No. 60:Hit five restaurants in Houston that I have never been to before.

No. 60: Hit five restaurants in Houston that I have never been to before.   No. One of Five!

O! This sounds like such an easy one.   I live just right outside of Houston and Houston has a MILLION GAZILLION restaurants. We eat out ALL the time. So how hard could it be to combine the two?

Turns out, harder than you might think.

I am married to a lovely man that does NOT like change. He does not like crowds. He does not like driving anywhere when close by is just as easy. And he is the pickiest eater I have ever met.

So....

We eat out all the time but always at the same five restaurants within five miles of our house.
BORING.


Enter my  friend,  Martha Anne, who knows how to party. She just had a birthday and threw herself a wonderful birthday party at a restaurant in Houston that I had never been to.   The Prince of a Husband wisely agreed to come along to this party because he realized he would be left at home alone otherwise.

Martha Anne is one of my High School friends.  Back in the day her name was Martha. Once she got to college she became Anne. It's hard to change old habits so pretty much she goes by three names now-Martha, Anne and/or Martha Anne- especially when she is with us High School friends.


Anyway, we went to  RDG+ Bar Annie which is a new incarnation of the Cafe Annie restaurant. It's owned and run by chef Robert Del Grande and family. I used to do airline travel for them back when I was a travel agent and their offices were in our same building.

RDG+Bar Annie

Mr. Del Grande was trained as a chemist and cooking came second.   Not surprisingly though, chemists make great chefs as great food requires great chemistry.  Really that's all cooking is: chemistry.

The restaurant is gorgeous. Our food was divine. Martha Anne is an aficionado of lobster. When we went to St. Kitts two years ago M. Anne ate lobster EVERY DAY for seven days.   Lobster was on the menu at the party and, in M. Anne's honor, I had some.    
Heaven.

St Kitts- toasting  to lobster. Or friends. Or fun. 

M. Anne knows her lobster and her wine. 

The company was delightful- many new acquaintances and a few old friends. The wine was yummy. Dessert was to die for.

The birthday girl and the female half of the party. 

Judging from the smiles, we were enjoying ourselves. 

I need to get out more.

So many wonderful experiences to be had- so close yet so far.