A La Carte
"You May Choose More than One"
Your chance to vote for Houston’s Culinary Awards sponsored by My Table just got easier. The voting for the Culinary Awards will be online this year and the voting page will go live July 21 on www.my-table.com. The 2008 Houston Culinary Awards will be held on Sunday, October 5, at Glass Wall restaurant (933-A Studewood at 10th). Cocktails at 6 pm, dinner at 7 pm, awards at 8:30 pm. Tickets are $150 each and go on sale August 1. This event sells out every year, so avoid disappointment and get your tickets early. Email culinaryawards@my-table.com.
Messina Hof Winery and Resort announced in June the launch of its online forum and blog aimed to share the culture, tradition and experience of Messina Hof and wine, according to Paul and Merrill Bonarrigo, co-founders of the Messina Hof Winery.
- The Messina Hof online discussion forum and blog is a repository of resources for cooking, wine, and special event planning. Located at www.blog.messinahof.com, the blog is initially divided into three categories: wine trends, food and wine, and weddings and special events.
Kiran’s Restaurant (4100 Westheimer) has started serving Amish lamb. These lamb are free-roaming. Many guests have noticed a difference in taste and have enjoyed this lamb. They also have started carrying Halal meat along with their regular meat. Please let your server know if you or the guests you are entertaining prefer Halal meat. They can prepare dishes accordingly.
Becks Prime, Houston’s original, twenty-three-year-old cook-to-order hand-made gourmet burger restaurant is creating a new restaurant for Houston’s Sports fans, Becks Prime Sportatorium, which will open in the Summer of 2008 in Memorial City Shopping Mall, Gessner at I-10. The 10,000 square feet facility will have a video game room, conference room, bar services and table service so guests can enjoy all the sports games live on TVs.
- Becks Prime Sportatorium is located on the west side of Memorial City Mall facing Gessner, between Old Navy and Sears, with entrances from the parking lot and from inside the mall. For more information on Becks Prime Sportatorium, visit www.BecksPrime.com or call 713-963-7553.
Virginia Nguyen, Director of Creative Services for The Tasting Room and Max’s Wine Dive, emailed to let us know that The Tasting Room at Midtown is now open Sundays from noon to 9 p.m.
Fans of Bob’s Steak & Chop House take note that the restaurant is now closed permanently on Monday.
Hubbell & Hudson Market & Bistro, an upscale artisan-food market slated to open this fall and located at 24 Waterway Avenue in The Woodlands at Town Center, has purchased all three greater Houston-area Black Walnut Cafés.
- The Zagat-rated Black Walnut Cafés are located in The Woodlands, Sugar Land and Rice Village. With plans for possible expansion in Houston, Dallas and Austin, the Black Walnut Café will retain its core menu, but the counter-service restaurant will take advantage of Hubbell & Hudson’s talented culinary staff. Hubbell & Hudson will bring in locally-grown produce, fresh bread, house-roasted coffee, and high-end meats to the cafe. And coming soon, a full bar will be added to the Sugar Land and Rice Village locations. All three locations are now open at 7 a.m. and showcase a much larger breakfast menu.
Culinary Calendar
"Upcoming Foodie Activities"
Pleasant Hill Winery in Brenham invites you to its “Crush for Fun” on Saturdays and Sundays starting July 19 and 20. Hours on Saturday are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and on Sundays from noon to 5 p.m. Additional opportunities will be July 26/27, August 2/3 and August 9/10. You can get your feet purple by crushing grapes, get a special T-shirt and a picture to show all your friends. Food will be available and you may enjoy a glass of Pleasant Hill wine with your meal. Pleasant Hill Winery is located at 1441 Salem Road, Brenham 77833.
Haak Vineyards & Winery have several events coming up in July that you may want to add to your calendar. On Wednesday evenings from 5:30 to 9:00 p.m. they will be featuring their Elegant Dining: Steak and Seafood Menu. Reservations are not necessary but are helpful.
- Friday, July 18 they will have four wines paired with four cheeses to accompany live music and a complimentary glass of wine for $45 per person. Reservations required.
- Saturday, July 19 from 6 to 9 p.m. will feature live music by Lucia y Valdemar Gtanerias for $45 with a meal included which features braised lamb shank in roasted garlic with grilled asparagus with honey and sherry vinegar. Reservations are required.
- Sunday, July 20 from 6:30 to 8:30 pm. features a concert by the Nate Rodriguez Band with light foods available from the Winery Kitchen. Blues and soul music will be highlighted.
- For reservations contact Cecilia at 409-925-1401, ext. 111. Haak Vineyards & Winery is located at 6310 Avenue T, Santa Fe, TX 77510.
Kiran’s Restaurant’s highly anticipated Champagne Dinner will be on Thursday, July 24 at 6:30 p.m. Cost is $125/person. Houston’s only Master Sommelier, Guy Stout, will be speaking that evening.
Over 41 restaurants in Houston will join forces during August 11-17 to help end hunger in Houston during Houston Restaurant Week (HRW) 2008. Diners will be able to enjoy a specially created gourmet meal for only $35 per person (not including beverages, tax or gratuity) and the restaurant will donate $5 to Houston’s End Hunger Network (EHN). When making reservations, patrons re asked to let the restaurant know that they want the “Houston Restaurant Week Special Dinner.” Visit www.HoustonRestaurantWeek.com for more information including special menus from each restaurant and reservation information.
- The kick-off party, “A Texas Food & Wine Tasting” will be held on Sunday, August 10 at EHN at 2445 North Freeway, Houston 77009 from 5-8 p.m. Guests will enjoy beverages and samples from some of the participating restaurants. Tickets are $50 per person and may be obtained by calling Heather at 713-881-9410 or emailing hicenogle@endhungernetwork.org.
- EHN is a 501©(3) nonprofit human-service organization which has worked for more than two decades to develop an innovative, multifaceted system that can solve the hunger problem. It collects enough food to feed 8,000 people and prepares about 5,000 meals each day.
Masraff’s, 1025 South Post Oak Lane, will be hosting An Evening of Hope – Wine Extravaganza, benefiting Tony’s Prostate Cancer Research (TPRC), on Saturday, September 27 from 6 to 11 p.m. “This is not your typical gala,” said Tony Masraff. “It is an elegant, walk-around wine tasting, featuring more than fifty of the finest wines in the world, with food stations positioned throughout the restaurant. We will have a live band for dancing, as well as silent and live auctions.” Tickets are $300.00 per person. To order tickets, please call 713-355-1975.
- TPRC, a 501©(3) not-for-profit organization, raises funds for Non-Invasive Prostate Cancer Research at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and Baylor College of Medicine Scott Department of Urology. To date, TPCR has raised and donated more than one million dollars for cancer research.
Something Sweet
"Summer's Seasonal Sweets"
The Midtown Farmer’s market is terrific for picking up the season’s freshest fruit like watermelon, plums and peaches. But have you tried the weekly changing dessert selections inside at t’afia recently? The local organic granitas are groovy with flavors like blood orange, grapefruit, honey-tangerine or passion fruit-pineapple. For those feeling less virtuous, indulge in the scrumptious cornmeal pound cake with lemon pot de crème and blueberry whipped cream or the devil’s food chocolate cake with sugar figs and walnuts; oh wow. Don’t forget about the Friday Prix Fixe lunches ($22/person) with 3 courses including dessert, of course! (t’afia, 3701 Travis Street, 713-524-6922).
Kitchen Stuff
"Summer is for Grilling"
Here are some interesting grilling tools we’ve recently come across that may strike your fancy. They are available at fine kitchen shops such as Hollandaze Gourmet in Georgetown (www.hollandazegourmet.com).
- Super Silicone Basting Mop. Another product from Girls at the Grill founder, Elizabeth Karmel. The mop is non-stick, shed-proof and highly heat resistant. It’s also dish washer safe. About $12.
- Reusable cedar grilling planks from Great Lakes Grilling Co. are made from 100% organic Western red cedar. Place your food on the plank and set it on the grill for natural, fat-free cooking, with great cedar flavor. Set of two about $22.
- The Vacu Vin Instant Marinater can marinate and tenderize meat, chicken, fish , and vegetables while adding delicious flavors in just minutes. The vacuum created opens up the pores and fibers of the meats, allowing for a deep and instant marination. About $40.
From the Wine List
"Sulfites in Your Wine"
The label on the bottle is scary enough: CONTAINS SULFITES. Add to this our general small knowledge of chemicals, and sulfites in particular, and it’s enough to potentially scare us away from drinking wines at all. Many people attribute headaches and other maladies to the presence of sulfites in wine and prefer to drink white wines over red wines in the belief that they are getting less sulfites that way. What’s the truth?
Sulfites are naturally occurring chemicals that exist on the skins of grapes and other fruits. Thus, almost all wines contain some amount of sulfites. If the concentration of sulfites is greater than 10 parts per million (ppm), the federal government requires the wine label to issue the above warning to alert those who, after medical tests, have been found to have an adverse reaction or allergy to them (usually asthmatics). Luckily, for most of us, a concentration of a few hundred ppm causes no known harm.
Sulfites are produced by the fermentation process. Also, sulfites are added to wine intentionally to kill bacteria that would cause wine to spoil and to control the adverse effects of some strains of yeast. Usually potassium metabisulfite is added to the grape juice mixture (“must”) prior to fermentation at a concentration of about 75 ppm, but may also be added after fermentation if needed. Sulfites are powerful antioxidants also that protect the color and flavor components of the wine. Potassium metabisulfite is usually used in lieu of sodium metabisulfite in order to keep the amount of sodium lower in one’s diet and to reduce possible flavor changes in the wine. Sulfites are used in both home winemaking and commercial wine production.
Because red wines contain tannins and other compounds that add to long-term stability, they require the addition of less sulfites than white wines. Thus, white wines usually have a higher concentration of sulfites than do red wines. Headaches associated with drinking wine usually are not caused by the presence of sulfites, but rather from drinking too much wine, or from the presence of slight amounts of higher alcohols (alcohols larger than ethanol) that occur naturally from the winemaking process. Other potential causes of headaches from drinking wine, and usually red wine (called Red Wine Headache [RWH] syndrome), are histamines and tannins, but most medical studies have shown little evidence to support these.
The bottom line is that more than 99% of the American population is not allergic to sulfites and may drink wine without any problems associated with sulfites. Considering the important function that sulfites play in providing us with clean, unoxidized wines, the benefits of their use appear to far outweigh the risks.
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