Haven
Jul 28, 2010
Shrimp corn dogs, lemonade, tabasco mash remoulade
Pork chop, foie gras, grilled peach, red skin mash potato, peach-bourbon glaze
Peanut crusted soft-shell crab, green beans, eggplant, okra, onion, squash, nuoc mam
I don’t usually do full food and restaurant reviews, but IMMA START. Plus, I just had the urge to gratuitously write stuff.
Had dinner with clouds-of-tulle, seoxcookie, and Karine at Haven, a “seasonal kitchen”-type restaurant that has a “farm-to-plate” focus. Headed by Chef/Owner Randy Evans (Houstonians will know him from Brennan’s), Haven uses ingredients sourced from local farmers and ranchers to create what it calls Texas Regional cuisine.
My thoughts? Finally! Texas is what, the 4th largest city in the US? We have tons of restaurants, many of which are great, but so much of the focus is on quantity and “flavor.” And by “flavor,” I mean salt. A LOT of salt.
Haven brings the focus back to the ingredients and the preparation of the food. This isn’t a new concept by any means, but Haven can actually execute. Best example would be the pork chop. I’m always a little wary of ordering pork at restaurants because it’s often prepared medium-well to well done. I mean, I get it – raw pork, salmonella. But pork isn’t good cooked that long! Seo actually asked the waiter about this and he assured us that the pork could be prepared medium without fear since it was brought in fresh that morning from a local rancher.
Success! The pork was amazingly tender with the slightest hint of pink in the middle. The glaze added a salty-sweet note without masking the pork flavor. Be still my heart – a perfectly grilled pork chop! And that’s before you add on the seared foie gras.
So this soft-shell crab. It’s STUFFED. With lump crab meat. They stuffed CRAB INSIDE CRAB. That is all that needs to be said about this dish.
Not pictured, but we also had the most AMAZING caprese salad. Homegrown tomato, capriella mozzarella, 1015 onions, field greens, and cane vinaigrette. The sweetest tomatoes you’ll ever taste, paired with fresh mozarella that practically melted on your tongue. The greens added a hint of peppery texture and the slightly sweet vinaigrette was the perfect amount of acid. I’m still thinking about this salad. The flavors were so harmonious. I mean, if a salad is making me sigh with content, you know it’s good.
And now, the ugly. Well, maybe not ugly. I was underwhelmed by the pork belly appetizer, as well as the house-made meats. The supposedly “seared” pork belly, while tender, was missing the crisp seared fatty top. It seemed like it had been braised instead. The shelling peas and mire poix it was served on top of was perfectly cooked (and I’m not a fan of peas), but the meat itself felt lacking. The house-made meats weren’t particularly memorable. Maybe I’ve just been spoiled by the testa and veal lingua at Poscol which are absolutely delicious.
Bottom line – Would do business again. The salad and pork chop alone are enough to have me come back for more. Recommended!
Haven
www.havenhouston.com
2502 Algerian Way
Houston, TX 77098
