Reata Restaurant in Fort Worth-before the lunch rush.
Houston's restaurant scene is one of the most vibrant in the state. Michael Cordua, of Houston's Churrascos and Américas, was one of the first chefs in the country to look beyond Mexican cuisine to the tables of South America. A native of Nicaragua, Cordua gambled that Texans were ready for dishes like churrasco, beef tenderloin with a piquant chimichurri sauce. So far, he's winning.
Other chefs have been busy developing new ideas as well. The latest ventures of veteran Bruce Molzan, of the popular Ruggles Grill and the Galleria-based Grille 5115, is Bistro Latino, specializing in Latino cuisine and live music, as well as the Ruggles Cafe Bakery. As if that were not enough, Molzan plans to build the only independently owned restaurant in Houston's new downtown Ballpark at Union Station.
Tim Keating at DeVille, in the Four Seasons Hotel, sustains a high level of culinary creativity. His fundamentally French cuisine speaks with an American regional accent. Chef-owner Monica Pope also has a French connection. Her Boulevard Bistrot is about the closest thing you'll find to a French sidewalk cafe in Houston. Despite the carefully crafted European atmosphere, Pope's sometimes daring plates are a celebration of the New American kitchen.
San Antonio's Riverwalk is lined with outdoor cafes and attracts visitors from around the world.
Among the old-time venues in Houston is the well-known Tony's, serving Continental and Italian cuisines, as well as Rotisserie for Beef and Bird, which boasts a top-flight wine list. Chef Mark Cox, who spent time behind the stove at Tony's, is now earning recognition with his own place, Mark's American Cuisine.
Austin is home to the state's most enthusiastic food community, a crowd of diehard boosters who avidly embrace Lone Star wines and products. No chefs exemplify the Austin—and Texas—spirit more than Hudson's on the Bend chef-owner Jeff Blank and executive chef Jay Moore, who are known for their ways with wild game and other regional favorites. Their toques are literally afire on the cover of their new book, Cooking Fearlessly: Stones and Adventures. Austin is also the place to find David Garrido's Jeffrey's, one of city's most popular destinations. Garrido, a Stephan Pyles's protege, has also co-authored a lively cookbook called Nuevo Tex-Mex, which delivers dozens of recipes featuring his distinctive take on contemporary Texas cuisine. If you are a traditionalist, you might head instead for Fonda San Miguel, where the kitchen is renowned for its classic Mexican cuisine.
Founded in 1976, the Llano Estacado Vineyards is the first modern winery of Texas. Winner of national and international awards, the Llano Estacado has emerged as the state's fastest growing winery.
San Antonio stretches along the river of the same name. Here, New Jersey native Scott Cohen, chef at La Mansion del Rio Hotel, has taken well to Texas ingredients. His natural culinary curiosity inspired a quick study of indigenous herbs and everyday favorites like tacos and enchiladas, which he has recast in a new, upmarket style. His dinnertime crowds prove that San Antonio's citizens like what he is doing. Meanwhile, award-winning chef Bruce Auden, known for his Restaurant BIGA, opened Biga on the Banks in early 2000. Located on the riverside, it offers New American cuisine with a Mediterranean flair.
Because it is tucked down in the far southwestern corner of the state, El Paso sometimes seems closer in spirit to New Mexico than Texas, but it is actually a culinary world unto itself. Yet chef-owner Trae Apodaca's Cafe Central, with its expertly realized contemporary regional flavors, is a match for any restaurant in the state. Across the street, The Dome, in the Camino Real Hotel, is yet another treasure that calls this community on the Rio Grande home.
Chefs in Texas are growing in number and sophistication. While the state remains proud of its Tex-Mex and barbecue traditions, the men and women behind its restaurant stoves are creating an up-to-the-minute culinary reputation built on adventurous flavors, experience, and, most of all, expertise. In other words, this wild bunch is serving great food to appreciative Texans from one end of the state to the other.
Chef Miguel Ravage-is the founder of Fonda San Miguel, a well-known authentic Mexican restaurant in Austin. One of the Southwest's top chefs, Ravago is co-author of the award-winning cookbook Concina de la Familia and is a James Beard Award recipient.
City slickers and cowboy wannabes learn the basics of cooking outdoors at a dude ranch.
Part Two: The Texas Kitchen
Grills, smokers, or pits are essential items
for the serious Texan chef
The equipment in a Texas kitchen does not differ much from that found in any kitchen. In addition to such household items as sharp knives and pots and pans, a heavy cast-iron skillet is perfect for baking corn bread and cooking crisp fried chicken. And while it is nice to have a deep fryer, a heavy saucepan will suffice.
A blender is handy for puréeing sauces and soups and for making frozen drinks like margaritas. For spices, you'll get a lot of use from an electric spice mill, or you can use a mortar and pestle if you want to crush them by hand. Other gadgets, such as a cheese grater and a juicer or reamer for fruit, will make a recipe go together more easily.
Since cooking outdoors is serious business in Texas, some sort of outside cooker is almost mandatory. It can be a simple gas, electric, or charcoal grill or, of course, if money is no object, an elaborate one. If you have a smoker, too, you're equipped to cook up anything under the sun. Failing all of these, a broiler can be substituted for a grill in most cases.
If you decide to shop for a smoker, vertical water smokers are easy to use and inexpensive. The fire is in the bottom, with a couple of cooking racks above it. A water pan rests in between to add the necessary moisture. On the other hand, if you don't want to tend the fire and regulate the heat, buy an electric smoker and throw in some wood chips for flavor. For those who are truly passionate about smoking, consider a pit. A pit is a long cooker that operates as an indirect smoker, with a drum, called a "firebox," attached to one end. The drum holds the fire, and the smoke is channeled from there into the cooking chamber, where you put the meat. Wood chips or chunks are a necessity for flavoring food cooked outdoors. Among the choices that work well are mesquite, hickory, pecan, and oak; many of them can be ordered by mail.
Old-fashioned coffeepots, such as this one, are ideal for outdoor use and are still frequently taken on camping trips.
To complete your "Q" tool kit, you will need a long-handled spatula, fork, and tongs; a basting brush for saucing meats; and skewers and wire baskets for holding food that might otherwise slip through the grill rack into the fire. A thermometer is invaluable for testing the temperature of large roasts and smoked foods. You'll be familiar with most of the ingredients found in the Texas pantry, some of which are described below. For assistance in locating retail sources for unique ingredients and products, please call 1-800-526-2778.
Texas Ingredients
A few usual and unusual products in
every well-stocked Texas pantry
AVOCADO: A leather-skinned fruit with rich, buttery flesh. The two most popular types are the California-grown