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Jimbaround

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Storm the Field

Storm the Field 5294

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Bit of California wine country coming to the Heights/White Oak.

https://houston.eater.com/2020/1/9/21059056/mutiny-wine-room-heights-open

Mutiny Wine Room will soon begin serving a rare assortment of boutique California wineries in the Heights starting this month.

The new 4,579-square-foot tasting room and retail outlet (1124 Usener Street) is scheduled to start pouring on Saturday, January 18. The new vino venture comes from husband/wife duo Mark Ellenberger and Emily Trout.

The Napa-obsessed couple tapped award-winning Sonoma chef and CIA grad Ari Weiswasser to curate a wine-friendly menu inspired, in part, by his time at the famed Michelin-starred French Laundry.

Opening dishes under his watch include sunchoke soup with vanilla bean and black truffle; Vietnamese-styled Gulf Prawns on sugar cane skewers with pineapple-charred shishito vinaigrette; steamed Prince Edward Island mussels with saffron and pernod emulsion; rigatoni pasta with mushrooms, pumpkin butter, and honey-poached cranberries with parmesan; and buttermilk fried quail with Vidalia onion fondue and herb salad.

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billfromlaketravis
billfromlaketravis

I’d go to the original Ninfa’s on Navigation for Tex-Mex. Everything is good, but I like the fajita burger best. Trust me. 

ERhine
ERhine

If you're staying at the Marriott Marquis, the obvious answer is Xochi.

ERhine
ERhine

Probably my favorite restaurant in town over the past six months or so. The dessert literally brought my wife to tears it reminded her so much of a dish her mother made.

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Jimbaround

Jimbaround 975

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3 hours ago, Storm the Field said:

Bit of California wine country coming to the Heights/White Oak.

https://houston.eater.com/2020/1/9/21059056/mutiny-wine-room-heights-open

Mutiny Wine Room will soon begin serving a rare assortment of boutique California wineries in the Heights starting this month.

The new 4,579-square-foot tasting room and retail outlet (1124 Usener Street) is scheduled to start pouring on Saturday, January 18. The new vino venture comes from husband/wife duo Mark Ellenberger and Emily Trout.

The Napa-obsessed couple tapped award-winning Sonoma chef and CIA grad Ari Weiswasser to curate a wine-friendly menu inspired, in part, by his time at the famed Michelin-starred French Laundry.

Opening dishes under his watch include sunchoke soup with vanilla bean and black truffle; Vietnamese-styled Gulf Prawns on sugar cane skewers with pineapple-charred shishito vinaigrette; steamed Prince Edward Island mussels with saffron and pernod emulsion; rigatoni pasta with mushrooms, pumpkin butter, and honey-poached cranberries with parmesan; and buttermilk fried quail with Vidalia onion fondue and herb salad.

That's whats going in at that spot.  Shit, they've been under construction for ever.

Nice to have another cool place within walking distance.

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Caddox

Caddox 952

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Went to Coltivare tonight. Really great. 

Started with the Focaccia and Burrata. Both were really good but the Focaccia may have been the best thing we had all night. Im eating a leftover piece right now. 

The Caccio e pepe was very good. Certainly no complaints, but we both agreed we like Vespaio's version slightly better. 

The Cauliflower w/ raisins and pine nuts was pretty much perfect. 

The pepperoni revival pizza was special. I went to Italy last year and when I got back I tried every Neapolitan pizza I could find in the city. There's some decent stuff here but Coltivare wins. The place lived up to the hype for us. 

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huge

huge 3793

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1 hour ago, Storm the Field said:

Voodoo Doughnut right by my office had their grand opening today. At least 150 people in line wrapping nearly 360 around the store at 10 a.m. this morning. Insane.

Yeah I drive by there every day.  Who gets that excited about donuts?

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Storm the Field

Storm the Field 5294

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On 1/15/2020 at 1:00 PM, Storm the Field said:

Voodoo Doughnut right by my office had their grand opening today. At least 150 people in line wrapping nearly 360 around the store at 10 a.m. this morning. Insane.

So, I assumed this was just an opening day thing, but the past 2 days there have been lines every time I've driven by. Not nearly as long, but 20+ people standing around in shitty weather at times of the day when donuts don't really seem appealing. Oh, and cars idling in the left lane on Yale/Waugh waiting to get in the drive-thru line. 

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SydneyCarton

SydneyCarton 48091

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On 1/17/2020 at 1:38 PM, Storm the Field said:

So, I assumed this was just an opening day thing, but the past 2 days there have been lines every time I've driven by. Not nearly as long, but 20+ people standing around in shitty weather at times of the day when donuts don't really seem appealing. Oh, and cars idling in the left lane on Yale/Waugh waiting to get in the drive-thru line. 

I drove by yesterday at 430 pm and there was a line out the door. I mean, most places that sell donuts I know of are closed by early afternoon. Definitely crazy. 

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SydneyCarton

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4 minutes ago, huge said:

Can someone confirm this is just idiots buying donuts?  And not some deep discount situation?

It's donuts. I mean, how expensive do they have to be in general to warrant a rush to get a fucking discount? Even at the unworldly prices of 4 dollars for their most expensive donut (I'm guessing), who's waiting in line to safe what, 2 dollars? 

 

I'm going with idiots. 

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Js1

Js1 85320

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On 1/23/2020 at 10:02 AM, Storm the Field said:

Boss came in yesterday morning with a big box from Voodoo. Holy crap, each one of these things looks like it would offset multiple days of diet and exercise. No thanks.

Reminds me of my weekly trip to Duck Donuts (RIP)

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Lazarus Bocanegra

Lazarus Bocanegra 305

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On 1/11/2020 at 11:39 PM, Caddox said:

Went to Coltivare tonight. Really great. 

...

The Caccio e pepe was very good. Certainly no complaints, but we both agreed we like Vespaio's version slightly better. 

 

next time add a meatball or two.  Step the game up.  It took me years to figure that out.  

 

Also, a couple of visits ago we were seated next to a young couple who were arguing because the girl had checked a text from some other guy during dinner and the dude was raging at her throughout the meal. I was completely oblivious to the whole thing until numnuts slammed his wine glass down on the table hard enough to break the stem.  What was really funny though was that the waitstaff very coolly and professionally appeared within moments with a replacement glass.  When numnuts stormed off, we tried to ask the girl if she was okay, or needed help, but she noped off and went and caught an uber with the dude. 

/csb

 

 

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Caddox

Caddox 952

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On 1/28/2020 at 3:08 PM, Lazarus Bocanegra said:

next time add a meatball or two.  Step the game up.  It took me years to figure that out.  

 

Also, a couple of visits ago we were seated next to a young couple who were arguing because the girl had checked a text from some other guy during dinner and the dude was raging at her throughout the meal. I was completely oblivious to the whole thing until numnuts slammed his wine glass down on the table hard enough to break the stem.  What was really funny though was that the waitstaff very coolly and professionally appeared within moments with a replacement glass.  When numnuts stormed off, we tried to ask the girl if she was okay, or needed help, but she noped off and went and caught an uber with the dude. 

/csb

 

 

I love when stuff like this happens, like a free show during your dinner. Meatball idea is a really good one. Since I’ve made that post I’ve decided I like coltivare more than enough to go back. Great spot. 

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Lazarus Bocanegra

Lazarus Bocanegra 305

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On 1/29/2020 at 5:49 PM, Caddox said:

I love when stuff like this happens, like a free show during your dinner. Meatball idea is a really good one. Since I’ve made that post I’ve decided I like coltivare more than enough to go back. Great spot. 

since I made that post I went last night and had meatballs.  $6 per meatball and it's worth it 

 

 

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elfenix

elfenix 34238

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Do tell.   I can see this place from my (shitty cube) desk.
Similar Texasy stuff, just killens rather than whoever. We've covered it around here somewhere if I can find the thread. I'm surprised the spot has been unused this long since killen was known to be taking it. Maybe he forgot that he had to take his kid to a football game.
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SydneyCarton

SydneyCarton 48091

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8 hours ago, elfenix said:
19 hours ago, Macanudo said:
Do tell.   I can see this place from my (shitty cube) desk.

Similar Texasy stuff, just killens rather than whoever. We've covered it around here somewhere if I can find the thread. I'm surprised the spot has been unused this long since killen was known to be taking it. Maybe he forgot that he had to take his kid to a football game.

It’s chicken fried steaks and such. Basically the same cuisine as Hickory Hollow but less shitty, allegedly 

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Caddox

Caddox 952

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Nancy's Hustle blew us away. Truly fantastic. The actual restaurant was not really our scene. Very "Austiny" which I know is a good thing on here but I lived there for three years recently and I grew tired of the skinhead tatted up hipster type. Lots of those at Nancy's Hustle including our waiter, but he was great. Very attentive and helpful, he gave us a great vibe and attitude about the food. We loved everything but the Nancy Cakes, Ricotta Gnocchi, and half chicken were some of our favorites. The burger stole the show though. The waiter said it would and served it last for us. When he gave us the dessert list we ordered.......another burger. Big fan of that place. Loved the French wine the rec'd too. 

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Tylerocks

Tylerocks 2553

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Final iteration of One Fifth coming in March

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I can’t believe that we have only 18 months left at One Fifth Houston. What a ride it’s been. When we started this crazy idea, I said to myself that if we come out of this restaurant experiment with one concept, we succeeded. If we came out with two concepts that we want to run long-term, then it was a huge success. Well, we opened Georgia James and we are actively looking for a location for the Mediterranean concept which is awesome! With all of this being said, we need to figure out what the next concept is going to be here at One Fifth. This is where it gets fun. I woke up this morning and started thinking about the building’s wood burning oven—arguably the oldest wood burning oven in the city—and we have never cooked a pizza for a guest in that oven. No, I don’t want to do a pizza place for 11 months but I would do it for a few. Then I thought about that with a lot of different concepts and came to the realization: Why not do them all? Crazy, right? So here we go! On March 23rd we are going to close One Fifth Gulf Coast and move into One Fifth (for the lack of better words) Lightning Round. We will start with Vietnamese on March 25 and then move through other ideas and concepts without giving them a time limit. I want to try as much as I can but still giving each one our full devotion. This will be arguably the most challenging thing we have ever done, but the team is ready. We will not release what concepts are in the future, and we’ll give three weeks notice before we close a concept. I know it’s confusing, but I don’t want to end the 5 years and think “what if or why didn’t we” try something. One Fifth is all about education and learning and experimenting and exploring, and we have so much to explore in such a short time. I hope you all enjoy the ride with us and understand that this is insane in the best way possible. I wanna go fast. Who wants to ride with me? #AlwaysLearning

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huge

huge 3793

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New dak & bop on 18th.

Went for lunch.  They offer the usual chicken (wings, tenders and big drums) but I didn't remember it needing to order so much.  The smallest orders are 10/10/5 for the smaller order and that's $14.  Soy garlic, medium and spicy.

I got the dak sandwich spicy.  Fried chicken with slaw and house made pickles.  Solid.  Came with fries that were good.

Also offered is a burger, pulled pork sandwich and a loaded bowl.  Some interesting appetizers and soup/salad options as well.

8 draft taps with all local.  Only IPA was Art Car.  Did offer Smoglifter which was interesting.

With the menu being so heavy I might only hit it up every other month unless the soup/salad options prove utile.

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pepper brooks

pepper brooks 580

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On 1/15/2020 at 7:40 PM, GreenspointTexas said:

Every starbucks ive ever seen has a line around the building every day, and their coffee is an abomination

 

some people just make poor choices/priorities. Then again, i love cici’s pizza, so what do i know

So true. Starbucks coffee is pure horse piss.  Just utterly terrible. 

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closetojumping

closetojumping 62688

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On 2/18/2020 at 1:45 PM, Tylerocks said:

Final iteration of One Fifth coming in March

spacer.png

 

 

I can’t believe that we have only 18 months left at One Fifth Houston. What a ride it’s been. When we started this crazy idea, I said to myself that if we come out of this restaurant experiment with one concept, we succeeded. If we came out with two concepts that we want to run long-term, then it was a huge success. Well, we opened Georgia James and we are actively looking for a location for the Mediterranean concept which is awesome! With all of this being said, we need to figure out what the next concept is going to be here at One Fifth. This is where it gets fun. I woke up this morning and started thinking about the building’s wood burning oven—arguably the oldest wood burning oven in the city—and we have never cooked a pizza for a guest in that oven. No, I don’t want to do a pizza place for 11 months but I would do it for a few. Then I thought about that with a lot of different concepts and came to the realization: Why not do them all? Crazy, right? So here we go! On March 23rd we are going to close One Fifth Gulf Coast and move into One Fifth (for the lack of better words) Lightning Round. We will start with Vietnamese on March 25 and then move through other ideas and concepts without giving them a time limit. I want to try as much as I can but still giving each one our full devotion. This will be arguably the most challenging thing we have ever done, but the team is ready. We will not release what concepts are in the future, and we’ll give three weeks notice before we close a concept. I know it’s confusing, but I don’t want to end the 5 years and think “what if or why didn’t we” try something. One Fifth is all about education and learning and experimenting and exploring, and we have so much to explore in such a short time. I hope you all enjoy the ride with us and understand that this is insane in the best way possible. I wanna go fast. Who wants to ride with me? #AlwaysLearning

I’ve gone to each of the One Fifth concepts and have enjoyed the change-ups. I was kind of nonplussed by the Romance and Gulf versions, but we liked the premise anyway. I think trying to get to each new concept in the wrap-up will be fun too. The Mediterranean version had a hummus that is about as close to queso as something like that could get. I am not a hummus guy, but that was good stuff. We went to dinner for that one like 3 times. Good to know they’re opening a long term version of it. 

Speaking of hummus and medi food, we went to Ouzo Bay last night. Been a couple of Sundays in the last few months. It’s completely dead in there and I assume, if other nights are as dead as Sunday, that place might not have long to live. In any event, I’m not even sure how we selected that place the first time, but we were really surprised by how good it was.  Everything we got was delicious both times. We did a trio of spreads and there’s one called Skordalia that is about as good as anything like that I could ever imagine. The crudos are all good. The fish is outstanding. I had crusted veal shank that was terrific. The dessert was all done with a unique spin and terrific. I don’t know shit about Greek wine, but they had a long list of it and none of it was really expensive, so we asked for something big and they delivered. 

Anyway, it is ... not cheap. If it continues to stick around, it’s worth it if you’re into that kind of food. Also, cocktails ahead of dinner at Steak 48 next door will never disappoint. The escort-seeks-River-Oaks-geezer-or-euro-douchebag game in the bar area is extremely strong. 

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SydneyCarton

SydneyCarton 48091

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14 minutes ago, NeverMarryAStripper said:

Had anyone been to Guard and Grace?  I've been thinking about trying it, but haven't heard anything bout it.

I haven't been, but a buddy's ex wife moved down here to take a job there as manager, then as head waitress. She's already quit and moved on, but the input I received is that it's one of the best restaurants in Denver. The guy opened up down here and he hasn't been present day to day the way an owner often needs to be to really get the place up and running. I wouldn't look for it to be around too much longer than a year, but I imagine the food is probably really good. Then again, it's a steak house, so you can toss a stick and hit 3 fantastic ones in Houston. But yeah, fwiw, it's apparently one of the places to eat in Denver but has landed in Houston with kind of a thud. 

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closetojumping

closetojumping 62688

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3 hours ago, NeverMarryAStripper said:

Had anyone been to Guard and Grace?  I've been thinking about trying it, but haven't heard anything bout it.

I went with my wife at some point in the last 3 months. We enjoyed it but I can’t remember much about it, which probably isn’t a good sign. It’s in the lobby of a building downtown, which, in many cities is a norm, but you know Houston. Kind of a weird location. We were there on a Friday night and it was plenty busy, but what isn’t on a Friday?

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