Upstate New York

Arby's French Dip n' Swiss: You Got That (Two-Thirds) Right!

I was driving down South Shepherd last week when a poster in the window of Arby's caught my eye, one advertising a French Dip n' Swiss sandwich. Though I rarely eat at Arby's these days (just a quick stop in Wasilla for a Beef n' Cheddar when I'm traveling in the AK) my interest was immediately piqu ... More >>

Capsule Stage Reviews: It's a Wonderful Life, Kimberly Akimbo, Sanders Family Christmas, Sylvia, Viv!

Capsule Stage Reviews: It's a Wonderful Life, The Santaland Diaries, The Snow Queen, Sylvia

Trader Joe's Fast Times Experiment

I'm no stranger to grocery stores with cult status -- I've been a devotee of Wegmans for many years. I will admit to finding the excitement over Trader Joe's amusing, but not in a snarky way; if Wegmans came to Houston, I would probably get a job there just so I could go every day. My husband and I ... More >>

A Proper Buffalo Wing, and Other Discoveries at Katz's Deli

It says a lot about the sheer number of restaurants in Houston, I think, that I live 1.9 miles from Katz's Deli on Westheimer, and went for the very first time just a couple of months ago. (I've lived here since 2009.) My husband is a big fan of Kenny & Ziggy's, and I'm partial to the New York Bagel ... More >>

Moving Day: 5 Albums I Just Can't Quit

Reconsidering a lifetime of musical choices is a funny business. My first musical purchase? The Maxi Single for Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now). First proper album purchase? Amy Grant's 1991 classic, Heart In Motion. Before I lose any degree of credibility, let's move on. For the past m ... More >>

Robert Steve Mills: Pleaded Guilty to Money Laundering in Case Where a Fake Insurance Policy Was Issued & 20 People Died

Check out our earlier story when Christopher Purser pled guilty in the same case. A 57-year-old Florida man has been convicted of "conspiracy to launder money," for his involvement in a case in which a false insurance policy was issued for the tour boat Ethan Allen, the U.S. Attorney's office an ... More >>

A Shameless Plug for Finger Lakes Wines

I'm no Jeremy Parzen, but I do know a little bit about wine. Growing up in the Finger Lakes region of Upstate New York, I took the proximity and availability of local wine (and a decent wine education) for granted. When I was 21, "wine trailing" was a cheap way to get drunk. Tastings only cost a b ... More >>

Tyler Gleason: The Messianic Facebook Manifesto of the Man Who Allegedly Left His Baby in the Sun on FM 1960

Along with his wife Tonya Gleason, Houstonian homeless advocate Tyler Gleason was arrested yesterday and charged with child endagerment. Harris County Sheriff's deputies say that the couple left their five-month-old son in a car-seat in the median of FM 1960 near Kuykendahl while they solicited fu ... More >>

Five More Foods I Wish Would Migrate South from Central New York

I've been a little homesick lately. Maybe that's why I was so excited when the announcement came about Hofmann Hot Dogs coming to Texas. Don't get me wrong -- my favorite thing about living in Houston is hands-down the amazing variety of food. I have never lived in a city so diverse from a culinary ... More >>

Hofmann Sausage Co: Texas Is About to Get Real ... Hotdogs! If You Live in Dallas Can You Bring Me Some?

So if you are from Upstate New York (like me), and if you love hot dogs (like me), and you live in Texas (like me), then you probably really, really miss Hofmann hot dogs. Like me. Because when I tell you I miss Hofmann hot dogs, I mean that I miss them super-duper terribly, especially when holidays ... More >>

Summer Fest Adds Pretty Lights, Erykah Badu, 3 Dozen Locals

After raising ticket prices Monday night, Free Press Summer Fest announced more headliners Thursday morning. What are you getting for that extra dough? How about Pretty Lights, Erykah Badu, Fitz & the Tantrums, Phantogram, R3hab, David Garza? Respectively, that's one Colorado EDM space cadet, one ... More >>

Bartender Chat: Bryan of Danton's

This week I did what I do pretty much every other Monday evening. I went over to Danton's, winner of 2011's Best Cajun and Best Seafood restaurant awards in the Houston Press Best of Houston edition, to partake in what French poet Léon-Paul Fargue said was akin to "...kissing the sea on the lips." ... More >>

Yoga Fuel: Kenny & Ziggy's Potato Pirogen

Finding something light enough for a pre-yoga meal at Kenny & Ziggy's Delicatessen is quite a challenge--it's a huge menu, and the portions themselves are also huge. Even the salads are impressive in size, and so delicious that it's hard to stop eating even when full. I recently found myself tight o ... More >>

Mormons: Whether We Should Hate Them or Not

A Shallow Yet Helpful Guide

Leftovers (Put an Egg on It)

Photos by Christina UticoneI make leftovers delicious again by breathing new yolk into them.​​I am the leftover-eater at my house, by virtue of being The One Who Works From Home. My husband always says he is going to bring his lunch to work; he promises every time he cooks for six for ju ... More >>

Christopher Purser: Pleads Guilty To Selling Fake Insurance Policy To Boat That Sank, Killing 20

The doomed -- and uninsured -- Ethan Allen​The Ethan Allen was a tour boat that plied the waters of Lake George in upstate New York. Six years ago this week, it sank and killed 20 of the elderly tourists on board. The owners believed they had sufficient insurance, until they tried to use it a ... More >>

Do Mexicans Hate Puerto Ricans?

And do matanzas only happen in New Mexico?

O'Death: Our Hope for a New Goth Sound

​A little while back, Rocks Off's editor hauled Gothtopia into his office and demanded that we lay out the 7 Ages of Goth, which we did to universal criticism. Some of that criticism had to do with the murky way we entered the modern era, in which we basically stated that goth as a musical mov ... More >>

Our Idiot Brother

Long-haired dreamer has predictably profound effect on his siblings.

Our Favorite Music-Video Dances of All Time

Hipster Scum​This Saturday morning, the Houston Press and our sister blog Art Attack will be hosting a dance party, starting at 10 a.m., to celebrate National Dance Day. They even made a few videos to get Houston ready for the event, featuring yours truly in the only dance get-up that matters, ... More >>

Ponderosa Gives House Of Blues A Mouthful

Photos by Jason Wolter​Rocks Off is usually ambivalent, at best, about restaurant shows. One of the few times we're not interested in live music at all is when we're eating, and we imagine we're hardly the only person who feels that way. Strolling violinists and mariachi groups especially get ... More >>

Summer Treat: Stuffed and Fried Zucchini Flowers

Photos: Christina Uticone & Joshua Payne​I grew up in a small town in Upstate New York, with a significant Italian and Italian-American population. It wasn't until I was older that I realized many people don't consider a huge, steaming plate of linguine and white clam sauce a light snack on a ... More >>

Garden Fresh: Green Beans

John KielyNot as impressive as Kathryn Creech's yield.​If there's any such thing as easy success in a warm-season Houston garden, it's green beans. As a first-time grower, I just plowed a 2-inch-deep furrow, dropped in the curved white seeds of Bush Snap beans, covered them with dirt, and wat ... More >>

Dry Cocktail

Just like gin, this play will sneak up on you.

Searching for a Slice: Luigi's in Midtown

​I am hunting for the perfect pie equation. Pizza pie, that is, not the 3.14159 kind of pi. I'm not looking for a single-serving artisanal masterpiece, either. I'm talking a pie here: a thin, crispy crust, cheese bubbled to a golden brown, sauce that is flavorful and applied with reason and fo ... More >>

Cage Match: KISS Vs. Fiskadoro

​Ladies and gentlemen, tomorrow night a battle for your musical soul will be waged in our fair city. In this corner, wearing make-up, black leather, and underpants made of your money, the knights in Satan's service, KISS! And in this corner, weighing in at 600 lbs, the masters of the jungle c ... More >>

Robb Walsh's 100 Favorite Houston Dishes: #80 A Bowl of Chili at James Coney Island

​Over the course of the next few months, I'm counting down 100 of my favorite Houston dishes. I chose some because they are such quintessential Houston creations, others for their cultural or historical significance, and others because they are just so damn tasty. Share your own nominations in ... More >>

Borbetomagus

Borbetomagus

The Forgotten Festival

The 1969 Texas International Pop Festival

Artisan Teas from John Harney

Photo by Robb Walsh​Whereas English Breakfast Tea is usually a blend of Assam and Ceylon, with a little Keemun added to the more expensive versions, Harney & Sons English Breakfast is made with all Keemun tea. The flavor is clean and bright, with a fruity aroma. What a treat this is in the mor ... More >>

The Foie Gras Problem

Photo by J.C. ReidI love foie gras. Is that bad? Foie gras is the fattened liver of a goose or duck. The fattening is brought about through the technique of gavage, or force-feeding the animal, in this case with corn. The resulting food product is a true delicacy which has a rich, meaty/salty flavo ... More >>

Defending the Polka

Houston Is The Villain In Nasty Newspaper Fight In Albany

Houston Chronicle editor Jeff Cohen came to town from Albany, where he was the editor of the Times-Union, another Hearst paper.He brought some people with him, and still runs movie reviews by Amy Biancolli, who still works in upstate New York.The Times-Union is, like many Hearst papers (and papers e ... More >>

Hard-Knock Life in Frozen River

This movie may lay it on a bit thick, but Melissa Leo nails the role of a struggling single mom

Anchovies and Black Olives at Locatelli’s

Vijay Iyer

This acclaimed young jazz pianist is worth all the accolades the press showers on him

Alma y Fuego (Soul and Fire)

Lucia y Valdemar Gitanerías Flamenco brings passion and expertise to the complicated Spanish music

Art Capsule Reviews

A picture of our opinions on local exhibitions

Art Capsule Reviews

A picture of our opinions on local exhibitions

Art Capsule Reviews

A picture of our opinions on local exhibitions

".....all of the above"

Judy Pfaff does lines (and circles) at Rice Gallery

Fish a la Plancha

Great Gulf seafood in a mom-and-pop Mexican joint is a combination that's hard to beat

On the Road Again

Jim Jarmusch offers up another quest story for hipsters, and they'll be pleased

Buggin' for Bling

Michael Stadther's Treasure's Trove is a real gem

Southern Specialty

You can take TV chef Tanya Holland out of the South, but you can't take the South out of her

Family Ties (That Bind)

At once unsentimental and amusing, You Can Count on Me delves into the darkness of dissimilar siblings

Local Music News

Name Calling