Category: bonito

Drum and Crab and Empanadas at Roost

A great little place that puts out some very good food.

A great little place that puts out some very good food. (photo by Angela Shah)

I wrote about Roost earlier this year after my first visit to the little restaurant in Montrose. Angela and I shared a great meal, a small experience that was nearly perfect. I have been back several times since then, most recently yesterday. We were meeting friends from Dallas for dinner, and thought they would enjoy the food at Roost, and they, and we, did.

If you are not aware, the restaurant has a great happy hour – form 4 p.m. until 6:30 all bottles of wine are discounted 50 percent. Knowing that, Angela and I arrived early and shared a bottle of Grüner Veltliner (Domäne Wachau), $19. We also spent some time at the picnic table out front with Charlie, a friendly cat.

Meet Charlie, Roost's resident feline.

Meet Charlie, Roost’s resident feline. (photo by Angela Shah)

Around 7, when the mosquitoes became too much for Angela, the woman who might just be the best FOH person in Houston, if not Texas, told us that our table was ready, so we sat and waited on Peter and Catalina, who arrived about 10 minutes later.

Roost does its business in a small building, and space is a bit tight, but the atmosphere is always pleasant, lively, and the service is seamless and understated. (Much of that is the result of the professionalism exhibited by the woman I mentioned earlier.)

To the food. Since Peter and Catalina had never been to Roost, we began with the cauliflower. This is how it is described on the menu: “The famous frIed caUliFlower, boNito, miso dreSsing, pine nuts, scallion 9.” If you have not tried it, you need to. You must. The pine nuts are toasted, the bonito flakes exhibit good umami, and the dressing is something I would drink from a tall glass.

We decided to share everything, and from the cauliflower went on to: yell0w corn cakes, jumbo crab mEat, artichoke ragOut, paragon cheese 14; h0use made sPanakopita empanadas, garlicky tzatZiki, fennel & pine nUts 11; roasted gUlf fish, sweet n’ sour toMato broth, bok choy, coconut rice 24; ALL-crab-cakes, Thai curry sauce, cabbage & chayOte squash slaw, pEa shoots 29; and paulie’s pasta, r0asted peaches, goat’s cheese, rosEmary lemon butter 19.

Peter, who has a threshold for dill, found the sauces to be excellent, and I agreed with him, From the cauliflower to the Thai curry on the crab cake dish to the artichoke ragout, every taste was as it should have been. The drum was firm, the pasta was al dente (though I found the rosemary a bit much), and the crab in the cakes was as good as any I have ever had.

We ended the meal with C0ffee n’ donut hOles, crushed pistAchios, salted carAmel, coFfee ice cream 7. Like the cauliflower dish, this dessert is always on the menu at Roost, and for good reason. Not overly sweet, crisp and warm and moist doughnut holes, and really good coffee ice cream.

If Roost is new to you, you can do much much worse in Houston, and often you cannot do better. It really is a place approaching perfection.

Crab, with crisp slaw and a very good sauce.

Crab, with crisp slaw and a flavorful sauce.

Drum, grilled in a very effective manner.

Drum, grilled in a very effective manner.

Roost Has Hooked Me

This is one of the best things I have put in my mouth in a long time.

This is one of the best things I have put in my mouth in a long time.

There’s a Notes list on my iPhone that grows larger daily. It’s a list of restaurants in Houston I plan to visit. Last night I crossed one off of the roster, a restaurant about which I have heard a lot, good things. It’s called Roost.

I have been looking for a restaurant here with “personality,” which in my book means, loosely, “not slick and shiny, not a place that looks as if it belongs in a hotel lobby or was designed with ‘wow’ in mind.” Too often, I have found lately, more attention is devoted to wall hangings and shiny displays than it is to the food. Roost, however, has the type of personality I want. Small space, a bar at which two people can sit, lots of wood, simple tables and chairs, eclectic decoration on the walls. It’s in a house on a fairly quiet street in a residential area of Houston, and my dinner there was one of the most enjoyable evenings I’ve spent dining in this city thus far.

I arrived a little after 6 and waited for Angela at the bar, which overlooks a small room that has a pass-through to the kitchen. A Sixpoint (in a can, a tallboy) was my order, and I sat and drank and watched the activity as diners began walking in. Roost does not take reservations for parties of fewer than six, but outside the restaurant picnic benches provide perfect seats in which to wait for your table. The chef and owner, Kevin Naderi, was out out at those tables lighting the heat lamps.

Angela arrived, and we took our seat at a table along the back wall that gave us a perfect view of the dining room, which by that time was filling quickly, mostly parties of four, with a few couples mixed in. The menu at Roost has just been changed, and I was impressed: highlights to my eye were hanger steak, mussels in a red curry, an oyster stack, an off-menu special of redfish. And the “famous” cauliflower.

An oyster stack at Roost is a good thing.

An oyster stack at Roost is a good thing.

We ordered the cauliflower, the oyster stack, an order of the mussels, and the hanger steak, with a bottle of Hahn pinot noir. In short, every dish was very good, especially the fried cauliflower, with its sauce and pignoli and onions. (It is usually served with bonito flakes, but we asked from them on the side, though I later nestled them on top of each floret.)

Hanger steak done with class.

Hanger steak done with class.

The fried oysters were breaded perfectly, and the sautéed spinach under them was a great touch. The mussels were cooked well, full of flavor, which the curry (tomato-based) complemented ideally. Hanger steak medium rare with kimchi rice (a half order) and a runny egg came to the table with aplomb: nice temperature, fine flavor, though it could have used a bit of salt at the end.

You like crisp-on-the-outside doughnuts? How about coffee ice cream and pistachios? Then get this.

You like crisp-on-the-outside doughnuts? How about coffee ice cream and pistachios? Then get this.

Finally, the beignet-like round donuts and coffee ice cream finished our meal. (And a note about the service: Some of the best I have encountered in Houston. Not obsequious, informed, calm, and each plate came out with perfect timing. We were able to enjoy the meal in a relaxed manner. Someone has conducted great training at Roost.)

Go to Saturne

Angela and I recently tried Saturne, a restaurant that was recommended to me by a French chef working in Abu Dhabi. If you are in Paris, book a table here.

It is near the Bourse, close to a Metro station, on a quiet street, Rue Notre-Dame des Victoires. Open, airy, light wood and white walls. A wall of wine behind sliding glass doors catches the eye, as does the open kitchen. (A word about the wines: an abundance of “natural” selections, and many value-priced bottles. We started our meal with a glass of Crémant de Loire, proceeded to a bottle of Loire white, then finished with glasses of pinot noir.)

A wall of wines

A wall of wines

This is a dégustation menu, and for 60 euros you get seven courses. We began with a soup of tomato, black olive tapenade, and olive oil, upon which floated a paper-thin piece of fried bread. The taste: go out to your garden and pick a ripe tomato, slice it in half, drizzle olive oil on it, and add a few black olives and some garlic. Bite. Then, break a tomato stem and inhale.

Tomato, olive, bread, olive oil

Tomato, olive, bread, olive oil

Next came bonito, ceviche style. Five or six pieces of pink fish, raspberries and basil and onions on top. Tomato water was poured atop this all. There was a light sprinkling of cayenne pepper. The fish was of a perfect texture, not chewy, tasting slightly of the sea. The other ingredients? Well, you know how it is when you put a mix of ingredients in your mouth and smile when all of the flavors combine? That’s what this dish made me do.

Bonita, raspberries, tomato water, onions

Bonito, raspberries, tomato water, onions

Monkfish was the next plate, served with small discs of yellow squash and nasturtiums, all of which immersed in a slightly mustardy sauce flavored with mussel stock. Monkfish, which is one of my favorite types of fish, was slightly grilled, and meaty. The squash was cooked for a very short period of time, so the discs were firm, full of flavor.

Edible flowers and monkfish, plus squash

Edible flowers and monkfish, plus squash

And then came the lobster, a large piece of lobster tail, from the wonderful waters of Brittany. The meat was as it should be served: when done this way you taste the sea, and the meat is firm, not stringy. The coral of the lobster was used in a sauce, and baby radishes, slightly pickled, accompanied. On top of this all was a foam made of lobster stock.

From the waters of Brittany

From the waters of Brittany

We next were greeted by a beautiful plate of pigeon, two pieces: the breast, pink and juicy, with grilled, crisp skin, and the leg and thigh. A grilled wedge of eggplant was the only other thing on the plate, which I would not have missed. Pigeon is at the top of my desirables list, and this was some of the best I have had.

Leg and breast

Leg and breast

We were entering the final stage of the meal, and our desserts – two courses – were light and tart and sweet, and a bit savory, and not too sweet. The first plate consisted of strawberries, sorrel sorbet, and a cream of goat cheese, sprinkled with freeze-dried parsley. I loved it, and it was a perfect ending … except for the second dessert plate: hay-infused cream, blackberries, and a chocolate spread that had a consistency akin to a light cake frosting.

Fitting close: Chocolate, blackberries, cream

Fitting close: Chocolate, blackberries, cream

You can do a lot with strawberries and goat cheese

You can do a lot with strawberries and goat cheese

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