Corned Beef and Whole Foods Houston

Our favorite feature of the olive bar at Whole Foods is that samples are freely bachelor, so it'due south easy to try some new and exotic olives before you lot buy. Tucked away at the back of the store, about the cheese counter, the bar offers an fantabulous assortment of olives from effectually the world. They come up in all unlike colors, sizes, shapes and textures, with or without pits. There are picholines and niçoises from France, arbequinas and catalanas from Spain and kalamatas from Hellenic republic. The best are the stuffed 1, filled with everything imaginable: pimientos, garlic, jalapeo, blue cheese and feta. Whole Foods is a perfect final stop when you're looking to accessorize the ultimate wine-and-cheese party.

• 4004 Bellaire Blvd., Houston, 77025 Map
• 713-667-4090

The counter men vesture New York Fire Department gimme caps and talk with that unmistakable Big Apple accent. The carte du jour hanging on the wall behind the counter includes a Yiddish glossary, just in example you lot're wondering about authenticity. Yes, these guys are genuine meshuga New Yorkers, and the big doughy, boiled-and-baked bagels gustatory modality just like the ones you get on the Upper West Side. Just at that place are enough of good bagels to cull from in Houston. What causes New York expats to schlepp the whole mishpokhe all the way across town to this little shopping center bagel store on the U.S. 59 frontage road are all the tasty schmeers. Hot Bagels has an incredible selection of smoked fish. Certain, there's kreftig Nova Scotia salmon and shana whole whitefish, but they also have the best hand-sliced sturgeon this side of Barney Greengrass, the Sturgeon Rex. And such a mechaya, yous don't find just anywhere!

Is there smack in this salsa? No, of course not. Simply the addictive quality of El Pueblito's version of the condiment will brand you lot wonder. At this Guatemalan/Mexican restaurant, owned past Eduardo and Monica Lopez, the salsa is more than just something to dip the fries in while waiting for your main course -- in fact, stopping there would be almost impossible. The mixture of fresh cilantro and ripe tomatoes makes everything on the varied carte sense of taste even ameliorate than it does plain -- from the vegetarian quesadillas to the fresh bay snapper -- then go ahead and cover your plate with the stuff. The chunky sauce is blessed with a sharp bite that somehow makes your mouth feel cool and hot all at the same fourth dimension, and if you get a regular salsa junkie, the staff will string you out even more by bringing yous extra big cups of it. Forget pot -- after ane visit it'due south obvious that El Pueblito's salsa is the true gateway drug.

The lunch salad with scallops, listed on the bill of fare equally "pancetta-wrapped Maine diver scallops, warm salad of watercress, jicama and wild mushrooms," tastes as big as its name. Get-go you notice the scallops: three big fat ones, wrapped in pancetta, and the salty Italian bacon pairs beautifully with the sweet shellfish. Then you assess the "salad" part of the equation. Those scallops environs a small, warm mound of jicama slivers, wild mushrooms and watercress. When you eat a bit of everything at once, the combination of textures and flavors is then entrancing (chewy! soft! crunchy! salty! sweetness! fiery!) that for a minute you lot forget nearly Quattro'southward impressive view of the George R. Dark-brown Convention Center. You forget to enjoy the restaurant's hyperstylish interior. You lot forget even what you were telling your luncheon partner just a second earlier. Maybe it'due south not fair to classify this dish as a salad -- it could count as a low-cal entrée -- simply chef Tim Keating obviously doesn't fret virtually such piffling distinctions, and neither will you. In fact, y'all'll wish more salads took themselves so seriously.

Truluck's stone venereal are flown in every twenty-four hour period from company beds in Florida. If they were any fresher, these crustaceans would arrive at your table fighting. They're kept on ice for the journey only never frozen. This yields a watery, stringy stone crab. Novices take note: You should eat only the white meat in the large hook. It's nearly impossible to observe a more enjoyable feast than this, served with either a elementary melted butter or a spicy mustard sauce. Monday is the best day: The all-you lot-can-eat stone crab feast is $39.95.

The challah is braided and brown on the exterior and golden with egg yolks in the middle -- accept some home and make French toast with information technology and your breakfast will take on a whole new dimension. If yous're thinking of making roast beefiness sandwiches, you'll desire to build them on moist, onion-covered Three Brothers onion rolls. Corned beef sandwiches? Get the seeded rye; the chewy crust increases the interest level of your typical meat-and-mustard combination dramatically. On Fridays, there'south also corn rye, a super-dumbo version of rye that's outstanding with chopped liver. (Information technology tin can't be cut with an ordinary breadstuff knife so remember to ask them to slice it for you.) On Friday, Three Brothers likewise has chocolate and cinnamon babkas and other sweet breads to choose from -- all of them outset-charge per unit. What else would you await from the best Jewish baker in the land?

Nosotros're willing to bet that Oysters Gilhooley are the best barbecued oysters on the unabridged Gulf Coast. The fresh-shucked oysters are topped with cheese and sauce and then smoked over a pecan-and-oak fire. The shells get partially blackened and the oysters selection upwardly a potent smoky flavor while remaining juicy. And the wonderful season is only accentuated past Gilhooley's charming atmosphere. The outdoor seating area, with its ramshackle patio article of furniture, is overgrown with vegetation. The interior is all worn woodwork and erstwhile article of furniture. The rafters seem to exist held together by the license plates that cover them. Children are forbidden here, no incertitude in part considering of all the show-us-your-tits photos. Gilhooley'due south Raw Bar may likewise be the last place in the Usa where yous tin get a dozen raw oysters and a rare hamburger for lunch.

• 222 Ninth St., Dickinson, 77539 Map
• 281-339-3813

And on the 8th day, God created Istanbul Grill'southward blimp mushrooms. Yes, they really are that good. The popular Turkish restaurant in the Rice Village is known for a lot of bang-up dishes, but it's the blimp mushroom appetizer that is an absolute must-take. The dish comes with 4 medium-sized mushrooms filled with mozzarella cheese, parsley and black pepper. The shrooms are then topped off with a special sauce fabricated from fresh tomatoes, bell peppers, garlic, oregano and, according to a restaurant employee, "some special Turkish herbs."

With an outdoor walk-up bar, you don't even have to go inside to quench your thirst at our new favorite pub in the Hamlet. You tin sit on a stool outside and have a pint and scout passersby. Even within, the identify has an outdoor experience -- the place doesn't really take a front wall. You lot tin can sit on the leather couches indoors (if yous can find an open spot) and feel similar your mom opened the living room's sliding glass doors. Bottoms upwards.

Photograph by Katharine Shilcutt

The eggplant is a fine-looking fruit (aye, technically it's a fruit). It'due south big and round and dressed upward in royal regal. But let's admit it, most of us are at a loss as to what to do with it in the kitchen. So why not leave that task upwardly to the cooks at Brasil? They've certainly proved themselves worthy enough with their succulent baked eggplant sandwich. Big yummy hunks of the nutritious food (low in calories, but loftier in fiber) are nestled between fresh spinach, tomatoes, feta and a delicious black-olive tapenade -- pure delight with every bite. The sandwich is served on warm French or focaccia breadstuff with a side of bagel chips. While we're decorated honoring the lovely eggplant, here'southward some other fun fact: Although technically a fruit, the eggplant is botanically categorized as a berry. But who cares when it tastes this good?

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Source: https://www.houstonpress.com/best-of/2002/food-and-drink/best-olive-bar-6604358

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