The rhapsodizing about Bootsie’s Heritage Café out in the hinterlands of Tomball has reached a fevered pitch that’s excited food editors even farther away in Manhattan’s Condé Nast offices. But unlike so many of those contenders whose perverse inclusions in national magazines have more to do with PR firms than anything, Bootsie’s is legit. Reservations are necessary for entry into this Elysian fantasy, where the “sole food” (sustainable, organic, local, ethical) movement is a refreshing ideal carried out with Mason-jar sincerity, and a sense of adventure.

The menu’s nouvelle rustique conceits still manage to elicit a thrill from even the most jaded among us, like an exceptional preparation of raw meaty cobia (kingfish) with pickled peaches and grassy, lemony sorrel. Such delights are found in the terrifically affordable six- or nine-course “3rd coast menu,” featuring such endeavors as a black-eyed pea risotto that deliciously outdoes itself. On Tuesdays, the place is open only for a ten-course “Heritage dinner,” by reservation only. Each course is explained and paired with wine (competently, but their passion seems reserved for the food) for $75 per person.

Sure, there are missteps—hardly avoidable with such a freewheeling, changing menu, and you may tire of the un-ironic glut of references to “local.” (Certain “Portlandia” sketches come to mind.) But give us this over an unmemorable, expensive meal in town—any town—any day.