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Haven




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



Category: outfits Comments: 7 comments

I Love That Lavender Blonde






Bebe cropped silk tank, F21 shorts, Target sandals, F21 jewelry


My tripod was obviously not set up to photograph anyone taller than 5′3.

Lady Gaga concert last night was amazing! Love her or hate her, you can’t deny that she’s talented.




I’m a proud Little Monster.



Category: outfits Comments: 6 comments

Haiku 1





T by Alexander Wang dress and bra, F21 necklace


Work has been busy.
But look on my Formspring page.
One thousand answers!


http://www.formspring.me/phistyle


ETA: Haiku fail! Thanks, Michelle. =)



Category: outfits Comments: 13 comments

It’s Easy, Hard as it Looks


Summer Sale at PrettyMuchNew!

We need to clear everything out for new stock so everything is $5. YES. Plus, reduced $3.95 flat rate domestic shipping. Go forth and shop!













T by Alexander Wang top, UO tap shorts, Fallon necklace, F21 bracelets and rings

New necklace! A birthday gift from my sister and her friends, Jenny and Bethany. Thanks, guys! <3 Good people.


Lately I’ve been thinking about this whole “online presence” phenomenon. We read their blogs, look at their photos, follow them throughout their day via Twitter and Facebook. You almost feel like you REALLY know a person. I talk to my friends about other bloggers all the time, mentioning their screen names as if I know them (“Did you see Sea Of Shoes’ new shoes? And her mom’s new closet??“). On one hand, it’s pretty amazing how much you can learn about someone from their presence on the internet.

On the other hand, WHO ARE YOU?

It’s absurdly easy to create an online presence as well. It is, literally, as easy as typing a few keys on a laptop.

I wonder who all these people really are, and what they’re really like in person. Are they exactly the same? Would we get along in real life? Or are they totally different? Am I totally different? WHAT AM I PROJECTING TO THE WORLD? WHO AM I?

So, maybe I seem normal on my blog, but then in real life, I’m super weird? That would be pretty terrible. Here’s to hoping I’m not socially awkward (or as awkward) in real life.


Dragonette – Easy (Fabian Remix)




Category: music, outfits Comments: 15 comments

24 Hours in Austin



















Our weekend trip to Austin was cut short to one day, but we did manage to have a short pre-party at a heartbreakingly adorable rental home, hang out with Sistar and her cute friends, spend 2 hours dancing to 80’s dance music at Barbarella, have a member of our party be [sexually] harassed by an aggressively drunk Brazilian girl, eat at 5 food trucks, and be asked if I knew FashionToast. So all in all, pretty good!


ETA: So it’s technically no longer Tuesday, but new items added at PMN. =)



Category: outfits Comments: 11 comments

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