Talk about deliciousness. She stole my truck, my mobile hot dog stand... and my heart.

​Welcome back to the weekly roundup here at Eating Our Words, where bright, peppy morning-show humor goes to die. We started the week off right with a look at a classy new Italian joint with the unfortunate name of Nardino. Unfortunate, that is, if you're a perpetual 13-year-old like myself for whom Monster Squad is always in the forefront of his mind.

"Wolfman's got Nardinos!" No? Let's move on.

More >>

Tonight at the Eat Gallery: Everyone gets kombucha'd!

​If you don't like kombucha, I promise that it's only because you haven't tried Kickin Kombucha. I've turned many a hater into a convert with the brew, which just so happens to be made right here in Houston at the Kitchen Incubator downtown.

I mention this because Kickin Kombucha is launching a new flavor today -- The Goodness -- and is celebrating with a party tonight at Eat Gallery. The party kicks off at 8 p.m. with a musical performance from Frantz at 9 p.m. If you've never experienced Eat Gallery (or tried kombucha), tonight is the perfect time to do both. You won't regret it.

This Sunday at Xuco Xicana (El XX) is another opportunity to finally experience something -- Chef Jonathan Jones's amazing interior Mexican cooking -- and dance it all off when you're done. El XX will be hosting a blow-out pajama party on Sunday afternoon along with throwback jams from DJ Domo Traxxx. The party runs from 3 to 9 p.m.

More >>

Photos by Mai Pham

Cebiche de conchas (scallops), a new item from the Cebiche Bar at Latin Bites Cafe

​Chef Roberto Castre of Latin Bites Cafe knows what it means to work hard. The last two days, he shared the details of how he worked up the ranks after graduating from culinary school in Peru, and then opened up his first restaurant within weeks of undergoing major surgery to donate a kidney to his partner and brother-in-law, Carlos Ramos.

It's not just hard work that has made Castre successful, however. The food that comes out of his kitchen is thoughtfully and artistically constructed. Each detail, each ingredient is there for a reason. On the palate, the flavors blend well, the textures change and add depth to his food, and the presentation of his signature dishes is peerless. His food is layered, colorful, shapely, beautiful.

Take, for example, one of his newest creations, the cebiche de conchas, made of chopped scallops. Served on a rectangular plate, the creation looked like it had wispy butterflies nestled on top of it. In fact, they were flat, dehydrated pineapple and orange chips which gave a bit of texture as well a deep citrus-y finish to each bite, while the diced red onions provided some fresh crunch to counterbalance the softer texture of the scallops. Add to that the softly sweet potato puree drops, which moderated the sharp tartness of the leche de tigre marinade, and this is one of those dishes that you'd remember for years after just one taste.

More >>

Photo by Jeremy Parzen.

Houstonian Lewis Dickson is the only Natural winemaker in Texas.

​"Natural wine is wine to which nothing has been added," said the leading advocate of Natural wine in the U.S., Alice Feiring, when she visited Texas in October 2011 to promote her new book Naked Wine: Letting Grapes Do What Comes Naturally (Da Capo 2011). She was speaking at an event in a wine bar, and I asked her to give the audience a definition of Natural wine.

One of the biggest issues in the debate over Natural wine is the Clintonian question of what the definition of what Natural wine is is. The bottom line is that it's not easy to define Natural wine. At the same time, as Supreme Court Justice Stewart once said about obscenity, there is no shorthand description of what Natural wine is but I know it when I see taste it.

This week, in his weekly column in The New York Times, wine writer Eric Asimov wrote that Natural wine "advocacy lights a short fuse that explodes into hissy fits. In fact, as is so often the case with annoyances, the reaction brings the irritant far more attention than it might have earned otherwise."

What is the Natural wine movement? he asked, offering the following definition:

No more than a tiny collection of winemakers who, along with a motley crew of restaurants, wine bars, consumers and writers, prefer wines that are made with an absolute minimum of manipulation: grapes grown organically or in rough approximation, then simply set forth along an unforced path of fermentation into wine, with nothing added and nothing taken away.

More >>

That didn't last long...

​As 2012 gets up and running, restaurants have hit the ground running. This week's round-up includes two expansions, a few openings and a couple of noteworthy closings.

Expanding into downtown as promised, The Burger Guys finally announced its new location this week: Kitchen Incubator. The burger men will be occupying some of Kitchen Incubator's commercial space to turn out their signature burgers Wednesdays through Fridays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Currently planning an expansion of his own is Minh Nguyen, owner of Cafe TH. Nguyen told us about his plans to expand the dining room and kitchen at his tiny cafe during last weekend's banh mi-eating competition, and confirmed those plans with Eater Houston, telling Amber Ambrose that he plans to add at least 350 square feet of space.

Meanwhile, in Montrose, "Ruggles" Bistro has opened amidst news that the now-shuttered Ruggles 11th Street Cafe will soon become a Ruggles Green -- which is wholly unaffiliated with Bruce Molzan or his "Ruggles" Bistro. The Houston Business Journal reports that the 11th Street Cafe, which closed in December after 35 years in business, will reopen later this month after extensive renovations.

More >>

Char Sui.

​After a long day of fighting the crowds at the Galleria, my dining companion and I were left tired and hungry. Katharine Shilcutt's first look at E Tao and the sheer convenience of not having to leave the mall to get what I was craving sealed the deal. I wanted Chinese food, but not just your average mall food court Chinese.

Sure, you can get your General Tao's and Sweet and Sour Chicken here, but after perusing E Tao's menu I found they also have Shanghai noodles, Char Sui, scallion pancakes, BBQ pork buns and even dim sum -- all foods I'd have to drive into the heart of Chinatown Houston to get.

A small line had formed, as the narrow dining space had filled up during the lunch hour -- I watched as the cooks formed and steamed the dumplings -- definitely a good sign. I decided to try them.

We were seated after a short wait, and service was prompt and friendly. I really wanted see how the Char Sui ($10.95), Chinese barbecued pork, stood up to its outer loop counterparts. We added a side of sauteed green vegetables in garlic sauce ($10.95) and the dim sum platter ($11.95).

More >>

​After passing by many times on the way to or from Big Top or Continental Club, I finally hopped the Metro to visit Julia's, the Latin-fusion bistro at the corner of Main and West Alabama. It was 5 p.m. on Tuesday when I walked through the vibrant dining room, grabbed a seat, ordered a glass of wine and got to talkin' with Eddie, the man behind the L-shaped bar.

More >>

Does that burger have Fritos and refried beans on top? Yes. Welcome to Texas.

​For the next 20 weeks, we'll be rounding up the runners-up to our 2011 Best of Houston® winners. In many categories, picking each year's winner is no easy task. We'll be spotlighting 20 of those categories, in which the winner had hefty competition from other Houston bars and restaurants.

Houston has a lot of burgers. A lot. We could do a dozen different Top 10 posts on just the different styles: gourmet, steakhouse, fast-food, burger stand, veggie, old-fashioned -- you get the drift.

Instead of that, we've picked 10 of our favorites from around the city that all represent the many different styles you can find in Houston. If you like burgers, you're guaranteed to find at least one burger that's "your type" on the list.

If not, you know the drill: Yell at us in the comments section until you feel better.

More >>

Welcome, indeed.

​Rick and Georgia Bost aren't new to the grocery game. Their flagship store, Georgia's Farm to Market, has been a wild success since taking over the old Sandy's space in West Houston more than two years ago.

The Bosts kept much of the Sandy's model in place: organic foods, bulk spices and herbs, ready-made sandwiches and salads, a popular day-long buffet and plenty of locally raised meats were all still stocked when the Bosts took over.

They aren't new to the meat and produce game, either. That locally raised meat that Sandy's once sold was theirs, after all. The Bosts have been running Georgia's Texas Grassfed Beef for a dozen years and they helped found Urban Harvest, the vast network that now administers farmers markets across the city.

The duo also founded Texans for Urban Sustainability, which helped create the state's first organic certification program, back in 1992 -- so they're not new to the organics and sustainability movements, either.

The second location of Georgia's Farm to Market, says Rick Bost, was "always a dream of Georgia's." And after years of planning, it will finally be open tomorrow, January 27.

More >>

Photo by Nicholas L. Hall

​I love it when I have a beer so gripping, so immediately compelling, that I have to go out and buy more of it immediately. When I took the family out for a DEFCON dinner at the Queen Vic recently, that's exactly what happened. I don't think it was a full hour after we left the restaurant that I had a couple of bottles of 11.11.11 in hand.

The funny thing is, though, it took me a while to get around to drinking it. I brought some over to a friend's house on New Year's Eve, and had a small pour from one of a few shared bottles. It didn't really strike me as all that terrific. Perhaps, I thought at the time, the beer just doesn't show that well out of a bottle. Perhaps, I'm thinking now, it was just the fact that I'd already had several drinks, fatiguing my palate and dulling my senses slightly. Besides, there were more interesting things going on that evening; a dude was opening champagne with a sword. That's not him.

Whatever the cause, my enthusiasm waned slightly. I think that was a premature reaction. When I opened a bottle the other night, I remembered what I'd been so excited about in the fist place.

More >>