This cupcake-on-wheels pic is dedicated to Molly, the greatest cupcake lover!

My random thoughts…brought to you once a week!

Seems like a lot of food bloggers out there are doing “Best of” posts, so I figured I’d follow suit. Here are my Best of 2010.

Best Houston Restaurant: Haven
I enjoyed everything I had on my one trip…highlighted by those tasty Pig Trotters!

Best Houston Dish: Cedar Creek’s Club Sandwich
I’m a sucker for a club sandwich and CC’s version is just plain awesome.

Best Overall Restaurant: Kelly Liken (Vail, CO)
No surprise here. I just wrote about this place and since it was the best restaurant I’ve eaten at (in my life), it’s obvious it would be the best of 2010.

Best Overall Dish: Sticky Buns at Kelly Liken
I’m still having a hard time with a dessert being my favorite dish, but here we are.

Most Unique Restaurant: Battista’s Hole in the Wall (Las Vegas)
Dark, brat-packy feel. Just a classic place with great food.

Most Unique Dish: Duck Dumplings (Lucky Pot, Houston)
I’ve never had duck dumplings…they were good and this restaurant in the heart of Houston’s new Chinatown, serves up a lot of unique dishes.

Top 3 Non-Eating Blog Moments
1. Getting to tour one of my childhood favorite places (NY Bagel Shop). Ed showed me the entire process of how to make a bagel, the history of the bagel, and all of the equipment involved.
2. One-on-one interview with Tyler Florence. Pretty cool to see how a Food Network icon operates.
3. Caffe Bello food blogger convention. This was my first true food outing. I got to meet one of my favorite food bloggers (Albert), sat next to probably the smartest food blogger in the world (Dr. Ricky) and met a fellow food blogger at the Houston Press (Amber). The food and company made for a memorable experience.

Top 3 Eating Blog Moments
1. Biting into that sweet rib at Oklahoma Joe’s in Kansas City. I went home, started a blog, and haven’t looked back since.
2. Five course meal at Kelly Liken. Alright, I promise this is the last time this restaurant is mentioned.
3. Chompie’s (Phoenix) Jewish Slider…so good!

Group Award: Nashville Food Bloggers
It pains me to admit this, but Nashville may top Houston in something–overall food bloggers. There are some good ones out there: Vivek, Beth Eats, So, How’s It Taste, Love and Olive Oil, just to name a few!

Most Overrated Food Item: Organic
Something tells me the whole organic rage is going to ease up quite a bit…well, maybe in ten years. I’m not saying I don’t believe in it, I just think we’ve gotten a bit carried away with it. Did I just lose half my readership?

Most Underrated Food Item: Giacamo’s (Houston) pasta
My goodness was that some good pasta…I want to go back…soon!

Best Houston Hole-In-Wall: Leonard’s
I’ve written about this place a lot. Great burger.

Top Recipe: Nishta’s Curry Chicken Salad
I just made this, and it’s already my favorite recipe. I’m a chicken salad whore, and Nishta’s version is unbelievably good. The full write-up will be this Saturday. I made a pile of it the other day and have been eating it all week.

Here’s looking forward to a great 2011!

5 Comments

Beth January 5, 2011 at 3:32 pm

Thanks for the shout-out to our group of Nashville food bloggers! It has certainly been fun getting to know each other over the past few months. We’d love to have you come visit us any time 🙂

Leah January 5, 2011 at 3:38 pm

I’m right there with ya on organic and I, too, am a chicken salad whore! You make Houston sound absolutely delicious. Thanks for the Nashville bloggers shout-out!

Molly January 6, 2011 at 12:39 pm

cupcakes = heaven

Mike January 7, 2011 at 2:26 pm

Did you mean “brat packy” or “rat pack-y” when describing Battista’s? For some reason, I don’t picture Judd Nelson or Emilio Estevez hanging out there. Might just be me, though…

The Mighty Rib January 7, 2011 at 3:59 pm

Right you are Mike…much too much writing.

Comments are closed.