Haven

From outward appearances one would not guess that it has been deemed the best new restaurant to hit the Houston scene since it opened last December. Rather, it almost looks like a wayward Zen Garden that became frozen in the constant stream of headlights on Southwest Freeway.

I don't get out much, so I can't speak to the 'best new' crown that Haven is currently strutting around town. I can tell you it should not be missed.

Continuing the escalating restaurant trend in Houston of using locally grown ingredients, Haven creates an ecclectic menu that is equal parts down-home-Southern and urban sophistication.


Shrimp Corn Dogs

The Shrimp Corn Dogs were an excellent choice of app. Created in upscale street fair fashion, super-sized shrimp meet a tasty thick batter which become greaselessly deep-fried to a visceral crunch. A spicy remoulade with lemon overtones was a perfect dipping sauce. Clever, that each plate was accompanied by a homemade lemonade shot. Really, this was the perfect sweet, airy counterbalance to the savory weight of the Shrimp Corn Dog.

Wild Boar Chili with Redneck Cheddar was equally excellent. Thick, meaty and midly spiced. The Redneck Cheddar, sour cream and grated purple onion that were served with, not only create visual texture, they added dimension to a chili that already had a lovable, quirky personality of its own. BTW, Redneck Cheddar is a cheddar that has been washed in Shiner Bock.

Alas, although I'm sure the chef would work with a vegetarian, there were not many vegetarian options. And for vegans, you can have the water with lemon. Yum!

Decor was casually chic-minimalist. Service was upbeat, efficient and informed. While the space was one-big and open, the noise factor supported inside-voice conversations. Street parking was easy on Algerian Way for lunch but the valet might come in handy for dinner, given its meteoric rise in popularity. Prices were the upper end of moderate but that was expected and easily digested.


Haven: Manager BQQ Approved Dining


2502 Algerian Way
Houston, TX, 77098
713-581-6101

Kam's

Spending my teens and 20's in San Francisco spoiled me in many ways. For example, I grew up thinking that everyone made Chinese food exactly the way it was made in Chinatown. Leaving San Francisco was a reality jolt in that respect. Since then I have not had good Chinese food anywhere, save a few weekend getaways to NYC.

When I spotted this Chinese restaurant on a walk up Montrose, I did not initially warm to the idea of eating there. I think it was post traumatic stress disorder from one too many Chinese meals in Dallas that were too oily, too salty and in short -- just bad. But I found myself weeks later reading about that very restaurant in a Houston foodie rag. Stellar reviews. Best Chinese for 10 years running. The Chinese co-workers raved. I felt pressured, they must know something I don't, so I tried it.

It must be the year of the its-about-damn-time. Finally, after years of choking down dull-witted, Pei Wei-esque interpretations of Chinese dishes, I am happy to report that I've found not just good, but excellent Chinese food. In Houston, its called Kam's.


Mommie Coolest Approved Dining

Litmus tests of Mongolian Beef and General Tso's Chicken were excellent, flavorful without the mediocre-chef technique of over oiling and over soysaucing. But the real gems here are the Shrimp and Scallops in Basil Sauce and a rouge vietnamese staple, Bo Luc Lac, which is a savory-sweet beef fillet, cubed and grilled, served with salt, pepper and lime.

Kam's is relatively small so its best to go off peak, say at 1115am or 130p for lunch or anytime after 830p for dinner. Parking is scant and wildly difficult to navigate, so you are better off parking on the side streets east of Montrose and crossing over.

Kams
4500 Montrose Boulevard
Houston, TX 77006-5842
713.529.5057

Beaver-licious

One of my co-workers has an unusual pet. A beaver. Yes, a beaver. A wood-chewing, dam-building, long-tailed, big-toothed beaver. In fact, the Beaver-girl is the only person in the state of Texas licensed to have a beaver as a pet. As you can imagine Beaver-girl cannot in any way, shape or form talk about her pet without a tidal-wave of Beaver jokes. She even sometimes goes on the offensive and tells her own Beaver jokes as a way to diffuse the obvious.

That said, when I discovered there was a restaurant in Houston named Beavers, well, it was a foregone conclusion that we would have an outing!

Beaver's is a BBQ joint. But its upscale BBQ; BBQ with style, not to mention BBQ with options for vegetarians. I liked Beaver's alot, particularly their Beaver Nut Burger, a meatless burger made out of brown rice and cashews, which quite frankly was more weighty and filling that some real meat burgers I've had.

The fried pickles were amazing. Oddly, these are not fried pickle chips, they are fried pickle spears. BIG fried pickle spears. I liked the spicy ranch like sauce that kept the pickles company.

We watched the two guys next two us gasp in amazement as their Shrimp and Oyster Poboys were delivered. I swear this Poboy was bigger than a watermelon and spilling over with huge fried shrimp. The Poboy was served on a plate, no, platter, that was crammed to capacity with the restaurant's signature smoky chips and coleslaw. Apparently moderation is not the theme in Beaver-land.

Beaver-girl was quite pleased with the experience. In fact, she had a brief conversation with the manager about her beaver and it seems like her beaver might be making a special public appearance sometime soon.

I'll be sure to post some pics of that, should there be a beaver sighting :)



Beaver-girl @ Beaver's via Blackberry

Beaver's
2310 Decatur St
Houston, TX 77007-7519
(713) 864-2328

SOMA

I continue to be impressed with the Houston restaurant scene. I was a little worried when I moved to Houston (a year ago today) simply because I remember a Houston of the early 1990's. A lot has changed. 1990 Houston did not eat sushi, or at least not the raw variety. Sushi houses in 2009 Houston are shoe-horned between every Starbucks and Chipotle and completely unecessary bank branch. There have been several that will not get a return visit but mostly they are good; SOMA in particular is very good.


Sushi @ SOMA via Blackberry

"Modern" sushi scares me a little. I always think that by modern they mean - fry it up, melt cheese on it or drown perfectly good sushi in gooey, sweet, over-the-top sauce. This is the Dallas version of modern sushi, which to me is analogous to putting ketchup on filet mignon while watching WWF reruns in your double-wide with your sister-wife. I'm happy to report "modern sushi" in Houston parlance just means modern presentation.

SOMA is a relatively new sushi entry in Rice Military, a neighborhood quickly earning a rep for being foodie heaven. SOMA is modern most senses but it doesnt feel the need to be compulsive about it. The litmus test of Hamachi and Unagi passed with flying colors. In fact, the sushi chef actually subbed our second Hamachi order for Toro; same price, we liked him for some reason. The rolls were creative and well-presented. I think our favorite this trip was the Rainbow Spider, which is the standard soft-shelled crab roll but with tuna, escolar, yellow tail and salmon wrapped on the outside.

SOMA has happy hour most days from 4-7p, during which many of their higher-priced rolls are half off. Hmm, half-priced Rainbow Spiders and a glass of Pear Sake2Me, I feel a 12-step program right around the corner.

SOMA
4820 Washington Ave
Houston, TX 77007

(713) 861-2726‎

T'Afia

Well enough about Spain. For now. You will of course hear more about Spain after my Spain party next month. But for now lets get local.

The lovely ladies and I went out to a new place. New to me, that is, since the last time I lived in Houston this place did not exist. Its interesting how the midtown Houston area has incubated the mainstream deflecting indie crowd in all facets. I'm finding not only is the art in this area unique and thought-provoking, so is the food.

New place is called T'Afia. T'Afia is the realization of talent from chef Monica Pope. Chef Monica was actually cooking that night so it was a special treat. I learned that Chef Monica is part of the gay community, loves Houston and insists that all of her ingredients are local to the area. She also loves to push flavors into collaboration which do not at all seem intuitive. Or at times even appetizing. But I have to say, she's got a gift and everything works well together. Surprisingly well and in a completely unclassifiable way.



Things to try here.

Ratafias. A ratafia is a fortified wine infused with seasonal produce. I had a white wine infused with strawberry (hint of basil) and a red wine infused with grapefruit. Both were amazing.

Red potatoes, bacon, maple & nutmeg. You know how pancakes taste when you get a bit of bacon and a bit of maple syrup on them? Well this is the same thing. Unbelievable. I would have never thought of creating a maple-based sauce for my red potatoes, but you better believe I will be trying this at home.

Chermoula scallops, red quinoa, buerre blanc. Chermoula is a Moroccan inspired seasoning which seems to take on a peppery paprika flavor. This blended extremely well with the earthy nuttiness of quinoa, one of the best-for-you grains around. Of course everything tastes just a bit better with a buttery beurre blanc sauce on it. Texture, flavor, discovery and wonder - this dish has it all.

Caramel semifreddo, crunchy sesame. I'm not much on dessert but the table ordered this one so I was "forced" into trying it. Semifreddo has the consistency of ice cream blended with marshmallow creme, quite airy despite its heavy caloric punch. What was interesting were the candied sesame seed clusters and the very unconventional addition of a sauce based on a balsamic reduction. I know, it sounds odd but I bet you will not be able to stop.

So far, T'Afia has kicked the other Houston restaurants' collective culinary butt. You know where I will take you should you decide to visit.

T'Afia
3701 Travis
Houston, Texas
713.524.6922

Baruch Atah Y'all

I almost forgot. In my unconventional holiday this year I celebrated Hanukkah. A co-worker turned friend who lives around the corner from me invited me over to help their family celebrate Hanukkah. They are a great couple with a very smart, well-behaved 8 year old son; my Jewish family when I can't be with my Jewish family in Israel (who apparently are quite busy right now kicking the crap out of Hamas but thats a post for another day).

They had a interesting collection of minoras. I really liked the multi-colored metal one that comes apart and can be reconfigured in 8! ways. That might be the architectural geek in me. Or maybe the math geek in me condsidering I just used a factorial sign in a blog post. Sheesh. Anyway, the most interesting one (not pictured simply because we ate it) was the edible minora; frozen oreos topped with chocolate ice cream, each of which had a candle embedded. There were 8 of them and only 5 of us so I had to help them out and try one. I'm sure thats a mitzvah despite the sugar coma that followed.



Minora Collection

Decoration

Oh no, its that time of year again - Holiday Decorations. What to do. I have a new place, which means new lighting to consider, new layout of furniture, new issues of balance, symmetry, reflection and composition. Not to mention the new people and what they might think; new people at work and new people in the neighborhood. And we all know how sensitive I am to what others think about my decorations! The pressure is really on!

OK. Deep Breath.

Unpack all four holder. Unpack all four ornaments. Place the ornaments on the holders. Place the assembled pieces on the table. New this year - unpack the 100 red balls. String the red balls on the red ribbon, hang the assembled balls from the wall.

Whew! I'm exhausted. This definitely calls for a martini, maybe 2!

Hippomobile

Walking really is the best way to get to know any city. Take for example my stroll through dowtown Houston recently. I was on my way to one of the downtown Art Fests when I noticed this interesting piece of Art just sitting on Dallas St.







It would be hard to have road rage if you were stuck in traffic next to this.

Housewarming

Four months after actually moving in I did have a housewarming party. I found out that is about normal if not early since others at the party had moved into their new homes almost a year ago sans party.

We had a great time. It was nice to see the Dallas people mix with the new Houston people. I was also surprised at how many Dallas people actually came.

Thanks to everyone!

I know some people have been waiting for the party food recipes, those are coming soon.

IKE, you cheeky sod

That was fun.

Actually watching the hurricane from the bedroom was extremely dramatic. 4 stories of glass looking out onto trees and rooftops. The trees mainly stayed horizontal, first to the left, then the right. The wind sounded like a train rushing by. What I thought was lightning and thunder was actually the sound and sight of every transformer in my neighborhood blowing up. It was unsettling to feel the house MOVE with the wind, although logically I knew it was better for it to bend a little.

Mostly my hood faired well. Ironically the guy who left the Big Wheel unattended was also the guy who's fence was flattened like a pancake. The Big Wheel was crushed by the fence, lol. Mostly all the wood fences are completely down. There are medium tree limbs everywhere, some large. A couple of very dramatic scenes where 100 year old oaks were completely uprooted and slammed into houses, cars or just into a neighbors pool. I was going to post pictures but there are enough dramatic photos online already, no value would be added.

What impressed me the most was how the neighborhood came together. The morning after EVERYONE was out with rakes, bags, chain saws and trucks removing the aftermath. Noone had to ask for help, people roamed the streets helping where they saw help was needed. People with outdoor grills cooked and ditributed. The mood was surprisingly upbeat.

The one thing that I will remember were the sounds of sirens. Without power there was not the usual fare of white noise, no entertainment and no distractions. All you could here every minute of every hour were the sounds of sirens. Everywhere.

Red Ball Of Joy 2

Friday 10:20pm

Its Heeeeeere.

Obviously my power and internet is holding out but crap is falling all over the place. I'm assuming its branches. I'm hoping the Big Wheel that some idiot left out back doesnt become a missile. I'd hate for the one story from my "I survived IKE" chapter to be I got knocked out by a Big Wheel traveling at 80 MPH. That would be tragic, lol :)

Friday 9:20pm

Wind died down a bit. Neighbors are having a hurricane party. Beer and ping pong, bring a friend, lol.


Friday 8pm:

Holy crap, the wind has definitely picked up! Still no rain but now its dark and new place feels creepy. I made buffalo burgers with apricot chipotle sauce for dinner. Yum! I know it sounds crazy to be cooking but I find it comforting.

I just had my second RBV, I'll be wide awake but relaxed by the time Ike comes to town, lol. I'll be making my way to the interior room with no windows by midnight, which would be the upstairs bathroom :)


Friday 6pm :

So the winds are picking up now. Not really noteworthy just much stronger. No rain, lots of scary clouds. All of my neighbors are "hunkered down" (lol). Appears as though noone in my hood is leaving. And it would be "certain death" if they tried.

PS: As a fun game take a shot every time you hear "hunkered down" or "certain death" in reference to Ike. You'll be long passed out under the sofa before it hits at midnight!


Thursday 9pm:

Thanks for the all phone calls and words of wisdom. I'm riding out the storm in Houston. Ike is a strange storm, its a Cat 3 but that is at the top of the storm, The bottom, which is what we will feel is Cat 1.

We'll get 100 MPH wind "gusts". Bad but not nearly as bad as say Camille, which I lived through in Mobile AL. If remember correctly we had upwards of 170 MPH "gusts".

Evacuations were not mandatory or even suggested for my area. And considering Austin, San Anotnio and Dallas will all feel Cat 1 hurricane winds and experience some massive flooding, why spend countless hours on the road for something you can get at home! :)

Red Ball of Joy

Another busy week at the Cancer Shoppe and still trying to catch up from my Dallas journey. Mostly I still like the job thing but Manager and I will be having some discussions at week's end to clarify direction. Nothing big, just clarification. Meanwhile Sistah L, the J's and I continue our ritual Friday lunching at Specs in downtown Houston. For those not knowing, Specs is a kajillion square foot liquor store with a deli and specialty groceries. The sandwichs are basically big enough for 3 and cost $6. I seriously couldnt buy the lunch meat for the price of the sandwich. We lunch, shop for new wines and snacks then return back to researchland. (I promise a picture next time!)

In other news, there is the recurring joy of living in a tropical weather zone.



Its a little early to tell but Hurricane Ike appears to be gunning for the Texas Coast. If you follow the path of the Red Ball of Joy you can see it leads to the little divet on the Texas Coast otherwise known as the 8-million person metro Houston area. I looked at the weather underground computer models and the paths basically center around Houston. Just for fun they predict by next weekend the Red ball will turn to a Pink ball, meaning Category 4.

Perhaps another trip to Dallas is in order.

Eddie

Today we get a snow day. Except theres no snow, just a big green comma hanging out over the city spitting out upwards of 10 inches of rain and some gusty 60MPH winds.

This isnt really a big deal, except the streets will flood, there will be tree branches all over the place and the power will go out.

Most people left work yesterday between noon and 3pm to "prepare". The building was completely empty by the time I headed home. This morning there are light sprinkles and no wind. I've yet to secure all the stuff on the patio because there won't be any weather drama until 9am.

Updates if anything interesting happens; just dont count on it.

UPDATE (330p) Oh my, there were leaves falling and I think my patio got wet! LOL. There is some serious street flooding, so I would have had alot of trouble getting around.

Live

Sofa, To Dining


Living, To Patio


3rd Floor, To Living


4th Floor, To Living


Wine Glass Cabinet


Wine Tasting Station


Entry To Living

Whew, so there is the living room and patio. There will be a few more paintings after I finish Jerusalem, otherwise its the way I want it!

Interesting development: I found out this morning that all three of my cousins in Israel are expecting. In January 09 my aunt and uncle will be doubling their stash of grandkids. Live, live, live. מזל טוב‎!

Grease

After plumping up to 165 I went back on my F.IT diet. Its a pretty easy diet I find, just 6 days of a certain calorie limit then 1 day where I say F. IT and eat anything. I'm 11 pounds down but will continue for another two weeks as a preemptive strike against Houston Restaurant Week starting Aug 11th.

On my F. IT day, which was today. I decided to try a Houston legend - Frenchy's. If you are not knowing, they are Creole restaurant offering many items but if you ask anyone living in Houston after 1969 where the best fried chicken lives, they will all answer with Frenchy's.

Having spent a hunk of my youth in the Deep South I have consumed many a fried chicken part. Frenchy's is definitely a cut above the others. I loved the crispy heat thanks to the Creole-inspired recipe. And the Collard Greens were toothsome, spicy and savory with small bits of very non-kosherness.

Next week when I have my F.IT day I might have to go back. Its terribly convenient that I live close to the original location on the other side of 288. It might be a scary neighborhood but this kind of fried chicken tends to dampen down any residual fear.

.

Frenchy's
3919 Scott Street
Houston, TX 77004

Eat

Continuing on with new place - The Dining Room.





I wasnt sure about the dining room lighting. Its two slabs of glass with a bunch of coiled up wire inside. The actual light bulbs look like Christmas tree lights. It all hangs off 4 thin wires from the ceiling. Its growing on me but I still live in fear that it will drop from the ceiling and crack the marble table :)

Cook

Continuing on with new place. Viola - the kitchen. I heart new kitchen!

The granite countertops are fantastic. So much space for the cook in me. And everyone who has seen me cook knows how I like to lay everything out before the process begins.

Oh, and a GAS cooktop; I love cooking with gas. For some reason everything cooks more evenly. There's gobs of space, in fact two of the pull out drawers by the stove are still empty, as is the cabinet over the fridge. The big stainless vent-a-hood over the stove took a while to figure out, but now I like it. All the buttons glow cobalt when its on. New dishwasher was so quiet when I ran it the first time I thought it was broken.




Kitchen, angle right



Kitchen, tap dead center



Kitchen, pillow farm



Kitchen, angle left



Kitchen, facing to living

Work

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the office yet. You can probably see that "in transition" look for yourself. The office is a room, actually a floor, that lives between my bedroom and the living room. I decided to ditch my old desk and get a glass and chrome version. I like it. At night I put lights underneath the desk and the whole thing glows like a strange craft.



One of the things I really like about new place are the windows (there are plenty) and the shades. The shades are not anything special but they slide up from the bottom and down from the top. A few of the windows didn't have shades by design, some new concept in "open-ness" which I still call a lack of privacy. But I found the manufacturer online and ordered some more. Super inexpensive - $100 for 2 rather large and odd shaped coverings. If you're in the market, try selectblinds.com.

Houstoids

I know. I officially suck at getting posts of new place out on the blog. I will try to do the office and kitchen before the weekend. Its been a busy couple of weeks at at the cancer shoppe. Some days I get in at 7a and the first time I come up for air its 6p. But I love it; its the first job I've had in a decade where I feel I am doing something important.

In the meantime I will entertain you with Houston factoids.

Houston is currently the 4th largest city. But since it grows 25% a decade and the current 3rd largest city, Chicago, is growing at 4% a decade, Houston will be the third largest city in 10 years. That would bring our metro population to near 9 million. I cant imagine another 2 million people here but I guess we will make room, lol.

Houston has the largest medical center in the world. Yes, the world. Working in the medical center is both amazing and frustrating. My research facilty occupies 45 million square feet of space in dozens of buildings but we are just one of 40 such places in a small area. The brain trust in the medical center is staggering. Parking in Manhattan on a Saturday night would be a breeze in comparison to what I face everyday. Cancer patients roam the streets 24 hours a day, most of whom come to Houston for months on end for treatment. It threw me a little in the beginning, seeing them on the streets and in the grocery store, but I still look at it as a place of hope rather than repair shoppe for the otherwise terminal.

Houston is second in hosting the most fortune 500 companies, NYC being #1.

The Port of Houston is the highest volume port in the US.

After Houston finishes its next sports arena, it will claim being the city with the most sports arenas (5, although the Astrodome is being torn down I think)

Houston was ranked the #1 city in the US for employment growth.

We have the largest Indian/Pakistani community in the country, 2nd largest Persian community and the 5th largest Arab community. The fastest growing communities in Houston are Puerto Rican, Dominican, Argentinian and Venezuelan. (good thing I know Spanish).

Sleep

Continuing on with new place. This is the bedroom; its on the 4th floor with the bathroom/closet area. No internal walls makes it interesting. There is a half wall at the foot of the bed, I guess to keep me from plummeting two stories into the living room.



Zie Bed

The "wall" bedhind the bed is actually the backside of the closet; there's 2 ft of pass-thru space on top.



Entry to bedroom

Long narrow hallways abound; so do odd shaped windows.



View from bed

The front of the unit is all glass - no window coverings. The house next door is one of those 6000 sq ft monsters that was built in the 40's. There are probably a dozen or so people living there and I'm going to guess they are mostly medical students. Its odd to live in such extreme light but not necessarily bad. I'm not one to sleep in, thankfully.