Email Author Alison Cook

1994 Stories by Alison Cook

• The Year of Living Anxiously

  published December 29, 1994

  From the bouncing Bud Dome -- first here, then there, then nowhere -- to October's Great Flood and Biblical Ship Channel fire, 1994 yielded... More >>

• Promises, Promises

  published December 29, 1994

  Some menus read better than they taste. With its green chili, buffalo fajitas and brown-ale chicken, The Rock Bottom Brewery's is one such... More >>

• The Menu from Hell

  published December 22, 1994

  Yum, yum, yum! It's time to tuck in our napkins for the Second Annual Menu from Hell, that appetizing compendium of guaranteed real-life dishes... More >>

• Marco's Rampant

  published December 15, 1994

  Now that Houston restaurant entrepreneur Ghulam Bombaywala has announced plans to spread his Marco's Mexican restaurants across the nation, it... More >>

• Shanghai Surprise

  published December 15, 1994

  Rejoice, all ye Chinese-food buffs: an early holiday present awaits you at Diho Square -- Houston's new center of gravity for serious Chinese... More >>

• A History Lesson

  published December 8, 1994

  In a city where flux is the constant, the Confederate House has lived through five decades by staying the same. Even a move from its longtime... More >>

• Soup Weather

  published December 8, 1994

  At this time of year, solace and fortitude are more liable to be found steaming in a soup bowl than sitting naked on a plate. There is no set of... More >>

• The Trial of Joe Russo

  published December 1, 1994

  There were times during the bank fraud trial of Joe Russo when courtroom observers might have had trouble recognizing the man who, in the boom... More >>

• Pub Grub? No Flub

  published December 1, 1994

  It is gratifying to report that in the battle of the brewpubs now raging along Richmond Avenue's party strip, the home-team entry shows signs of... More >>

• Lady Bird's Lunch

  published November 24, 1994

  One day a couple of years back, I walked into the shedlike Long Row Building down at Sam Houston Park, craving one of the definitive egg salad... More >>

• Vegetable Magic

  published November 24, 1994

  I hate to say I told you so, but the new-and-improved Abdallah's is further evidence of my theory that Middle Eastern spots turn out the most... More >>

• Nutcracker Nosh

  published November 17, 1994

  Among the trinkets and Christmas gewgaws crowding the Astrohall during the Houston Ballet Guild's Nutcracker Market this week, shoppers will find... More >>

• Into the West

  published November 17, 1994

  Few things are charismatic enough to send me out to the 13900 block of Westheimer, a neighborhood so far west that the air actually seems to... More >>

• The Trouble with Harry's

  published November 10, 1994

  In the expanding world of bar/restaurants, you have your Q Cafes -- where the food is better than it has to be -- and you have your Harry's... More >>

• See and be Scene

  published November 10, 1994

  "Uh-oh" is the natural response to the slogan, "Q Cafe, The Only Thing Square About Us Is The Ice." This hipper-than-thou tone suggests a scene... More >>

• The Fruit of Il Dio di Vin'

  published November 3, 1994

  I hardly know what to make of Il Dio di Vin', the most curious and confounding restaurant I've encountered in almost a year of weekly reviewing. I... More >>

• Great Tastes Jr.

  published November 3, 1994

  I arrived at City Hall plaza on Halloween noon primed for some serious grazing. The sea of ink touting the Great Tastes of Houston Festival,... More >>

• Korean Adventure

  published October 27, 1994

  My first visit to Camellia Korean Restaurant went so well that on my second, I felt brave enough to order pan-fried octopus and noodles without... More >>

• A Fork in La Strada

  published October 27, 1994

  It had been years since I'd eaten at La Strada. For quite some time, venturing east of Ruggles on lower Westheimer has seemed a bit too much like... More >>

• Tea at the di Portanovas'

  published October 20, 1994

  Wreathes there a Houstonian with soul so dead, he has not longed to peek inside the River Oaks Boulevard mansion of the Baron and Baroness Enrique... More >>

• Simply Fondon't

  published October 20, 1994

  There was a 40-minute wait for a table at Simply Fondue the Saturday before last; I'm still trying to figure out why. It wasn't because the food... More >>

• Ari's: The Sequel

  published October 20, 1994

  Reinvention, that rampant cliche of American pop culture, has lately spread like a virus among Houston restaurants. From highbrow Anthony's to... More >>

• Punny Man

  published October 13, 1994

  The phone calls commence at the Khyber North Indian Grill around 11 a.m. "What's on your marquee?" people ask expectantly, awaiting owner Mickey... More >>

• Burger Heaven, Burger Hell

  published October 13, 1994

  When is a burger not a burger? This is a riddle to which there is no longer an easy answer. Not since cholesterol consciousness and animal-fat... More >>

• Neo China ... or Not

  published October 6, 1994

  What's so neo about Neo China? Well, the neon in the window, the black-lacquered neo-deco chairs and the Art Institute-style gallery of moderno... More >>