Inside My Table #81 | Contents
ExcerptOn the coverAllison Merriweather is a frequent contributor to My Table magazine and is the official artist of the Grand Wine & Food Affair, which is held every April in Sugar Land and Houston. In recent months, her paintings were included in group exhibitions at the Hickory Museum of Art, Hickory, NC, and the Hurn Museum of Contemporary Folk Art, Savannah, GA. You can see more at www.merriweatherart.com. |
14 HOUSTON BITES BACK
Includes Letters to the Editor, Noteworthy Openings & Closings, Tasting the Town, Recommended Reading, Flour Power, Food Lover’s Quiz-ine, The Intrepid Foodie & more
42 COVER STORY: HOUSTON RESTAURANTS’ TOP WINE GEEKS
Love to share a great bottle of wine with friends over dinner? Then you should become acquainted with these 20 men and women, some of our city’s most plugged-in wine experts. They know what you should order to take the chef’s culinary creation from delicious to sublime.
By Randy McCrea with Nikki Metzgar
54 THE GRAPES OF GAFFE
Guest columnist Natalie MacLean tackles some gnarly wine-etiquette questions.
56 THE GNOME RANGER
Our bar gnome visits bartender Eiton Werber at the Black Swan in the Omni Houston Hotel.
By Paula Murphy
60 12 NOSY QUESTIONS WITH SANDRA LEE
We catch up with the Food Network’s Sandra Lee when the host of Semi-Homemade drops in at Spec’s Liquor Warehouse.
By Laurel Brubaker Calkins
62 FOOD, CLOSE AT HAND
New York photographer Mariana Cook’s latest book and about-to-open gallery show include close-up photos of everyday foods. Here’s a small bite.
80 JUST DESSERTS: WHAT’S MY NAME?
We love it when the restaurant staff addresses us by name. It makes us feel welcome and important. So why don’t managers train their service staff to use it more often?
By Bill Stephens
DEPARTMENTS
12 TABLE TALK
12 LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
36 MR. ANON: CHRISTMAS SHUCKS
66 DINING WITHOUT BORDERS
A Phon Way to Dine
68 LISTINGS
A Flight of Wine Bars
70 RESTAURANT REVIEWS
Monarch
Reef
