bachanon

most of fertitta's restaurants have cooks, not chefs. of course, grotto and vic & anthony's most likely do. it makes a huge difference. p.s. not a socialist or a big business detractor, i simply like better food and a better atmosphere than fertita's restaurants provide.

ok, before anyone gets the idea that i like tilman fertita's establishments (aquarium, joes, rain forest cafe), i must make a point irrelevant to this thread. fortunately for grotto, the concept was originated by tony vallone (of tony's, la griglia, etc). tilman must have retained key employees because the service and food have never been better. i hate to help him (fertita) make a profit but good food and service are good food and service.

that's too bad. the service and the food at this location are spot on. everyone i've spoken to who's eaten there has had a great experience.

some friends of mine are getting together this saturday to celebrate a couple of birthdays. everyone agrees that we should find a great patio and linger. we've nixed nippon, cafe adobe, mo mong, berryhill and farrago. so far, la strada and backstreet cafe are the front runners. any suggestions? i know there has to be a hidden gem somewhere inside the loop. thanks in advance.

why is that funny? ohhhhh, i see. "reporting from the woodlands in texas, we want to give you the latest update on the florida team (i don't know any) and the team from arizona (again, i don't know any). it will definately be a corporate/a/v setting.

I was searching for a rendering on Kirksey's website for the new project over the rail station and came across this. I searched HAIF to see if this article from Texas Construction had been brought up before and didn't find anything. It's a laundry list of Memorial Hermann projects in the works for the greater Houston area, many that we are already aware of. It is construction focused though and has interesting details on some of the projects. The Making of a Med-Tropolis Memorial Hermann Building More Than $1 Billion in New Projects Memorial Hermann is utilizing a variety of financing mechanisms to build dozens of new structures --including the largest commercial project currently under way in Houston--at the same time. By Rob Patterson Houston's Memorial Hermann Healthcare System, the largest not-for-profit health-care provider in the state, is actively building to meet the coming needs of its community. Link

I hope they won't take down any of the trees that make for so many shaded parking spaces. This is one of the things I've always liked about this center.

you got my hopes up. i've been wondering who might be interested in filling the empty spaces at pinecroft 1&2. there are empty spaces where service merchandise and barnes & noble were. my hopes were that a super target would be built there, but not since the marshall's mega store opened. i'm not sure how much space a super target needs. also, the grocery component of a super target may work better on 1488 or 242.

where is there a thirty acre tract in the woodlands available for this type of development? research forest maybe.

it's more like the woodlands crime report. most of these items already were already included in the weekly insert in the community section of the chronicle.

Link to story.

i look forward to certain contributors posts and then they disappear. anyone know how debmartin's son is? he was ill, we wished her well and sent out our prayers and now we haven't heard from her in weeks or months. i guess this is the nature of an online community. if you're lurking deb, subdude, montrose, etc, give us a shout out. keep in touch.

i haven't been to cafe annie's for years. i'll suggest it to the group. thanks katy.

dearest haif foodies, i'm thinking of spending a weekend revisiting old haunts this weekend or next at restaurants i love and miss. is there anything i should try that's not on my list (that is to follow)? my friends and i have a couple places we cannot stand to be away from: backstreet cafe van loc mia bella mark's americas la strada (ok, if the sundays are still as rowdy as they used to be, otherwise, i'm over it. haven't been there for awhile) cafe japon zimm's mo mong the teahouse on shepherd at randall's with that said..........is there anywhere that we might try for a birthday dinner? we have two birthdays in october and usually spend a day or afternoon restaurant/bar/lounge hopping. the weather can be great and we like to schedule a couple of designated drivers and bounce around the inner loop area. your suggestions are welcome.

great houston photos

is anyone planning on going to this compact version of the westheimer street festival? does it continue on after dark?

good point. thanks.

don't get me wrong, i love and admire the bible and many christian authors. but, just for s***ts & giggles, maybe we should rent a shredder, show up at public displays of christian faith and shred some bibles, the constitution and federalist papers? bring some amy grant cds too. it would be great to find some way to show the idiocy of such demonstrations. it is the end of a long day and i'm trying to wind down (maybe i'm a little uptight right now). but....don't these people have more important things to spend their time on? we just had two hurricanes for goodness sake. there are hundreds of ways to "save" (help) people right now rather than shredding books that "upset" you. whew...venting session over. thanks. going to fridge for second dos equis.

Villager story on book protests. AVIDD protests various books in library system By: Nick Cenegy, HCN/Courier staff10/13/2005 The normal quiet of Montgomery County's libraries was interrupted by the roar of an industrial mulcher Saturday, as members of the American Veterans in Domestic Defense protested various books they found to be indecent, by shredding a book in effigy at each of the six county library locations. Full Story .....and the best part is: "The group met its strongest resistance in The Woodlands, where about 45 people protested against the veterans' group."

thank you. it was indeed australian.

last summer i attended a wedding. the groom, a former vineyard owner, chose a shiraz with a label called "wishing tree" dated 2002. i've been unable to find this wine anywhere. anyone familiar with this?

thanks dbigtex. i must of overlooked that one.

i had the same reservations about that quote; however, the new target demographic for wine sellers is the 25-35 yo crowd. oakie flavor with a hint of blackberry? do tell. what label have you been drinking katiedidit?

"Considering how far gay rights have come in the last 20 years, is demanding marriage premature?" i think that demanding marriage is not a good idea. i think that demanding a (legally equivalent to marriage) civil union that grants across the board rights for committed couples is a good idea and timely. the other side of this coin, for me personally, is to make it more difficult to dissolve marriages and (some day) civil unions. make people take the time to try to work things out. it's too easy to dissolve families because someone doesn't want to get along or sees a greener pasture. but, i digress.

i googled for the text of prop 2 and only came up with articles about it. anyone know where i can find the text of the proposition and the wording of the ballot? it appears that this amendment is not good government regardless of which side you are on. it is not a conservative (limited government) proposition either. the more i learn about this proposition the more i'm determined to vote during this off year election. i will be voting against prop 2.