Houstonia's 2017 Taco Loco

This post was done in partnership with Houstonia, who provided me with an event ticket, free of charge. I was not monetarily compensated for writing this Houston food post. All opinions are completely, 100% my own!

Happy Taco Tuesday!

Taco Tue...Wednesday. It's Wednesday. Taco Wednesday. But, please, like that ever stopped you!

This year I was invited to attend Houstonia's Taco Loco, and it was awesome. The event was held in Uptown Park and included a Taco Takedown between several restaurants, a Margarita Mixoff, live music, and even a lil' wine for yours truly!

The thing that I especially loved about this Houston food event was that there were two vegetarian taco options, and several of the restaurants were also able to make a substantial veg option when asked - One that didn't just consist of a tortilla, salsa, and cheese (welcome to my world). Like, Broken Barrel made me a taco on an incredible pineapple tortilla (THAT'S A THING, Y'ALL), topped with caramelized onions and peppers, HELLO.

And Bosscat Kitchen & Libations offered me their hearty breakfast taco, sans brisket - Delicious!

A popular spot was Field & Tides for their taco, which happened to be vegetarian (and insanely good). It had great textures and popping flavors.

But my personal favorite was the vegan taco option from Cochinita & Co. I topped mine with some of their spicy garlic sauce, and it packed some serious heat!

Oh, also there were lovely desserts from Cakes by Gina, and Jon lost his mind over the churro cupcakes.

And margaritas upon margaritas of course!

They were all great, but my favorite margarita was...

...wine. My favorite margarita was wine. Sorry, sorry, I'm not a margarita person, and I never pretended to be! BUT there were some super duper spicy margaritas floating around that I did really like, cross my heart. Pretty sure Ambriza Social Mexican Kitchen was my favorite, and I almost died from the spice, but as the kids say, you only live once! (And it was reeeeally good)

The votes rolled in, and here were the results:

People’s Choice, Best Taco: Broken Barrel
People’s Choice, Best Margarita: Ambriza Social Mexican Kitchen (seeeee????)
Judges’ Choice, Best Taco: Fusion Taco
Judges’ Choice, Best Margarita: Cyclone Anaya’s
Judges’ Choice, Most Creative Ingredient: Sammy’s Wild Game Grill

And there you have it! This year's Taco Loco was an awesome, delicious Houston food event, and I'm so glad we were able to go!

Taco Wednesday and Thursday and Friday and Eeeeeveryday.

Leave a Comment dinner, drinks, events, food, houston, lunch, mexican, restaurants, taco loco, taco tuesdays, tacos, uptown, vegan, vegetarian

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Houston ClassPass

I've been on a fitness kick lately.

I have always worked out pretty regularly, but I've kicked up my fitness routine a notch recently. Maybe it's because I just feel better when I'm staying active. Maybe it's because I'm quickly realizing that - well into my 30th year of life - my metabolism ain't what it used to be (because life is a cruel, cruel b). Maybe it's because Ryan Gosling is encouraging it. Realistically, it's probably a mix of all three (but mostly the third one, tbh).

I had been a member of a yoga studio for almost two years and recently discontinued it, replacing it with workouts in my complex's gym downstairs, runs around my Houston Heights neighborhood, and home yoga practices. As I mentioned in my post on OrangeTheory Fitness, though, I'm kind of lazy when it comes to working out on my own. So after hearing a lot of fuss about ClassPass from my friends (namely, my friend Sarah, who is alllll about it!), I decided to give it a whirl!

ClassPass is a nationwide program that has established itself in Houston, and it's one of those brilliant ideas that makes you go, "Gah, why didn't I think of that?!" Different cities have different rates, but how it works here is you pay a monthly fee of $89 (which was the same price of my yoga membership, and honestly is cheaper than a lot of boutique studios I've checked out here in Houston), and you get access to all participating gyms and studios, with the ability to visit each place (this is per entire business, not studio location) up to three times in that month. And trust me, there are so many wonderful gyms that partake in the program, you definitely get your money's worth! (FYI, ClassPass did not endorse this post in any way, I just want to share with you a program in Houston that I'm a fan of!)

So how did my first month of ClassPass go? Once I hit my 30 days (which will be tomorrow), I will have attended 15 different fitness classes at a variety of gyms in Houston. Here are some of the highlights:

I took my first ever CrossFit class at CrossFit EaDo. I've always been curious about CrossFit, moreso for the tight-knit community it always seems to create, than for the fitness aspect. This particular "box" (that's "gym" for all you non-CrossFitters out there!) was clean and ginormous, and the trainers were SO nice and welcoming. Channeling my inner noncompetitive lazy person though, and only having a willingness to jump up on the < 5 inch boxes (actual boxes, not "boxes" - Think J.J. Watt style), I realized that I'm just not a CrossFit gal. *sigh* I'm just not self-motivated enough when it comes to fitness goals. But if you ARE a CrossFit person, I really do recommend CrossFit EaDo!

The newest yoga kid on the Houston Heights block is Austin-born Black Swan Yoga. The flow class taught by Carmen has come to be one of my favorites. The room is slightly heated, and her class is challenging, different every time, set to music, and spiritual. And I'm going to go out on a limb and say the room itself that you practice in is one of the prettiest yoga spaces I've been in. It's light, airy, and has changing neon lights circling the perimeter of the room that are hypnotic and incredibly soothing.

Black Swan Yoga and RIDE were both sort of the impetus for me joining Houston's ClassPass program actually. Historically I have hated spin classes with a fiery passion and spent the entirety of each class counting down the seconds until the torture was over. After much convincing, I attended Will's class at RIDE with my friend Lindsey one morning, and I was instantly hooked! To be sure, there are still moments where I'm fully convinced I'm going to die, but then I quickly recover. The classes are insanely challenging, but also incredibly fun. Loud, motivating music is blasted in a dimly lit room, and each song brings you something completely different, including a few sets which utilize weights. It's fitness to the max. I love love LOVE RIDE!

Studio Fitness in the Heights offers open gym time through ClassPass, as well as a variety of classes and CrossFit. The gym itself appears to be a refurbished old garage, and yet it somehow manages to combine the best of both worlds in terms of style - appealing to those who like that grungier gym feel (not me), while at the same time welcoming people who are total snobs and want to work out somewhere pretty (me). In terms of classes the gym offers, Stephanie's HIIT class is an insane bootcamp-style workout, and it's my total jam. I also took Carlton's kettlebell class one morning, and that was a great workout as well!

A recently joined member of the Houston ClassPass scene, YogaOne offers a wide array of different styles of yoga classes. Last week, I took a sonic flow class at their uptown location, as well as a sonic hot 60 class with Anna at their Heights location, which is now one of my new favorite classes! It combines vinyasa flow poses I'm used to, as well as ones I'm less familiar with from Bikram. Definitely a class for someone who's familiar with yoga, it has minimal cues from the instructor (who practices alongside everyone), and it takes place in a - I'm not kidding - 100+ degree room. And I LOVE it. Last night, I took it again, and the theme was 90's music, aka the dream. Here's me in my sweaty disgusting glory, post sonic hot 60:

Snapchat: newishcityhou

Also worth noting - Another class I really like is Joy Yoga's wake up class taught by Jana!

ClassPass is a great way to integrate a variety of different classes into your fitness routine, as well as give you a taste of what Houston has to offer in terms of studios and gyms. I have thoroughly enjoyed my past month with ClassPass, and I will definitely be continuing on with it for the foreseeable future! If you'd like to try the unlimited ClassPass out for a month, feel free to use my referral code. <~~By clicking that link within the next 6 months, you will receive $20 off of your first month of unlimited ClassPass classes (and I'll also receive $20 off as well)! With a variety of classes - from yoga, to spin, to CrossFit, to barre, to kickboxing, and more! - ClassPass is a great way to get your money's worth and explore what Houston has to offer in the fitness world.

Ride...for Gosling!

Leave a Comment east downtown, fitness, heights, houston, uptown

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H.S. Green

This post was done in partnership with Hot Pink Houston and H.S. Green, who provided me with complimentary food and drinks. I was not monetarily compensated for writing this restaurant post. All opinions are completely, 100% my own!

So before I had second dinner at Loving Hut last week, I had first dinner at the restaurant H.S. Green.

(I'll take "Things That Aren't Remotely Weird When You're a Food Blogger" for 500, Trebek!)

My friend Megha has an awesome Houston food Instagram account called HotPinkHouston (you should totally check it out, though let's be honest, you probably already follow her!), and she's also an editor at The Daily Meal. Last week, the folks at one of Houston's newest health food restaurants, H.S. Green, partnered with her to host a HotPinkHouston blogger event. And lucky me, I got to go! My Houston food blogger friends Erika and Sarah were also in attendance, along with a bunch of other new friendly faces!

Before delving into solid foods, we were presented with six of the restaurant's cold pressed freshly squeezed juices to sample.

Don't mind if I do!

My opinions of the juices were as follows:

• Watermelon Lime Mint (benefits: refreshing, low-cal, hydrating, skin health) - This juice WAS refreshing. I love watermelon juice to begin with, and this was no exception. Tart, crisp, and citrus-y, it tasted just like summer!

• Pear, Cucumber, Ginger (benefits: rich in anti-oxidants, copper, and potassium; good for digestion, immune defense; anti-inflammatory) This drink was hearty, creamy, and had a rich pear taste. There was a hit of spice from the ginger, which was pleasant and incredibly complimentary of the other ingredients.

• Carrot, Apple, Ginger (benefits: B-6 and B-12 energy complex; good for digestion, eye health, and skin health; detoxifying; immune defense) - Sweet, velvety, and satisfying, I felt like there was like a harvest gathering dancing all over my taste buds. It would probably taste really good with spiced rum? (#help)

• Pineapple, Coconut, Vanilla (benefits: hydrating; bone, eye, and heart health; vitamin C and potassium) - No contest, this juice was hands down my favorite of the bunch! The light concoction tasted just like a piña colada with some added vanilla! (no really, #help)

• Five Berry (benefits: rich in anti-oxidants, vitamin B, and vitamin C; heart health; high in fiber, immune defense) - This tart and jammy drink was perfect for the berry lover. It was probably my least favorite of the three, though admittedly I tend to shy away from berries in my juices and smoothies, so take that with a grain of salt. Other people seemed to really enjoy this one however!

• Green Juice (benefits: low-cal power house; detoxifying; replenishes electrolytes; heart health; vitamins A, B, C, and K) - This was essentially salad in a juice, and it therefore tasted very green tasting and grassy, but I mean that it in the best way possible. It tasted incredibly healthy, and I definitely enjoyed it!

After the juice portion of the evening, the restaurant brought out some foods for us, starting with the guacamame.

As the portmanteau <~~(I think this is my favorite word of 2016, even though it's been around forever. That, and the phrase "squad goals." ...how hard are you judging me right now?) implies, the dip is a combination of guacamole and edamame, and was hella good. It was fresh, lime-y, chunky, and delicious! To be honest, I couldn't really taste the edamame, but I think it was in there more for texture, which was great.

Next up in the solid foods department was the restaurant's Thai salad with grilled shrimp, as well as the quinoa edamame falafel.

While I didn't try the salad, it smelled hauntingly delicious. The falafel (WHY is spellcheck wanting me to change that to "fella"? Spellcheck, you are obviously not a part of my squad.) came with a dill sauce on the side. I could taste the edamame this time inside the baked, smooth, earthy falafel. The dill sauce added a nice tartness and brightened the dish up quite a bit. Because they were baked and not fried, the falafel balls were not of the weigh-you-down variety, but of the this-is-good-for-you-and-also-tastes-good variety.

After that, we were presented with a crispy duck pizza, as well as the restaurant's margherita pizza.

I didn't try the duck pizza, but the margherita pizza was lovely. It was insanely super duper thin, crispy, tomato-y, and light. Immensely flavorful, this was guiltless pizza at its finest!

Before Erika and I had to cut out to make it to second dinner (Y'ALL, #HELPME), she snagged a bite of their truffle infused roasted mushrooms and chicken pizza, eating around the chicken. She informed me that I HAD to go back and order this at some point. Challenge accepted!

The kind folks at the restaurant gave me a roasted vegetable wrap to-go, as well! <~~(...third dinner?)

The zucchini, bell peppers, and red onion inside the wrap were vibrant, silky, and packed with flavor. Creamy, garlicky hummus and a crisp, mint citrus vinaigrette added a wonderful layer to it as well. It was quite the tasty lil' sammy!

H.S. Green is a fantastic new addition to Houston's health food restaurant scene. Just because the food is good for you, doesn't mean that it's lacking in flavor, creativity, or the ability to satisfy. On the contrary, the food there is exceptionally tasty, unique, and gratifying! If you're in Houston's Galleria/Uptown area, and you're having a hankering for some high quality, delicious, healthy food, look no further than H.S. Green!

#HoustonJuiceSquad.

6 comments dinner, falafel, food, galleria, houston, juice, pizza, restaurants, uptown, vegetarian

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Adair Kitchen

Happy 2016, Houston!!!

Can I tell you a quick(ish) story? About how Apple is EVIL?

I've had my iPhone a while. It's given me zero problems (why I love Apple products even though they are Satan). Monday morning I went into a meeting. An hour later I came out to find my phone completely, 100%, not working and dead.

I took it to the Apple store (driving through Houston Galleria rush hour traffic, which is EVERYONE'S FAVORITE THING TO DO), where I waited over an hour to be seen (hey, self: always make an appointment). Genius Bar girl looks at my phone, tells me it's "bent," and that my battery will never ever work again. "Oh, wow, it says your warranty expired yesterday. What a strange coincidence! But I'd be happy to sell you a NEW IPHONE (!!!!!)"

Fortunately, I was contemplating switching plans (yes, I'm 30 years old and have been freeloading off of my parents' plan for years - why do you ask?), so I decided to sleep on the whole thing. WELL. After watching The Bachelor premiere (...you still there?), Jon walked in the room and said, "Your phone's working. I just had to hold the home button and the on button down for 20 seconds."

You're seriously telling me the Apple Geniuses don't know this trick?

*insert side eye emoji*

Speaking of the Galleria.

^ (good to know my 2016 segues are off to an earth-shattering start!)

Over the holidays I met up with my mom one day for lunch at Adair Kitchen, a massive counter service restaurant located in Houston's Galleria/Uptown area. We stepped up to the packed and buzzing restaurant's counter to order our food, and the beyond-friendly employee informed us that they had switched their computers over to a new system that day, so to bear with him. Bear we did!

Because it was a Tuesday, we ordered some wine. However, they ended up bringing my mom a glass of cabernet instead of the chardonnay she ordered. They were super apologetic and immediately corrected the problem (and made sure they hadn't overcharged us).

Houstonians are the nicest, ammiright??

My mom ordered the restaurant's super foods bowl and asked for the chicken on the side so I could have a taste (Thanks Mom!). Brown rice, kale, avocado, almonds, tomato, red onions, and cucumber were tossed in a sweet ginger miso dressing. Y'all, this was SO good (coming from an avid kale-hater). The fresh, crunchy veggies were softened up by the brown rice and avocado. The sweet, light dressing took the edge off of the bitter kale, and everything came together wonderfully. I loved this dish so much, I will probably order it next time!

For my main course of food, I ordered the black bean quinoa burger. However, what they brought out was a salad. Not to worry, once again they were incredibly nice and rushed to get my burger out to me.

In the meantime, we munched on some sweet potato fries!

^ (Look at my mom snapping away, she's totally a future food blogger.)

In actuality they left the sweet potato fries off our order. We had to ask for them again, and they brought them out quickly. They weren't very warm, but were still enjoyable. Lightly battered and fried, the dense sticks were sweet, salty, and tasty!

The restaurant's veggie burger wasn't too shabby either. The patty - clearly made in-house - had a smoother, more doughy texture than most. It was as if the ingredients had been pureed, then molded together. This softer patty was a unique departure from the norm, and I enjoyed it with the accompanying firm vegetables and avocado. The lightly dressed side salad included a playful sprinkling of feta, which also provided a slightly different experience.

Even though several mistakes were made with our food orders, the restaurant employees handled these errors calmly, speedily, and with total professionalism. I understand how rattling it can be to switch to a completely new computer system (especially in lieu of my recent technological issues), and I definitely appreciated how well everything was handled. Furthermore, the food at Adair Kitchen was pretty darn good - especially that power bowl! Light, thoughtful, healthy, and delicious, the food at this restaurant is a must-try if you're in Houston's Galleria area!

So, Houston, how do "phone plans" work? Asking for a friend...

5 comments burgers, food, galleria, houston, lunch, restaurants, uptown, vegetarian, wine

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Media Preview of the Winter Menu at Seasons 52

This post was done in partnership with Seasons 52 in Houston, who provided me with my food and drinks, free of charge. I was not monetarily compensated for writing this restaurant post. All opinions are completely, 100% my own!

Alternate title: "This is my 200th Blog Post". (!!!!!)

In honor of my 200th blog post living here in Houston (and to those of you who have put up with my ramblings for 200 blog posts), I think we should get a little fancy!

A few weeks ago I was invited to attend a media preview of the food featured on Seasons 52's winter menu, at their location near Houston's Galleria area.

I brought Jon along for the ride, and the evening started off with a cocktail reception in one of the restaurant's private rooms, where I saw a friendly, familiar face (Kelly from Last Course Gourmet) and met some new folks (Haylea from Bowl of Happiness and her husband)! Both of these gals are members of the Houston Food Blogger Collective with me, and it was so lovely chatting with them.

No cocktail reception could be complete without food of course - We were presented with several different flatbreads: a braised short rib and aged cheddar flatbread; a roasted roma tomato flatbread; a grilled garlic pesto chicken flatbread; and a lobster and fresh mozzarella flatbread (not pictured below).

The only vegetarian option of the four was the roasted roma tomato flatbread, which was topped with ribbons of basil, mozzarella, and parmesan. It was thin, crispy, fragrant, and was essentially a fancy pizza-I absolutely adored it! Jon very much enjoyed the pesto chicken and the lobster, but the braised short rib and aged cheddar flatbread with beets, cilantro, and horseradish sour cream totally knocked his socks off.

Before we were escorted to our tables, we were provided with a cranberry & sage cocktail, which is featured on the restaurant's winter menu. Made with white cranberry juice, organic gin, fresh cranberries, lime, candied sage leaf, and simple syrup, the drink was hearty yet refreshing, and tasted like Christmas!

Jon and I were then seated in one of the restaurant's cozy, intimate, high-backed booths. The large restaurant is dimly lit and incredibly comfortable. It was fancy, yet welcoming - Not always an easy task to accomplish, but one this Houston spot does seamlessly.

Before we ordered our food, we were brought out complimentary appetizers of lobster ravioli and ricotta meyer lemon ravioli.

I cannot tell you how wonderful the ricotta meyer lemon ravioli was. Almost dessert-like, the soft ricotta filling was faintly sweet and lemony. The ravioli was ever-so-lightly toasted and was covered in what I believe was melted brown butter. The toasted pine nuts added the perfect amount of crunch to this delicate and delicious appetizer!

For our next round of food, we ordered an appetizer of blistered shishito peppers, as well as a side of roasted Basciani Farms mushrooms.

The colorful and bright shishito peppers were combined with sweet roasted corn, creamy and tart Sonoma goat-feta cheese, and smooth lemon aioli with sumac. This dish was spicy, playful, and a real treat!

When I say, "we ordered the mushrooms," what I really mean is "I ordered the mushrooms" since Jon abhors the fungi.<~~(abhors the fungi? don't worry, I also a little bit hate myself right now).

Oh, and they were good y'all. Stuffed with silky sauteed spinach and a delightfully crunchy panko crust, the mushrooms were indulgent and thoroughly enjoyable. Added bonus? They were topped off with a "parmesan tuile," which is basically a top hat for stuffed mushrooms! <~~(Mushroom top hat? Have you forgotten I ever uttered the phrase "abhors fungi"? God I hope so.)

Next up for food, we ordered some soup! (Because it's Houston, and it's 50 degrees outside, and we are cold.)

The restaurant offers some stellar soup options on their winter menu. Jon went with the grass-fed beef & black bean chili, while I opted for the butternut squash soup. Sweet and earthy, the comforting cup of velvety butternut squash soup was brought to another textural level when topped with shiitake mushrooms.

For our main course of food, Jon ordered the Asian glazed Chilean sea bass, and I went with the vegetarian tasting plate.

Jon is crazy about seabass, so it came as a shock to no one that he loved his dish. What DID come as a shock was that his favorite part of the whole dish was the bed of organic black rice underneath the fish. He really really loved it!

And I could not get enough of mine. Listen, a lot of times people look at my vegetarian meals with pity in their eyes, but I'm pretty sure the restaurant threw down the gauntlet with this one. Just look at it! I was able to sample a chilled, earthy, crispy quinoa-citrus salad; warm, subtly sweet, buttery, golden beets; ANOTHER hearty, delicious stuffed 'shroom (score!); steamed broccolini, made more interesting than usual with the inclusion of contrasting red peppers; a WONDERFUL cedar plank roasted tofu; and a citrusy, layered vegetarian taco with black beans, roasted peppers, feta cheese, mole sauce, and tamatillo salsa, topped off with a crunchy slaw. While I thoroughly enjoyed each of these food items for different reasons, the star of this dish was hands down the cedar plank roasted tofu. And I'm not a big tofu person, so this is saying a lot (worst vegetarian ever? Worst vegetarian ever.). It was soft and citrusy and flirted with a borderline grittiness. Lightly basted in a mustard dill sauce, if you had fed me the tofu and told me it was fish, I would have 100% believed you. Yowzers, what a unique and delightful surprise!

To finish this lovely Houston evening off, we of course had to order more food from the restaurant, in the form of dessert.

The restaurant does this thing where they present you with a bunch of shot glasses (if you have a more appropriate name for these, please let me know) filled with mini desserts. This is exciting and dangerous. We weren't very hungry, so we ordered five.

(don't worry, I'm giving myself the side eye too).

The desserts we ordered were a nutty, rich peanut butter chocolate; a cinnamon-y, sweet pumpkin pie that tasted absolutely like fall (my second favorite); a Begian chocolate s'mores (which I didn't try since I didn't know if it had gelatin in it or not); a sweet and smooth pecan pie (Jon's favorite); and a rich, indulgent, not-too-sweet carrot cake with cream cheese frosting (my favorite). It was a delightful sampling!

Seasons 52 is a restaurant that prides itself in serving seasonally-inspired food, with a focus on "what's good now." With over 40 restaurants nationwide, they still manage to bring a personal touch to their food, right here in Houston, as well as provide exceptional service. The eclectic, playful, and thoughtful winter menu is exceptional and definitely worth trying. I can't wait to return to Seasons 52 for a nice evening out!

Here's to 200 more, Houston!

2 comments dessert, dinner, drinks, fine dining, food, galleria, houston, restaurants, uptown, vegetarian, wine

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