Lebanon

Different Tongues: 10 Foreign Language Songs That Rule the World

A couple of caveats to this list: first, it actually includes more than ten songs. Since one is sung primarily in English and another isn't technically a "foreign" language, they're considered halfsies, making up one whole. Also, no songs sung in Spanish are on this list. I'm not saying Spanish is ... More >>

When It Comes to Ending Hunger, All Eyes are Upon Houston

Every other month, Moez El-Shohdi travels through the greater Middle East. Stretching from Morocco to Pakistan, El-Shohdi dots the landscape, visiting models he helped perfect through his work in Cairo. He examines the factory sprung in Riyadh. He tours the facilities in Damascus. He makes sure that ... More >>

War/Photography

Images of battles won and lost paint us all with the brush of brutality at a searing, resonating MFAH exhibit.

Dr. Bernard Z. Albina, Kiddy-Porn Loving, Alleged Child Rapist Orthopedic Surgeon, Gets Ten Years in Federal Prison

A Houston orthopedic surgeon a veteran cop called the most obsessed child molester he'd ever seen has been sentenced to ten years in federal prison after he was found guilty of possessing ten videos and 326 images of child pornography. Bernard Z. Albina was arrested in July of 2009 and charged not ... More >>

Bold & Brave Wine List (& Cartography) at The Pass & Provisions

Honestly, I'm still trying to wrap my mind around the bold and brave new wine list at The Pass & Provisions, the newly opened and much talked about effort by chefs/partners Terrence Gallivan and Seth Siegel-Gardner. The list, by the affable and dynamic Fred Jones (who graciously took time out to sp ... More >>

Anthony Bourdain, Part 2: Layovers, Twitter, Ruth Bourdain and the Dangers of Boredom

Yesterday, we caught up with Anthony Bourdain -- chef, author, TV host, publisher and recent Texas barbecue convert. We talked about his love affair with Austin (he used the word "quirky" twice, if you're counting) and his disdain for Dallas Morning News critic Leslie Brenner, why restaurants servi ... More >>

This Week In Food Blogs: Is Houston Diverse Enough?

Lushtastic: Beer blogger Leslie Sprague has a preview of the city's newest craft beer bar from the owners of Liberty Station: Cottonwood. And if Sprague's write-up is any indication, Cottonwood is going to kill it. On the food end, there will be a full menu of burgers and mussels from Cottonwood che ... More >>

Video Released Yesterday Shows Houston Journalist Austin Tice Alive, But Terrified

In the first glimpse of Austin Tice since a message he tweeted on August 11, the captured Houston journalist appeared in a video clip released yesterday on a website supporting the Syrian government. It shows Tice marching in rugged and arid terrain, blind-folded, among men armed with bazookas and m ... More >>

What The Hell's Going On With Rice Basketball? Their Best Players, Connected To Former Coach Marco Morcos, Leaving In Droves

Just what is going on with the Rice Owls men's basketball team? It was supposedly a program on the rise the last time they played a game in Houston. But since that time, only about six months, the team has become not only a national laughingstock, but also the poster child of an issue known as up-tr ... More >>

Houston's Austin Tice, Missing: The Most Dangerous Of Assignments -- Freelance Journalism In A War

When Houston journalist Austin Tice left for Syria eight months ago to cover the country's devolution and nascent civil war, he melted into a country that has become, both anecdotally and statistically, the most dangerous place in the world to be a journalist. He did it as a freelance reporter, pos ... More >>

The Real Deal at Taqueria La Macro

Taqueria offers al pastor-style meat cooked on a classic trompo.

In Photos: Trompos de Mexico

In this week's cafe review of Northside restaurant Taqueria La Macro, which specializes in tacos de trompo, we take a brief look at the history of the trompo itself, which I was excited to find in Houston proper: And sure enough, sitting right there in the open kitchen surrounded by sanitation-main ... More >>

Five Fast Food Chicken Dishes We Want Back (Immediately)

We've already taken a look at the Discontinued Snack Foods that we want back on the shelves, like O'boisies Potato Chips and those creepy little Giggles cookies. Now its time to take a stand and demand that a few fast foods make their way back to the menu board, our hearts, and our guts. And we're s ... More >>

Dance Salad Festival 2013

Gothic Council On Gothic Hate Crime

There was another random attack on United Kingdom goths last week. Melody McDermott, 22, was knocked across a tram by a head butt delivered from Kenneth Kelsall, 47. Kelsall then proceeded to punch and kick the downed McDermott while his accomplice, Gareth Farrar, attacked McDermott's companion Step ... More >>

Dr. Khaled Jabboury: Incredible Story of a Proven Cancer Doctor Getting Steamrolled by the Insurance Giants

It's a Thursday afternoon and Dr. Khaled Jabboury greets a patient in the waiting room of his office at the West Houston Medical Center. The woman, though it's not immediately noticeable, is facing the toughest challenge of her life. As Dr. Jabboury has proven, she has come to the right place. For ... More >>

Coachella: Best Of Weekend 2, Day 3

Sunday, our friends at LA Weekly and OC Weekly trekked out to the desert for one more day -- ed. By the third day of Coachella's second weekend -- the sixth and final day of this year's festival -- folks had more or less learned to ignore the dust and the heat. Here are our intrepid writers' favor ... More >>

15 American Foods That Are as Weird to Foreigners as Poisonous Blowfish Is to Us

"Boiled animal bones and hide, colored with garish chemicals, served with fruit," wrote food blogger Dr. Ricky on Twitter yesterday. "Oh, you like your Jell-O don't you?" When deconstructed in this way, a simple childhood dessert like Jell-O suddenly sounds rather vulgar and disgusting. And that wa ... More >>

Aftermath: Our Favorite Shows of 2011

Photo By Craig HlavatyRex's War Face: The crowd's at June's Free Press Summer Fest were feral and friendly. ​This week we asked our pool of Rocks Off writers what their favorite shows of 2011 were, the ones that brought joy to their hearts to attend and helped them make magic with a keyboard h ... More >>

Rocks Off Lists Our Favorite Downloads of 2011

It's getting to be that time of year, when the temperature drops and the lists start rolling in. Read any blog, magazine or newspaper and you're bound to run across at least a handfull of year-end lists, particularly when it comes to music. We all like to talk about the stuff we like. It's just what ... More >>

Chef Chat, Part 3: Sophie Elhage of Skewers Mediterranean Café & Grill

Fresh from chef chat parts one and two with Sophie Elhage of Skewers, welcome back to the best part of chef chat: part three, the food. We begin our culinary journey through Sophie Elhage's Lebanon with a spin-off of a dish she created in college: lamb meatball pasta. The new menu item is already a ... More >>

Chef Chat, Part 2: Sophie Elhage of Skewers Mediterranean Café & Grill

We're back from the first installment of chef chat with Sophie Elhage and her husband and co-owner, Hadi of Skewers. EOW: So I hear you had a fire here...

Chef Chat, Part 1: Sophie Elhage of Skewers Mediterranean Café & Grill

Sophie Elhage is the lovely 26-year-old chef and co-owner of Skewers Mediterranean Café & Grill. The sexy Lebanese fusion joint on Richmond is the Saturday-night hotspot for belly-dancing (and belly-pleasing food.) It's the first restaurant venture for Elhage -- who was previously a medical school ... More >>

Dig This Vol. VII With Western Standards, Dead Mineral & The End Of Young Girls?

The current volume of local music is staggering. New Houston bands are born daily, and all too often pass away just as quickly. Rocks Off wants to help you (and ourselves) keep up. Courtesy of Dead Mineral​Stay seated smugly at that desk and continue tossing that half-priced Halloween candy ... More >>

Upcoming: Beirut, Carl Cox, Hayes Carll, Three Six Mafia, Etc.

​Alexis Marceaux & the Samurai, Elaine Greer, Day Sailor:  Thu., Oct. 27. Rudyard's. DJ Ali Shaheed, Kashmere Reunion Stage Band: Sat., Oct. 22. House of Blues. Babyface: Sat., Nov. 5. Arena Theatre. Beausoleil: Tue., Nov. 8. McGonigel's Mucky Duck. Beirut: Mon., Oct. 31. Warehouse Live. ... More >>

Tasting Notes: This Week in Wine Blogs

​Eats Blog: Texas has a new top sommelier, and his name is Bill Elsey (right), winner of the "best sommelier in Texas" competition held each year at the Texas Sommelier Conference. The title was conferred late yesterday afternoon in Irving, Texas on the last day of the event, and the news spre ... More >>

Wine of the Week: A Desert Island Wine from Lebanon

​Wine professionals get the question all the time: What's your favorite wine? When I get asked this question (and I get it all the time), I always respond with my stock answer: It depends on what I'm eating (never wine without food, never food without wine). In other words, if it's raw oysters ... More >>

Despite Blue Laws, Texas Sommelier Conference Opens on Schedule

​"You'll note that there are pastries in the foyer," said Master Sommelier James Tidwell, as he and Houston's own Master Sommelier, Drew Hendricks, opened the Texas Sommelier Conference promptly at 9 a.m. yesterday morning at the Four Seasons Las Colinas Resort in Irving, Texas. The two co-fou ... More >>

Ingredient of the Week: Greek Yogurt

Photo by John SuhFalafel with garlic yogurt dip​What is it? Greek yogurt is a strained yogurt that has been filtered to remove whey, which means it has twice as much protein but less carbohydrates than regular yogurt. In addition to protein, it is a good source of probiotics, calcium, ribofl ... More >>

Gimme My Hummus

Anamaris Cousins PriceHummus​Not long ago, someone wrote to the editors at EOW asking for the best hummus recipe and we got right to work. Hummus has long been one of those things that make me think of the cute guy across the bar. He's hot and nice to look at and talk to, but he'd be way too m ... More >>

Bread Lines

Beyond just the baked goods, Cedars Bakery draws crowds with its authentic,beyond-the-mainstream Mediterranean food.

State Of The Scene Part 2: Welcome To Middle Finger City

Craig HlavatyOne Man Wrecking Crew: B L A C K I E at SXSW 2011​Welcome back. Before we proceed with our "State of the Scene" discussion, Rocks Off would like to say a couple of things we didn't get to in our print manifesto this week. The first concerns our former city of residence. Rocks Off ... More >>

Tasting Notes: This Week in Wine Blogs

Know a Houston-based blog we should be paying particular attention to? Leave the address in the comments section below. VINfluence: We were THRILLED to discover that Houston Master Sommelier Drew Hendricks has launched a blog. It's called VINfluence, and Drew is using it to share some of his insigh ... More >>

Five Disastrous Modern-Day Presidential Decisions Not Involving Iraq or Vietnam

Ronald and Nancy Reagan face the consequences.​Making tough decisions is what being a president is all about. But sometimes those decisions backfire. Sometimes the backfire hurts only the president who made the decision; sometimes it hurts a whole lot of other people. Here are five most disas ... More >>

Summer Fest Releases Stage Schedule, Set Times

Jermaine Rogers​If Rocks Off learned anything at iFest these past two weekends, it's that we should have started our own bottled-water franchise. And that when you go to a music festival, it's a good idea to know who is playing and when. Running around willy-nilly is all well and good unless i ... More >>

Shisha and Chardonnay

At Skewers, you can smoke, drink and eat classic Lebanese food.

ACL 2011 Rumors: Ten Bands Who Could Make The Cut

Marco TorresWill ACL close with classic rock again, like with the Eagles last year? Neil Young?​The Austin City Limits Music Festival's big 2011 lineup announcement is imminent, scheduled for May 17, and Rocks Off will surely be on top of the news after it hits. Last year we sat on the compute ... More >>

Destroy All Anti-Heroes

Houston punk vets Anarchitex still full of piss and vinegar.

Ukuleles: Suddenly The Hippest Instrument Going

​Trends in music can be as prevalent - and subsequently fleeting - as they are in fashion. Though the eagerness to join trendy-indie bandwagons can be puzzling, music's most recent instrumental trend, the ukulele, grabbed our attention, especially after SXSW. Among the dozens of SXSW-related ... More >>

Summer Fest Adds Big Boi, Beirut, Girls, Killing Joke

Jermaine Rogers​Free Press Summer Fest has added four headliners to the two-day festival scheduled for June 4 and 5 in Eleanor Tinsley Park, organizers Free Press Houston and pegstar.net announced this morning. Atlanta rapper Big Boi (still one-half of OutKast, we think), Balkan-tinged indie- ... More >>

Texan Concepts of Ethnic Food: Breaking It Down, Venn Diagram-Style

Pictured: a stereotypical Texan, according to The Simpsons.​Have you ever traveled abroad and met people who -- upon learning you're from Texas -- ask if you own any horses? Own any cattle? Own a ranch? Ask where your boots and buckle are? Stereotypes abound far and wide, from my dear ex-moth ... More >>

Planet Houston

The world's great cuisines converge here.

Planet Houston: Country Cooking

An around-the-world guide to the foods of Planet Houston

An American (Stranded) In Paris

Hala Daher​Hala Daher is stuck in Paris. Sure, she's staying at her aunt's house in the 4th arrondissement, steps away from the Louvre and the Centre Pompidou. And it's a step up from Beirut, where she was previously stranded until she hustled her way onto a flight from Lebanon to France a few ... More >>

SXSW Aftermath: Local Natives, The Only Indie Band That Matters This Year

Photos by Eggs/ Breakfastontour.com​It's kind of hard not to notice that SXSW has become, for the most part, a festival celebrating (and sometimes setting the trend for) the past and future six or so months of Pitchfork-friendly indie music; and for the past at least five years there has been that ... More >>

Cafe Rita

Paul Varghese

Comic hosts Indians at the Improv

Diner's Notebook

Hot Plate