Our son Austin arrived in Houston late Friday afternoon on Easter weekend. John took us to eat at a new Cajun place he had spotted, primarily because he just liked it's name - Mamma Assumptions. It was pretty fun. Afterwards, Austin drove out to Katy to meet up with the two Hall boys, who had just flown in, and who were the primary reason that we were celebrating Easter in Houston, rather than Wimberley. He spent most of the day out there on Saturday as well, while John and I decided to take in the Pompeii exhibit that was in town. Mid-afternoon he called to say that the Halls had invited him to join them for dinner at t'afia. "You can't go there without us," I squealed. "Tell them we want to come too!"
The owner of this restaurant, Monica Pope, was probably the primary motivating force in my quest for good food. When I first began working at the nursery in Houston, I discovered a wonderful coffeehouse called Onion Creek, that had a decidedly Austin vibe to it. One day I noticed signs about the little farmer's market that was held on their parking lot each Saturday morning, and decided to check it out. One of the booths was manned by Monica Pope and her cohorts, and in addition to selling some great products from the small restaurant she currently ran, they were talking about the new one she was about to open, t'afia. Eventually she started another farmers' market there on her own parking lot.
When searching the internet just now, for some background information to share with you, I came across this one quote that pretty much says it all: "I surrender, Monica Pope is a genius. And her new restaurant, T'afia on Travis Street, is flat-out brilliant."... It takes just one exquisite bite to see what Pope is up to. Every course of the tasting menu dinner features a Texas artisanal food product. While Pope is bowling you over with her dreamy flavor combinations, she's also single-handedly creating a market for organic farmers, small cheese makers, specialty ranchers and local chocolate makers." Robb Walsh, The Houston Press, March 2004.
Needless to say, a fine time was had by all.
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2 comments:
HA! Check out my dad in that picture! It reminds me vaguely of Earl Hickey, who has his eyes closed for every photo that's ever taken of him. I shouldn't talk, though, the shadow on the right side of my face makes me look vaguely chipmunk-ish. =P
That meal was nothing short of incredible. I must admit that at the beginning of it, the menu didn't make much sense. But as time went on, I guess internal translation mechanisms kicked in and I had a genuinely hard time deciding what to order because it all looked so good. Monica Pope is something special, indeed.
I'm glad you enjoyed it Chris. We had a blast. Lex will probably be ticked when she sees this though. She hates missing out on all the fun with you guys.
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