houston: catalina cofee

To wrap up our delightful 24 hour feasting spree in Houston, we visited Catalina Coffee to grab some java on the way out of town. Good friend Grady Wright recommended the place, and it couldn’t have been better. The coffee was eye-bulge-ing-y strong and my almond croissant delightfully flaky and fresh. It was a cute little chill cafe with laid back hipster baristas. Would definitely re-visit next time.

cocktail noir: houston’s anvil bar and refuge

There isn’t much I need to say about Anvil. Always top notch drinks and quality service. Austin needs to take a leaf out of their book in mixing cocktails quickly and with precision. If it didn’t cost so much to hook up a hotel in Houston for a night, I’d be out there all the time sipping the nights away.

houston: dinner at underbelly

Our second stop in the Houston whirlwind trip was wine bar and restaurant Underbelly.

Chris Frankel, bartender at Anvil and Underbelly suggested we try his version of an Americano (above), which was staggeringly delicious. Apparently it’s more of a “spiced cocchi americano imitation” instead of the campari-based americano. Whew! So damn tasty.

Yep, that’s the meat locker you can see from the main dining hall. So many delightful meats. I had the butcher’s cut — a part of pork neck cooked like a steak. It tasted like a steak. Juicy and thick. Z’s fish was also to die for. Win and win.

hay merchant, houston

Made it out to Houston for my pre-birthday celebration earlier this month. In good food/drink hound fashion, Z and I decided to hit up the Bobby Heugel team trifecta Hay Merchant, Underbelly and Anvil Bar and Refuge. As expected, all three were designed and executed so perfectly. When a restaurant or bar has excellent food, carefully selected drinks and jaw-droppingly beautiful design, it simply can’t be beat. Here are some glimpses of Hay Merchant, the craft beer bar.

fuel.

“Music has always been a matter of energy to me, a question of Fuel. Sentimental people call it Inspiration, but what they really mean is Fuel.”
—Hunter S. Thompson

blackheart bar, rainey st.

I’ve been waiting for this new Rainey St. bar to open for some time now. Happily, I found the design inside to be quite pleasing. Takes you right back to the turn of the century. A couple of centuries ago. Yep.

sunday coffee with lance armstrong

OK, not really. But we did pop in to check out his coffee shop downtown, Juan Pelota. They serve Stumptown. I was a happy girl.

spirits convention in portland

While at Portland Cocktail Week this past October, we checked out the Great American Distillers Festival at the Left Bank Annex. While the event wasn’t exactly all it was hyped up to be ($10 for three samples only!?), it did give us a good feel for what’s going on spirits-wise across the West Coast.

These photos don’t really tell you much about anything that happened during the event — which was essentially a room full of tasting tables. They  just came out pretty, so I thought I’d share.

the ace hotel, portland

For Portland Cocktail Week, back in October, we split our hotel time between the historic Benson Hotel, and the hip Ace Hotel. If we go back next year, I’ll definitely skip the Ace. For the same price as the Benson, we downgraded to a dorm-size room with paper thin walls, and a rough bed wedged under the window on the floor. Not so good for sleeping and hanging out in the hotel. Damn hipsters.

The lobby on the other hand, was fantastic! Loved the quirky details, honest Pacific Northwest color palate, the adjacent Stumptown coffee shop, and ultra-comfy couches. Perfect place to grab a coffee and refuel between events.

my sweet little valentine

Is that not a picture of pure light and innocence? Love.