Email Author George Alexander

2000 Stories by George Alexander

• Butter Yourself Up

  published December 28, 2000

  Even the most lackluster year-end party calls for that annual ritual known as New Year's resolutions. These secular vows are taken as a show of... More >>

• Some Sugars Added

  published December 28, 2000

  Speaking off the toque: Richard Hazzard, bartender at Maggiano's Little Italy [2019 South Post Oak Boulevard, (713)... More >>

• Cold Comfort

  published December 21, 2000

  As far as icehouses go, scholarship suggests the Chinese got there first. As early as the eighth century B.C.E., they stored ice in caves or pits,... More >>

• Economic Fasting

  published December 21, 2000

  Speaking off the toque: Sam Said, owner and general manager of Cedars Mediterranean Cafe [4703 Richmond Avenue,... More >>

• Please Pass the Carcinogens

  published December 14, 2000

  The holiday feasting season is truly upon us. We've survived Thanksgiving, but there is still, depending upon religious affiliation, Christmas,... More >>

• Clean Your Plate

  published December 14, 2000

  Speaking off the toque: Ruth Meric, founder of Ruth Meric Catering, 3030 Audley Street, (713)522-1448 Q. As a... More >>

• Today's Horoscope

  published December 7, 2000

  According to informed sources, Heraclitus, the fifth-century BCE Greek philosopher, once observed that "one cannot step into the same river... More >>

• Navigational Charts

  published December 7, 2000

  Speaking off the toque: Michael Cordúa is the executive chef and owner of Américas [1800 Post Oak Boulevard,... More >>

• Deep-Fried Greenhorn

  published November 30, 2000

  Texans love a practical joke. The practical joke, after all, is what distinguishes American humor from, say, British humor. Think of the... More >>

• Sixteenth-Note Snappers

  published November 30, 2000

  Speaking off the toque: Carl Johnston, executive chef of Sambuca Jazz Cafe, 909 Texas Avenue, (713)224-5299. Q. Have you... More >>

• Hitchin' the Wagon

  published November 23, 2000

  Dreams come in all sizes, even dreams of opening a restaurant. The cost of some start-ups can reach sums in the seven figures; others boast more... More >>

• Talking Non-Turkey

  published November 23, 2000

  Speaking off the toque: John A. Salazar, executive chef of Michaeline's on West Alabama, 1512 West Alabama,... More >>

• Hell Phone

  published November 16, 2000

  The Edwardian humorist H.H. Munro, who wrote under the pen name Saki, created in his short story "The Chaplet" the first depiction of a conflict... More >>

• It's All in the Game

  published November 16, 2000

  Speaking off the toque: Francis Walters, executive chef at the Rainbow Lodge, 1 Birdsall Street, (713)861-8666. Q. How do you... More >>

• Trading Places

  published November 9, 2000

  Houston's hot restaurant scene involves not just new restaurants starting up and old ones closing, but restaurants changing hands as well. In that... More >>

• Fusion on the Other Side of the World

  published November 9, 2000

  Michael Potowski, manager and executive chef at Rickshaw [2810 Westheimer, (713)942-7272], is a genuine exponent of Asian/ European... More >>

• Cranky Customers

  published November 2, 2000

  At the recent soft opening of Pesce [3029 Kirby, (713)522-4858], a diner leaving the restaurant declared to a staffer standing by the door,... More >>

• Culinary Countdown

  published November 2, 2000

  Speaking off the toque: Shelly Drought is the executive chef of the Houston branch of Liberty Noodles [909 Texas Avenue,... More >>

• Mixing It Up

  published October 26, 2000

  Dylan Murray is bringing it all back home. Born 29 years ago in Houston's Hermann Hospital, Murray left town 11 years ago after graduating from... More >>

• Price Paradox

  published October 26, 2000

  Speaking off the toque: Ronnie Berman is the owner of Maxim's Restaurant and Piano Bar [3755 Richmond Avenue, (713)877-8899]. In... More >>

• One Waiter to Go, Please

  published October 19, 2000

  Charles Dickens began his Tale of Two Cities with the lines “It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.” Many Houston restaurateurs c... More >>

• Fish Stories

  published October 19, 2000

  Speaking off the toque: John Zotos, known to staff and customers as “Chef Righteous,” presides over St. Pete’s Dancing Marlin [300 M... More >>

• Political Communion

  published October 12, 2000

  The British Catholic poet Hilaire Belloc wrote the lines "Where 'ere the Catholic sun doth shine / There is laughter and good red wine." Well,... More >>

• It's Alive!

  published October 5, 2000

  In the 1931 Hollywood version of Frankenstein, starring Boris Karloff as a monster composed of reanimated bits of various corpses, the film... More >>

• Border Crossings

  published October 5, 2000

  Speaking off the toque: Youssef Nafaa is the chef and owner of two Houston restaurants, the Italian-style Mia Bella [320 Main,... More >>