Hey, Pairesta

Yeah, any lighter lunch suggestions? Or possibly Museum District?

And, anything near the ballparks for Wed/Thur or will we be having ballpark dogs and Torchy's? Hubcap closes at 3

Nashville Hot Chicken at Ida Claire last night is one of the best entrees I've had in awhile. Crackly crisp skin, uber-moist chicken, and just the right amount of heat - which is to say, a lot, but not overwhelming. There's something about that warm, toasty burn of Nashville hot chicken sauce that makes it so much more addicting to me than the more abrasive vinegar based hot sauces like buffalo. And since they're charging $19 for it, they at least take the "fancy restaurant" step of almost-deboning the chicken. So like they leave the bone from the drum stick, but everything else from the thigh is cut out, making it easy to knife and fork.

Had some old family friends in last Friday, so we all met for dinner at my parent's house. When asking for dinner ideas, my BIL was immediately, "We should do a big brisket!"  Which, okay, who exactly do you plan on making that? I'm the only one who barbecues 'round here, and it's a work day.

They got stuck on the idea though, which then turned to, "How about we just go pick up a brisket from Lockhart?"  Score!

So I get there Friday night ready for a little meaty, smokey bliss ... and I see the packaging... ... ... Dickey's.

Oh well, at least I got some of my mom's banana pudding, which in addition to being the world's best, is one of those things that she makes 10x better than me, even when we use the same recipe.

Well, Asiatown alone was worth it. Is that were Afandim is too? They have a place there called Uyghur Cafe or Uyghur Bistro that I'm dying to get to, after having fantastic Uyghur food at a short-lived place in the same area.

We're okay. Short on sleep, frayed nerves, and stir crazy kids, but hanging in there.

I'm biased because we're friends, but the Gemma owners are opening their new restaurant next week and OMG [drool]


NOW THAT'S A FUCKIN MENU

That 4-Course prix fixe is dirt cheap! This place looks great. Hope you enjoy it often.

Not surprised by Xochi; the first brand new spot to snag #1 since Oxheart, the first year this list was made.
I need a hard copy of the 100 to browse and make fantasy lists from.
I don't get the fuss over Kata Robata. I mean, it's good, it's just nothing I've had there elevates it above "It's sushi, of course it's good!" Yutaka, Zen, and even Tei An (before it descended into high roller snobbery) all turned out better stuff.
BCN . . . that place gets no buzz other than popping up on Best of lists every year, but otherwise it flied under the radar. Also the couple times I've tried going I've found them booked for the entire month.
Colitvare is a perfect example of modern Houston dining done right. Clearly leans Italian, but uses the city's staggering diversity to amp up dishes. So a pasta that normally comes with chilies instead comes with szechuan peppers.
I've said my peace on Pass & Provisions. It's sad to see Pass clearly fading and Provisions picking up the slack.
Hugo's remains our favorite Houston restaurant, though our lone experience at Xochi was like Hugo's on steroids.
Have tried going to Pondicheri several times and been thwarted every time.
Killen's is good but not worth the hour+ drive from my house, and nearby Tejas Chocolate is better.
Haven't been to Helen.
Went to Pax Americana a couple years ago and enjoyed it, but the similar Colitvare and Provisions both did it better, i thought.
Notably absent (so far): Shephard's "One Fifth" concept where he takes a restaurant space and re-concepts it every year. He just finished the steakhouse concept and started "Romance Languages" dedicated to Spain, Italy, and France. I'd guess the ephemeral nature of it keeps it off the list, but I wonder if Cook explains that.

It's hard for me to go through the effort of heading into town and then getting barbecue, so no on Pinkerton's or Gatlin's, though I really wanna try the latter because it's more an "east texas bbq" joint than places like Lockhart,Pecan Lodge, etc.

Provisions, maddeningly, doesn't take reservations. So you have to go line up and wait and if it's the weekend (the only time my wife and I would be able to go) it means either get there at 5 or prepare for a long wait.

If you're ever in town and wanting to hit Tejas, that's not too far from me, so ping me and maybe we can arrange to go. It, too, has been "discovered" since the TX Monthly list and they said the lines now go out the door and across the street, when before you could go in and walk right up to the counter on a weekday lunch.

I suspect Celebith's family will get a kick out of this Koreatown dive bar:

www.ddongggousa.com/menu.html

Its name literally means Butt Hole.

Signature items:
corn cheese
spicy chicken and cheese
Korean army stew topped with Kraft singles
nachos Cheetos french fries (that's one thing)

Yesterday was probably the last opportunity we'll have to go out before #2 arrives, so we went to the Blind Butcher for lunch. Started with the butcher board, which included that same awesome goat cheese they always have, plus a spicy sort-of cheddar, pretzel bread, funky pickles, mug of bone broth (!), and the surprise of the board: scrapple. I've never had scrapple, or even been to Pennsylvania, so I can't speak to the authenticity of BB's version, but it was strange, and strangely satisfying. Not nearly as firm as I would have expected, this stuff was like meat oatmeal, in both appearance and texture. Very soft and custard like. But again, good. Really.

For entrees, the Mrs. got the duck pastrami sandwich, served on more pretzel bread with a different kind of goat cheese and fresh greens. It was supposed to come with duck bacon, but they were out and subbed in for English bacon instead. I didn't steal a bite, but she said it was one of the best sandwiches she's ever had. It had the looks to prove it.

I, of course, went with a poutine. I had my mind set on the duck poutine, but it wasn't on the brunch menu. So instead I went for the mushroom poutine. The flavor was good - earthy, herbal ... uh, mushroomy - but the gravy was disappointingly wet. As if the sauce had either split or simply not yet come together. The gravy slid right off the fries and pooled in the bottom of the plate. No idea if this is how it's meant to be or not, but to me it felt like an odd misstep from this place. I should have gone for the breakfast poutine instead with sausage gravy, sunny egg, and bacon.

Oh, and the beer selection was crap, because apparently the Texas-OU crowd had stormed through the night before and all but cleared them out.

Blind Butcher loses its chef.  Deepest condolences to LazBro in this time of inconceivable loss.

The, I assume accidental, link to FiveThirtyEight there is funny. Blind Butcher loses its chef, so where exactly is this Trump presidency headed?

Maybe this explains the uncharacteristically lackluster mushroom poutine I had on Sunday. Though again, everything else was on point.

More like "Hey, Mrs. LazBro":

This November Samuel Smith's (the English brewery) will be exporting kegs for the first time ever. Sounds like all Flying Saucers and Ginger Mans in DFW will be getting some Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout on draft. To me that counts as an event!

Damn. His review brought me such joy. Hot joy.