Giacomo's cibo e vino

I love trying new things so I am a huge fan of tapas because you get to try a few bites of lots of different things. I love Italian so when I found out that Giacomo's cibo e vino was Italian tapas, I knew I needed to go asap! They have a wonderful patio that is fenced in and a bit secluded with the foliage growing on the fence. The inside if funky and playful with bright colors. I started off with a "Fellini", a combination of prosecco and apricot nectar. It was fun that it came in its own pitcher, poured right in front of you. It was slightly bubbly, but certainly not overwhelming sweet. I was actually surprised at this because apricots are pretty sweet. It was a great cocktail option for something in between wine and a mixed drink.

One of my choices was salsiccia di pollo, homemade chicken sausage with frisee and arugula. I and not sure why, but I was expecting to be in the form of a link, not a patty. These were definitely not small, sad looking patties. It almost reminded me of slices of turkey meatloaf. It was delicious and was a lot less salty than most sausage is. It had a great herby, earthy flavor to it and the greens provided some lightness and freshness to the dish. The greens were tossed in some balsamic vinegar which helped cut through the heaviness of the sausage. The sausage was grilled and had the tiniest hint of crispiness on the outside. It was hard to me to determine what the ingredients might be in sausage, but they were much better than premade sausage.

Since I have recently developed a taste for brussel spourts, I was excited to try these. Known as cavoletti con pancetta, these were sauteed with pancetta, garlic and olive oil. They were bursting with flavor and had a nice crispness to it from the browning they got while being sauteed. The pancetta added salt and a nice textural element to the dish. Of course garlic and olive oil are two Italian cooking staples, but the fact that they are so flavorful means that you can make delicious dishes with very few ingredients. These brussel sprouts were tender on the inside and didn't have the characteristic cabbage taste that they can sometimes have. I don't really know why I waited so long in life to start trying brussel sprouts as they very yummy, but it was probably because they look a bit weird. Lesson learned...never let the way something looks prevent you from trying it.

Even though I was doing tapas, we were at an Italian restaurant so I had to get some kind of pasta. Gnocchi are soft Italian dumplings made from semolina flour. They usually come in potato flavor and are small bite sized, tube looking things. However, I was very surprised to see that these gnocchi were much larger than I expected and reminded me of polenta in the texture. They were very light and fluffy as opposed to the very dense texture of other gnocchi. These were topped with a tomato sauce, butter and parmigiano reggiano and then baked until they had a lovely golden crust. The tomato sauce was very thick, almost like it was just chunks of tomato. The cheese didn't cover the taste of the gnocchi, but added a bit id creaminess to it. Giacomo's cibo e vino is a great place to relax and enjoy so delicious Italian food with a twist. They had so many yummy sounds menu items that I will definitely need to go back and try some more.

Batanga

One of the best parts of having such a vibrant food scene in Houston is that there is always something going on. You may have to do a little bit of searching but I promise there's something out there. My latest find was the last Dine Around Houston event that took place at Batanga. Fortunately, Batanga was on my list so I was lucky enough to be able to cross that off my list. It's located in downtown Houston and is a tapas type place with a very large outdoor space for all the many patio weather days Houston has. Alright, so we don't have that many days but at least it's an option. This was another killer deal where you got a beverage, three different tapas and a dessert for $12. Fortunately, since I went with a friend we were actually able to try all the tapas options.

The Cuban Mojo chicken skewers were served with plantains, cilantro and mojo sauce. I don't know exactly what is in the mojo sauce but it had a little kick to it and seemed to be inspired by some Caribbean flavors. The plantains were grilled so they had a crispy outside and a soft, tender inside. The chicken was a bit hard to eat as it didn't really come of the skewers easily, but it was well seasoned. The next tapas were mushroom croquettes with a truffle aioli. The mushroom mixture seemed to have come cheese mixed into it because it was creamy and the panko-like breading on the outside was a nice textural contrast. The truffle aioli was alright, but it didn't really wow me. 

I was lucky enough to be able to try okra for the first time though. I know, I know...how have I been in the South for this long and not tried okra? Most okra I have seen is usually fried, but this was grilled. Okra tends to be very oily and so it must be cooked in a very particular way, however this one wasn't. It had a chorizo oil sauce and the grilling gave it that char taste. The last dish was crispy calamari served with pico de gallo and a paprika vinaigrette. The interesting thing about this was that the pico de gallo was large piece of tomatoes that had been seasoned, not like the typical tomato, onion and cilantro mix I am used to seeing. The coating on the calamari had a smokiness to it that was complimented with the paprika sauce. I think that the chicken skewered were the best dish that we sampled.

The dessert was a traditional flan, which I am usually not a fan of because the consistency kind of freaks me out. However, this one was more like the consistency of a creme brulee. It was very rich and creamy so it was a good thing it wasn't very big. It had some kind of light carmel drizzle over it which helped cut through the richness of the custard. Overall, it was an okay meal. I can't say that I was impressed with every dish, but there were a few things that stood out. I am not sure if I would go back again, but I am glad that I was able to give it a try. Plus for $12, it wasn't a bad deal.

Table for Tapas, Please!

Photo Courtesy of Amsterdam

So getting to go on vacation and see a friend was a real treat, especially when it happens in the beautiful city of New York! I haven't had the opportunity to visit the Upper West Side during my previous travels to New York, so this was great. We went to this place called Amsterdam Restaurant and Tapas. I love tapas because you get to try a ton of different things and you don't feel overly full afterwards. We opted to try fried calamari, spicy Thai garlic shrimp, duck tacos, and sweet potato and apple pierogies. We got so caught up in the delicious food and chatting that I didn't get to take many pictures, so forgive me.

The calamari had a great seasoned coating and the remoulade sauce was amazing. The spicy Thai garlic shrimp were super spicy, but they were light and full of flavor. I have never had duck before, but we were feeling adventurous so we gave it a shot. It wasn't too bad, but it really wasn't my favorite and I probably won't be trying it again. The duck was similar to chicken and the sweetness of the pear added an interesting twist to it. However, it was the sweet potato and apple pierogies that were the favorite of the night. For those of you that don't know what a pierogi is, it's a dough that is first boiled and then fried and stuffed. I would have never put together sweet potato and apple together but it was heavenly! It was fluffy, sweet, and full of autumn spice. These are definitely something that I would eat more often if I was closer... but it's probably good that I'm not.

Since we were in the area, we of course had to take a detour through the Columbia campus. Even at night it was beautiful, though much smaller than some of the other campuses I have been to (which isn't all that surprising). This was the main library of the campus when it first opened, though it has since been changed to an office building. I didn't get to see it during the day, but I am glad that I got a chance to visit while I was up there. It's definitely something to stop by and see if you are in the area.