TX, Houston, Vargo’s, 2401 Fondren, 77063 (713) 782-3888 http://vargosonline.com
Vargo’s is an amazing restaurant on Fondren just north of Westheimer in West Houston. The house and grounds are meticulously maintained and provide an extravagant background to an excellent meal. It was dark by the time we arrived for dinner, so we were unable to see the full extent of the grounds, but we were able to stand on the balcony and look out over the lake and watch two swans serenely gliding across the water. The restaurant provides valet parking, but self-parking is still an option in the large on-site parking area near the front entrance to the building.
The restaurant promotes itself as the ideal place to hold a wedding and a birthday party or a company dinner – any event that requires catering in elegant surrounding. On the night we dined there were two events taking place in other parts of the restaurant, a large private party that may have been a wedding rehearsal in the dining room by the lake and a buffet for a large gathering of Sikh families (at least that was my guess from the turbans many of the men were wearing)
We went a small private birthday celebration and enjoyed an excellent dinner with unobtrusive but mostly efficient service. Our reservation was handled promptly. But was probably not necessary on this evening. In the dining area where we were seated there were only three other tables – out of eight or so - occupied and there was plenty of room between the tables so we could talk and laugh without disturbing or being disturbed by other diners.
We passed on appetizers, preferring instead to share a Caesar Salad and concentrate on the main course. Both main courses were excellent. The Pecan Crusted Red Snapper was light and delicate and served off the bone with a medley of mixed vegetables and a basil lemon butter sauce on the side. Vargo’s Elegant Stuffed Chicken is a chicken breast stuffed with sautéed garlic, mushrooms, spinach and sun-dried tomatoes and topped with rosemary sauce, also served with a medley of mixed vegetables. My friend judged it to be excellent.
We shared a bottle of Estate bottled Vouvray from the Loire valley. A light easy to drink wine made from Chenin Blanc grapes. Vouvray is not a complicated wine. It is normally drunk within a couple of years of bottling and this wine had a hint of sweetness and nice hint of apples and pears, perhaps the best description is fruity. The wine brought back a flood of memories of evenings spent in the Pontefract Castle wine bar off Wigmore Street in the west end of London, sipping on Vouvray after work in the early 1970’s.
An excellent dinner that cost $112.00 including a 20% tip plus $5.00 for the valet parking attendant.
Friday, October 17, 2008
Thursday, October 16, 2008
TX, Houston, Luigi's Pizzeria
TX, Houston, Luigi’s Pizzeria, 3700 Almeda Road, 77004 (281)793-3333
Each week Houston Press sends me an email called Café Bites where they mention one or two new cafes that have opened in our fair city. This week they mentioned a new pizza place that they said is “churning out some of the best pizza the city has to offer” and ever hopeful that I can find a rival to Star Pizza I sent a text to my friend and we headed for Luigi’s Pizza.
The restaurant is a free standing building on the corner of Almeda Road and Windbern Street in the third ward. This is where Crawford Street coming from downtown takes a slight jog to the left and becomes Almeda Road. There is parking for three cars behind the restaurant, and street parking is plentiful and free on Windbern. There are only four four-person tables inside the restaurant each covered with a red and white plastic checkerboard tablecloth, but if it is a nice day there are three large wooden picnic tables on the fenced patio facing Almeda. The dining area was a little crowded since there was a pizza delivery motor bike parked against the patio doors.
We ate a medium pizza, which starts off as a New York Style cheese pizza with fresh tomato sauce, oregano, virgin olive oil, mozzarella and parmesan cheese then we added Italian sausage, mushrooms, Canadian bacon and artichokes and sat down to watch the Presidential debate and wait. It was a little disconcerting when two tiny plastic containers with lids containing parmesan cheese were delivered to the table with our water.
The menu on the blackboard listed the 14 toppings that could be added to the basic pizza together with four ‘special’ pizzas - Vege, Caprese, Mexican and White. Breadsticks and a salad are also offered. All drinks are non alcoholic. Fountain drinks are Coca-Cola products and they also offer 20 oz smoothies and frappes in eight flavors.
The pizza was excellent. The thin crust was hand formed and cooked to perfection and the sauce and toppings were flavorful. We drank tap water with our meal, then afterwards I tried a cappuccino made from freshly ground beans. The coffee was excellent. Total bill was $12.54 including tax, though I didn’t leave a tip since the restaurant was essentially self-service.
Each week Houston Press sends me an email called Café Bites where they mention one or two new cafes that have opened in our fair city. This week they mentioned a new pizza place that they said is “churning out some of the best pizza the city has to offer” and ever hopeful that I can find a rival to Star Pizza I sent a text to my friend and we headed for Luigi’s Pizza.
The restaurant is a free standing building on the corner of Almeda Road and Windbern Street in the third ward. This is where Crawford Street coming from downtown takes a slight jog to the left and becomes Almeda Road. There is parking for three cars behind the restaurant, and street parking is plentiful and free on Windbern. There are only four four-person tables inside the restaurant each covered with a red and white plastic checkerboard tablecloth, but if it is a nice day there are three large wooden picnic tables on the fenced patio facing Almeda. The dining area was a little crowded since there was a pizza delivery motor bike parked against the patio doors.
We ate a medium pizza, which starts off as a New York Style cheese pizza with fresh tomato sauce, oregano, virgin olive oil, mozzarella and parmesan cheese then we added Italian sausage, mushrooms, Canadian bacon and artichokes and sat down to watch the Presidential debate and wait. It was a little disconcerting when two tiny plastic containers with lids containing parmesan cheese were delivered to the table with our water.
The menu on the blackboard listed the 14 toppings that could be added to the basic pizza together with four ‘special’ pizzas - Vege, Caprese, Mexican and White. Breadsticks and a salad are also offered. All drinks are non alcoholic. Fountain drinks are Coca-Cola products and they also offer 20 oz smoothies and frappes in eight flavors.
The pizza was excellent. The thin crust was hand formed and cooked to perfection and the sauce and toppings were flavorful. We drank tap water with our meal, then afterwards I tried a cappuccino made from freshly ground beans. The coffee was excellent. Total bill was $12.54 including tax, though I didn’t leave a tip since the restaurant was essentially self-service.
Friday, October 10, 2008
TX, Houston, State Bar and Lounge
The State Bar and Lounge, 909 Texas, Suite 2a, Houston, TX 77002 (713)229-8888
An unobtrusive sign on Travis Street and a door 20 or 30 yards from the corner of Texas and Travis past the open air seating for the Sambuca restaurant opens to an entrance hall and a wide staircase. Climb the red-carpeted stairs and enter into a lounge with a long mahogany bar and comfortable seats both inside and outside on a patio overlooking Texas Avenue.
The State Bar and Lounge web site http://www.thestatebar.com/table.html says:
The State Bar & Lounge is an upscale, classic lounge at the corner of Travis and Texas on the second floor of the Rice Lofts. Considered by many as one of the cornerstones of the Houston Downtown renaissance, it is also tribute to the glory days of the city's oil boom. Much of the furniture and memorabilia are from the old Rice Hotel's Capitol Club, a legendary locale from the turn of the century that witnessed such historic milestones as the first electrical lights and air conditioners of the city, prominent judges and oil men cementing the success of Southern Texas, and the last place where President Kennedy ate before traveling to Dallas in 1963. The State Bar & Lounge has resurrected the Capitol Club's atmosphere and honed it to the times with the chic artwork of Houston artist, Alisson Stewart, a mahogany bar, high-arched windows, a private and distinct lounge, and a grand veranda overlooking much of downtown's virgin growth and ambiance.
The bar offers a good selection of draft beers including Breckonridge IPA, Bass, Fat Tire, Anchor Steam, Shiner Bock and St Arnold’s Amber and a nice selection of wines by the glass, single malt scotch and specialty Martinis. Most nights the bar is relatively quiet after the happy hour crowd leave and go home and it is very pleasant to sit outside on a spring or fall evening with a companion or two sipping a glass of wine and nibbling at the cheese or antipasto plate. Sometimes the service is a little erratic and the staff occasionally seem to be in a bad mood and this detracts from the ambiance when it happens. The prices are reasonable, $5.50 for Breckridge IPA, $5.75 for a Bacardi and Coke, $4.00 for a (small) serving of house Chardonnay and $10.00 for an Absolute Martini, shaken not stirred.
An unobtrusive sign on Travis Street and a door 20 or 30 yards from the corner of Texas and Travis past the open air seating for the Sambuca restaurant opens to an entrance hall and a wide staircase. Climb the red-carpeted stairs and enter into a lounge with a long mahogany bar and comfortable seats both inside and outside on a patio overlooking Texas Avenue.
The State Bar and Lounge web site http://www.thestatebar.com/table.html says:
The State Bar & Lounge is an upscale, classic lounge at the corner of Travis and Texas on the second floor of the Rice Lofts. Considered by many as one of the cornerstones of the Houston Downtown renaissance, it is also tribute to the glory days of the city's oil boom. Much of the furniture and memorabilia are from the old Rice Hotel's Capitol Club, a legendary locale from the turn of the century that witnessed such historic milestones as the first electrical lights and air conditioners of the city, prominent judges and oil men cementing the success of Southern Texas, and the last place where President Kennedy ate before traveling to Dallas in 1963. The State Bar & Lounge has resurrected the Capitol Club's atmosphere and honed it to the times with the chic artwork of Houston artist, Alisson Stewart, a mahogany bar, high-arched windows, a private and distinct lounge, and a grand veranda overlooking much of downtown's virgin growth and ambiance.
The bar offers a good selection of draft beers including Breckonridge IPA, Bass, Fat Tire, Anchor Steam, Shiner Bock and St Arnold’s Amber and a nice selection of wines by the glass, single malt scotch and specialty Martinis. Most nights the bar is relatively quiet after the happy hour crowd leave and go home and it is very pleasant to sit outside on a spring or fall evening with a companion or two sipping a glass of wine and nibbling at the cheese or antipasto plate. Sometimes the service is a little erratic and the staff occasionally seem to be in a bad mood and this detracts from the ambiance when it happens. The prices are reasonable, $5.50 for Breckridge IPA, $5.75 for a Bacardi and Coke, $4.00 for a (small) serving of house Chardonnay and $10.00 for an Absolute Martini, shaken not stirred.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
CA, Moorpark, Camille's Sidewalk Cafe
Camille’s Sidewalk Café, 706 Los Angeles Av., Moorpark CA 93021
East, North and south of Moorpark are rocky hills, small enough that roads and houses can be built providing superb views over the valley, but too rocky and barren for growing crops or flowers or raising horses. Though a few budding entrepreneurs have planted vines and are constructing vineyards to take advantage of the grapevines natural inclination to prefer poor sub-soils.
There is not much industry in Moorpark, though a few companies have warehouse distribution centers on the south side of town, so most of the working residents in this town of 36,000 commute 50 miles or so to Los Angeles every day or lesser distances to offices and small factories in Simi Valley or Thousand Oaks. The western edge of town sits on the edge of the lush valley that stretches all the way to Ventura. In the valley, Peaches (from which the town got its name in 1876) are still grown as well as acres and acres of orange and lime groves.
There are a few good places and a number of mediocre places to eat in Moorpark. Camille’s Sidewalk Café is one of the better ones. They offer sandwiches, salads, wraps and paninis to order. The dining area has enough room to accommodate 30 or so diners seated at plastic topped cafeteria tables. There are three outside wrought iron umbrella tables with four chairs each that are in a pleasant open area looking out on the parking lot.
The wraps are excellent. I tried the Mexican Daredevil grilled hot wrap served with a mixed field greens salad with vinaigrette dressing. The wrap contained grilled chicken breast, black beans, red onions, pepperjack cheese, cilantro, roasted pablano dressing and daredevil BBQ sauce wrapped in a jalapeno-cheddar tortilla and toasted in an electric sandwich maker. (how do I know? The ingredients are on the menu) During toasting the wrap flattened somewhat so that when it was served it was oblong in section rather than round, the toasting melted the pepperjack and helped all the flavors combine into a delightful whole.
On my second visit I ate a Chicken Caesar wrap containing grilled chicken breast, parmesan, romaine, tomatoes and creamy Caesar dressing wrapped in a herb garlic tortilla. This wrap was served with tri-colored tortilla chips and fresh salsa. It was also very good. Wraps are $6.99 cold or $7.29 hot. Worth every penny.
East, North and south of Moorpark are rocky hills, small enough that roads and houses can be built providing superb views over the valley, but too rocky and barren for growing crops or flowers or raising horses. Though a few budding entrepreneurs have planted vines and are constructing vineyards to take advantage of the grapevines natural inclination to prefer poor sub-soils.
There is not much industry in Moorpark, though a few companies have warehouse distribution centers on the south side of town, so most of the working residents in this town of 36,000 commute 50 miles or so to Los Angeles every day or lesser distances to offices and small factories in Simi Valley or Thousand Oaks. The western edge of town sits on the edge of the lush valley that stretches all the way to Ventura. In the valley, Peaches (from which the town got its name in 1876) are still grown as well as acres and acres of orange and lime groves.
There are a few good places and a number of mediocre places to eat in Moorpark. Camille’s Sidewalk Café is one of the better ones. They offer sandwiches, salads, wraps and paninis to order. The dining area has enough room to accommodate 30 or so diners seated at plastic topped cafeteria tables. There are three outside wrought iron umbrella tables with four chairs each that are in a pleasant open area looking out on the parking lot.
The wraps are excellent. I tried the Mexican Daredevil grilled hot wrap served with a mixed field greens salad with vinaigrette dressing. The wrap contained grilled chicken breast, black beans, red onions, pepperjack cheese, cilantro, roasted pablano dressing and daredevil BBQ sauce wrapped in a jalapeno-cheddar tortilla and toasted in an electric sandwich maker. (how do I know? The ingredients are on the menu) During toasting the wrap flattened somewhat so that when it was served it was oblong in section rather than round, the toasting melted the pepperjack and helped all the flavors combine into a delightful whole.
On my second visit I ate a Chicken Caesar wrap containing grilled chicken breast, parmesan, romaine, tomatoes and creamy Caesar dressing wrapped in a herb garlic tortilla. This wrap was served with tri-colored tortilla chips and fresh salsa. It was also very good. Wraps are $6.99 cold or $7.29 hot. Worth every penny.
Monday, October 6, 2008
CA, Santa Monica, Ocean Avenue Seafood
Ocean Avenue Seafood, 1401 Ocean Avenue,
Santa Monica, CA 90401 (310)394-5669
To stand out in Santa Monica a restaurant has to have a cachet. The Ocean Avenue’s catch is that they have a great oyster bar. The Ocean Avenue restaurant is part of the King “Signature” Group, which is part of King Fish Houses consisting of 12 fish houses and 5 ‘higher class’ signature restaurants in California.
I am not a lover of oysters – in fact I don’t eat them at all – and some may question my ability to critique a restaurant if I don’t eat oysters. My reply is that there are lots of other things on the menu apart from slimy oysters.
In this case I chose to eat sea scallops. It turned out to be four sea scallops artfully arranged around a small mound of pureed parsnips topped by leaf spinach. The impression of the diminutive size of the portion was heightened by the meal being served on a very large white plate, 14 or 16 inches in diameter with the four sea scallops and small mound of parsnips in the middle of the plate.
The scallops were delicious and the parsnip puree was interesting, there were hints of sharpness in the taste but perhaps my palate is not sophisticated enough to tell the difference between parsnip puree and whipped potatoes. And I must stop ordering dishes that include spinach. Most of the time spinach tastes like I imagine broad leaf grass would taste like. Where is the restaurant that will serve brussel sprouts or cauliflower as a vegetable?
The service was exceptional, prompt, unobtrusive and knowledgeable. The menu was extensive, lots of seafood, a selection of oysters they are very proud of, and a good selection of steaks. At night the view is of the lights of Ocean Drive – a busy thoroughfare with lots of traffic – with the lights of Santa Monica pier flashing in the distance.
Since I was driving I drank one glass of Paul Hobbs Cobos Chardonnay recommended by the waitress together with a bottle of Pellegrino sparkling water and a cappuccino. The wine was excellent, crisp and clean and easy to drink. The meal for one including 20% tip was $67.
Perhaps it was the effect of the flight plus the drive but it was a small annoyance to be expected to tip the restroom attendant and it was large annoyance to be expected to pay a charge for valet parking after the restaurant validated the parking ticket. On closer questioning it was revealed that the restaurant only paid a (small) portion of the valet parking, the diner was expected to pay the majority of the parking fee.
Santa Monica, CA 90401 (310)394-5669
To stand out in Santa Monica a restaurant has to have a cachet. The Ocean Avenue’s catch is that they have a great oyster bar. The Ocean Avenue restaurant is part of the King “Signature” Group, which is part of King Fish Houses consisting of 12 fish houses and 5 ‘higher class’ signature restaurants in California.
I am not a lover of oysters – in fact I don’t eat them at all – and some may question my ability to critique a restaurant if I don’t eat oysters. My reply is that there are lots of other things on the menu apart from slimy oysters.
In this case I chose to eat sea scallops. It turned out to be four sea scallops artfully arranged around a small mound of pureed parsnips topped by leaf spinach. The impression of the diminutive size of the portion was heightened by the meal being served on a very large white plate, 14 or 16 inches in diameter with the four sea scallops and small mound of parsnips in the middle of the plate.
The scallops were delicious and the parsnip puree was interesting, there were hints of sharpness in the taste but perhaps my palate is not sophisticated enough to tell the difference between parsnip puree and whipped potatoes. And I must stop ordering dishes that include spinach. Most of the time spinach tastes like I imagine broad leaf grass would taste like. Where is the restaurant that will serve brussel sprouts or cauliflower as a vegetable?
The service was exceptional, prompt, unobtrusive and knowledgeable. The menu was extensive, lots of seafood, a selection of oysters they are very proud of, and a good selection of steaks. At night the view is of the lights of Ocean Drive – a busy thoroughfare with lots of traffic – with the lights of Santa Monica pier flashing in the distance.
Since I was driving I drank one glass of Paul Hobbs Cobos Chardonnay recommended by the waitress together with a bottle of Pellegrino sparkling water and a cappuccino. The wine was excellent, crisp and clean and easy to drink. The meal for one including 20% tip was $67.
Perhaps it was the effect of the flight plus the drive but it was a small annoyance to be expected to tip the restroom attendant and it was large annoyance to be expected to pay a charge for valet parking after the restaurant validated the parking ticket. On closer questioning it was revealed that the restaurant only paid a (small) portion of the valet parking, the diner was expected to pay the majority of the parking fee.
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