Many things can be learned by butting heads with other chefs in a reality-TV cooking show. But the biggest lesson is this: If the judges ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy. And what does that translate to in real life? Substitute “clients” for “judges” and you’ve got it. Which is why
As a kid I was the pickiest eater you have ever seen, and family meals gave new meaning to the words “food fight.” But I gritted my teeth and overcame it.
Pondicheri and Malai Thai-Vietnamese Kitchen.
It helps if you understand just how small Barley Swine is: thirty-odd chairs along a short bar and around tall tables in a limestone building on a South Austin thoroughfare. It’s so compact that the minute you sit down you become best friends with the strangers on either side of
Francesca's at Sunset, San Antonio, and Saldivia South American Grill, Houston.
PICTURE YOURSELF ON A Mexican-tiled patio as sunlight filters through a rustic roof made of slender wooden latillas. A margarita stands at the ready, droplets of moisture condensing enticingly on the chilled glass. Within arm’s reach on your left is a cast-iron dish piled with chunky guacamole. On your right
Watching lawmakers bicker over the state budget in Austin reminds us of the old adage about what politics and sausage have in common. Fortunately for sausage, its approval ratings are through the roof. “It’s become easier to stuff sausage at home, since more places are selling small grinders and stuffers,”
The first person I think of when it comes to cooking like a Texan is Enrique Madrid. You probably have someone you think of, your father, perhaps, or your grandmother. I think of Enrique, a historian, archaeologist, cook, defender of the borderlands, author, and lecturer whose family has been living
Philippe and Haddington's.
Houston
Tango & Malbec and Seasons 52.
Austin
At a time when trailer food is all the rage, a few Austin restaurateurs are making the shift from mobile to brick and mortar—and lovin’ it.
Whiskey Cake Kitchen and Bar and Olmos Park Bistro.
How tempting must it have been for David Uygur to keep doing what he was doing at Lola. After all, the 37-year-old Dallas chef had amassed quite a cult following, especially at the restaurant’s tiny Tasting Room at Lola. So admired were his eclectic, French-based dishes that when Lola’s
Flora & Muse and Zimm’s Little Deck.
Austin
Where to find our favorite breakfast tacos, fajitas, rigatoni with spicy lamb meatballs, and lakeside views.
A new cookbook from Southern Living.
Fuego, at Stephan Pyles, and House Wine.
Houston
Phil’s Texas Barbecue, Houston and Dive Coastal Cuisine, Dallas.
Las Canarias, San Antonio and Patrizio, Fort Worth.
I’m a big believer in the helpful phonetic spelling of tricky words (it comes from a long-ago stint as a junior high school English teacher, a disorderly experience that we needn’t go into here). But in the case of “huitlacoche,” a Nahuatl word, the phonetic “hweet-la-koe-chay” doesn’t help much.
How a mild-mannered database analyst from Dallas became the undisputed king of extreme competitive deep-frying in Texas—which is to say, the world.
Can your backyard brisket taste as good as the meat you’d get at your favorite barbecue joint? Bill Karau, a native of Pittsburg, thinks so. There’s only one catch—you’ve got to use one of his pits.
Brownstone Restaurant and Lounge, Fort Worth and the Meddlesome Moth, Dallas.
Austin
“The kernel of South Texas cuisine is economy,” says Melissa Guerra, a South Texas native and the author of Dishes From the Wild Horse Desert: Norteño Cooking of South Texas. “Barbacoa, made from the meat of a cow’s head, is cheap yet rich in flavor.” Customarily served at weekend breakfasts,
Tucked away somewhere in the fragmented patchwork of Hanoi sits an unassuming little café, an oasis for chocolate lovers, thanks to one Houston woman’s dream.
Perhaps in a moment of nostalgia, you once rented the 1946 movie The Harvey Girls, starring Judy Garland, Ray Bolger, and Angela Lansbury. In it, Garland’s character, Susan, is traveling by train through the West on her way to become a mail-order bride. On the way, she meets a crew
You know that Houston is the most diverse city in Texas, yet what do you do every time you visit? You stay in the same hotel downtown, plan your typical pilgrimage to the Galleria, and make reservations at the usual restaurants. This time, stay at a hip Montrose B&B
A prayer for the beach. A prayer for courage. A prayer for the perfect crab cake.
A recipe using fresh red snapper from the Gulf, by executive chef Miguel Ravago of Fonda San Miguel, Austin.
Wayne Mueller on how to smoke the perfect brisket.
Everything is bigger in Texas, including our belt size. Find out how to slim down and still enjoy a brisket sandwich or two.
Finding your way around the Capitol City.
Finding your way around the Capitol City.
Navigating the crowds and lines at SXSW can be tiresome and frustrating. To make life a little easier, we've put together a list of some of our favorite places to eat in the Capital City. Bon appétit.
Finding your way around the Capitol City.
Finding your way around the Capitol City.
Finding your way around the Capitol City.
Finding your way around the Capitol City.
Finding your way around the Capitol City.
A prayer for trust in God’s timing (and the occasional fortune teller).
Sip a little here, nosh a little there, and fall in love with Texas wineries.
A prayer for the broken hearted.
Recipe from Chef Scott Cohen, Pavil, San Antonio
Plano
When my psychiatrist kept falling asleep on me, I knew it was time to look elsewhere.
