Taco Tuesdays: 2015 Houston Press Tacolandia

This post was done in partnership with the Houston Press, who provided me with my ticket to Tacolandia. I was not monetarily compensated for writing this article. All opinions are completely, 100% my own!

Thanksgiving is Thursday, so let's talk about tacos. You know, while we still can?

I was excited and honored to have been a project partner of the 2015 Houston Press Inaugural Tacolandia, which took place in Buffalo Bayou Park a couple of weekends ago (I know, I'm way backed up on blog posts, BLAME THE HOLIDAYS.)!

Three hours devoted to sampling food (mainly tacos) from several Houston-area restaurants? Sign. me. up.

The event was originally set for one of the crazy rainy Houston weekends in October and had to be rescheduled. Luckily, taco lovers are a serious bunch, and there was still a great turnout! I took my friend Sarah as my date, and we met up with our friend Renee and her boyfriend Bryan.

When we first walked in we were provided with a tray to put our tacos in, as well as a token to vote on our favorite taco/restaurant. For as many restaurants, people, and food as there were, I was incredibly impressed with how organized and clean everything was. The only downside for me was that being a vegetarian made my sampling experience a bit limited. Fortunately, I was still able to try some darn good food!

While Los Tios didn't have a vegetarian taco, per se, they had a phenomenal assortment of toppings, like fresh guacamole, cotijo cheese, and warm queso, which made for a delicious vegetarian plate.

Sweet Galeanna provided food in the form of mini cakes to cleanse the pallet a bit. I lost my mind over their corn bread cake with a cream cheese frosting!

As we strolled along, we were able to catch a wrestling match, as well as a concert by some very talented teenaged musicians. <~~(My first draft of that sentence ended with "as well as a concert by some very talented youngins", and then I punched myself in the face.)

Doneraki provided a vegetarian taco with a corn and bean filling, and while it wasn't my favorite of the veg tacos, it was nice to have that option! Also, they had quite the impressive display:

But my absolute favorite of all the Houston tacos in all the land was the tater tot taco from Tacos A Go Go.

Sarah is basically a taco connoisseur, and she has been raving about the food at this restaurant for a while. So imagine my delight to not only see that they were at Tacolandia, but that they also offered a veg taco! A TATER TOT TACO, to be exact. This taco was so exceptional, no other taco stood a chance. I had mine dressed up with black beans, jalapeño, sour cream, salsa, and cheese, and I lost my flipping mind. It was soft, spicy, creamy, and absolutely outstanding! I may or may not have gone back for seconds......

And yes, they obviously won my vote!

The Houston Press Tacolandia was a great way to spend a fall afternoon in Houston. The weather was perfect, the setup was clean and simple, the views of the city were fantastic, the energy was lively and fun, the local restaurant turnout was great, and the food was exciting and delicious! Even though I wished more restaurants had offered vegetarian tacos, I was very pleased with what I had. It was definitely a great event, and I look forward to the next Tacolandia!

t   a   c   o  .  t   u   e   s   d   a   y .

2 comments buffalo bayou park, dessert, dinner, events, fall, food, houston, mexican, restaurants, taco tuesdays, tacolandia, tacos, vegetarian

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Vacation Days: NYC, October 2015

In a shocking twist of events, I only visited NYC once this year, which is a stark contrast to the three times I went (this time, this time, and this time) in 2014. So I had to really make it count!

The main reason for this particular visit was to cheer my rockstar mother on in the NYC marathon. We also had some other major events going on, and I was excited to bring Jon along so that I could, a) introduce him to my NYC friends, and b) show him my version of New York!

We arrived at the Houston airport, where - thanks to our friend Vicky - we cashed in on some United Club passes. We drank some stiff drinks, ate some fancy food, and then had a serious discussion about the color of Jon's shirt.

We will get to the NYC stuff momentarily, but can you please tell me what you think the color of the shirt on the right is? I know what Iiii think, but I don't want to sway anyone's answers. The above photo is completely untouched. This should probably go viral? But probably not, because to me the answer is completely black and white...err green and blue... err.....

So NYC. We stayed with my dear friend LJ and his husband Sean at their charming apartment in Astoria. Our first full day started off with breakfast at Lite Bites with my main squeeze Courtney, picking up a few things for the World Series game that night, and playing in Chelsea Market and on the High Line with my friend Sherz.

Then I took Jon to my favorite pizza place for THE BEST PIZZA EVER at John's in the Village (where, fun fact, we exchanged pleasantries with Edward Burns and by "exchanged pleasantries with," I mean gaped awkwardly at").

Then we were off to the World Series! Not only did we attend the World Series, but we attended the only game of the World Series in which the Mets won, at Citi Field! It was super awesome.

Recognize this guy? We had to take a selfie with him OF COURSE.

^ That's a veggie dog. I was beyond excited that they sold them there! But the thing is, I don't really eat a whole lot of processed fake meat, so I got super sick from it and paid a major price afterwards. Let's not talk about that. The game was such an incredible experience though!

The next morning, Jon and I met up with my friend Sydney, her incredible son Ozzy (who is my favorite kiddo in the entire universe), and her adorable, sassy daughter Anya in Central Park. Afterwards we had brunch at Fred's on the Upper West Side with my college friends Cat, Nikki, and Mike.

Then we went back to Queens to get ready for my friend Mary Ann's Halloween-themed wedding on Staten Island. Yes, it was as fun and crazy and awesome as you would think, while also completely heartfelt and beautiful. Everyone was in costume, and the wedding party surprised the bride with a flash mob dance of "Thriller." So cool!

Marathon day started with brunch in Queens at Butcher Bar, follwed by cheering my mom on at mile 14.5 and mile 21.5.

^ Look how excited she is! Have you ever seen anything cuter???? This was my mom's third marathon, she achieved her best time ever, and she raised over $12,000 for Fred's Team (because she's a super under-achiever). What an inspiration!

After that, we ventured down to the East Village for some beer and pizza at Crocodile Lounge with our friends Lenny and Christy. Then we caught up with the family (Mom, Dad, and cousins Karen and Freddie) and more friends (Alice Ann, Mike, Kristen, LJ, Sean, and Karen) at my parents' hotel in Times Square, followed by another bar nearby with Courtney. 

(It was not until reviewing these photos that I realized Jon ate macaroni and cheese twice that day, because he's an adult and can do what he wants.)

Before we headed out of town the next day, we of course had to grab some phenomenal NYC bagels, which we picked up from Bagels & Brew in Astoria!

Much like all of my other visits to NYC, it was a whirlwind of a weekend! I am so lucky to have lived in such an exciting city (don't worry Houston, I'm not going anywhere!), and even luckier to be able to return regularly to see some of my favorite faces and places. The marathon, the World Series, the wedding, and having Jon along for the ride made this visit all the more special!

AND PLEASE TELL ME WHAT COLOR JON'S SHIRT IS.

None of the links in this post are sponsored by anyone. I only cited places that I love!

Leave a Comment bagels, bars, baseball, breakfast, brunch, dinner, drinks, fall, food, fun, halloween, houston, marathon, new york city, pizza, restaurants, travel, vacation days, weddings, world series

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Lowbrow

It's officially fall!

Which means the mornings are now somehow magically beautiful here, I'm drinking all of the pumpkin coffee, and my apartment smells like the entire harvest section of Bath and Body Works.

Because it's officially fall!

But let's rewind a hair back to the summer, shall we? When my friend Megan was off being amazing teaching children in Vietnam for the summer, I met up with her super cool boyfriend Jesse for brunch one day at Lowbrow. He said I had to try their veggie burger. But turns out they don't serve their veggie burgers at brunch. (!!!!) So I ordered their house granola with Greek yogurt and honey, which was great, but tasted exactly how you would expect house granola and Greek yogurt with honey to taste.

Fast forward about six weeks - Megan's back in town, so she, Jesse, my boyfriend, and I all meet up for dinner at Lowbrow one night to try this legendary veggie burger.

Oh yeah, I have one of those now. I sort of glossed over that in my last post about llamas, but I've been boyfriended. I suppose he should get a proper blog introduction. His name is Jon, and he's awesome and dreamy and we laugh a lot. Unfortunately, in the initial dating phase we visited a lot of new places, but I didn't blog about them because, a) I wasn't sure at what point one starts casually taking pictures of their food, while simultaneously making sure there's no broccoli in their teeth/trying to convince the totally dreamy person sitting across from them that they're completely sane and worth spending consistent time with (dating is exhausting, can I get an Amen?!), and b) introducing a new person on my blog? I don't take that stuff lightly! But I should have known everything would have been fine from day one when Jon started sending me photos of everything he ate.

(...No really. Everything.)

Moving along!

In true double date fashion, Jesse and Megan split the chicken-fried black bean veggie burger with an egg and cheddar cheese. They also ordered the mac-and-cheese for all of us to share. McDreamy and I jumped on that bandwagon and split the chicken-fried black bean veggie burger with an egg and cheddar cheese, and we ordered the curry fries for all of us to share.

Are we annoying? (Don't answer that).

BUT YOU GUYS. I cannot even begin to tell you how good everything was.

We'll start with the curry fries - Topped with masala curry, pickled shallots, jalapenos, and cilantro, these fries were great. The Boheme fries at Cafe Boheme will always be my favorite "fancy fry," but these are definitely up there. Eating the curry fries was an exciting experience because of their interesting complex flavors (the curry! the spiciness! WOW!).

But if I had to do it over again, I would have ordered a second helping of the mac and cheese in place of the curry fries because I'm sorry, CHEETOS ON TOP OF MACARONI AND CHEESE IS A REAL THING AND MY LIFE IS NOW COMPLETE.

This was just stupid it was so good. Something different from the standard elbow mac? Check. A beautiful melty cheesy mixture? Check. Cheetos crumbled on top????? Seriously, is this real life?

Promise me you'll order it if you go.

And promise me you'll order this.

First let me apologize for how this terrible picture shows you absolutely nothing about the ethereal veggie burger resting inside those fluffy bun pillows. (Also, let me apologize for ever saying "fluffy bun pillows"). There was an indescribably dreamy guy sitting next to me making me nervous as I worried about my Cheeto-covered face and whether or not I had dropped the "I have a food blog" bomb on him too soon and if I'd be able to find a way to watch the UK premiere of Downton Abbey months prior to the U.S. release.

(But seriously guys, dating. Amiright?)

I have a pretty solid running list of Top Five Veggie Burgers in my mind, and I can confidently say that this one has landed a secure spot in there. The patty adhered together so perfectly with the "chicken-fried" coating, and the runny egg and cheddar really sealed the deal. The texture of the patty itself had a slight crunch from the coating, which was pleasant to experience. Topped with avocado and served with what I believe was a chipotle mayo, the burg was full of flavor, cooked perfectly, and just downright delicious.

I am beyond glad Jesse was so adamant about us trying out Lowbrow. All of the food there was amazing, and it's a great little spot. Sit inside the somewhat dark restaurant/bar area, or park yourself on the large patio like we did and enjoy the cooler fall evenings we're starting to get! Oh, and be sure to check out the super cool retro wallpaper in the bathrooms, which is an homage to old school Houston (think Astrodome and oil rigs).

But if you're going on a date, word to the wise you may want to wait until you reach the "I-have-Cheetos-all-up-in-my-teeth-but-I've-already-tricked-you-into-adoring-me-so-you'll-hold-my-hand-anyway" phase of the relationship.

Leave a Comment bars, brunch, dinner, fall, food, houston, southern, vegetarian

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Brasserie 19

I love summer.

But more than summer, I love fall, and I have officially [prematurely] gone into full on Fall Daydreaming Mode. The subject of my daydreams are as follows, in no particular order:

1) Fall television - Scandal, Revenge, Parks and Recreation, Homeland... YES.

2) Sundresses with boots, and drapey pretty sweaters.

3) All of the Pumpkin. all. of. it.

4) Hot apple cider. Maybe spiked with rum. Okay definitely spiked with rum.

5) Football season.

6) Obviously:

7) And the start of my favorite holiday, ThanksgivChristmas!

Speaking of, another one of my favorite "holidays" is Houston Restaurant Weeks! My sister came into town recently, and my parents decided to take us out to dinner for a belated birthday/the-family's-all-here celebraysh. So they picked one of their favorites - Brasserie 19 - in part so we could dine off of their Houston Restaurant Weeks menu.

Funny story though, we all ended up ordering from the regular menu.

Oh Life, you have some crazy twists and turns!

I had always heard that Brasserie 19 was an excellent people-watching place. And when I think of excellent people-watching places I think of Venice Beach, nontraditional art shows in Heights warehouse galleries, and the walk of shame in NYC the morning after Halloween (seriously, most entertaining thing ever). So I was eager to see how a restaurant located in the River Oaks Shopping Center would live up to these expectations!

The instant I walked in it hit me: This was not Venice Beach, or a nontraditional art show in a Heights warehouse gallery, or the walk of shame in NYC the morning after Halloween - Quite the opposite actually. This is where the Houston socialites converge on a Thursday night, decked out in designer shoes and ginormous diamonds, sipping on martinis, and smiling through beautifully whitened teeth. This is a place where people come to see and be seen.

And while I'm definitely more comfortable sitting on an old barstool, kicking back a few with friends in a laid-back low maintenance spot, Brasserie 19 for sure did have a lot going on to watch!

But THE FOOD.

The food was incroyable! (See I can be fancy and French!)

First up, I ordered the French 75, which was unbelievably light and refreshing.

Made with prosecco and gin, this lemony drink hit the spot on that hot summer evening. My sister Emily ordered the blue version of it, which was their special that night, and included blue curacao.

Fantastico!

(nope. that's Italian.)

To start I ordered the Roasted Beets, which came with arugula, green onion pesto, local goat feta, almonds, and horseradish vinaigrette.

I love beets. If I could eat them for every meal I probably would. And the inclusion of the sweet golden beets in this salad was sublime. Combined with the bitter argula, garlic-y pesto, creamy feta, crunchy almonds, and tangy vinaigrette, it was the perfect little starter!

For my main course I ordered the Vegetable Cassolette L’Orge, which is a combination of pearl barley, mushrooms, kale, beets, tomato, and sweet potato, among other various vegetables.

And I'm not going to lie, y'all. When I saw that the only vegetarian dish on the menu had a foundation of barley, I was completely unexcited. But our super amazing waiter (seriously, he was the best) sang its praises, so I decided to give it a whirl.

This dish was stupid.

I was completely floored by the combination of beautiful flavors, the silky, slightly briny sauce the vegetables were cooked in, and the integral part the barley played in bringing it all together. It was absolutely astounding. As always, I was so glad to be proven so completely wrong!

And sidenote for any vegetarians out there wondering about the Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top? The cheese they use in this dish comes from a vegetarian farm that uses microbial rennet, so you are all good there! If you are not a vegetarian and have no idea what I'm talking about, just try to erase the last 5 seconds of your life.

Then we ordered dessert, and my sister not-so-subtly-right-in-front-of-me sort of "whispered" to the waiter that we were celebrating my birthday.

So they brought me this:

That's right, a giant trophy, filled with cotton candy, and a sparkler (which had died out by this point) sticking out of it.

This may have been my favorite thing about Brasserie 19, and not because I like cotton candy (I'm actually not really a fan, okay you can punch me now). It's because it was such a cheesy and silly thing to do at such a fancy place, that I loved everything about it!

For dessert we ordered the warm chocolate cake, and I'm sorry I don't have a photo because my family had already destroyed half of it by time I got my phone out to take a picture. But the molten cake was absolute heaven. Paired with a side of hazelnut gelato, this was one amazing dessert.

While I don't foresee myself frequenting Brasserie 19 on the reg, the food really is incredible. The care and precision put into each dish is very apparent, and the service is truly excellent. And if you're ever curious about seeing all of Houston's elite on a Thursday night, this is definitely the place!

Muy Bien!

Leave a Comment drinks, fall, fine dining, food, houston, vegetarian

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