends to take you in.

And there are certain things they must provide: “If you 70invite someone OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2016

70

OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2016

to your home, you give them the world, but if you don’t give them qabuli palau, you didn’t give them anything.”

Yousafzai is talking about a classic preparation of lamb with rice. On my plate was deep purple meat accented with just a few turns of the grinder worth of black pepper on top for aroma rather than flavor, as the lamb holds its own. The taste of the brown-tinted rice recalls the meat; in fact, the rice does its cooking in the broth remaining after lamb shank simmers with spices. A sweet complement of slivered carrot and raisins finishes off the qabuli palau.

Tea epitomizes an Afghan welcome.

I’m told later that tea is always brewing and ready to be served and that the hot green tea Afghan Village provides for no charge after every meal is an extension of this culture. The leaves impart a strong flavor like that of black tea. A bowl of jaggery joins the pot.

Traditionally, the pieces of raw cane sugar are not stirred into the cup but chewed between sips. My sweet tooth was giddy.

As dinner wound down and the tea both braced and relaxed us, I patted my extended belly. This would have been a good time to consider the words of the prophet on watching how much you eat. But I had no remorse.

AFGHAN VILLAGE 6413 HILLCROFT SOUTH OF GULFTON, 713-808-9005, THEAFGHANVILLAGE.COM

Sarah Bronson is a professional word wrestler. See her head-desking about language and life on @usewordsbetter.

®

®

!"ti$ Ingredi"ʦ

Executive Chef Ricky Cruz Grotto Houston-Landry’s Restaurant, Inc. #OAKFARMS-DAIRY

OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2016

© 2015, OAK FARMS DAIRY, INC. A DIVISION OF DEAN FOODS

“Planning for a successful menu always starts with the dairy best. And for over 100 years, Oak Farms Dairy has taken great pride in the superior quality of their products and service, while investing heavily in the communities, families and customers in which they 71 serve... and I’ll put my name on it.”

– Tasting the Town –

batter up!

By Robin Barr Sussman • Illustration by Chris Hsu

We’re flipping over H-town’s slew of new fancy-pants pancakes. Whether dessert sweet, naturally fruity or savory, you’ll want to rise and shine early for these super stacks. These are some of the city’s best.

CURRENT

2 Waterway Square Place, 281-419-4300

Sweet treat. The still-new restaurant inside The Westin at The Woodlands offers a unique stack: vanilla malted pancakes in a choice of blueberry, chocolate chip or “plain” served with whipped butter and real Vermont maple syrup. This one is definitely for the dessert-lover.

PRICE: $13 SCORE: 8

DISH SOCIETY

5740 San Felipe, 832-538-1060, and other location

Customized cakes. The top seller at this Tanglewood outpost is brisket ’n’ eggs, but the nutty flavored pancakes are pretty special. Two Homestead Gristmill organic wheat pancakes are topped with fruit and powdered sugar. Customize your stack with candied pecans, white chocolate chips, strawberries or bananas.

PRICE: $6/$1.50 ADD-INS SCORE: 8 PONDICHERI

2800 Kirby, 713-522-2022

Exotic. You can only score the strawberry cardamom buttermilk pancakes on Fridays for breakfast, but they are worth waiting for. Softer and puffier than American pancakes, these are fragrant with cardamom spice, laced with

strawberries and crowned with more fresh berries. Do order a side of warm ghee (clarified butter).

PRICE: $8 SCORE: 9

REVIVAL MARKET

550 Heights Blvd., 713-880-8463

Fresh picked. At this staple for American breakfast, the mountain of mouth-melting silver dollar buttermilk pancakes come in garden fresh combos.

Think seasonal toppings of house ricotta and rosemary blackberry jam, or our current fave: local peaches, peach jam, whipped cream and a side of breakfast sausage. The bomb!

STATE OF GRACE

3258 Westheimer, 832-942-5080

Chocolate, baby. At this hot spot, elaborate egg dishes like Gulf shrimp Benedict compete with house-baked treats including puffy beignets and warm sticky buns. But we’re here for the delicious chocolate “Dutch Baby” pancake, hearth baked and served up in a skillet, crowned with whipped cream and fresh strawberries. Indulge – it’s brunch.

PRICE: $15 SCORE: 9 SNOOZE

PRICE: $10 SCORE: 10 SNOOZE

3217 Montrose Blvd., 713-574-6655

Pancake paradise. If you’re a pancake fanatic, at Snooze you won’t lose.

Expect pancake flights of three, a pancake of the day and inventive combos that lean toward sweet, like the signature sweet potato buttermilk stack with caramel and ginger butter.

If you like fresh pineapple, the upsidedown pancakes with vanilla crème anglaise and cinnamon butter are irresistible.

PRICE: $7.75 SCORE: 9

72 OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2016

PHOTO BY BECCA WRIGHT

Robin Barr Sussman is a freelance food writer with a culinary mission: great taste.

As the summer heat gives way to the pleasant temps of Autumn, and you begin to plan your upcoming holiday parties, think Picos! We have fantastic private event spaces, both inside and out, and we are also available for complete restaurant buyouts which can accommodate up to 300 guests! Your party is certain to impress with our fantastic regional Mexican cuisine, signature shaker margaritas and outstanding bar and wine programs.

DISCOVER REGIONS OF MEXICAN CUISINE 3601 Kirby Dr. (at Richmond) Houston, TX 77098 BOOK YOUR EVENT NOW! Phone: (832) 831 - 9940 Catering: (713) 662 - 8383 73 OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2016

PICOS NET

74 OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2016