After toiling for years upon years in a small shop on River Oaks Boulevard, André’s (as it’s known) recently expanded to a storefront in the hip shopping center (is that an oxymoron?) at Uptown Park. While the quality of their pastries has remained steady, the subpar savory food and boring atmosphere followed it to its expanded location. André’s has always been a solid choice for a lunch with no wow, but a sure bet for something reasonable and light: simple offerings of baked goods and pastries, and perhaps a cup of coffee.
While the River Oaks location still holds an air of discreetness to it, tucked away from the street almost incognito, the Uptown Park location seems to be like the boisterous younger brother that everyone loves to hate. Neither shop is high on fashion, with rigid chairs, small tables, and Target-inspired décor. There is no fluffy European air to it,… [More]
9.3 Chez Roux
9.2 Tony’s
9.1 Catalan
9.0 Dolce Vita
9.0 Feast
9.0 Haven
9.0 Rainbow Lodge
9.0 Huynh
9.0 Vic & Anthony’s
Top Vegefusion: [More]
There’s that old saying that you should shoot for the moon, because even if you miss, you’ll end up among the stars. Yelapa certainly takes chances, and the result is either otherworldly or…remarkable. It certainly strikes odd notes from the get-go. The dark, pubby feeling is out of place for the warm, spicy flavors of Mexico and Southeast Asia. The furnishings are of the cheap-cantina vein, and a kitschy weekly beach party takes place on the stark, paved patio outside. A heavy fireplace in the middle of the dining room is surrounded both by contemporary photographs of Mexico and bad art. We hesitate to recommend it as a date place, but it’s ideal for business lunches and private parties in the beautiful upstairs room.
Part of the buzzkill is the service, in which a general cluelessness about the food is ameliorated by awkward exaggeration. We’ve had aggressive recommendations go past… [More]
My talk at the International Food Blogger Conference in Seattle, “Recent Advances in Bullshit Reduction,” along with my panel session and discussion/debate with Robert Schroeder of the Federal Trade Commission and Foodista.com CEO Barnaby Dorfman about the new FTC guide to the disclosure of freebies and financial relationships in blog reviews, will be broadcast live on UStream at 3pm Pacific time. was scheduled for streaming video, but the video had technical problems and dropped out in the middle of my panel session, so for those who are interested, I’ve posted the PowerPoint presentation (with images downsampled) here. If you’re interested, you can also check out the original Osteria L’Intrepido post, my followup to Wine Spectator’s response, and a few other related entries on my blog.
