Sampler Plate: This Week in Food Blogs

Each week, we put together a sampler plate of the most interesting links from both local and national food blogs. Know a blog we should be paying particular attention to? Leave the address in the comments section below.

Chili Bob's Houston Eats: "Bissonnet is one of our great food streets with a very wide diversity of eateries. As far as ethnic or national cuisines go it's probably most known for Mexican and Salvadoran but there is Greek, Italian, Cuban, Ethiopian, Nigerian, Vietnamese, Kosher, Caribbean, Filipino, Colombian, Pakistani and probably several others I've forgotten." Funny how Bissonnet always gets overlooked when people talk about "restaurant rows"...

My Table Side Dish: Former EOW contributor Nikki Metzgar hit up El Real Tex-Mex Cafe and has her own first look for My Table. And I admit to loving her refreshingly honest point that -- unless you were born and raised on old-school Tex-Mex -- Walsh's restaurant just might not be for you.

New York Times: The Gray Lady visits a stunningly unique restaurant outside of Houston that's quickly becoming famous for its elaborate farm-to-table
dinners and talented chef. No, it's not Bootsie's. It's the Inn at Dos Brisas in Washington, which blew us away back in 2009.

Homesick Texan: New York City transplant Lisa Fain has a suggestion for what to do when the Big Apple farmers' markets are only offering winter vegetables: Make the delicious pickled carrots from Ninfa's.

Devour Houston: I still haven't made it out to the new Tasting Room at CityCenter, but Devour Houston has. So far, so good, it seems, but that was almost a sure thing out in spendy west Houston. Mama needs some thin-crust pizza and wine, stat.

H-Town Chow Down: Inspired partly by our Burger Bracket, Albert finally pays a visit to The Burger Guys and finds that it exceeded his expectations. (We expected that.)

Tasty Bits: Misha is back with part two of his treatise on the state of Houston's dining scene: The Missing Ingredient. What, ultimately, does he think is missing in Houston's quest to be recognized as a truly big-name culinary city? Read on and find out...