Adventure Dining in the Heights

If I told you that $20 got you a Saturday night dinner from 20 of Houston's delicious restaurants including wine, beer and margaritas....would you actually believe me?

This Saturday, May 16th is the Great Taste of the Heights in one of Houston's most historic little neighborhoods. The restaurants include Shade, all of the Creeks, Bedford, The Rainbow Lodge, and Max's Wine Dive. I've never been to this event, so I can't attest to the quality and abundance of the food and bevs, but it sounds like a pretty good deal.

For more info go to: http://www.greattasteoftheheights.com/index.php

Bon appetit!!

Dining During a Depression: BYOB

With much free time on my hands and the pending Great Depression of our generation, I've decided to start a series of blogs dedicated to Recession Responsibility. It'll be a way to continue to support our local economy and have fun without causing you to file Chapter 11.

One of my favorite aspects of the Houston dining scene is the much-welcomed overabundance of BYOB restaurants and cafes....but I didn't realize there were so many that did not even charge a corkage fee! I've uncovered this hidden gem of a link with all of the BYOB restaurants, complete with the corkage fee: http://www.localwineevents.com/Houston-Wine/BYOB-restaurants.html

Some highlights upon first glance:

• Lucio's BYOB on Taft is just plain good (well plain is dull, and their food is anything but) with a corkage fee of $5 a bottle.
• Collina's is known by everyone to be the best Italian food for your hard-earned buck and the fee is $1/person.
• Houston's on Kirby has NO corkage fee. That's right...bring your own bottle of bargain bottles of vino and drink away.
• Dry Creek Cafe has a better menu than Onion Creek and you can bring your wine and enjoy their laid back patio for $2.50 a bottle. As much as I love the O.C., bringing my own $8 bottle, paying the $2.50 puts me at about $2.75 a glass....much cheaper than the $9 that you'll get charged per glass at the bar. Pssst...you can also bring your own brews!!!

Ike Ike Baby

Last week Houstonians and everyone else along the coast watched the approach of Ike and his cones of uncertainty. The path shifted from Houston, to Brownsville, and slowly creeped back towards the northern Texas Coast by Thursday. We all left work early to start stocking up on things, hoping that it was all for not. The hardcore Texans kept saying that we were overreacting and it wouldn't be more than a 'gust of wind' by the time it hit.

Thursday night everyone went out because of the day off of work on Friday...bars were packed and I even went to see Delta Spirit and Dr. Dog at Walter's on Washington, which was a terrific show. When they sang, "The Ark", it was especially eerie because we all knew what was coming. There was a glimpse of hope before I went to bed that night showing Ike as a Cat One at landfall...but four hours later while I was getting ready for my 12 mile run, Ike was forecasted back to a Cat 2 and maybe a 3.

Friday we gathered at Francis' for a hurricane party and to watch the feeder bands roll in. Water was rising in New Orleans and the power was out at my parents' home there...so they had to evac to downtown NOLA for some comfort. Francis and crew cooked up an amazing pre-hurricane meal...since we knew that we would be out of power for a while...complete with champagne, champagne of beers (High Life...that is), wine, pizza, duck, fried rice, guacamole, and an "Ike" cake...it was like a high-falootin' buffet! After the feast, I headed back to my place to get ready to 'hunker down'.

Speaking of 'hunkering'...I decided that it would be a good idea if every time someone said "hunker down" to drink. After champagne and hurricanes...and LOTS of mentioning of the h-word...I apparently passed out on my sofa around midnight. I woke up at 3am (on my sofa and wondering "WTF?") to loud whistling coming from the windows and front door....and no power, or water. I stayed up to watch the 100+mph winds blow through Houston...and I realized that I had never been through the eye of a storm before and that I would NEVER do it again.

The next day, once the wind had ceased around noon, the Daily Grind opened for business. Unbelievable! They were running off of a generator, providing hot coffee, good comfort food, and television to the weather weary. We ordered a couple of coffees and plates of whatever the chef decided to whip up, while chatting with others about the force of the winds and damage they had seen. It was so comforting...thank you Daily Grind, you saved my life :)

Dinner for the next couple of days consisted of grilled sandwiches, soup and Veuve champagne. I had been saving the bottle for about a year for a special occasion...this definitely was it!

Eventually Onion Creek opened back up, Memorial Park cleared the downed trees (which is pretty sad by the way) and I was able to go for a run, my power came back on, the bayous overflowed and receded, and now we are all trying to return to our blissful state of normalcy. Many friends are still without power and it is always amazing to see how people step up to take care of their loved ones in times like these. It shows that in the midst of chaos, there is a silver lining. Every report I have received from friends and family have been positive...minor damage, no power...but everyone is safe and has a home to return to. Thank goodness!

Other things to make you smile: Interstate traffic is non-existent for the time being, hot coffee and cold drinks, being forced to do nothing for a couple of days and slow down enough to spend time with friends, talking to random strangers about the storm and giving words of support, this beautiful weather that we have been seeing since Sunday...

Things will be back to normal before we know it! Until then, let me know if you need anything...

Here are some helpful post-Ike links:

Places that are open:

http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/2008/09/weve_heard_these_places_are.php

Important phone numbers:

http://www.khou.com/topstories/stories/khou080912_mp_phone_numbers.6cd1e837.html

Gas Stations (stay patient and keep your cool...we are all going through the same thing):

http://www.khou.com/gasstation/

Houston + Beautiful Weather = Patio Dining

The weather in Houston on Friday and Saturday was by all means, less than desirable. Rainy, disgusting, depressing...the kind of weather that makes you want to stay inside and watch movies. Mallory the Pup is not a fan of rain, so she was going stir crazy and I had the feeling that the two of us had probably spent too much quality time together. So on Sunday morning around 7am, when she was tapping her tail impatiently on the kennel floor, I was beyond irritated. I got up and reluctantly took her for a walk. I'm so glad I did...the weather was absolutely GORGEOUS! The view looked a little something like this (although this picture was taken from my apartment on a similar day a couple of months ago).

I already had plans to have lunch with a couple of girlfriends, so during my lengthy ten-mile training run I kept thinking about where we could go. Being that the weather was amazing, it would have been completely unacceptable to sit inside for lunch. Houston has so many wonderful patio cafes...Onion Creek, Brasil, Empire Cafe, LaFendee, Dry Creek, Teala's, Grappino Di Nino...I could go on. I've already been to all of those places, numerous times, and wanted to try something new. Then it hit me...during the Houston marathon, we ran past the King Biscuit Cafe. Cute, outdoor dining, Heights...and the fact that 'biscuit' is in the name just makes my mouth water. Mmmmm!

The King Biscuit is a very laidback establishment and make sure you're not in a hurry, because the wait staff definitely isn't. The menu had a wide-variety of selections, but the $3 Bloody Mary caught my eye. Although there were no olives, limes, beans, or celery (all things that are essential to a BM) it was very spicy and it WAS only $3. The ten-mile run had me in the mood to devour something of substance...my usual wimpy salad was not going to cut it. My girlfriend and I went for the California Eggs Benedict...fresh english muffin, turkey, avocado, w/ creamy hollandaise...served with hash browns and fruit. It hit the spot and was quite tasty! The prices there are very reasonable and there was no way I could finish all of the food....and I pigged out.

I'll definitely be back there...but I will have to bring Mallory, since the four-legged friends are allowed. I love this time of year in Houston...get out and enjoy a patio, the park, or a friend's backyard before the heat wave comes!

Brew Ha Ha

Last Friday me and some fellow beer drinkers (well except Ed...his libation of choice was whiskey on the rocks) attended the St. Arnold's pub crawl in the Heights. For those of you who are unfamiliar with St. Arnold's, they are the local brewery in Houston. The Abita of Houston, if you will. Yes...I did go there...they put out some pretty delicious brews and their tours are fun, although they will never even come close to a Purple Haze or Restoration Ale. Sorry guys, it's just not gonna happen.

Back to the pub crawl. It was madness. These pubs in the Heights just are not well-equipped for so many people at once. They're excellent places to chill, but one bathroom stall and two bar tenders are unacceptable for an influx of 400+ people. Maybe next time some port-o-potties, a few extra helping hands, perhaps a crossing guard to protect the intoxicated jaywalkers. Just a few suggestions...

It started at 5:30, so I was left with the dilemma of whether to eat before or enjoy the beers as a delicious liquid sustenance for the evening. I opted for the latter....bad move. Whoops! The Spring Bock, which was spectacular, is higher in alcohol content..natch. By the time we were to meet at Onion Creek for the 9pm collection of our free pint glass...I was way too drunk off of 3 beers. With my tolerance, that's unacceptable...

In serious need of food and a place to sober up before I drove home..I hobbled back to The Shack (Christy & Tommy's super sweet place) to play Rock Band and munch on Chex Mix for 4 straight hours. If you have not been introduced to the crack of the video gaming world...find a friend who has Rock Band. There should be personals: "SWF drummer seeks a Rock Band" If this doesn't work, Lucky's Pub in the Warehouse district has Rock Band nights (in lieu of Karaoke) on Wednesday nights. I haven't been yet, but if you have....let me know how it is!

Seriously...I think I am addicted. I may need to join a 12-step program...