roflhouse

Well, as the year draws to a close I loosely remember my New Year’s resolution of attempting to try one new restaurant per week and for the most part I was rather successful.

The rush of wanting to experience more came as an immediate effect of possible impending jail time in possible federal prison. In 2009, on September 9th a federal court in Alexandria, VA in conjunction with the FBI Cyber Crime Division decided to issue an indictment naming me and some others for involvement in a music piracy group named Rabid Neurosis aka RNS. The Charge? Felony Conspiracy to commit Copyright Infringement. The Potential Outcome? $250k fine and up to 5 years in jail. As 2009 came to an end, I had traveled a few times to Washington DC and Alexandria, VA and the new year was upon us. My resolution? Live Life. Love Life. I decided to meld my love of photography with my love of food and this website is a result of it. I tried to go to a new restaurant every weekend that I was off from work and I loved every moment of it, thankfully my wonderful girlfriend Annie, was there to share most of the experiences with me. In addition to my wonderful girlfriend, I had many supportive friends that helped the trial process move forward.

As March approached, the impending trial took place a week shy of my birthday. The week long trial came and went, and I was able to walk away a free man. This made the birthday week at Striphouse, Stella Sola and Block7 *that* much tastier. This list represents my top 10 meals and outings from 2010.

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01 > Per Se (New York, NY)

http://www.nomomnom.com/wp/2010/09/10/per-se-new-york-ny/
This was the most epic meal I’ve ever experienced, the 15 course roller coaster of emotion and flavor was amazing.

02 > Lazy Summer Repast @ Chez Roux (Houston, TX)

http://www.nomomnom.com/wp/2010/09/14/lazy-summer-repast/
A collaboration between the teams of Chez Roux, Just8Project and Bootsie’s make for a 16 course 5 hour epic meal with a great view.

03 > Bootsie’s Heritage Cafe (Tomball, TX)

http://www.nomomnom.com/wp/2010/12/12/bootsies-heritage-cafe-tomball-tx-8/
http://www.nomomnom.com/wp/2010/10/18/bootsies-heritage-cafe-tomball-tx-7/
http://www.nomomnom.com/wp/2010/10/03/bootsies-heritage-cafe-tomball-tx-6/
http://www.nomomnom.com/wp/2010/08/27/bootsies-heritage-cafe-tomball-tx-4/

If the mother rucker wasn’t enough to kick your ass and make you come back for more, the $35 3rd Coast Menu will make you wonder why you haven’t left houston for the next level.

04 > Kata Robata (Houston, TX)

http://www.nomomnom.com/wp/2010/11/23/kata-robata-houston-tx-3/
Seth + Omakase = extreme win. I can only imagine what will happen when I add a dash of Hori.

05 > Foreign and Domestic (Austin, TX)

http://www.nomomnom.com/wp/2010/10/12/foreign-and-domestic-austin-tx/
Venison Tartare, Foie Gras Mousse, Squid Ink? Dash of creativity and a helluva lot of win.

06 > Stella Sola (Houston, TX)

http://www.nomomnom.com/wp/2010/07/09/stella-sola-houston-tx-2/
mangalitsa x suckling pig and roasted mussels. gotta love what’s coming out of Justin’s kitchen.

07 > Uchi (Austin, TX)

http://www.nomomnom.com/wp/2010/06/29/uchi-austin-tx-2/
lots of good and even more great, the highlight was the Foie Gras Nigiri

08 > Zaytinya (Washington, DC)

http://www.nomomnom.com/wp/2010/09/09/zaytinya-washington-dc/
Next level flavors come together in the form of some great sweetbreads and a surprise dish with the brussel sprouts.

09 > Dessert Tasting by Chris Leung @ Bootsie’s Heritage Cafe (Tomball, TX)

http://www.nomomnom.com/wp/2010/10/06/dessert-tasting-by-chris-leung-of-bootsies-heritage-cafe-tomball-tx/
Chris has an awesome imagination and it really shines through in his desserts, now sit there and eat 10 in a row and you leave stuffed and hyper at the same time.

10 > The Burger Guys (Houston, TX)

http://www.nomomnom.com/wp/2010/09/11/the-burger-guys-houston-tx/
DUCK. MOTHERFUCKING. FAT. FRIES. done.

As I’m sure you can immediately notice, the major player here in my list is Bootsie’s Heritage Cafe in Tomball, TX. Amazing, Amazing stuff coming from their kitchen and I can only imagine what 2011 has in store for them. I can’t wait for what 2011 has in store for myself as well. I’m hoping to head out to more places to stuff my face!

Thanks for reading or looking at my photos!

@mattchow

2800 Sage Rd A-100
Houston, TX 77056
713-629-8646
www.tangomalbec.com

121110 — Tango and Malbec, another restaurant lighting up the stream of tweets on my phone and computer. Since I was headed out to the Galleria, I decided to make this my lunch destination today. I am damn happy that I came here today.

As I ventured into the parking lot, i was a bit worried about the lack of cars and customers in the immediate parking lot. For a Saturday during what I consider to be “late lunch” time, there were certainly no cars in front of the restaurant. This was eerily similar to Valentino and Samba Grille. Valentino failed to impress, while Samba Grille was a great late lunch for my girlfriend and I. This left me wondering what route Tango and Malbec would sway to. As we entered the restaurant, there was no one to greet us at the host stand. As we stood there for a few minutes I decided to go inside to the bar to confirm if lunch service was still going on. They happily showed us to any table of our choice and were instantly greeted with bread, and water.

We looked over the lunch menu and inquired about the executive lunch at a bargain of $15 for the three course meal. That wasn’t quite the route we wanted to go, so Annie ordered the Ensalada de Mango (Mango, avocado, red onion served with Mango vinaigrette) and the El Nadador (Roasted Salmon served on a bed of spinach and salsa fresca). I decided on some a beef and a chicken empanada as well as the Beef Chivito. I loved the empanada’s, flaky crust with piping hot meat that smelled wonderful. Annie wanted to satisfy her Mango fix after watching the Iron Chef battle with Gadsby and Plinio last night, which manifested itself in the Ensalada de Mango. I had this image of mixed greens with slices of avocado and mango hastily placed on top. I couldn’t have been further from that idea. What came out was this gorgeous tower of onions and mangos with a drizzle of mango vinaigrette. Wonderful. The same could be said about her salmon, gorgeous colors a top the salmon as well as underneath. I was completely in love with what my girlfriend had. As for my dish, while I loved the components, french fries, eggs, bacon and beef, I just wasn’t in love with the dish as a whole. Something was lacking, that wasn’t in my girlfriend’s dishes.

I’ll have to come back for dinner before I give a final decision on the rating, but if I keep along the lines of what Annie ordered, I’ll be back in that happy place at Tango and Malbec.

3.5/5: Fresh Mango Salad and great Salmon make for a great lunch before the hectic shopping season at the mall.

3201 Louisiana St., Suite #103
Houston, TX 77006
(713) 524-8222

120910 — Housed next to Sushi Raku with a neat view of Elgin and Louisiana, Piola serves up some pizza and other italian favorites that miss the mark.

Reading tweets and posts from fellow Houstonians and other friends about Piola had me wondering if they food was really as great as they were saying. David from Greenway Coffee and Tea, John Peterson from MaydayGarage and Andrew, another car enthusiast joined me to figure out what they were really about. David had previously been to Piola and had a general idea of what was going on with the extensive menu. We chose the Margherita, Pan Di Pizza 2, Pompei, Valle Dei Templi, Gnocchi Pompei.

Since the weather was gorgeous around 7:30, we decided to sit outside sipping our campari and soda’s while we waited and waited for water. Seemed like they forgot about us for a while before bringing us 3 pizzas, that oddly enough weren’t ours. As we sent them back, we all thought it was odd that they managed to send food out to the wrong table considering we were the ONLY ones outside. Fast forward a bit more and our pizzas came out, the waiter called out the plates as they arrived and seemed agitated that we asked him to place the dishes anywhere on the table as if it was an inconvenience to him. As everything arrived, all of us split the dishes and we all came to the conclusion that the food was good, but not great. None of the dishes stood out, for the $95 we paid for 5 dishes, I was expecting a lot more. Service came as the even bigger disappointment as we saw the gratuity automatically added. That might have explained why we didn’t get adequate service since she was making her money no matter what happened. Quite sad when a waitress doesn’t try to delight her customers.

2.5/5: Piola, apparently famous for their pizza, severely lacking in their service.

* photos were taken with my new Canon G12

120410 — I’ve been a bit late to post last week’s outing to my favorite place in the area, Bootsie’s Heritage Cafe. This time I brought 9 others with me to enjoy the bounties of Randy’s latest foraging adventures.

All 10 of us took over the newly rearranged party room and we all went with the ever popular 3rd coast tasting menu. I can’t stress enough how much of a bargain this 3rd coast menu is, you definitely need to drive over to Tomball to pay Randy and the crew a visit.

My favorite course was the newly foraged King Oyster Mushrooms, amazing texture and meatyness. The great thing about the 3rd coast tasting menu is that everything changes, almost every day that you go.

1-1: Biscuits
1-2: Fernet Branca
1-3: Peanut Foam and Head Cheese
1-4: Head Cheese
1-5: Scorpion Crudo
2-1: Tomball Salad
2-2: Bonito
2-3: White Bean Pasta
2-4: King Oyster Mushrooms
2-5: More Beauty of the Oyster Mushrooms
3-1: Venison Neck
3-2: Smoked Salt, almost as tasty as Per Se’s Dinosalt.. (lol)
3-3: Dessert from Chris
3-4: Special Dessert Chris made for my girlfriend and I
3-5: Key Lime Pie in chip form. *amazing*