FINALLY. that greece/turkey video.

so it took me literally YEARS to do this video.  well to finally look at the footage and compile it in some sort of highlight reel.   Nice to look back,  Greece was beautiful and Turkey was even more so.  And since I've even done a highlight of a recent road trip.  next post.  also in the works.. the video highlight from this years big overseas adventure.   It's been too long personal blog... it's been way too long.

the pass.

had my belated birthday dinner at The Pass. (actual birthday dinner at MF Sushi, more on that later) I had previously dined at the provisions side twice and enjoyed myself well enough, more casual, yet unique, still not on regular rotation though.  the pass is completely different besides the unique part.  upon entry you go through a 'hidden' door - one-way only, and enter into a crisp white dining area with the chefs at one end plating their creations.

we were seated right at the end, with the best view of the open kitchen. i treated myself to a glass of champagne from the champagne cart, and then we opted for the 8 course option (sick or not i wanted all 8), as the 5 course has all the same dishes sans a few, we didn't want to miss out on anything good.  now they say 8, but it ends up more like 11 counting the amuse-bouche, which was a modern take on a fish/seaweed chip, and the trou normand which was a delicious "egg yolk" concoction along with a housemade soda, and the petits fours which we packed up, not counting the lemon cake they sent everyone home with.

The snacks course was an oyster, a jellied 'ol fashioned with foie gras, a black olive pocky and nasturium soup, enjoyed everything here, while the hubby especially liked the foie gras. my favorite course was called ham & eggs - fresh chicharrones with ham powder, served with caviar on a bed of of creme friache and dehydrated seasonings normally served with caviar, like parsley and capers and lemon. next up was the raw course, a bucatini pasta wrapped around silk tofu along with uni, clams, amberjack, ikura, and dashi foam.  this course was more on the pure flavors of each ingredient, not my favorite, but visually stunning.
The beef course came out and i was already getting pretty full, it was a beef tartar with the sousvide egg yolk hidden inside, served with a bone marrow brioche with some dehydrated bone marrow to add to the tartar. i do wish the yolk was a bit more runny, and for the brioche to be a bit softer, but it was tasty just the same.
The next course was the bread course, a french onion flavored french toast per se.. along with various onions and a freakin amazing onion and black garlic sorbet. srsly i could've just had a bowl of that. the bread was good too, but by that time i was getting full and being choosy at what got the rest of the real estate of my stomach.  and the last savory course was a good one (for the most part) the Pig course was a house made headcheese, not even close to what you'd buy at the grocery store, delicious fatty pieces of pork with an acorn mash on top.. i'm glad this slice was small, because i ate it all, served with a green apple chip, and on the other side, not for the faint of heart.. a molten blood pudding.  now i like my pigs blood. like the dish you get at dim sum, or the chunks of it found in bun bo hue.  but this had an odd taste to it, a bit too tart with a mousse like texture, maybe it was because i was sick.. but i could only take a bite, likewise the rest of my dining companions.
Now for the sweets. the Fernet, a chocolate mouse based on the bitter italian liquor fernet, a very semisweet dish with some beet cake and sorbet on the side, i seemed to like all of the sorbet this night, and for the life of me cannot recall the flavor of this one.  The cheese course was house made mini donuts with kumquat jelly, served with alongside a chunk of a cheese like brie in consistency and look but closer to a roquefort in smell and taste.

Would we come again?  Most definitely, once the menu changes over.  It was a unique experience, with great flavors with a molecular gastronomic flair.

5/5
The Pass
807 Taft, Houston, TX 77019

because he turned 7.

dirty little secret #1 - extreme couponing

so everybody knows i'm up for a good deal when shopping.  i mean have you checked out the Secret Sales pinterest board me and Tramanh share?  it's mainly a mix of high-end items with a few supa cheap good deals mixed in.

after seeing an episode of extreme couponing over a year ago - i was intrigued.. and so began my slight merge into good deal shopping to home goods and groceries.  it's almost the same thrill as shopping  the sale section plus scoring an additional 50% off at checkout.   like a contest. how much can i save??  what percentage? my high point so far is 50% off a grocery bill at krogers..  some good work there.  also now i know it takes time and a plan beforehand.  Amazingly it's simple enough with all the websites out there dedicated to couponing. who knew right?

it was a bit confusing at first - what with all the different stores coupon policies, target lets you use one target coupon + one manufacturer (SWEET), Randall's still doubles coupons up to 25 cents, Kroger is face value but also has a way to load some to your card, and now even Dollar Tree takes coupons. srsly.

latest haul:  total spent $4.16

---

Quick tip deal:  Cover Girl purple eyeshadow  -  $0.14 for 3!

•  Make sure you add the one that is $3.14 - it doesn't seem to pop up right away so you'll have to click on the right hand side that says more buying options - select the Amazon seller.
• When you check out (or go to edit shopping cart) you will see a “Clip Coupon” option for $3
• Clip the coupon!
• And then go ahead and select the FREE Amazon Prime Shipping option (if you have it otherwise you have to buy $25 worth of qualifying amazon items to meet free shipping), and you’re done!

kia soul contest - alice in raverland

Click here to Vote for my KIA Soul In My Mind video contest entry!

Thanks so much to my wonderful FRANDS.. for letting me use them in making this video.  IT's a bit out there.. that's hoping to catch your attention.  so please vote :)   

o canadia!

earlier in July we made our way back up north to visit friends and family, and attend a wedding..  was a quick trip - but filled with good meals, and good company.. and of course some caesars and poutine.  and on the way back? a carry-on full of all-dressed and ketchup chips.   

oxheart.

oxheart is Justin Yu's baby.  minimal decor, minimal space, minimal menu and utterly perfect.   reservations are an absolute must - and once you find the coolly located  space in houston's warehouse district, you'll feel you're transported to another city.  one where walking to places is the normal. dare i say NY-ish even.  you walk up to the packed spot and feel like you're eavesdropping on a private party.  seated either at the counter or a smart wood table, you can see the chef hard at work.  on the farm-to-table menu you have 3 selections - 4 course meal (meat), 4 course meal (vegetarian), 7 course tasting which is sort of  like a combination of the two previous.

our menu for the night:

  over ripe nectarines and sour green plums, fig leaf, green tomato, salted coconut, ‘delfino’ cilantro…

 ‘yellow lunar’ carrots cooked in elderflower vinegar, cured and smoked triggerfish, chickpea, horse mint

 crawfish warmed in butter, texas rice, green coriander seeds, and fermented carrot

 barley and sunflower seed stew, purple broccoli, vine beans, brandade of gulf hake

 heirloom potatoes roasted with vegetable ash, juniper, sofrito of chard stems

 sirloin of heritage pork coated in nori, roast cucumber, nasturtium flower and leaf

 steamed cake of ‘chiogga’ beets, chocolate namelaka, beet creme.

missing from the list was the fresh baked bread of the day by in house baker Karen Man.
each dish.  delicious. and the next even more so.  it was a treat awaiting each course.   even the men of the group raved about the vegetarian dishes in the meal including some of the best potatoes you'll ever have.  i've seen reviews where they likened the dishes to an episode of chopped. i can see it.  the random concoction of ingredients seemingly haphazardly put together.  orchestra in your mouth?  yes please.

so dinner was divine as well as our dinner party, dining amongst fabulous friends is always a treat.

5/5

oxheart
1302 nance st

http://oxhearthouston.com

underbelly

Another much anticipated opening was underbelly, with Chris Shepherd at the helms.  Sharing a building or wall? with the haymerchant, parking around here can be difficult.  Lucky for valet.  With this being on Houston's hot list, reservations are hard to come by hence our meal beginning after 8:30.

the atmosphere is the new modern casual farm to table appeal. but it's a place to be scene from the crowd that was gathered that night.  a small bar area up front, with a few tables on a patio, then a larger dining area inside with a connecting smaller room.

the menus are presented inside old hardbook covers. loved it.  the menu changes often, so it's hard to recommend, or get recommendations, since we got a few beforehand.. of which none were on the menu that night.

AND Sadly half the menu seemed out for the night, so we had minimal options and proteins to choose from.  but of what we had there was a decent mix.. i would have to say we missed out on trying the delectable's do to our late resso time.   of course that night we broke bread 'literally' (get that bread, WHY SO DELICIOUS?)  with some of the best dining companions so we had a great time, wine, champagne, and conversation.

underbelly
1100 Westheimer

Uchi Houston

uchi is here.  and it is wonderful.  i've been to both uchi and uchiko in austin, and enjoyed every bite at each, so last year when i heard uchi was coming to town, it was not only highly anticipated by me, but by pretty much the entire city.  yay houston!  support these fine restaurants..  and support them they are lately - with places like uchi being a hard reservation, and a harder walk-in.  i booked the day reservations were opened, and we dined here for my birthday back in February.  we arrived right on time for our reservations but with a packed house we still had a bit of a wait near the bar.. already stock full of walk-in's hoping for a taste, ever so nice they had staff periodically bring out some small bites for the 'waiting and hungry' crowd.. nice touch.
once seated we went all the way with the tasting menu which is a "surprise" but if you ask nicely the waitstaff will let you in on what's in or not in - in case you wanted to do some add-ons which we did (BTW JARJARDUCK is delicious, despite that annoying name and reference), started our meal at 7 and lasted til almost close.  and was FANTASTIC.  the food was all delicious, and the service was one of the best in town.  we had an amazing experience for dinner that night.  can't wait til our next meal here.  highly recommended.

uchi
904 Westheimer

  

the hay merchant.

Went here the day after the 'grand opening' it was already a packed house from all the buzz surrounding it.  arrived shortly after 6pm and was a bit surprised that it was a free for all for tables. no matter we squeezed in at the a bar counter.. ordered 2 pints of karbach weisse versa  and were good to go to await the rest of our party.    once everyone arrived we opted for family style of course.. sadly at first arrival the pig ears were already sold out. WAIT WHAT? you just opened yesterday, and it's only 6pm. REALLY?  we instead ordered the sweetbreads po-boy (great concept but the pieces were far too large and not crisp enough, making it a big mush), a delicious hot dog, a house made sausage plate, a fried headcheese concoction (delicious).. near the end we started spotting pig ears on the tables nearby, called over our waitress and had our order in.  happily so.. this was the best dish of the night.  well besides the beer.

the hay merchant

1100 Westheimer

stuffed peppers.

stuffed bellpeppers.

After reminiscing over photos from our trip to Greece last year, I decided to attempt to make the Mediterranean version of the dish as opposed to the italian version?  with ground lamb and rice stuffing and a slightly sweet tomato sauce to top it off.  The flavors were pretty much there.. from a dish that we had several times in Mykonos.  *note to self - next time let it bake just a bit longer.. for that fall apart bell pepper texture. 

adobo

chicken adobo + brown rice + zucchini

attempted to make Filipino style chicken adobo for the first time last week.  it turned out pretty good, at least the husband was pleased.

To sum it up, it's braised chicken in 2 parts vinegar,  1 part soy sauce, peppercorns, and garlic.

will make again.

learning korean.

ever since me and the hubby have been traveling i've loved learning at least a bit of the language prior to the trip- so i at least know a few good phrases in italian, french, spanish, czech, korean, japanese (turkish and croatian were just a bit too hard!)  out of them all, i learned the most korean- well mainly because i do enjoy their dramas and music.  but it was also a good thing since it seemed most of the people there spoke the least amount of english out of the places we've traveled.

anyways for the past several weeks me and my buddy Dru, started taking a korean language class courtesy of the local korean education center.. our first session just ended.. and it was quite fun.. looking forward to signing up for the second session too -  check out the ridiculous class video we filmed on our second to last class. (i also started learning how to use AfterEffects prior to editing this video - CHECK DEM SKILLZ OUT)

here's some highlights.. or just whatever footage i managed to video while on our recent trip- enjoy!!

last saturday

so this happened last saturday while attending a banquet - so the guy may not have actually been that creepy - but just the dialog itself.. i could not resist.   i mean scary yet flattering right?  OR he just has photographic memory skillz, while i on the other hand could barely remember that i took a jazz appreciation class.

the last holiday.

prague - charles bridge with view of the castle at night.

so we're back from our latest holiday in London and Prague, and perhaps our last overseas getaway for awhile.  it's been absolutely fantastic doing an annual trip like we have been for the past few years.. but we may hold off for awhile.. with the new house.. and who knows maybe time to settle down and start a family next year.  but we'll let life lead us down that path.

the trip was great.. a bit more laxed than our usual trips. where i tend to have loose itineraries packed full of 'suggested' things to do.  with the move and all other life, starting a business stuff in the way, i didn't look too much into our destinations until the week of.  of course we had planned on spending quite a bit of time with the family.  the hubbys sister and husband have lived there for over 10 years now, and these trips are really the only time we see them.  plus now there is a niece and nephew... with adorable british accents.. which also makes them hard to understand along with them being only 2 and 4.  we did some shopping, and some site-seeing around town, while spending evenings in with the family.  we did dine at St John's and had the best madelines EVER.  also i went to see Matthew Fox (swoon) in a play at vaudeville theatre near the westend, while i tried to be a groupie and went to the backstage door after... only to be told that he wouldn't be coming out that day.  we wandered the streets, checked out Windsor, and then..

a few days prior to our prague getaway, T had caught some sort of gastroenteritis.. and is still currently recovering.  it did manage to put quite a damper on the trip, but he pushed forward... going with me to all of the main sites in prague.. and watching me eat smoked pork knuckles and drinking pints of czech beer.. while he had to resort to still water and soup.  he was a champ. thanks hubby!  i even forced him to go out at night to charles bridge so i could get this shot. 

we returned to london.. which was an arduous task.  here's a note for you all - never take easy jet.  it was our first time.. and unlike southwest which is also technically a free for all for seats.. this is literally one big mob of people trying to queue up for a seat.. except at the prague airport they don't have enough people working.. so it is not a line. also they don't tell you what gate you're at until it's boarding time.. where at that location is where you go through security checks as well. (so how is the plane supposed to leave on time) so naturally the plane was running late.. it was time to board and there were still people getting off. once we were finally all boarded, there was one extra person aboard who was not on their list. SCARY. anyways they kicked him off (how'd he get on the plane??) and then rechecked all the seats in the surrounding area and overhead compartments.. for 'surprises' luckily there was none. but that held us up even longer for an evening flight.. where we needed to make it back to gatwick before the trains stopped. it was a stressful rush, but we somehow made it back at 1am to the sister's flat.  and spent the remainder of the trip in London.. with a bit more shopping.. and resting.  it was a good trip, not without it's disappointments, but a good trip still.  it's not our 'last' overseas holiday.. but maybe just for awhile.  i mean there is still much to be seen on this side of the world anyways. 

doing prints.

so in addition to the whole photography and cinematography thing, i've been dabbling in graphic design, from wedding paper goods, to prints TO BE FRAMED AND HUNG ON UR WALL.  all made with love.  my friends have been my test subjects.. as recently that's been their gifts.  HERE'S A PRINT. I MADE THIS.

being reset.

you're probably wondering where i've been.. so here's the obligatory dramatic short.  we were under contract to sell our house, went under contract to buy a house, went on vacation in September and had a good time in Greece and even better time in Turkey.  2 weeks after we returned.. we sold our house, the day after... i got laid off, we cancelled the contract on purchasing said new home.  in one day went from future plans known to jobless and technically homeless all at the same time.
sounds scary right? ok so i probably thought so myself at first too.  but really it has just changed things completely.  finally giving me that slim chance on doing something different.  something creative.  something i've ultimately wanted to do.  i mean srsly who really wants to test software and programs every day.  i mean it's work.  and work is good.  and my old job had the best coworkers evar.  so for those days after when i was sentimental and sad.. it was because of them.  also luckily for us we were able to lease back our house from the new owners.   and i went on pursuing photography/graphic design/ styling/cinematography over the last few months.  it may be going slowly, but steady enough for an upstart.


now it's march, i video'd my first wedding, then second, turned 30, got some new equipment, and moving into a new house.. things are looking better and brighter each day.   resets can be good man.

chez roux.

Chez Roux - located within the La Torretta Resort in Lake Conroe, begged for a visit being Albert Roux's first American establishment and headed up by Michael Gray, the only Michelin-star rated chef in Texas.  It's reasonable tasting menu prices were also tempting that the one hour drive sounded completely worth it.  But now that we've been I can easily answer the question:  was worth it or wasn't it?


The husband had made the reservations.. weeks prior, as well as confirmed on the morning of to ensure that we would be dining at the chef's table that night.  All seemed positive besides getting slightly lost on the way there.  Upon arrival, we were quickly seated at what was definitely not the chef's table.  Inquiring further, the hostess bluntly stated that the chef's table was already reserved.  How odd.. didn't WE reserve it?  With no apology or even an acknowledgement that the room was either double booked or perhaps most likely we had been bumped for 'VIPs', it was a vexing beginning to the meal.
As for the ambiance, the view was superb if not slighlty annoying moments prior to sunset for those facing the windows, the glare was almost unbearable, that i noticed several patrons donning sunglasses.  there were approximately 10 tables not counting the chef's table nor the outdoor tables.  it seemed the bar area and wine room took up half the space, while a few art deco light fixtures were hung over the booths.   the place was sadly unfilled for a saturday night.
we decided to order what we came for.. the menu prestige.

the amuse bouche was a side of crab meat with a crunchy black sesame top along with a shot of tomato gazpacho.  the crab was an excellent mix with the texture and slight sweetness of the topping while the tomato gazpacho was a stark contrast with it's bold flavoring and almost overpowering almost as if it was a condensed version.  this left me eagerly awaiting the rest of the meal... which is what a good amuse bouche should do.

Sautéed gulf shrimps over an Israeli couscous salad.  the shrimps were fresh and tasty, matching well with the salad. it made me want to make things with israeli couscous, and wish that this came in an entrée sized portion.

the next course was a fillet of cod over an artichoke barigoule.  i'm generally hesitant for cooked fish, this was perfectly prepared, dense yet flaky with a perfectly crisp skin.  the barigoule was delicious and added the much needed acidic aspect to the fish. 

the third main, was sauteed veal kidneys served with two mustard sauces and an onion compote.  i can see how this could pose to be an acquired taste for some.  those not acustomed to offal may want to stear clear.  even the husband wasn't a fan, but really that's just how kidney's taste.  They were seared well along with the sauce and onions. i enjoyed this.

Next up was the wild boar chop with fennel seed gnocchi.  this was the first time for me to try wild boar, and it wasn't a great experience.  they must be very lean animals, because the meat was extremely tough, that it was difficult to even cut through let alone chew. while the gnocchi was browned on the outside and a bit too soft on the inside for my liking.  this dish ultimately fell flat.  

the last course of the mains was the soufflé of Texas gold cheddar cheese, with corn kernel cream.  from online reviews this sounds like a dish everyone must try.  on the regular menu i saw it presented under the starters section, which is probably when it should have been served.  the cheddar soufflé was actually quite delightful, light with a cheddar taste that wasn't overpowering.  i could definitely imagine eating this at a decadent brunch.  the corn kernel cream was unfortunate, and over-salted, creating a chaos in my mouth. 

the desserts ended on a high note with an assortment of delicious items from sorbet to a mini molten chocolate cake, and of course the obligatory petit fours.


service for the rest of the night was great, if only it had started off on the right note, the whole meal probably would've been that much more enjoyable.  the meal on the other hand started great and slowly digressed until desserts. so it did end on a high note.  overall, it was a good meal, 7 out of 10 the husband would say.  but i'm not entirely sold on the idea that you couldn't get such a tasting menu in town.. without the hour drive.


chez roux
600 La torretta blvd
Montgomery, TX 77356
(936) 448-4400

U WIN INTERNETZ

i noticed i had this entry as a draft but never posted...


back in january me and the mr. hosted my mom's birthday party... and while i was looking up ideas for decor i googled the term 'tiffany's mantle decor' under google images to see if there was anything i could use for inspiration

but to my surprise the third photo was a picture of me.

* i just tried it again today.  FIRST!!!111!1     - this still makes no sense to me.