Photo by Joanna O'Leary.

Zucchini Pancake.

After two meals at Bon Ga , I understand why Oxhart chef Justin Yu names it as one of his go-to restaurants.

Bon Ga is not about culinary posturing, fussy presentation, and unorthodox flavors. Fresh ingredients and consistently impeccable preparation are Bon Ga's hallmark virtues and why this restaurant is exactly where I want to go on a casual weekend night with friends.

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Mai's bo luc lac is perfect every time.

It starts out innocently enough. With a long day spent squinting at a computer screen behind us and the glistening sun beckoning us to one of Houston's many patios, we find ourselves letting loose at a happy hour with friends. Fast-forward a few buckets of beer and a handful of increasingly sloppy games of bags later, and we realize we've gotten a little too loose and have completely "forgotten" dinner once again. Enter Mai's -- the land of post-party misfits in dire need of some grub.

And excellent grub at that. While some may have their woes with the midtown Vietnamese restaurant, I love it each and every time I visit (and yes, that includes non-intoxicated meals). Perhaps, though, that's because I know what I like -- and I get it every single time.

You probably should, too, because it's freaking fantastic.

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Panera Bread

You won't see this healthy egg white bowl with roasted turkey on the main menu board.

Secret menus at some of our favorite fast food, quick-service restaurants like Burger King, Sonic, Chipotle and McDonald's are not so secret anymore, and now you can add Panera Bread to that list. Like most secret menus go, the items off the menu are usually unhealthy, loaded with calories/carbs/fat and are deemed too good to be on the menu. However, Panera Bread's "hidden menu" isn't filled with giant sandwiches loaded with calorie- and carb-heavy ingredients, or an overly cheesy pasta dish; the Panera Bread secret menu is filled with power-food items with fewer calories than most items on the main menu.

Rather than indulging in a carb-heavy bagel with cream cheese for breakfast, customers can order a power-breakfast egg white bowl with roasted turkey, spinach, roasted peppers and basil pesto, all for just 190 calories; a blueberry bagel racks in at 340 calories. The other hidden breakfast menu item is another power-breakfast bowl with two eggs, top sirloin, avocado and tomatoes for 270 calories.

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Photo by Brooke Viggiano

The "RVP" in all its glory

If you've never been to brunch at Max's Wine Dive and you enjoy lovely things like hot cakes, wings and fresh mimosas, I urge you to check it out (they even do brunch on Fridays). Until then, I'm sharing a copycat recipe for one my favorite MWD brunch dishes -- The "RVP." That's a stack of fluffy and decadent red velvet pancakes served with a dollop of sweet and tangy lemon cream cheese frosting -- simply genius.

I love the pancakes dearly...and I'm willing to bet your mama will love them too (that's not some sort of weird yo' mama joke -- I'm just thinking they'd make the perfect Mother's Day treat).

Here's how to recreate The "RVP" at home:

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Solid crust? Check. Inventive toppings? Check. Wine by the glass and bottle, plus a casual atmosphere? Check. What else could you really ask for in a pizza place?

They certainly have all of that at Reginelli's Pizzeria, now open in Memorial City -- the first Houston location of the New Orleans chain with nine locations in Louisiana. After a recent visit, however, I can't say I'm sold on the place just yet. But that's not to say it doesn't have potential.

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Photo by Joanna O'Leary

Crawfish Borrachos at the original Ninfa's on Navigation.

When I go to the original Ninfa's on Navigation, I'm regularly tempted by the monthly specials, but inevitably I revert to my old favorites such as the tacos al carbon and the shrimp and chicken fajitas. Spring, however, is a time for change and growth. The last time I cowardly opted for the safe, traditional albeit terrific fajitas, I vowed next time -- next time -- I would try something new.

"Next time" came, fortuitously enough, just two weeks later. It was the end of April and the specials I had mused over earlier in the month were still on the menu for a few days. And if I was going to be adventurous, why not be really adventurous and order something I usually don't like? Specifically a dish that heavily features crawfish? I could write a book on why eating these things in shell form is ridiculous, but I will sum up my argument by saying that no other creature on earth requires so much labor in exchange for so little pay-off in sustenance. Once at a crawfish boil, I ate like 15 pounds of mudbugs, then went home still hungry and having lost weight through the exertion of breaking apart those suckers.

So, yeah, crawfish borrachos was a risky order for me.

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Photo by Joanna O'Leary

Where's the beef? Who the f*ck cares? Camel rocks!

I was intent on ordering the antelope.

Sammy's Wild Game Grill offers a variety of exotic meatstuffs, but I wanted to try something really, well, wild. The last time I remember seeing the word "antelope" on the menu was eight-odd years ago at Jiko in Walt Disney World. But at the time I went for something tamer because I was a cranky, unadventurous tweenager.

I didn't anticipate, however, that Sammy's would be offering a special that would make antelope seem pedestrian and render my interest in it obsolete. "Camel $11.95" read the blackboard list of seasonal meats.

Well, yes, yes, I will have dromedary for dinner.

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Photos by Christina Uticone

Here are three things I like: French food, trying new restaurants, and French food. I said "French food" twice because I really, really like it. It is so unlike the home-style, Italian-American fare I grew up on, and yet there is something so familiar and comforting about it. That I will be a tall, willowy French model-slash-food critic in my next life is all but assured.

So I naturally jumped at the chance to taste chef Olivier Ciesielski's new spring menu at L'Olivier.

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Photos by Danh T Phan

A line of pho-natics queued up outside Blacksmith last Sunday evening.

The Pho Binh family of restaurants offers what's often called the best pho in Houston, but they can also be a bit of a drive. The original Pho Binh sits in a trailer down in far south Houston, while its newer sister restaurant -- Pho Binh by Night -- is in the western reaches of Chinatown (which itself is already situated in far west Houston as it is).

That could be one reason the recent Pho Binh by Night pop-up dinner this past Sunday evening at Blacksmith was so popular.

The coffee shop at Westheimer and Waugh closes every day at 5 p.m., and Pho Binh by Night started serving at 5:01 p.m. for the inaugural "blacksmith by night" event. Each month will see a different line-up of chefs, but this past Sunday found a long queue of people waiting to the door for an a la carte pho menu from Pho Binh chefs David and Kevin Pham.

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Photos by Leonel Nerio

See more photos of Pizaro's ovens and pizzaioli in this week's slideshow.

In this week's cafe review of Memorial-area Pizaro's Pizza Napoletana, we take a look at the artistry pizzaiolo (and owner) Bill Hutchison puts into every pie he makes.

Part of that aesthetic emphasis is a product of the type of pizzas Hutchison makes at his restaurant: Pizza Napoletana, a style of pizza and its associated traditions from Naples, Italy. The international Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana and its U.S. partner Verace Pizza Napoletana (VPN) Americas are the main organizations behind promoting and preserving the heritage of this Naples-bred pizza.

But there's more to making a Napoletana-style pizza than just embracing its heritage.

"In fact, the Italian government has created a special 'DOC' certification that it gives to restaurants that adhere to the strict official standards," writes Peter Reinhart in his book American Pie: My Search for the Perfect Pizza. "If you want DOC designation, you need to use Italian '00' dough and buy all of the approved tomatoes and cheeses."

The result is what many pizza connoisseurs agree is the best and most authentic style of Italian pizza -- but not one that many American consumers, especially Houstonians, are familiar with.

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