sheeats

Some more ideas, for anyone who's still interested... The Houston Chowhounds host random cooking classes from time to time that are very fun and very cheap. Two recent ones were a mole-making class with Jay Francis (that included a trip to the farmers market to buy the ingredients) and a soup dumpling (xiao long tong bao) class with a pretty famous Chinese chef. Coming up soon is a class where Bobby Heugel (of Beaver's and now Anvil) will be teaching cocktail-making. Even cooler are the FREE cooking classes that Monica Pope offers at t'afia every Saturday morning. They're called Green Plum Cooking School and signup is at 9am at t'afia on Saturdays. The classes begin at 9:30 and can hold about 45 people. I'll be there myself next Saturday.

Not only does Sam's Deli Diner fill all of those requirements, it has the best burgers in town without question. They're in a new location now on Wilcrest at I-10 but their burgers are as good as ever. My personal favorite is the jalapeno cheeseburger and a mint chocolate shake (made with Blue Bell ice cream, natch!). Give them a shot and you'll be hooked.

I miss JoJos. No 24-hour joints on Washington. Even El Rey closes pretty early. But I suppose you could conceivably head down to Ruchi's on West Alabama or to Little Big's or BB's on Montrose. Doubt the folks who live along Washington would get behind a 24-hour eatery in addition to all the craptastic clubs they're currently enduring.

Reign is further west on Washington. So far it looks like the perfect realization of douche-ness in building form. I'll put some pictures up when I get a chance. You'll see...

If? You know it's going to be... *sigh*

joke /dʒoʊk/

I hear it's supposed to be a wine and coffee bar with paninis. Always with the paninis these days! Oy vey! Anyway... I'm going by there this weekend. Will report back with pictures.

Topic is already being discussed in this thread: http://www.houstonarchitecture.info/haif/i...mp;#entry305869 Move it along...

WORD. To all of this. Wordy McWord. Best quote from the article: Robinson wants the Pevetos to know they have a choice. They can learn to live with Walter's, or they can deal with her contingency plan for the property. "If Walter's closes, I'm turning this place into a 24-hour methadone clinic," she says. "And I will have it subsidized with your federal tax dollars. Don't think I won't. Addicts need help too." OMFG, I think I have a new hero.

I can't speak to central A/C or heat...I have no idea about things like that. One thing that I did note is that the ceilings in the units are very high, about 10 or 11 feet. I suppose if you couldn't put in central A/C above the existing ceilings, you could always install it beneath them and build a new ceiling over the installations. The new dropped ceilings would then be a very average 8 or 9 feet. There seemed to be plenty of space in the kitchens for dishwashers; the kitchens in the units are surprisingly large. Of course, they'd have to tear out the original kitchen fixtures and fittings -- the cool all-stainless steel cabinets and counters, that is -- but there'd be plenty of room for all the modern appliances one expects in a kitchen nowadays. In the two bedroom apartments, there is a large hallway connecting the living room, bathroom and two bedrooms. The hallway has two spacious closets, one of which could easily be converted to contain a stackable W/D unit, especially since the two closets back right up to the kitchen -- no need to replumb. I don't know about the one bedroom units, though. Just my two cents...

A few Houstonist articles (with videos) on the subject to add to the mix: http://houstonist.com/2009/02/10/a_couple_weeks_ago_we.php http://houstonist.com/2009/01/29/pandoras_box_is_leaking.php I miss the old Washington Avenue. (big surprise; I hate everything new... ) But as long as Wabash and Guadalajara stay put, I won't entirely lose my mind.

QFT. Want to see something scary? My company's invoice for one week of prescription drug claims for our employees and their dependents: $514,601.80. That's one week. Of only Rx claims. No medical.

Swamplot had a good article about Las Alamedas last week: http://swamplot.com/las-alamedas-lease-lapsed/2009-01-30/ Fond memories of Las Alamedas... My husband proposed to me there on November 11, 2006.

Great article this morning in the Press: http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/20...apt_complex.php They talked to a longtime tenant -- whose rent is a staggering $315 per month (!!!) -- and shared some photos from inside his unit. Slideshow is here: http://www.houstonpress.com/slideshow/view/240766

Bringing it all full-circle: http://blogs.houstonpress.com/eating/2009/...ringing_som.php New restaurant opening this month in the Museum District (on Caroline at Binz) called Bodega's Taco Shop. Should be interesting.

Lots of reviews so far, most of them positive: http://blogs.chron.com/cookstour/archives/...01/post_23.html (Alison Cook) http://houstonist.com/2009/01/30/houstonis...little_bigs.php (Houstonist) http://sheeats.wordpress.com/2009/02/09/bi...-little-results (mine; I wasn't a huge fan) I'm eager to hear what Robb Walsh thinks of the place.

A few more photos; nothing spectacular. Waiting on the interior photos. Hope to post them soon. http://www.flickr.com/photos/kshilcutt/set...57613558948230/

Here's a crash-course for you, Pi. http://sheeats.wordpress.com/2008/01/28/la...s-goes-private/

Can someone please explain to me why we keep comparing Mooyah to In-n-Out? This isn't California. This is Texas. We don't care about In-n-Out burgers. Period. /rant

A friend and I went exploring this weekend and went into a few open units (no B&E for us, don't worry...). They were all gorgeous inside, as expected, but I can see now that it would truly cost a fortune to renovate them. To say that I was depressed upon leaving is putting it mildly. Just kept thinking, "What if?" the whole time. What if these had been kept up? What if someone came along and saved them before it was too late? Boo. Here's one of the shots of the interior: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffbalke/3264744143/ All of the original fixtures and fittings were in each unit, including the old Fridgidaires and gas ovens in the kitchens. The wood floors were beautiful. The casement windows were lovely and let in great amounts of light. The stainless steel kitchens and thoughtful touches throughout each apartment (built-in ironing boards, large closets, etc.) really made it apparent that these were top-of-the-line at one time. I'll post more photos as I can.

I lived right across the street from T&C Mall growing up (...and still do) and have nothing but fond memories of the place. I loved how open and sunny it always seemed. It had these staircases and escalators that jutted out into the main walkways, so when you were going up or down them you always felt the vastness of the space with its three-story ceilings and bright skylights. I loved Neuhaus Chocolates, but only for the chocolates themselves. Everything else there was terrible. There was an Express and a Sam Goody at one end of the mall. I used to spend a lot of time on that end. Bought my first CD at that Sam Goody -- it was Counting Crows' August and Everything After. I coveted all the clothes at that Express and would beg my mom for shopping trips there. In high school, I used to get all kinds of good but random deals on the third floor of Neiman Marcus, where they sent all the merchandise from that Neiman's and the one in the Galleria for final liquidation. The ladies that shopped up there were kuh-razy. You didn't want to get between them and a dress/throw pillow/pair of shoes they'd set their eyes on. I went to that Merle Norman all the time to get my eyebrows done. They were super cheap and super nice and super fast. I miss them. When I was little (probably 10 or 11 years old), T&C Mall was the place to be, not Memorial City. You'd go on the weekends with your parents and see all of your friends with their parents. The parents would stop and talk and give the kids a few bucks to run off to the food court (on the second floor). As the years went by, it got quieter and quieter as more stores left and people increasingly went to Memorial City. *sigh* I liked T&C. But progress is progress.

What exactly is it that you want us to weigh in on? The Houston Press has the distinction of being the most widely read (online, that is) of all the Village Voice papers. That can't be attributed entirely to Digg. A lot of the Press writers and bloggers are just as flummoxed (happily flummoxed, of course) about that as anyone else. And I know for a fact that Keith has a lot more to do than simply Digg or Stumble articles all day long and figure out these overly-complex ways of manipulating Digg; he's simply got too much on his plate for that. Is he an active Digger? Yes. Is he "gaming" the system? No. The whole thing is silly.

Yes, they're most definitely open for business. http://blogs.houstonpress.com/eating/2009/...s_big_debut.php

Doesn't bother me one bit! No apologies necessary. I'd rather hear what people really think any day of the week.

I prefer a crowd that's trying to score smack over a crowd that's trying to score. Much less Drakkar Noir and pageant makeup overall.