As there are so many delicious foods to be found in hopelessly unattractive strip centers throughout the Houston area, it should be no surprise that excellent sandwiches can be had at one in a small place that opened this summer in Spring Branch, on Campbell just north of I-10. The surprise is that sandwiches are somewhat of an afterthought there. Primarily a fresh pasta shop also selling accompanying sauces, Casetta Cucina, has just three sandwiches. These are rather unique, Italian sandwiches made with the unusual Tuscan schiacciata bread, a fairly dense focaccia-like bread made in-house tha ..read more

Michelin is most focused on false positives, avoiding undeserving inclusions – though there always some and a handful locals in this initial guide for Houston – and it’s obvious from the recommendations for other cities that the list scratches the surface, at best.  That is even much more so in the very first guide for a place when the inspector(s) for the city can only visit so many restaurants. But Michelin starts slowly.  I heard from the ceremony on Monday that Michelin only starts an area with single stars at most.  Actually, I don’t believe that there are any two-star spot ..read more

As most savvy restaurant-goers know, the Mucky Duck – McGonigel's Mucky Duck, officially – though primarily a music showcase, has probably the best pub grub in the Houston area. Among the necessary and popular options is the hamburger, which are tastier, of course, when made into a cheeseburger. With cheeseburgers, I occasionally like a bleu cheese version. You can get one at the Mucky Duck that is different. The English Stilton is the bleu cheese. Not just the classic pairing with an after-dinner port, the mild, savory and buttery-flavored Stilton gently melted on the thick patty provides a d ..read more

Along with empty Chianti covered in wax from candles, red-and-white-checkered gingham tablecloths might quickly come to mind for many, maybe those a little older, when thinking of Italian restaurants. There was a strong association between the two for years in this country given the sheer number of Italian restaurants employing them. New York restaurateur Pino Luongo wrote “in 1983, there were only two types of Italian restaurants here. There were the places with the red-checkered tablecloths that served spaghetti and meatballs and veal piccata” and a far smaller number of fancy spots. Even to ..read more

When discussing heading to the Green Mill in Chicago to hear live music and maybe a few drinks in the late 1980s, my friends were quick to point out that it had been owned by Machine Gun McGurn, a legendary and legendary cruel mobster, several decades earlier. That reputation hung over place, part of its brand, and part of the draw. The mob connection has been an enticement for decades for customers, or a segment of customers, possibly lured by a sense of perceived danger, however small, the notoriety, the assumed raffishness of the spot, or even the attraction to the power of organized crime ..read more

It’s the season for Oktoberfest, that famous beer festival in Munich, which runs from late September into early October, inspiring breweries in Munich, elsewhere in Germany, and across this country to produce a slate of copper-colored, medium-bodied beers of the same name. The style most commonly known as Oktoberfest is Märzen, a lager that is clear and amber-hued featuring a smooth, malty taste and a slightly dry finish buttressed by a judicious use of classic German hops. It was introduced by the Spaten brewery in 1871-72, derived from a style of lager beer created in Vienna a few decades ea ..read more

Wine comes to mind when dining at Italian, and French, restaurants, more so than with other cuisines. With the exception of some inexpensive sandwich and by-the-slice pizza joints, wine is, and has always been, an important part at Italian restaurants in this country – with the possible exception of the dark days of Prohibition, though even then at many, or most. This is because wine was a fundamental, and often needed component, of the daily table of the Italians who emigrated. Wine has been drunk throughout the Italian peninsula, and almost wherever grapevines grew in Europe, for well over a ..read more

I’ve been an active participant in Houston Restaurant Weeks again this year. It benefits a worthwhile local charity, The Houston Food Bank, that I support and it also helps restaurants in what was once the slowest time of the year. And that’s even if it’s been my experience over the years that you will not get any restaurant’s best effort. Corners are almost always cut: offerings are limited, preparations are simpler, portions might be smaller, desserts seem have sat in the refrigerator much longer than usual, and there are often add-ons for something that most customers want, etc. I understan ..read more

Squable is one of my favorite restaurants in the city. And one of the attractions is its informed work with spirituous beverages, featuring one of the top cocktail programs in the city. This is not surprising given the regular involvement of Bobby Heugel, who fostered the growth high-quality cocktails in Houston beginning with Anvil well over a decade ago. That excellence is easily noticeable. The contrast between the quality of the cocktails at Squable and those during a very recent visit to Julep was pretty stark to me, for example. Those delicious libations at Squable’s are even more attrac ..read more

During a visit earlier this summer to Produttori del Barbaresco, the famed wine cooperative in the village of Barbaresco, my host, Michela Cucca, brought up the event that really increased the winery’s notoriety, its reputation, and sales. It was in November 2016 when announced, to the surprise of the winery, that one of its wines was picked as the fifth best wine released that year, the Produttori del Barbaresco 2011 Asili Riserva, a bottling from a single vineyard in what is probably Barbaresco’s most famous cru. She said that phones immediately began ringing and ringing, with customers arou ..read more