roflhouse

1001 Studewood
Houston, TX 77008
(713) 880-1001
www.stellasolahouston.com

- tuscan market style white shrimp w/ toasted almond, pickled chard stems, salsa cruda
- bone marrow service, condiments, house ciabatta toast
- house dry aged bone in ribeye w/ charred zucchini and roasted tomato salad
- roasted grouper w/ smoked eggplant tortellini, swiss chard, tomato ciabatta pesto
- sea scallops a la plancha w/ roasted pork belly, cauliflower puree, hazelnut brown butter

wee!

- mexican coke
- summer sausage
- cracklins with sweet and sour
- okra beignets
- fried biscuits with watermelon jelly
- crudo
- rare ribeye
- pulled pork
- peach pound cake
- 3rd coast kolache!

1834 Westheimer Rd
Houston, TX 77098
(713) 807-7271
www.pauliesrestaurant.com

092310 — Paulie’s is one of those places that I have previously eaten at and didn’t appreciate it way back when I wasn’t as into food as I am now. I remember getting some assorted pasta dishes back then, however I do remember the soft and chewy cookies to this day.

Last week I tweeted about where I should go for dinner and Paulie’s came up, and as I reached out to Paulie’s about possibly coming to dinner, he tweeted back saying the wonderful words “ossobucco!” Unfortunately I couldn’t go last week, all that changed today when I was at Greenway Coffee and Tea with David, and reiterated the magic words “ossobucco!” As I watched david close up shop, I couldn’t wait to goto Paulie’s to try it out. We arrived around 530pm and decided to start off with some southern star pine belt pale paired with the refreshing basil lime sorbet and another bowl of chocolate hazelnut gelato. Yes, we started with beer and dessert as we waited for the Thursday special of the day aka the ossobucco. As we finished our dessert, the ossobucco with risotto and gnocchi arrived in gorgeous fashion, a large plate of meat, rissoto and gnocchi was all mine. I tore through that dish like I had never eaten before. Purely wonderful, if you find yourself at Paulie’s on a Thursday, GET THE OSSOBUCCO.

As David, Annie and I polished off the dishes, we looked over at their pastry case only to find some chocolate chip cookies and shortbread cookies that needed a place to live. Don’t worry, they found a nice place inside my stomach with the ossobucco.

3.5/5: I need to go back to tackle that Rib Eye on the menu, if the Ossobucco is any indication, I’m expecting some major win.

530 Texas
Houston, TX 77002
(713) 343-1180
www.sambagrillehouston.com

092310 — Trying to decide on where to get lunch on my day off is always an ordeal, going back and forth bouncing ideas with my girlfriend in order to figure out what she wants (as long as i want it too). Our first decision was to pay buffalo sean a visit at melange creperie, however as we got out of bed, it started to pour down pretty hard. This of course changed our plans for lunch. I’ve been wanting to pay Samba Grille a visit after hearing so much about them.

We arrived around 130pm to a nearly empty dining area, I asked for a table a bit away from the others since I knew I was going to be snapping off some photos of the food. The gracious server approached us and gave us a menu to look over, armed with a nice $10 off coupon I decided to order the Samba Steak Tartar (steak tartar finished with sherry vinegar and served with fried plantain chips) for our appetizer, Annie chose Paglie e Fieno (Spinach and white pasta, roasted chicken, asparagus, peppadew and Manchego sauce) while I chose the Gaucho (South American center-cut tenderloin with chimichuri sauce, sweet plantains and seasonal grilled vegetables) cooked rare. The steak tartare was great, smooth finish and as much as I love plantain chips, I didn’t need them coupled with the tartare, cheesybread was a great addition though. The Gaucho arrived in wonderful fashion, definitely a rare finish coupled with the chimichuri sauce was pure win, while I would have liked a few more vegetables to line the plate, I found myself pretty full at the end of the meal. Since my girlfriend isn’t quite the seasoned meat eater, she opted for the pasta and chicken dish.

Overall the lunch was pretty nice, I definitely need to come back to try the Churrascaria option, it’s great to have a marketing and wine guru in Marc as well. Can’t wait until I head back for the all you can (m)eat.

3.5/5: tasty lunch that gets a bit pricey, but the quality is superb

Lazy Summer Repast aka The Best Meal that Houston has seen in a loooong time aka The Next Level.

Matthew Gray, Chez Roux
Randy Rucker, Bootsies and restaurant connate (opening early next year)
Seth Siegel-Gardner, Just8Project
Raphael Von Heydenbrand, Chez Roux
Ryuta Sakurai, Chez Roux
Damien Rice, Chez Roux
Ben Rabbani, restaurant connate
Chris Leung, restaurant connate
David Buehrer, Greenway Barista
Terrence Gallivan, Just8Project

00. seaweed cracker with smoked catfish, pickled cheese curds and wild seeds
00. bread service: dill brioche, buckwheat and guanciale sourdough and fermented garlic boules
01. Apalachicola Oyster, Pickled Shrimp, Kombu, Melon, Tapioca
02. Tartar of Venison heart with millet, wood sorrel and carmelized miso
03. Salad of pickled vegetables with goat’s milk and whey
04. Collop of lobster, cauliflower salad and yoghurt beignet
05. Blue Nose Runner, Cauliflower, Bone Marrow and Toast
06. Tranche of black grouper, Dijon mustard and brioche crust with apple and cucumber compote
07. Aloe Granita, Lemon Verbena, Pickling Liquid
08. Milk-fed baby veal sweetbreads, pursulane, beet root, yoghurt and onions
09. Lamb cutlet, chickpeas, coriander and saffron salad
10. Corned lamb breast with buckwheat groats, sorghum and elderflower vinegar
11. fresh cheese with honey comb
12. grapefruit / cilantro / basil
13. Financier of English peas with jujube, buttermilk, cucumber, honey and yeast
14. chocolate croustillant with caramel sauce
15. miniardise… (pecan & bergamot shortbread with applewood bavarian and egg yolk meringue, truffle of malt, peach & fennel jam, honey macaron + fennel-miso, ash macaron / fennel-miso, gateau opera, passion fruit pate de fruit
16. 24 Hour Cold Brewed Coffee

“16″ courses, 5 hours in my seat and the food had my complete attention. In the words of Mr. Rucker.. BOOM.

epic Chez Roux x Connate x Bootsie’s x Just August Collab..

12225 Westheimer Rd
Houston, TX 77077

091010 — There’s another contender in the burger game, and this time they are off westheimer and ready to tackle the specialty segment of the burger world. I don’t think there is another burger establishment quite as ambitious in terms of creativity. The Burger Guys attempt to fill the gap between the everyday burger at fudruckers to the special motherrucker at Bootsie’s in Tomball to my favorite burger(s) at Hubcap Grill.

I showed up today for lunch with my parents and I ordered the Sydney burger w/ Roasted Beets, Fried Egg, Grilled Pineapple, and Maple Smoked Cheddar while my parents split a Sonoma w/ Applewood Smoked Bacon, Cheddar, Avocado, Arugula and Aioli. In addition to the burgers we ordered some fries and I just had to try the cinnamon toast crunch shake. Steve surprised us with an additional order of Onion Strings as well as an assortment of 8 different dipping sauces. There were simply too many of them to remember, but my number one was the French Blue Cheese dip, great texture to the blue cheese and if youve been following me at all, you know I love blue cheese.

As the burger arrived, the layout was pretty simple, beets and pineapple on the bottom, burger on top and a gorgeous duck egg on top. A quick jab of the yolk and the yellow substance started to overtake the burger creating a healthy mess. The first bite was great, quality ingredients work well together. Who would have thought beets and pineapple would work together? Bite after bite went down and all I could think about was the bun. There was something lacking with the bun. My mom commented that it needed to be toasted just a bit. I think that’s the last piece of the puzzle to really elevate The Burger Guys into epic burger level. They have the creativeness coupled with quality ingredients, they just need to work on the bun.

*edit* I went back today (091110) for lunch and was able to try out the Buffalo (Tobasco Mash Aioli, Onion Strings, Blue Cheese Aioli, Celery, Blue Cheese) as well as the Boise (Potato Wrapped Deep Fried Dog, Onion, Bacon Jam) and the Cleveland (Bacon Wrapped Deep Fried Dog, Fancy Lawnmover Ale Mustard). I can definitely recommend the hot dogs here as another creative option versus their burgers.

3.5/5: Creative combinations make for a tasty burger, be sure to try the shake or the amazing soda fountain varieties (better yet, get one of each!)

1701 S Shepherd Dr Ste A
Houston, TX 77019
(713) 520-5131

090910 — Barnaby’s Cafe on Shepherd is one of those places I find myself wanting to go to when I can’t think of anywhere else to go. Why? Because it’s tasty and it always satisfies me. It might have something to do with the Waffle Fries with Blue Cheese Fondue w/ Bacon and Chives or the humongous salad or the warm feel of the meatloaf making its way into my belly. In any case its a great place that I’ll always recommend to friends when they can’t think of a place. So go to Barnaby’s even if it is to stuff your face with the Blue Cheese Fondue with a pathetic attempt to compromise with yourself by eating a salad.. Lord knows that’s what I did.

3/5: blue cheese x waffle fries, someone needs to tell chicfila to step the fry game up lol.

88 10th Ave
New York, NY 10024
(212) 989-8883
www.morimotonyc.com

090410 — Having just watched some Iron Chef episodes and coming back from a dismal dinner at Uchiko, I wanted to try out what Chef Morimoto had to offer at his place in New York. Some other friends went and had a great time, and I was looking forward to doing the same. It’s been a while since I had some amazing sushi, and I turned to Morimoto for that fix. Unfortunately for Morimoto it came on the heels of an amazing dinner at Per Se. As we arrived to the Chelsea Market area, we were greeted by some red drapes before a sliding glass door (thank god i didn’t try to enter too fast lol). The first thing that hits you is the design of everything, kind of a recycled modernism, white, sterile and empty water bottles lining the place. As we arrived for our 9pm reservation, we were ushered into the downstairs bar area. Again more of the water bottles lining the walls, with cute and seemingly high maintenance Asian girls lining the tables (!). I decided to go with the tasting of Morimoto’s own branded premium sake collection. A 3 shot array of Junmai, Ginjo and Daiginjo sake greeted me with nice subtle flavors. 930pm quickly came by and we were shown our table.

Chris and I decided to share appetizers for our wallets sake and we opted to start with the ever popular toro tartare, oyster foie gras and lamb carpaccio. The toro tartare was extraordinary, a simple scoop of the toro, a quick dip in the sauce, then an adult choose your own adventure with the accompanying dips created an experience like no other, I was a fan of the rice crackers and avocado. The oyster foie gras with uni and foie gras was excellent but marred by a but too much teriyaki sauce. The lamb carpaccio just tasted like a ginger drenched mess. For my main meal I decided on the Morimoto Style Chirashi which is essentially a massive gangbang of fish on top of rice. When it came out in front of me, I was in awe at the amount of fish and beauty in front of me. No one else mattered when that bowl appeared in front of me, I could have been alone at the table for all I cared.

The bottom of the bowl came and I returned to reality and reminded myself that the table was way too cramped for 6 people, we were a bit *too* close to the next table although I wasn’t completely complaining since the next table had an array of women who I’d like to eat sushi off of (just dont tell my girlfriend =P). At the end of the meal, I left satisfied because of the great toro tartare and the even better chirashi. Eating at Oishii the next day made me appreciate the quaility of Morimoto just *that* much more.

3.5/5: Do youself a favor and just order the Toro Tartare and Chirashi and skip everything else.

10 Columbus Cir
New York, NY 10019
(212) 823-9335
www.perseny.com

090210 — Words can not describe how great the meal at per se was. When I think back at the some 15 course we had during the 4 hour long dinner, all I can think about is the oysters and pearls dish that had my taste buds and mind racing to all corners of the room.

The Menu for the Night..

CHEF’’S TASTING MENU – September 2, 2010

“OYSTERS AND PEARLS”
“Sabayon” of Pearl Tapioca with Island Creek Oysters and Sterling White Sturgeon Caviar

TERRINE OF HUDSON VALLEY MOULARD DUCK FOIE GRAS
English Walnut Streusel, Caramelized Honeycrisp Apples, Celery Bâtons, Frisée Lettuce and Brown Butter Mousseline with Quatre Épices Gastrique

“ROUELLE” OF DOVER SOLE
Red Wine Braised Cabbage, Crispy Sunchokes and Comice Pear Purée with Whole Grain Mustard Jus

BUTTER POACHED NOVA SCOTIA LOBSTER
Creamy Anson Mills’’ Grits, Pickled Okra, Jingle Bell Peppers and Mizuna with Parmesan Cream

LIBERTY FARM’’S PEKIN DUCK BREAST
Royal Blenheim Apricots, Hearts of Romaine and Shaved Radishes with Braised Sicilian Pistachios

BACON WRAPPED TENDERLOIN OF MARCHO FARMS ’’ VEAL
Roasted Garlic “Pain Perdu,” Chanterelle Mushrooms, Globe Artichokes, Cranberry Beans and Petite Parsley with “Sauce Mignonnette”

“BURRATA”
Pain de Campagne Melba, Heirloom Tomatoes, Niçoise Olive Crumble and Petite Basil with Salsa Verde

PLUM SORBET
“Sablé au Poivron Sauvage” with Whipped Mint Tea

STRAWBERRY TRIFLE
Strawberry Mousse, Saigon Cinnamon Soda and Strawberry Génoise with “Glace à la Fraise”

“MIGNARDISES”

Chris, Alec and I all opted for the Foie Gras at an extra $40 supplement, at $275 a head, what’s another $40 going to do, plus I love foie gras. The meal started off with a few tiny gruyere cheese puff pastries that were almost too cute to consume, mini ice cream cone with salmon tar tare followed with a soup whose components aside from olive oil I can’t exactly remember. After these 3 teasers, the menu started appearing in front of us, epic meal started off with oysters and pearls. I can’t even begin to describe the flavors going on in my mouth, but it was definitely my favorite dish of the night, apparently a time tested one as well, 15 year history if I recall the waiter’s comments correctly. Next came the foie gras, the first cut and bite instantly reminded me of what Uchi had to offer for their nigiri, extremely smooth finish. The Dover Sole had a nice firm texture, but Alec didn’t care for the texture of the braised cabbage. The Lobster was cooked *perfectly* sous vide in butter and surrounded by gorgeous corn and okra. Next was the dish that probably was my least favorite, the “peking” duck, while the duck was cooked beautifully, it wasn’t anything that stood out versus any of the Peking Duck I’ve had in my limited food experiences. Next was my 2nd favorite dish with the veal wrapped in bacon. Again, cooked perfectly and extremely tender and almost melted in my mouth. Rounding out the meal came Burrata cheese, Plum Sorbet and a gorgeous array of strawberry desserts.

As if we thought we were done the waiter decided, we needed more food and brought out some chocolates, hand pulled candies, coconut, caramel, and milk chocolate truffles, butterscotch candies, doughnuts and “coffee” ice cream as well as chocolate nuts to fill any crevices and cracks we might have left available after the meal.

As 1:30am rolled around, we were the last table in the place, the bill came, and I happily paid my portion. Well worth the price of admission, I think the dinosaur salt more than covered that amount LOL.

5/5: epic meal is amazingly epic, i’m setting up a trip for french laundry next, let me know if you want to join

dimly lit restaurant means I went for the high ISO and had to white balance the hell outta the place.

Tasty Hand Pulled Noodles
1 Doyers St
New York, NY 10013
(212) 791-1817

090310 — As I previously mentioned, I ran into this place due to random wandering around chinatown and recognizing it from a tv show. This was in fact my first food after Per Se. The food tasted great, the large mixture of everything they had to offer hit the spot. I love the fact that I go from a meal that cost me $360, to a bowl that gave me a combo of 4 or so different meats, some in house crafted noodles and an amazing broth that rivals Pho Binh here in Houston for just under $5. We also went with some marinated cucumbers as well as some pan fried seafood combination noodles.

3/5: Amazing price point creates some extreme value for some hand pulled and definitely tasty noodles