Cabrito at La Tregua

Ned has been wanting Cabrito. It is hard to find. Every once in a while we will hear of a restaurant in San Miguel that has cabrito on the menu but it is taken off of the menu or they close before we get there. We were talking about cabrito with some friends and they said they knew where we could get it. La Tregua on the old highway between Comonfort and Celaya. La Tregua has a couple of  translations. The main one is "truce" but I found another translation of "respite." Maybe some truce was signed along this road but when I walked in and looked over the broad valley from the balcony, the word respite seemed more appropriate to me.

For some reason I thought it was going to be a little rustic restaurant. Wrong. It was a lovely place. There were attendants in the parking lot and lots of waiters in black pants and white shirts who were attentive. The menu was two pages long but we were only looking for the cabrito so I'm not even sure what else that was on the menu. My eyes focused on the Especialidades where there two listings for preparations of cabrito.  We came for cabrito and it didn't take us very long to put in an order for four cabrito pastor.

The cabrito was delicious, the beer was icy cold, the waiters took good care of us and we sat on the balcony looking at this beautiful valley. The steeple of the church is in Soria and that village is another story for another time. We will definitely be going back to La Tregua and maybe the next time I'll read the menu and see what else they serve.

Another reason I love San Miguel.....adventures in the countryside.

Good Eats and Technology Challenges

Oh my, did I ever have some delicious food last night at DaMarcos. This was one-half a duck so beautifully presented and so delicious. I'm still in the birthday mode and this was a dinner with some of the Houston family and friends. Every sip of wine and every bite of food was just perfect. I'm having so much fun with this birthday that I may have to have another party when we get back to San Miguel.

I made this photo with the iPhone. I'm still learning what it will do besides taking photos. This week I managed to get my calendar over to the iPhone but can't get it to sync back to the computer. Only God knows if I will get that figured out and then the next problem will be how to get it to sync to a second computer in San Miguel. I copied a CD and finally got it to  sync to the iPhone. All of this should be simple but I keep finding that I'm having trouble because some little setting isn't turned on or off. After a "discussion" with Sprint I think I have the phone unlocked so that I can sign up with a carrier in Mexico on a pay as you go basis for while we are there. I'll find out for sure when I get there.

Isn't life an adventure?
........Especially in the Technology Age.

Chocolate Cream Pie

I can't begin to tell you how long it has been since I had Chocolate Cream Pie. Probably since I last made it and that was a long, long time ago. My mother made great cream pies. . . . chocolate, coconut, and banana pies covered in perfect meringues. Although I wasn't good with a pie crust, I'd still try to make them. Mine were not bad but they were not as good as Mom's. I guess I quit making pies as my boys got older. One pie lasted one day. A cake would usually last at least two days. To me making pies was harder than making cakes and the pie was eaten in one day. So along about the time the youngest was five, I stopped making pies.

Sometimes a restaurant has chocolate pie but these days if it is a chocolate cream pie it is covered in whipped cream and it is gigantic. If I was thinking of a little dessert after dinner, just seeing the huge slab of pie on the plate was enough to make me turn it down.

This Sunday it was different. We went to La Mansion de Montitlan for comida. Dessert was included. There were choices for dessert but I chose the "Homemade Chocolate Pie." What you see above is what they served. Just the right size, a beautiful meringue and creamy chocolate pie. Not dark chocolate. Just the perfect chocolate like my Mom made. With every bite images flashed through my mind of  dinner tables and who at the table when we ate chocolate cream pie. Funny how foods from your childhood can do that.

I went looking for a chocolate pie recipe similar to the one Mom made and this is about as close as I came. The reason I chose this one is that it was the only one that used cocoa and flour and that is what I remember her using. And it was one of the few chocolate pies with a meringue topping. I'll probably have to try to make it . . . after I find out how to adjust the meringue for this altitude.

The Weekend

We decided to go out to eat Friday night. I'd been thinking pasta might be nice since we had not eaten pasta in a while. And to add to the niceness one of our favorite pasta restaurants has moved and advertised that they have air conditioning. We could see the new space and be COOL. With all our trips back to Houston we had not eaten there for a long time but when they opened the original restaurant their pasta was really good and good pasta doesn't happen all the time in San Miguel. I should have taken pause when someone we were with on Thursday night asked if we thought there were any good pasta places in San Miguel. I said this restaurant. He indicated that he didn't like their pasta.

The new place was lovely although including us there were only two tables occupied. Tablecloths and cloth napkins, nice glassware AND the AC was working. The wine was a nice Malbec. The salad was crisp and well plated. The pastas....not so good. I had a fusilli and sausage that was very over salted. Ned had a  pomodoro sauce that was so watered down that it was a watery red/orange liquid with nary a sign of a tomato piece floating around. Not as thick or red as tomato soup, more like a tomato water. And unfortunately his spaghetti was overcooked as well.  We did enjoy the ambience, each other's company and the AC but the food was overpriced for what it was. If they had delivered good pasta fine but they did not.

When we left the restaurant we walked around a bit. Every restaurant that we peeked into was empty or had only one or two tables occupied. Gringo tourist territory and they are few and far between in town. But the centro was alive and well. The Mexicans love their town. There is some International/Cultural program going on in the town and on stage in front of the Parroquia was a folk dance troupe from Russia or some Slavic country. There was a wedding about to emerge from the church. The benches in the Jardin were loaded with people and of course, the young people were parading around, talking with their friends or watching the break/robot dancing in the gazebo. Little children were pulling toys or holding balloons. The marachis were gathering. The food stands were set up and people were lining up to buy corn, hotdogs, hamburguesa or ice cream. The Mexicans were going to eat under the trees in the cooling evening light and a lot more cheaply than we had. It was a busy Friday night.

Saturday, I decided that it had been too long since I had an Artist Date. It is one of the suggestions from the book The Artist's Way. Take yourself on a date and do something to replenish your creative well. I went to the Fabrica out on Calzada de Aurora. The Fabrica was originally a factory. It is a huge building and back in 2004 they were remodeling it for shops. It has ended up being something of a design center with a lot art galleries and studios. But while it was being remodeled I went a couple of times to photograph the space. I called them my "Green Shoots" because everything in the place was some shade of green from a dreary gray green to a turquoise. Both of the images in this blog were part of the Green Shoots.

I walked back to the centro and stopped at the carnicería and bought a filete de res for our dinner. Another stop at the vegetable stand outside of Espinos and I had fresh corn for boiling and a cucumber to add to a tomato salad and then back home. The first beef we have had in a while. I cooked it at a high heat for about 30 minutes and then let it stand tented for about the same amount of time for the juices to settle back into the meat. It was medium-to-medium-rare, tender and delicious. A nice dinner.

Today a little clothes washing and a lot of laziness. Pretty good weekend.

Cafe Muro

We have been trying some new restaurants. Cafe Muro at Loreta 10B is a keeper. In fact we are going back again soon. The decor is warm and cozy and the Front of the House, the host, is charming.

There were four of us and we all tried something different. No one had a complaint about their food especially me. I ordered a chicken breast stuffed with mushrooms and cheese napped in a chocolate sauce. Don't think mole just because I said chocolate sauce. Don't think sweet either. It was a wonderful light sauce and just perfect with the stuffed chicken breast.

I could write a lot more about this restaurant but I don't think I could do it any better than the Don Day In SMA blog did it. So click on the link and after you read his review, I'm sure I'll be seeing you in Cafe Muro one of these days.

Cafe Muro is open from 9-4:30 for breakfast and comida. They are closed on Wednesday.

Houston Restaurant Report

This is a new hamburger chain and they make a really good hamburger. While you see kids in there, it is more like an adult hamburger place. I really like their onion rings. Well they aren't exactly onion rings. They are called onion haystacks and they are very, very thin sliced onions that are seasoned and fried. In fact the concept and food is so good that I checked to see if Smashburger is a public traded company. I was going to buy some stock but they are not.

They say that their meat is never frozen. We start with 100% Angus Beef, smashed, seared and seasoned on the grill, placed on a butter-toasted artisan bun and topped with the highest-quality cheeses, freshest produce and condiments. A place where you can get a 1/3 or 1/2 pound burger with one of our great recipes or you can create your own. A place that is close to home and affordable. Where the energy is comfortable and relaxed. Where the food is served to you quickly and on a plate - not in a bag.

Smashburger has opened several places around town but the one where we ate was on Buffalo Speedway.

This shrimp taco is from Seco's Latin Cuisine on Nottingham just off Kirby. We tried Seco's with our friends, Guy and Debbie.

It is in a small old-West-University-type brick house with a deck out front. If weather permits there are tables on the deck for eating outside. The parking could get a little dicey because it is street parking but the night we were there, parking wasn't a problem. The service was good and so was the food although the shrimp in my tacos were a little overcooked but the filling was crunchy and the sauce was spicy. They serve brunch on Sunday and they won a Houston Press award for the brunch in 2008. I want to go back and try the brunch because some of the reviews I've read really make my mouth water.

 Last night we went with our friends, Pat and Susan to Yelapa Playa Mexicana in the 2300 block of  Richmond. We had been there once before but wanted to try it out again. I want to like this place more than I do. It is suppose to have great ceviches but the mango ceviche I had last night was okay but not great. The fish was Peruvian style or marinated in lime juice. Some of the chunks of fish were too big and the ceviche just didn't have a kick. It needed more lime and some onion and jalapeno or serrano. I'm going to try to improve on it when I get back to San Miguel by adding shrimp to my Mango Salsa.

The entree for me was fried softshell crab served with a pile of nice ripe tomatoes and a spicy avocado sauce. It was good but not outstanding and the plating was a little strange. The crab was apparently suppose to stand up in the tomatoes but just as my plate arrived they fell over and the big smear of the sauce didn't balance out the plate. The reviews I've read about Yelapa reflect my own experience the two times we have gone. Some people love it and others are indifferent. I like the concept for the restaurant but some items on the menu work and some don't. I'd really like to see them tweak the recipes a bit more.

Okay, that is your restaurant report for the week. Next week the restaurant report will be from New Orleans. As Babs would say, Yee Ha!

Too Late for Olivia's Cafe

I don't know how long Olivia's Cafe has been open but because we have been gone so much I didn't see the sign until the last few weeks. The cafe is in my Colonia at the bottom of Veinte Ocho de Abril.I love the sign. It looks so cheery and bright, I just knew that the food would be good. When I passed by this morning on my way to the mercado the door wasn't open but when I went by on my way home it was. I headed over to take a look in, see the menu and find out what hours they were open. A beautiful young woman was there doing some cleaning. I asked when the Cafe would open. She told me that she was packing up and closing it down. Oh, no! My first thought was that it was the economy. That wasn't the reason. She and her partner had a falling out and they just couldn't manage to continue on with the Cafe.

Que Lastima! I'm too late.

Although this Cafe didn't close because of the economy it was a reminder that the small family restaurants in our Colonia are struggling. We haven't been eating out much during Ned's treatment but we are going to have to make an effort to support our neighbors. Besides I love being able to walk a block or so and sit down to a nice comida.

I think that maybe I should start taking my readers on a restaurant tour in the Colonia. It will give me something to blog about and give my neighbors some advertising.

Slow Blogging

A few weeks ago several of the regular bloggers mentioned that they just didn't have the blogging urge. Hmmmm...I thought, "How can they be in that mood. There is so much to blog about." Well, now I've caught the blogging blah disease and I understand. Usually September is a good blogging month because we have the grito, the fair and the San Miguel festival. However, after 4-1/2 years of blogging, I couldn't think of anything to say about Independence Day that I haven't already written. Also we have so many more bloggers now who are writing delightful Independence Day reports that I really don't have anything else to say about it. I even went up on the terrace to take pictures of the fireworks but they were just so, so. We have had some dinner invitations from friends and I thought about taking my camera along and writing about the good food. But I haven't done that either.

I photographed these chiles en nogada when we had comida on Sunday at Don Felix in Colonia San Rafael at Fray Juan de San Miguel #15. I love chiles en nogada and I love Don Felix restaurant and his recipe for the dish. The restaurant is in a house and the minute you walk in the door you feel like you are a guest who has been invited to share comida with the family. We ate in the back patio. The weather was wonderful and the food was delicious.

Some restaurants serve chile en nogada all year but the traditional time is in September when all the ingredients are at their peak of freshness. The dish symbolizes the green, white and red of the Mexican flag. I like the idea of serving it only around the time of Mexico's independence because very year I so look forward to eating this dish.

I'm going to take a couple of aspirin and hope that I get over the blogging blahs very soon.

Zocalo on a Saturday Night

Valeria greeted us when we went into Brasserie last night. She was so glad to see us and had wondered why we had not been into the restaurant. We took a table in the center of the patio near the fountain that tinkled gently as the water dropped from the bowl circled with cut roses to the basin. The brightly printed oil cloth tablecloth glowed from the lantern on our table. The air was cool and the light was dropping in the sky. By the time we left it would change from dark blue to starred velvet.

There is just something about Brasserie that lets us sink into Mexico and relax, that opens doors of conversation that everyday lives leave closed. We ordered drinks; white wine for me, a tequila and sangrita for Ned. We've read the menu a hundred times but tonight we read each item just for pleasure. Then, of course, we ordered old favorites. Milanesa. One pollo, one res.

As we sipped our drinks and ate our dinner the restaurant gradually filled up. A Mexican family. Husband, wife, daughter and grandmother. The wife and daughter walked on either side of the grandmother to steady her on the uneven stones, then made sure her chair was comfortable. A couple, not young, but dating. We could tell from little snippets of conversation....you know that dating dance when you see it or hear it. Two ladies slipped to the back of the restaurant. Were they traveling together or did they live here? I love watching people and writing stories about them in my head.

No evening in town would be complete without a circle of the Jardin in front of the Parroquia. On the side toward the Parroquia were the families with children playing with new toys purchased from the vendors who seemed to position themselves in front of each child. What parent can resist. Another side was filled with food vendors. Oh, how good those hamburgers smelled. Another side, the boys with slicked back hair and baggy jeans were gathering to wait for the girls in tight jeans and tank tops. And the fourth side of the Jardin was lined with waiting mariachi bands.

We walked down Cuna de Allende past tables that have spilled outside restaurants into the closed street. Live music drifted from the restaurants. When we turned from Allende to Pila Seca, the smell of garlic and pizza was heavy from the Grotto. No way we could eat again but we were reminded that soon, very soon we must return and go a table by the window on the dim second floor for one of the thin crust pizzas and glasses of red wine.

We are really, really back in Mexico.

Roundup

Hard to believe that we haven't seen every friend and eaten at every restaurant in Houston but before we leave we are going to try to roundup all the loose ends. We met up with the Goldesberrys, owners of the Goldesberry Gallery and the Owens at the Raven Grill. Guess where my mind is....enchiladas, black beans and rice. So ready to head south. The conversation kept coming back to San Miguel. Both couples have visited San Miguel and want to get back there soon. So do we.

Jonathan's Restaurant

Last night we met Pam and Jim at Jonathan's Rub Restaurant for dinner. We've been to Jonathan's before but it was so good that we wanted to go back. I can't say that about a lot of the new restaurants we've tried on this stay in Houston. We also wanted to introduce our friends to the restaurant. Jonathan met us at the door like we were old friends. Soon after we arrived he was busy with his helpers in the tiny kitchen that opens to the restaurant. That's Jonathan in the white cap.

This time I had a Chilean sea bass that was as flaky and succulent as any fish I've ever had. Everyone at our table raved about what they ordered. And this food is prepared in a very unassuming tiny restaurant tucked in at the end of an old strip shopping center. It may hold 10 tables. It is BYOB place with a $5 corkage fee. Most of the entrees come with a salad and two sides. The sides are fabulous. I can personally rave about the cheesy creamy grits and the spinach and greens saute.

We arrived at 6:00 PM on a Tuesday. I know that is early but there are usually people waiting to get in...even on a Tuesday. By 6:15 the place was full. Mmm.....you know I'm thinking I shouldn't put this on the blog and tell anymore people about this place. I might not be able to get in at all next time.

Homemade II

Dinner last night was in-house. Scallops, broccoli and salad.

I seared the scallops in the skillet with just a bit of olive oil and butter. About 5 or 6 minutes. It is really easy to overcook them. I actually like them cooked less but Ned likes his seafood done. He is definitely not a sushi man. After I removed the scallops I threw in a couple of tablespoons of chopped shallots and a bit of garlic, sauteed that for about a minute and added some white wine and deglazed the pan. Then I reduced the liquid until it was syrupy and put about a tablespoon on each scallop.

I've been changing the proportions of my salads. More veggies than greens. One of the reasons that I've done that is I'm buying a Italian baby green mix of lettuces and there are enough peppery leaves in it that it becomes a different element in the salad. Also have been buying a cherry tomato called a cherub that is just so sweet and delicious that I set them on the bar and pop one in my mouth when I walk by during the day. Last night the salad was orange bell pepper, cherub tomatoes, cucumber, greens and....blueberries. I had some blueberries left over and wanted to use them up. They looked beautiful in the salad and tasted good too.

As you can tell from my last couple of menus, I using ingredients that are hard to come by in San Miguel. Scallops? I can't remember seeing them in the seafood markets or if I have seen them they were not memorable. The cornish hen from a night or two ago? Sometimes I do find them in San Miguel but not on a regular basis. Sweet corn? We do have some in San Miguel but it is a short growing season and I don't ever seem to get enough fresh corn even in Houston. Great salad mixes? You can get some but they don't have the variety that I'm getting here. Costco in Mexico does have a pretty good Italian salad mix from time to time but the package is so big I can only buy it when we are giving a dinner party and there is some chance that I will be able to use it up before it goes bad.

All this cooking talk brings me back to my Homemade post from Sunday. Michael Pollan's article stirred up a comment in the Houston Press, No One Cooks In Houston Anymore...Or Do They?

A Summer Bouquet

A summer time bouquet....Isn't it a happy bouquet with all the bright colors? Well, we are feeling pretty happy as well. Ned is half way through the chemo treatments and one-third of the way through the radiation. He is feeling good.

We are still on the move. Last night we had dinner with Joe who is in from San Miguel, Guy and Debbie, long time friends who visit SMA often and Son #2. The dinner at Antica Osteria was absolutely delicious and the conversation was good. This weekend we'll head to Austin to hear Maxwell's rock band concert. Although we are missing San Miguel friends a lot, the calendar just keeps getting filled up with fun stuff.

Saturday Morning Eats

It looks like we are starting a Saturday morning tradition of the Urban Harvest Farmer's Market on Eastside just off Richmond and then finding an out of the way breakfast spot. I know, two Saturdays in a row may be a pretty short tradition but at least it is a start. Today was Langford's Grocery at 88 Dennis. They are famous for their burgers but they make a pretty good breakfast as well. You can eat inside at the oil cloth covered tables that tilt along with the floor or you can try the outside tables. I like to eat outside but need a little more shade.

They aren't just any burger joint. Many people in Houston consider them the #1 burger place in town. Recently Guy Fiere, host of the Food Network's program Diners, Drive-ins and Dives filmed an episode in Houston and included a session at Langford. I don't know when it is going to air but I'm looking forward to seeing it.

Wine and Salami

Jonna commented on one of my entries that my blogs about Houston made her want to spend some time here the next time she comes through. Maybe I can tempt a few more of you. Houston is where I grew up and it is where I want to go when we come back to the USA. With the exception of the current heat wave, there are a lot of things to love about Houston. One of them is definitely it's vibrant restaurant scene.

The name of this restaurant is longer than the size of the place, Poscol Vinoteca e Salumeria, but it is another unique place we have tried here in Houston. It is located in the spot where the Cafe Montrose use to reside at 1609 Westheimer Road. It is in a rundown strip shopping center but once you enter the doors you feel like you are no longer in Houston but have stepped off some side street in Rome for a few bites. It is all about the wine and small plates. The platter above holds the meats that they cure in house like veal tongue, pork cheek sausage and porchetta. But lots of other cured meats are also available, sliced perfectly thin. There is also a great offering of cheeses, paninis, fried bites and a pasta or two.

This was my favorite thing that we tried, a creamy baccala, which is a salted cod fish. I'm not sure how this cod was prepared but it made a great spread on toasted bread along with sips of wine.And about the wine....they have a impressive list of imported Italian wines. The wait staff knows the food and the wines. It is on my "go-back-to" list.

The Heat

You need some cool refreshments in this heat and it is hot in Houston. I hear that it is still hot in San Miguel de Allende. The advantage that Houston has over San Miguel is Houston is an air-conditioned city. In fact, Houston claims to be the most air-conditioned city in the world. You go from your air-conditioned house to your air-conditioned car to the air-conditioned store. If you do get hot, have a sangria like I did at Hugo's last night. Most refreshing.

Eating Out in Houston

The 2009 Zagat Survey of Texas reports that Houstonians eat out 4.2 times a week, compared to the national average of 3.3, and our average dining tab is still a relative bargain at $29.10, about five dollars less that the national average.

We've been doing our best to stay up with or even surpass the average for the number of times we eat out in a week. We justify that by saying when we are in Houston we are on vacation. Now that we are here for a little longer we may have to readjust.

Everytime we come back to Houston we try to hit one or two of the new "in" places. We did that again this time.

First dinner at The Bedford in the Heights. It is a new building rather than a remodel space and the interior is nice but not outstanding. The big problem with the space is that it bounces the noise. It was so noisy that it was difficult to hear our dinner companions across a 36 inch table. This really affects my enjoyment of the food and the whole experience of dining out. I always talk about how much the conversation means to me when we see friends for dinner. So for me, being able to have a intimate conversation is at least 1/2 of the dining experience. The food at The Bedford was okay but it wasn't outstanding enough that I'd be willing to spend those kinds of bucks to eat there again.

Another night we went to Reef. It is another new space but this time it is a repurposed space that is beautifully done in colors that make you think of the sea. We were sitting at a somewhat isolated table so the noise wasn't too bad but some friends who have sat in the middle of the room say the noise level is high in this restaurant too. The service was excellent and the food was very good but I'm surprised at the ratings it has been getting including being named the #1 seafood restaurant in the USA by Bon Appetit Magazine. I thought it was good, but not that good.

I think Danton's Gulf Coast Seafood has been around a year or so but it was new for us. We went with friends from San Miguel. Except for the price, it reminded me of some of the old time fine gulfcoast seafood restaurants both in decor and the food. Everything we had was good especially the corn and crab bisque. I love crab and can't seem to get enough of it, so I ordered lump crabmeat sauteed in butter. I really liked that it had a kick of red pepper but it wasn't swimming in butter.

All of these places were "good" but I don't know that they were outstanding enough to bring me back. The places that the food and service were such that we will go back and have already been back to some of them on this trip are places that serve food that is perfectly prepared and well presented but not pretentious. Antica Osteria. Supposedly this is a Italian restaurant but it has such a varied menu it doesn't seem Italian to me. We have eaten there several times over the last two years and everything I've had there has been perfectly prepared. The prices are quite reasonable for what you get.

A fairly new neighborhood restaurant that is a standout is Jonthan's Rub just off I-10 and Campbell Road. It is a tiny restaurant in a strip center with very few tables. We had a wait, even at 6:30, for a table but it was worth it. Jonthan is turning out some delicious food and his wait staff of young ladies were doing an excellent job in this small homey space.

We have been back to Goode Company Seafood any number of times for lunch. Oysters on the half-shell, campechanas, gumbo, crawfish.....we don't seem to be able to get enough gulf coast seafood. We like to dash in and sit at the bar down at the end where we can watch the master open oysters and peel shrimp.

Brasil's on Westheimer and Dunlavy for great salads and pizzas, Romano's on West Gray for pizza and pasta, Central Market for fresh sushi.....I could go on and on but you get the idea. Houston really is a city of wonderful restaurants. So remember, if you are going to Houston you are going to have some great dining opportunities and at a lower than the average cost in the States.

Justification

A little jarring isn't it after the smooth black and white images. Hey, if I'm going to photograph taco joints at night, in color, why not let 'er rip.

I do like low light photography and I like doing it without a tripod. I'm using that as the justification for buying the Canon 5D Mark II. I should have it tomorrow. This new camera has been on my "Lust List" for a while. I almost bought it last December. Then again in January. I had decided not to get it on this trip to the USA either but somehow while we are still here in Houston, I was finally able to justify why I couldn't wait another minute longer. It is really quite amazing how I can finally talk myself into a photography purchase. Unfortunately I also had to order the latest version of Photoshop, CS4, so that I will be able to convert RAW images from this new camera. Some smart but evil Adobe marketing executive thinks up these schemes to collect an upgrade fee from me every 18 months.

The Splurge

When in Houston we have to try at least one of the new upscale restaurants. This time we went with our former next door neighbors to The Grove which has been open about one year. The Grove is the brainchild of Robert Del Grande. The chef is Robert Pera. The Grove is in downtown Houston in a new park called Discovery Green so the floor to ceiling windows look out on the green and a marvelous view of the skyscrapers of Houston.

The decor is contemporary with lots of blond wood, lime green leather chairs, low levels of light with directed spot lights just where you need them. There is a glass enclosed dining room with gorgeous chandeliers. The kitchen is open to the dining room via a long high bar. And really important to me is that the noise level was manageable. We were able to carry on a conversation without shouting at each other.

But the most important thing is the food. The reviews I've read about the restaurant are very mixed. Some people have had a bad experience and others loved it. We are on the "loved it" side. Our party decided to have the chef's menu. That was a great choice. I think we got to sample more than half of the things on the menu. That wasn't a single one that wasn't good, from the start with the deviled eggs to the tray of assorted desserts. If we go back I might have to choose two or three of the appetizers rather than an entree just so I can get a re-taste of my favorites.

The Grove's website calls the menu American Rustic but we called it delicious.

Favorite Eats - Houston

When I come back to Houston there is always a list of favorite places where I want to eat. None of them are 'fancy' places but the food is something different than what we have in San Miguel and it is delicious.
I must have bagels from Hot Bagel. It is a kind of funky place with mismatched tables and chairs, stacks of sections of the newspaper left around, good coffee and the best bagels. You may see a business man in a great looking suit or a runner who has just finished up the morning run, the laborer in jeans and T-shirts or the tattooed, pierced co-ed, the contractor with a cell phone glued to his ear or the writer busy scribbling in her daybook. You might be thinking a bagel-Starbucks kind of place but it has a very different feel.
Last night we had pizza and pasta from Romano's. Pepperoni, sausage and anchovies, just thick enough crust, great tomato sauce topped with cheese.....mmmm....perfect. One of our favorite places for pizza for a long time. Behind the counter you'll see the owner tossing the dough and making the pie. The pasta sauces are fresh and really delicious. Some busy Moms stop in during the day to buy jars of their sauce so they can put together a quick dinner at night.
I met Ellie for lunch at Empire Cafe. I found Empire right after it opened. It is another kind of funky place in a re-purposed building which I think may have been a gas station in its first life. They have added outside dining under an awning and some umbrellas. The food is a nice variety of soups, paninis, and pastas. If that doesn't fill you up, they have marvelous cakes and desserts. Good coffee and teas. Great place to meet friends and linger over lunch.
I've had to go to Goode Company Seafood two times. This place serves good Gulf Coast seafood. All of it is good but I love the oysters on the half-shell, the seafood gumbo and the shrimp cocktail called the campechana. It is served in a tall soda glass and has shrimp and crab mixed with a tomato sauce with chunks of tomato, onion and peppers. There are chopped jalapenos on the side if you want to spice it up and light, crispy tortilla chips surround the plate.
The seafood gumbo is the best I've ever had except for the gumbo that son #2 makes. It is in a rich roux and has shrimp and oysters. I don't know how anyone eats a bowl of this gumbo and anything else but they do.

There are still some favorite places that I wanted to get to but I'm running out of time. I'll have to work on the list when we come back at Christmas.