2/101 #44 Go to a Hole-in-the-Wall Restaurant Recommended by the Houston Press

Before I start in with my restaurant review, I have to give some props to Molly W. for recommending this item for my list. I had a lot of fun looking over the Houston Press and their recommended restaurants. In some ways, I was yet again reminded how uncool and out of the loop (literally) I am now that I live in the 'burbs. But I also found that some of the best "little known secrets" of Houston are places I know very well.

That said, my BFF-K and I decided to make some time to have dinner together on Friday after work. (Thanks JP for picking Bunny up from school for me). I asked her if she'd be interested in helping me scratch this item off my list and she was game. So I found a handful of restaurants that were recommended by the Houston Press and in the general area where we wanted to go and let her pick.

Here are some of what seemed to me to be the most interesting choices:
$ - Taco's a Go-Go
$ - BB's Cajun Cafe
$ - Frenchy's Chicken
$ - Pizzitola's BBQ
$$ - Daily Review Cafe
$$ - Irma's (she had already been there)
$$ - Last Concert Cafe
$$ - Max's Wine Dive
$$ - Polonia Restaurant (I still remember Alex's grandmother's Pierogis... I still want to try this place!)
$$ - Ponzo's Italian Food

I think I might list these places on a new 101 list - like 101 restaurants I'd like to visit. But for now, we'll focus on Ponzo's, because that is where we ended up.



You might wonder why we decided on Ponzo's. Was it because of an enticing menu, an incredible review, or irresistable music that starts up as you visit the website? Well it was none of the above. K remembered it was right next to Dog House Tavern, a bar we have enjoyed in the past. So we chose it to just go ahead and give it a try AND because we knew we wouldn't have to drive to our next destination, hehe.

First we met up at The Maple Leaf Pub, a bar we can both get to easily from work so we could avoid parking troubles at Ponzo's, which is located in a strip in Midtown in Houston. We had a drink and a shot there while we enjoyed the rather stream-of-consciousness discussion provided by an acquaintance of hers whose name already escapes me.

When he heard we were going to Ponzo's he was incredibly enthusiastic. He insisted we have the hot pastrami sandwich - there were no if's, and's, or but's about it. We sort of shrugged him off because we knew we'd probably split a pie but finished up our drinks and conversations and all parted ways.

K and I went to Ponzo's and as we discussed options at the counter with the owner, she asked K, "Oh - are you K?" Turns out he-who-cannot-be-named (because I forgot, not because he's evil Voldemort) had called ahead and insisted that she could not have anything except the pastrami sandwich. We laughed and I said to get it, and I'll get the Freedom Pizza that we wanted to split, and then I can taste both and do a review on both of them on this blog.

The owner did us a solid and made us an 8" pie which is not normally an option for the Freedom but when you know important people like what's-his-name, you get favors, know what I mean? She told us we could go next door to Dog House and have some drinks and they'd bring our food over.

So we went over to the Tavern, found a comfy booth, started drinking and talking, and waited. And waited some more. Eventually we were starving so K went over to see what the hold-up was. They had the food ready and were about to bring it over.

K brings it back and we tear into it. She eats half of her pastrami sandwich (which is slightly more than what she normally eats for a regular dinner - the thing was pretty huge) and I eat a couple of slices of the pie. She tries some of the pizza and... ok I also had another slice! It was pretty enjoyable.

The freedom pie has extra virgin olive oil, fresh sliced tomatoes, and a touch of oregano. Very close to a margherita pizza. MMMMMMM. Some of you may think, "Sheesh - couldn't you have tried something a little more interesting so we could see how good the pizza really is? But the thing is, the other pizzas on the menu weren't real options for us. The deluxe had a bunch of things I'd take off (olives, sausage, and K hates bell peppers and onions). The Beachcomber is something my JP would eat (Ham, Canadian Bacon, Pineapple, cheese) so I thought if the place was great I'd bring him back. After taking off what we don't like, the Garden would have been like the Freedom plus mushrooms. The Sicilian looked delicious but we didn't want to wait 45 minutes for that bad boy. And finally the Big Boy had way too much meat on it for my taste.

So let's review the Freedom pizza: The cheese was thick and melted, the oregano flavoring it well, and generous slices of tomatoes covered the pie. It was very tasty.

BUT.

The crust was a cross between a thin crust and hand-tossed. I'm a lover of a good pizza crust so I like a cross between hand-tossed and pan, so the crust left me wanting a little.

The oregano was dried oregano. If I'm going to eat a pizza that has nothing but tomatoes and spices, I want the spices to be fresh, not dried. So while it was tasty, it wasn't as aromatic and flavorful as I would have preferred. Maybe I'm not being fair. I mean I DO eat pizza from Center Court in Pearland on a regular basis and people drive from inside the loop to P-town for these pies. So the pizza quality bar was set pretty high for Ponzo's.

So then, how about the Pastrami sandwich? It was pretty delicious, actually. The bread was nice and flaked just right for a hot Italian sub - just a little. The pastrami was piled on high and the cheese was melted throughout. But hot pastrami sandwiches aren't my bag so I had a bite, enjoyed it, and wrapped it up.

What I liked best about the pastrami was it gave K tummy troubles. We were roommates for over a year and a half and she saw me in a variety of post-meal digestive conditions, some of which she can use for blackmail. We won't get into details... and you're welcome. But after living together over that time and after 12-13 years of friendship, I have only known the girl to pass gas one time. However, based on what that pastrami was doing to her, I was pretty sure that if I could hang for the long haul that night, I might witness a replay, hehe.

In conclusion, after sampling both a pie and a sandwich, I think we both walked away feeling the pizza was yummy but not mind-blowing; the pastrami was definitely something for a fan of hot meat subs (in other words, guys); the rest of the pizza options were for either lovers of onions and peppers or meat lovers, so they might knock the socks off of those fans but it was just enjoyable for us, really.

However, no matter what kind of pizza pie fan you are, the one thing that can't be beat at Ponzo's is the customer service. The owner was funny, engaging, accommodating, and incredibly sweet. You can order a pie by calling from the bar next door and they will deliver it to you there - they deliver too to homes too. It is definitely a hole-in-the wall that, if you are in the area, you should at least give a try if nothing else for a lesson in good customer service.

But if you really want a good pie it is worth the drive to come on down to Pearland and try out Center Court Pizza and Brew. Seasoned crusts, fresh ingredients, rich and decadent specials or your standard pepperoni, delicious subs AND fabuous pastas - it's the best pizza I've ever had and I guarantee you'll love it too. Trust me!

1/101 #65 - Travel to Florida to visit my niece J

January 6th through January 11th 2010 I accomplished #1 out of 101 things I want to do in 1001 days. When I figured out I need to do about 1 thing every 10 days I realized I might be paying a lot of money to charity in the end... especially if I don't get some serious inspiration to write those books.

That said, here's my recap of my first accomplishment:

My mother, my daughter (Bunny), and my husband (JP) traveled with me to FL to visit my brother, sister-in-law, nephew, and our new baby niece J. J is sooooo beautiful. My brother and SIL definitely make pretty babies. My nephew was super cute as a baby too, but I think his baby sister is just a tad prettier because her eye lashes (which are like half an inch long almost) are dark and therefore her eyes are very defined.


J is a sweet smiley little girl most of the time. She has some tummy troubles that make her cranky but she was a typical newborn - she smiled and coo'd a lot, slept quite an awful lot, spit up a little, cried a little more, but overall made everything feel right with the world when you held her.

My nephew on the other hand drove Bunny crazy. He is 8; she is 3. It was like watching an out-of-body experience of my brother picking on me when I was little - with a bigger age difference. JJ (my nephew) can be really subtle and his antagonism flies under the radar. Then Bunny will scream at him to stop, or tell him NOOOO!!! at the top of her lungs and she would get in trouble. I guess it was all too much drama because Nana (my mom) stayed at the kitchen table on her laptop about 90% of the trip. Gulp! My brother and I got into it at one point, and later I wondered if we both weren't reliving our childhood where he thought his harmless antagonisms (you know, holding his finger a hair-length away from my arm repeating, "I'm not touching you, I'm not touching you!") were just funny and of course my anger and vehement opposition to his actions was a ridiculous overreaction. Ridiculously funny to him - because I'd be the one getting in trouble for hitting him or yelling at him "for no reason."

But my bro and I hugged and apologized and it was quickly over so that was good.

A lot of that surely came from cabin fever. It was record-breaking cold in the south so there was nothing to do - all the things we'd want to see were outside where no one wanted to be! Who wants to go up to Disney World when it is 30 degrees outside? Or to the beach for that matter? So we had 5 adults and 3 kids in an average sized American home together and I think we all started feeling a little too confined!

Sadly, we, our spouses, our kids, and Nana all tried to go do a family portait the last day of the vacation. Here are some things I learned from THAT experience:
1) When you don't expect them to, newborns will be surprisingly cooperative during a portrait session
2) When you expect them to be cooperative, three year olds will be surprisingly uncooperative during a portrait session. They might cry and whine and cling to their mothers during the nana and grandkids photos. And they might even scream bloody murder until they are coughing and sputtering themselves into hysteria if mom tries to walk away to get their attention off of her, making the three year olds feel abandoned or at a minimum, really ticked off.
3) You shouldn't plan family portraits around optimal hair days when they involve kids. The adults should be able to just get over it if the humidity and/or cold is going to give them a bad hair day and instead should take the picture as early into the visit as possible so the visiting 3 year old will not be exhausted and homesick and therefore overly clingy to mother.
4) Fathers who snore like bears should not sleep with the 3 year olds the 2 consecutive nights before the portrait session because the child will not be rested enough and will therefore be more likely to throw a tantrum.
5) Even super pouty faced pictures can make for cute portraits.

I also learned that I have never given my sister-in-law enough credit. She is an incredibly understanding and loving person in ways I've never taken the time to notice before. No matter how many tantrums or how many fights between our kids we had to interrupt, she was always patient and loving - with both of them. She focused on the most positive aspect of both kids and encouraged the best in them. She saw the situation as it was and reprimanded each accordingly - not more excessive than necessary nor too lenient either. Getting away from the family with her on a run to Target was one of the highlights of my experience on the trip. We had good chats and she reassured me that this is a hard time in Bunny's development but she is completely normal - all mothers of 3 year olds go through this at some point, and by 5 it really will get better if you can just hang in that long.

So cheers for my SIL T. Cheers for my bro and her for having us. Cheers to my nephew JJ for trying to be nice to Bunny and cheers to my niece J for the torturing she will give JJ in the future - Bunny will be sure to give her pointers!

Cheers to my JP for going on the trip and for bonding and enjoying time with my nephew in ways I don't enjoy (shooting nerf guns and playing Wii video games). Cheers to Nana for not having a nervous breakdown.

I look forward to the next visit. But I think on that one I will go with just DH and Bunny, and we'll go when the weather is warmer and our activities can be focused on wearing the kids out so they don't even have time to get on each others' (or any of our) nerves!