Photos by Katharine ShilcuttGracie Cavnar and Monica PopeIt was a gorgeous summer night in the gardens of a stately West University mansion, and Monica Pope was serving a most unlikely dish to the well-to-do types at the table: scrapple. A dozen enraptured guests had their first taste of the dish - a luscious but decidedly down-home mishmash of a hush puppy, grease and pork trimmings - which is nearly impossible to find unless you make it yourself at home. With the scrapple happily consumed, the
Photos by Katharine ShilcuttRonnie Killen's skillet fried chickenSome had come for the spectacle of it all: 17 different fried chicken dishes, 9 enormous casseroles filled with various macaroni and cheeses, salads and side dishes and desserts enough to feed Alexander's own army. Some had come to observe the madness. And some came, bloodthirsty and ravenous to win, for the pure competition.
The Fried Chicken Throwdown at Beaver's Ice House Monday night satisfied all parties: People shoved enough
Photo by stu spivakMonday, Monday, Monday! The battle to beat all battles will be held tonight at Catalan featuring contenders from across the city as they compete to claim the prize of Houston's best pork belly.
The third in a series of popular "throwdown" events organized by Jenny Wang of the Houston Chowhounds, tonight's Pork Belly Throwdown will feature Cody Vasek (sous chef at Voice) and Randy Evans (executive chef at soon-to-be-opened Haven), the winners from the Fried Chicken
Photos by Katharine Shilcutt
A packed dining room at Catalan on Monday nightPeople swarmed the table full of pork and beans at last night's long-awaited Pork Belly Throwdown at Catalan like bees on a hive. Dishes such as Vermont maple-glazed Kurobuta pork belly shared space with whole suckling pig heads, their cheeks decimated and tongues greedily cut out by diners eager to devour the most tender parts of the flesh. Casserole dishes full of baked beans, various cole slaws and Hatch ch
Houston superchef Randy Evans was standing outside Haven, his exciting new farm-to-table restaurant on Algerian Way near Richmond and Kirby, when I drove by yesterday. The press release I got about the place read: "Looks like an early October opening." I was hoping for lunch, but Randy didn't have his whites on. And I couldn't get anywhere near the restaurant's front door because the site is surrounded by a chain link fence.
Photos by Katharine ShilcuttHave you ever wanted to cruise around with one of your favorite chefs, picking their brains as you hit his favorite hole-in-the-wall restaurants in the city? Your chance to do just that is coming soon.
Whole Foods Market and the Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau have put together an intimate series of Houston Culinary Tours, featuring some of the city's best -- and perhaps least well-known -- restaurants. And guiding these tours? Monica Pope of t'afi
This weekend, get outside and enjoy this beautiful weather while it lasts. The Slow Food Picnic Dinner at Discovery Green is just one way to do that. Monica Pope and Andrea Lazar of t'afia are putting on the at 6 p.m. It will feature locally grown and caught food prepared by local chefs like Randy Evans from Haven, Kiran Verma from Kiran's and Joe Bentely of Raven Grill. The 10-course menu is only $45, but you must purchase your tickets soon!
Starting tonight at 7 p.m., the Houston Peruvian
