So I live off of exit 18 on I-10 in El Paso, TX. I jump on the freeway, and drive about 550 miles, and then take a left, and then another left, so that I could spend a few days out in San Antonio helping OD move into the new pad. Apparently you need to get a bigger place when you have kids, and apparently when an Irishman marries a Mexican, multiple kids are inevitable. In between moving boxes and furniture, and getting yelled at by pregnant Mexican woman, we got some food and drinks into the system. And I have to give a serious shoutout to a couple places.
First of all, the Green Lantern in San Antonio is a bit of legit cool in a pretty suburban, strip-mall sort of city. They are a cocktail lounge, and they do 3 house infusions: jalapeno tequila, strawberry vodka, and (my fave) sweet potato whisky, and build cocktails around these house infusions. My favorite cocktail? Double sweet potato whisky, neat, with a glass of ice cubes on the side. If you add an ice cube, it becomes a cocktail :-) Seriously, they chill the stuff, and it's actually very balanced by itself. Give me one of those, and I'm happy. And if you're a cocktail geek, you will love their ice cubes. True cubes, no air. Great, slow melt, to cool, but not water-down a drink. Only negative? They can't make a Ramos Gin Fizz (no orange blossom water - who carries that anyway?). Next time, I'll probably just have them make a go of it, and splash in Cointreau or something.
Pic via Wikipedia: It's like a frothy, boozy milkshake.
And this is from the Sazerac Bar in the Roosevelt Hotel in NOLA, which I highly recommend.
And the other San Antonio shoutout goes to Auden's Kitchen. These guys do modern American food, and while the menu isn't super cutting-edge, these guys can cook. In fact, more and more, I'm finding that I really enjoy places that know themselves, and stick with things that are in their wheelhouse (and slowly expand their repertoires). The fried chicken platter is great. Juicy, crispy chicken, green beans cooked soft (like you'd get from grandma, and not frustratingly al dente for the "haricot verts" that everyone pushes on you now), mashed potatoes, and unapologetic, old-school white gravy. Love it. Their pizzas are reasonably large, and tasty. They do a great Scotch egg. They have great happy hour specials (cheap apps and pizzas at the bar, I think). They have 3-course prix fixe specials. Their servers are pros (and friendly). Everything they do is executed well. Even in a town like New Orleans, this place would've been in my rotation. In San Antonio, it rises really, really high. Been there twice, and I will make sure that I eat there at least once every time I'm in San Antonio.
This is in contrast to places that frustrate me by doing the whole "overpromise and underdeliver" routine. For example, we had brunch at Tost Bistro, which had a very cool look to it, had all sorts of trendy, hipster-ish, 20-something, and a potentially cool menu that featured some classic bistro fare, with some modern additions. Unfortunately, they also had a really lousy server that had the women in our party ready to attack, and a mediocre effort in the kitchen. Braised short ribs? Awesome. Put them in an omelet? Sounds great. But when the short ribs are a little cold and the omelet is a lot rubbery? Edible, but in all honesty, I'd rather have the Colorado Omelet at IHOP, for about half the price, more meat in the omelet, and 3 pancakes to boot. Fried quail? Sounds great. Bacon waffle? Dig that. Together? Conceptually, it's problematic (little bones make it hard to have fried poultry and waffle in the same bite). And what happens when the waffle is dense and dry, and the bacon is chewy and gets lost in the waffle? Not good eats. At least the quail was fried pretty well. I could probably be talked into trying Tost again, but would have to be really impressed on that trip to ever set foot in that place again...
Pic via Whitleytube.org: If your $12 omelet makes me want IHOP, then you lose.
Of course, this omelet is pretty damned good...
Final place in San Antonio is a bit of a question mark for me. I love the idea of independent pizza shops. I love places that do their own dough, and make a good pie. I'm even amenable to a range of styles (NY, Chicago, California, Neapolitan, St. Louis, etc.). But what drives me nuts is when the owners don't really understand that they have to differentiate themselves from Papa John's or Pizza Hut. Hand-stretched dough is a start. But you absolutely can NOT go cheap on your toppings. If I get the same starch-laden "sausage" nuggets that bounce like rubber balls on my pizza, then I give up. Even if you aren't making the sausage in-house, if you can't buy fresh sausage, grill it up, and slice it for your pizza, then my money should go to Papa John's...
Which brings us to Stout's Pizza Company. The thing is, these guys are so close to getting it. Great feel in the place - sports bar sort of feel, very casual and friendly. Nice beer selection. Super fresh salads. Hand stretched dough, and a tasty pie that had a that great crispy/chewy combo... but also had Super Balls that they cut up and call "sausage." And the other problem is the "cannoli" that they defrosted and served us. I went to high school in upstate New York. We had Italian bakeries. I know what a cannoli should be. It should be light, crunchy, have some cinnamon flavor in the dough, and should have a light, sweet, slightly tart ricotta filling. What it's not is a dense, ricotta frosting, surrounded by a soft, dense layer of flavorless cardboard. You can make your own cannolis. And you can fill them to order. This is why places like Angelo Broacto's in NOLA really got it, and this is why some places stay around for generations and generations. Stout's is the sort of place that you want to get it, and have it become the spot you always go for pizza. I really hope that they get it, because San Antonio (especially on the north end, past the outer loop) is full of strip-mall, suburban blandness. These guys are the sort of place that you root for, but at the moment, I'm on the fence...
Pic via Pipsquex on Flickr: I'm actually at a loss for words, and just want a cannoli...
So why the vitrol towards mass-produced Sysco sausage and desserts out of a box? I recently tried House of Pizza here in El Paso. Everyone thinks that this place does the best pizza in the city. Everyone's an idiot. The first clue should be all of the Greece posters. Nothing says great pizza like a poster of the Parthenon. I should've trusted my instincts. These guys mail it in. The lasagna comes out of a box (sheepishly admitted by the server, when questioned - and side note, the server was super nice, and the drink refills came quickly). The pizza is full of cheap meat toppings. The crust is solid in the crisp/chew texture, but bland (and definitely needs some extra garlic butter or marinara on the side). To be fair, their subs looked quite good. Generous piles of cold cuts, topped with melty cheese. If I end up out that way, I'll go with a hot pastrami (and avoid anything "Italian").
And for the record, the best pizza in El Paso? So far, I'm giving it to The Pizza Joint (who I've got a soft spot for in my heart) that does a really nice NY-style by the slice, and a new joint called Tosca Stone Oven (casual, Panera Bakery-style set-up, hot oven, crisp pies)... A place called "Crust" also just opened up. We'll see how that goes.
In any case, next up? A little discussion on some spots in Houston. And finally some thoughts on what I've gotten myself into in El Paso, TX.
-foodgeek
