News from My Table
Noteworthy Openings #84
BB’S, 2710 Montrose slightly north of Westheimer, 713-524-4499. You may recall this location was Alfredo’s European Grill, which (despite its Italian-sounding name) was a German restaurant that was brought down by a scandal involving the owner. Now it’s a Cajun outpost from a young guy named Brooks Bassler. The menu is mostly straightforward stuff — 13 New Orleans-style po’boys, red beans and rice, boudin balls, grits and grillades, fried catfish and etouffée — and unexpectedly good. Po’boys use wonderful bread, and we enjoyed both the roast beef and fried shrimp versions. Muddy thick gumbo also pleased. This ultra-casual spot is open to 4 am Thursdays through Saturdays, and there’s a breakfast menu. The owner hopes to grow his little low-key Cajun concept and has plans to eventually open five locations around town. It opened in November.
BELLS & WHISTLES CAFE, 1501 Texas Avenue at LaBranch (next to Minute Maid Park), 713-224-1501. This new American cafe, which opened in December, offers pan-fried pork chops, a ribeye steak sandwich, blackened catfish, burgers, pasta and homemade desserts. Manager is Rome Hickey. Open Monday through Friday 10:30 am to 5 pm only, except where there’s an important downtown event.
BISTRO DON CAMILLO, 6510 Del Monte just off S. Voss Rd., 713-782-3011. Georges and Monique Guy opened this spot in January, then almost immediately sold it son Jean-Philippe Guy (who also owns Bistro Provence out on Memorial). The menu will remind you of Bistro Provence, with the addition of a few Italian items, such as gnocchi, ravioli and cannelloni Niçoise. (“I love pasta,” says Guy.) The hybrid makes sense as so much of the cooking along the French-Italian Riviera coast shares ingredients and technique. A meal here begins with a hunk of the ladder-shaped bread and herbed olive oil. There are brochettes, duck leg confit, rabbit stew and steak frites. Many of Georges Guy’s pâtés are served by the jar as a starter; the duck mousse, duck and pork rillettes, tapenade, etc., can also be vacuum packed to take home. We’re especially fond of the pizza from the wood-burning oven. Bistro Don Camillo is where Annemarie’s Bistro used to be.
CAFE ZOL, 2411 S. Shepherd near Fairview, 713-522-4700. Sensing that fans of Scandinavian cuisine are being underserved in Houston, this new spot (which took over the old Crostini location) offers Scandinavian tapas and various open sandwiches (e.g. shrimp, Danish salami, smoked ham). Their house special is “duck fingers” with cranberry mustard. The menu also includes Danish meatballs with red cabbage, gravy and potatoes; rabbit cooked with red wine; and pork tenderloin with creamed mushrooms. The owner is Elizabeth Knox, manager is Mark Warford and the Danish chef is Kim Schifling. Saturday brunch wins bonus points in our book. Open late, too.
GIGI’S ASIAN BISTRO & DUMPLING BAR, 5085 Westheimer in The Galleria, 713-629-8889. Located next to Del Frisco’s, this is from Gigi Huang, whose family long had Hunan in The Pavilion (until it closed for redevelopment of the mall). You can enter from the street or from inside The Galleria, and the setting is handsome indeed, with a sexy Asian vibe. If you’re with a group, ask for a table in the “alley,” where each cubbyhole is curtained off from prying eyes. Executive chef is Junnajet Hurapan, who came here from New York City, and his menu includes crispy whole baby snapper, “Heavenly Beef” (oven-dried sirloin with coriander seed and chili sauce) and sesame-crusted tuna. Incidentally, the table condiments (e.g. plum sauce, chile oil) were the best we’ve ever had. Hurapan’s wife, Jiraporn, is pastry chef, and you should order her jackfruit crème brûlée, molten chocolate cake or the quartet of tiny cupcakes. Future plans call for patio dining and the namesake dumpling bar where diners can watch their dumplings being wrapped and stuffed. Also coming: dim sum cart service on the weekends. Michael Badrock, who was with the Pappas organization, is the GM.
PESQUERA’S OCEAN GRILL & OYSTER BAR, 34616 State Highway 249, Pinehurst, 281-259-5000. Luis and Maeve Pesquera have opened a third edition of their seafood chain, this one in The Woodlands/Tomball area. The couple, who also own Joyce’s Seafood and Steaks and Joyce’s Ocean Grill in Houston, are serving up lobster and shrimp enchiladas, sautéed mussels, fried catfish and, of course, oysters in many formats. Maeve, who is also an operating partner at Fleming’s, has written the wine list. Francisco Ruiz is GM.
SOMA, 4820 Washington Avenue bet. Shepherd & Durham, 713- 861-2726. People who couldn’t quite get themselves to the Omni Hotel to dine at Noé have a second chance: Chef Robert Gadsby is now cooking like a gladiator at this sizzling new spot on Washington Avenue. It’s a sushi bar, yes, but so much more. It feels like a swanky Los Angeles lounge, with soaring ceilings, cool red glass-pipe hanging lamps and throbbing techno music. It’s from Yun Cheng and the Azuma folks, so the sushi is good, if perhaps a little mayonnaise-dominated for our taste. When we visited, the side patio was still being built out and the menu was labeled “draft,” but that didn’t take anything away from Gadsby’s kitchen skills. Although menu descriptions can be a little cryptic, the French-Asian tidbits (yes, servings are small) that turn up on your table will delight you. We recommend the hamachi slicked with mustard sauce, a strange little seafood cup that presented one creamy nubbin of fish and shellfish after another, and curried braised beef that will haunt your dreams. Want to go all the way? The chef offers a multi-course omakase tasting menu. Soma could well be this season’s “it” restaurant — and the place has been discovered by the under-30 kids — so go early in the evening or try lunch.
TOKYO ONE, 2938 W. Sam Houston Pkwy. S. just south of Westheimer, 713-785-8899. Taking over the location that was Dozo, this import from the Dallas area offers an all-you-can-eat Japanese buffet (including sushi and sashimi) for $12 at lunch, $22 at dinner. Interesting that it moves into Houston just about the time that Todai, long the reigning lord of all-you-can-eat sushi, changed its concept to a churrascaria. (Todai still serves sushi, too, but it’s no longer pre-made and waiting for you to pick it up.) In addition to the sushi and sashimi, Tokyo One also has salads (e.g. seaweed, jellyfish), tempura and chops.
VOICE, 220 Main St. at Franklin in the Hotel Icon, 713-224-ICON (4266). We stopped in for lunch with executive chef Michael Kramer (formerly at McCrady’s Restaurant in Charleston, SC) in February to test-drive his menu. We ate in The Vault downstairs, since Voice, the hotel’s new restaurant on the main floor, was still under construction. Management hopes to throw open Voice’s doors in April. The name is meant to give a “voice” to the Houston idiom and play up Houston’s culinary traditions, including South Texas, Gulf Coast and neighborhood farmer’s markets. You probably won’t recognize the space that once was Bank. It’s been overhauled and given a contemporary edge, including a 360-degree walnut bar with cowhide-backed barstools. (The heavy velvet decor was so-o-o 2004.) And the food? We loved the lobster slider (and feel like a scrooge pointing out the lobster is not really a part of the Gulf Coast idiom), the sous-vide-cooked venison, a gorgeous piece of striped bass on parsnip purée and a shot glass of seasonal butternut-squash soup with curry foam. The desserts, which will tickle your imagination, are by pastry chef Charles Allen.
WALDO’S COFFEE HOUSE, 1030 Heights Blvd. at 10th St., 713-869-0700. A little bungalow has a new life as a coffeehouse and live-music venue. The menu is, to date, just coffee drinks and sweets: Cake is $3.75 a slice, bar cookies are $2.50 each, muffins $2, biscotti $1.75 and granola bars 92 cents. Live music on Saturday nights, with BYOB. Free WiFi. Our companion asked, But how do they make any money? We have no idea.
WAZA SUSHI & ROBATA GRILL, 6927 FM 1960 West slightly east of Cutten Road, 281-580-8858. Northside foodies are excited about this new Japanese restaurant and sushi bar, which has a contemporary setting and the soft murmur of waterfalls. There’s an excellent sushi bar, as well as kitchen-prepared food. The tatami room seats 12. Like Soma (above), it’s been discovered by a young crowd, so if noise bothers you go at non-peak times. Open to 2 am on the weekend.
