Most Popular
-
Barack Obama and Me
It was the year 2000 and I was a young hungry reporter in Chicago covering a young hungry state legislator
-
Mescaline on the Mexican Border
Texas is the only state in the country where peyote is sold legally. Really.
-
A Prison Cover-up During Hurricane Rita
For days after the storm, inmates in Beaumont lived without A/C, electricity or hot meals. Press releases kept saying everything inside was fine. Guards and prisoners agree — that was nothing but B.S.
-
Little Bitty Burger Barn
"It's okay to be little bitty in the big city" is an apt slogan for this new burger joint, where sliders rule
-
Ghost Town CFS: Carriage House Cafe
Step back in time — to a spooky old carriage barn with a monster chicken-fried steak
-
Barack Obama and Me (246)
It was the year 2000 and I was a young hungry reporter in Chicago covering a young hungry state legislator
-
Save Lobo: A Siberian Husky Mix is Sentenced to Die (28)
Why? Because he's big and intimidating and because one family complained about him over and over again
-
A Prison Cover-up During Hurricane Rita (13)
For days after the storm, inmates in Beaumont lived without A/C, electricity or hot meals. Press releases kept saying everything inside was fine. Guards and prisoners agree — that was nothing but B.S.
-
Rotten to the Corps: A Question of Justice at Texas A&M (140)
Thanks to A& M and a district attorney, two cadets escape punishment for beating in a student's face
-
Are You Hot Enough for Citizen Lounge? (6)
All This Useless Beauty
-
Little Bitty Burger Barn
"It's okay to be little bitty in the big city" is an apt slogan for this new burger joint, where sliders rule
-
Ghost Town CFS: Carriage House Cafe
Step back in time — to a spooky old carriage barn with a monster chicken-fried steak
-
It's Hip to Be Square at Masraff's
Continental cuisine is over, so why would anybody want to eat at this retirees' hang-out on South Post Oak Lane?
-
Paneer and Pizza at Gourmet India and Kings Chicken
-
BB's on Montrose and DiVino on West Alabama
-
Miss Pop Rocks Loves Some Whole Foods Boys
06:06AM 03/10/08 -
Weekend Music: Help Save the Houston Music Scene
03:54PM 03/07/08 -
To Do: Hockey and Roller Derby
04:12PM 03/07/08 -
Sausage Fest: Bangers and Mash at Red Lion Pub
11:40AM 03/08/08
What we are writing about
- American Gangster
- Amy Sillman: Suitors...
- birth defects
- Bob Dylan
- Christmas Tree-O
- Continental Club
- Houston art
- Houston local music
- Houston music stores
- Houston Rockets
- Houston theater
- I'm Not There
- illegal immigrants
- Main Street Theater
- McGonigel's Mucky Duck
- Meridian
- Perspectives 158:...
- players' scoring averages
- Proletariat
- Rudyard's
- Rumors
- Sig's Lagoon
- Somerville
- Sound Exchange
- toxic industrial...
- Toyota Center
- Turkeys of the Year
- Verizon Wireless Theater
- Warehouse Live
- Wii
Recent Articles By Paul Galvani
-
Bamboo Garden
Tater Tots® (NOT)
-
Tony's Mexican Restaurant & Cantina
Tony Establishment
-
Myles J
Seeing Is Believing
-
Kuala Lumpur
Curry Favor
-
Amedeo's Italian Restaurant & Bar
Hot Dip
National Features
-
SF Weekly
The Candidate
Our columnist knows Ralph Nader's running mate all too well.
By Matt Smith -
The Pitch
How Not To Be a Rap Star
First of all, lay off the Ecstasy.
By Nadia Pflaum -
Village Voice
Project Runaway
What becomes a gossip columnist most?
By Michael Musto
Hunan Restaurant Gives Birth to Gigi's Asian Bistro and Dumpling House
By Paul Galvani
Published: February 21, 2008
James Huang, one of the pioneers of Asian cuisine in Houston, opened the white-tablecloth Hunan Restaurant on Post Oak in 1976, then added a downtown location (812 Capitol) in 2000. The Post Oak restaurant recently closed because of renovations at the shopping center it occupied, but Gigi, James's daughter, plans to reopen it someday. In the meantime, she's busy opening her own place: Gigi's Asian Bistro and Dumpling House (5085 Westheimer, Galleria II), tucked between the great eagle (Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steakhouse) and the great fish (Oceanaire) in the Galleria space once occupied by Lord & Taylor.
Gigi says she's serving up dishes from all over Asia. You can see the influence of Executive Chef Junnajet Hurapan, a native of Thailand, on the menu: Offerings include Thai dishes such as spicy tom-yum soup, beef satay, pad Thai, Massaman lamb curry and Panang beef. There's also pho, the Vietnamese noodle soup, and Chinese favorites such as sesame chicken. You can even order some of the popular dishes served at Hunan — try the firecracker prawns and the summit delight (chicken wrapped in asparagus).
As for the decor, it's a cooling blend of wood, silk and cherry blossoms. "People have described the interior as something out of Southeast Asia," says Gigi. Looks like she's hit it spot on. — Paul Galvani
