TexasHighways

Recently caught 2 excellent jazz sets at the original Central Market in Austin—trumpet extraordinaire Jeff Lofton’s quartet; and superb saxophonist/flautist Alex Coke’s quartet—which reminds me to call your attention to the latest Speaking of Texas in our current September issue. It’s a nice piece (page 15) by Reggie Ugwu about native Texas jazz titan Ornette Coleman. And, there’s an informative sidebar, as well, on a variety of jazz festivals statewide throughout the year—San Antonio’s Jazz’SAlive (September 20-21); the Kemah Boardwalk’s Jazz Festival (September 26-28); Brownsville’s Latin Jazz Festival (October 9-12); Corpus Christi’s Texas Jazz Festival (October 17-19); Addison’s North Texas Jazz Festival (April 16-18, 2009); and the Houston International Jazz Festival (July 29-August 2, 2009).

Perfect old-fashioned chocolate ice cream soda recently at Becki’s Cottage & Soda Fountain on 117 Main in downtown Normangee (”The Deerest Place in Texas”). This place is a winner! Cozy luncheonette/gift shop serves fresh homemade pizza; subs; famous chicken salad; a soup of the day; sandwiches; quesadillas; burgers; chef, grilled chicken, & taco salads; and a variety of classic fountain treats. They’re 14 miles west of I-45 (take exit 156) on OSR. About half way between Dallas and Houston. And, less than an hour northeast of Bryan/College Station. Becki’s is in the historic old Rice Pharmacy building, one block west of FM 39, across from the Normangee State Bank. Call 936/396-5001; http://beckiscottage.com.

In the latest (September 2008) issue of Esquire, their Almanac of Steak feature lists The 20 Best Steaks in America by noted food critic John Mariani. Among his national favorites are the center cut tenderloin laced with spicy chimichurri at Churrascos, 2055 Westheimer @ Shepherd, in Houston (713/527-8300; www.cordua.com). He also gives props to the restaurant’s plantain chip Yuca fries. Mariani’s other Texas star is Fort Worth’s Paris Coffee Shop (700 W. Magnolia Ave.; 817/335-2041) and their chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes and gravy, and warm custard pie. What’s your Texas steak of choice? Let us know at Talk to TH. And, by all means, check out the Texas Highways online archive for our coverage of superlative steaks throughout the state, like: June Naylor’s Amarillo by Dinner (August 2008); a Top Tables piece by June on Fort Worth’s Old School Steakhouses (January 2007); Dotty Griffith’s (October 2007) Top Tables story about the Four Winds Steakhouse in Wills Point; and John O. Lumpkin’s Texas Steak Out (March 2002), which took him to Joe Allen’s in Abilene, Fort Griffin General Mercantile Co. in Albany, Perini Ranch Steakhouse in Buffalo Gap, Lowake Steak House in Rowena, Twin Mountain Steak House in San Angelo, The Corral in Victoria, Ranchman’s Cafe in Ponder, and Shorty’s in Falls City.

On a recent visit to Houston, I had dim sum with my daughter and my siblings at Yum Yum Cha Cafe in Rice Village (2435 Times Blvd., 713-527-8455, no web site).   Dim sum, sometimes called “Chinese tapas,” are bite-size dumplings, buns or tofu filled with meat, seafood or vegetables. Houston’s Chinese food aficionados know that most of the city’s dim sum restaurants are clustered in the southwest area’s Chinatown, so Yum Yum Cha, nestled near the Museum District in the 610 Loop, is a rare find.  Even better, Yum Yum Cha also serves dim sum on weekdays and most evenings— traditionally, this diminutive treat is only served during weekend brunch-time. 

Also, I must confess that as a Cantonese Chinese-American, I don’t even care for dim sum that much!  (I’d sooner go for Spanish tapas!)   But I’ve gotta say Yum Yum Cha’s fresh and tasty delicacies live up to their name!  (By the way, “yum cha” means “to drink tea.”)   Besides over 50 dim sum items listed on the checklist menu where you place your order (much like old-school sushi houses), there are several fragrant teas to wash it down.  There is a menu “picture book” that shows each item, unlike the traditional rolling cart found in most dim sum restaurants, which stops at each table and you point at what you want.  Since the tiny restaurant holds less than a dozen tables with little aisle space, that’s a very good thing!

I ordered Nor Mai Guy (Sticky rice with chicken and bits of pork and shrimp wrapped in a fist-sized lotus leaf) and Yong Kai Jiu (Eggplant stuffed with shrimp), and also sampled my vegetarian daughter’s Ja To Fu (Fried Tofu with shrimp) and Jai Chong Fun (Vegetarian Rice Roll).  I wanted to try her So Chow Wall Tet (Vegetable Dumpling) and also my brother’s Hueng Sai Gau (Cilantro Shrimp Dumpling), but they were so delectable that there was none left on the plates by the time I got to them!  The portions are generally served 3-4 pieces to a plate, so they’re made for sharing (if you care to!).  The standout dish for me has to be the Yong Kai Jiu— the shrimp is wrapped around the eggplant with a fried, tempura-like coating for a crunchy-outside, buttery-soft inside texture.  I would definitely recommend the Nor Mai Guy for tamale lovers—it’s similar in composition.  Be sure to dapple on some chili sauce and a bit of soy sauce (both available at each table) for good measure!   

If you think dim sum in Rice Village might be pricey, the 10 dishes shared by our party of five totaled just over $26.00.  Houston’s sweltering summer heat didn’t entice us to take tea with our meal, but it wouldn’t have added more than a few dollars to the cost. One other item nixed due to weather that my sisters were tempted to order, jook, traditional Chinese rice porridge, is available on weekends. 

This past weekend, my husband and I made the trek up I-35 to visit relatives in Oklahoma, and we made several worthwhile stops along the way to break up the drive. I had been curious about the growing “Babe’s Chicken Dinner House” Texas franchise, and a billboard enticed us to stop at the Sanger location—in the historic downtown area— for a late lunch. Downtown Sanger, where 1880s buildings speak of the town’s glory days as a cattle-shipping hub on the Santa Fe Railroad, is experiencing a construction boom of sorts, but Babe’s was closed for a midday siesta. I poked my head into a candle-and-jewelry shop to ask for a dining recommendation, something local, something interesting.  

  The woman set aside her beadwork and asked me, “You like Italian food?”

“Yes, we do.”

“Then you gotta go to Joe’s.” She patted her belly. “I just had the manicotti, and let me tell you, it’s the best Italian food you’ll ever have in your life.”

  That sounded like a suggestion we couldn’t pass up. So we drove back to the main road (FM 455) and drove “just past the high school” to Joe’s Italian Restaurant, a nondescript structure that was probably a Taco Bell in another life. (The drive-up window is now boarded over and decorated with pizza boxes.)

  What the place lacks in décor, it more than makes up for in authenticity. We both got house salads, and we split a pepperoni roll and a spinach roll (kind of like stuffed pizzas), which came with a fresh-tasting, chunky marinara sauce. The cheese was hot and elastic, the dough chewy and yeasty—New York-style, carbo-licious goodness right in the middle of north Texas. We were glad we had a cooler in the car so we could take some home; if we had eaten the whole thing, we might have succumbed to post-prandial slumber in the middle of Fort Worth’s rush-hour traffic.

  This little joint was a welcome surprise. The best Italian food I’ve ever had? I wouldn’t say that. But it was certainly the best (and most unexpected) road-trip meal I’ve enjoyed in a long time. Joe’s is at 2800 FM 455 West in Sanger. Call 940/458-9125.

I have visited the Glen Rose area dozens of times over the years, but had never stopped at Dinosaur Valley State Park. But with a five-year-old rock hound/fossil fan in the family, we just couldn’t pass up the park last weekend.

The 100-degree heat must have warped our sensibilities, as we drove past the visitor center at the park entrance—past fiberglass models of a 70-foot Apatosaurus and a 45-foot T-Rex (great photo-ops)—and headed straight for the various track-viewing sites on the Paluxy River. The park map/brochure and information boards on site were helpful, but the river was somewhat murky and our track sightings few. It was still exciting to think of the therapods, sauropods, and duck-billed dinosaurs that had walked here before us. (Helpful—and painfully obvious—hint: Start at the visitors center, where a video, casts of tracks, maps, and other displays will help you get your bearings.) It’s interesting to note that some of the tracks are on view at the American Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.

We made our own footprints on the park’s wooded hiking trails, and my kiddo enjoyed splashing in the Paluxy with other swimmers. (Helpful hint: Bring a swimsuit and towel, or at least a dry change of clothes!)

For next time: Just outside the park entrance is the new (and huge) Dinosaur World, which features 100-plus life-size dinosaur replicas along a winding path, a museum, a fossil dig, and a picnic area. It’s fronted by a BIG gift shop (all we had time for)—think giant geodes, casts of T-Rex teeth and claws, and every dinosaur toy imaginable. We bought a cephalopod fossil and had to move on.

I’m always in search of dino-good times for my peewee paleontologist. Any suggestions?

One of my favorite places to eat in El Paso is also enormously popular with many, many resident El Pasoans—Los Bandidos de Carlos y Mickey’s at 1310 Magruder (915/778-3323), near the airport. It’s in a charming hacienda style building and always buzzing with life. I’ve never had anything on their menu less than muy bueno —chips and queso, enchiladas, fajitas, chimichangas, shrimp, steak, et al. Food, service, and atmosphere are all tops. The only downside is because they’re so beloved, there can be a wait for a table on occasion, but I’ve never had to hang on for long (besides, their bar and appetizers are swell), and my dining experience has always been quite satisfying. Buen provecho! Tell us about your favorite El Paso (or anywhere in Texas) restaurant at Talk to TH.

In a recent blog, associate editor Marty Lange described an Austin scene like a Seurat painting come to life. I never thought of it that way, but it’s true. There are always so many people in any particular “scene” enjoying (and participating in) life in any number of ways. I think that’s a sign of a healthy community. It’s exactly what I love about it here. Even more so, it’s what I love about Texas.

I know other states have their share of picture-perfect moments, but I like to think Texans add an extra special aspect.
Marty’s scene reminded me of when I use to work in Downtown Houston, in the heart of its thriving Theater District. I could look out of my office window, especially on a Thursday or Friday evening, and find the same beautiful thing–an awesome mix of people all sharing the same space joyfully. I especially took note of a particular time when a flock of bikers poured into the Theater District for one of the weekly Party on the Plaza concerts. Within this square block crowded with people, there was a beautiful mix of luxury autos and decked-out pedestrians blended with the motorcycles complete with leather-clad riders. In my people watching, I admired the harmony of the scene, though none on the ground seemed to take note. It was business (or rather pleasure) as usual. An assured workforce heads home or to happy hour; bikers and a younger set flock to the outdoor concert; sequined and well-suited couples make their way to the Alley Theater, Wortham Center or Jones Hall; the club set heads for drinks and dancing, a studious group approaches the Angelika for an art house film fix; diners on café patios chatter about life and such; and any number of concert-goers file into the Bayou Theater for the concert du jour. All of this right outside my window.
The best part of it though was the moment I got to go down and be a part of it.

I’d love to hear others describe a scene from their communities. It’s the best way to get a feel for a place. What is your part of Texas like?

Glider pilot Gary Osoba set a world record for ultralight glider flight this past weekend right here in the Lone Star State. Departing from the Zapata County Airport in South Texas and finishing in Lorenzo, near Lubbock, 492 miles away, Osoba flew for 9 hours and covered 615 miles total (including circling), according to reporter Regina Daniels in today’s edition of the Austin American-Statesman. Texas has long been an ideal spot for ultralight gliding because of wind patterns, thermals, and rising warm air currents. The National Soaring Championships are in Uvalde next month (August 3-14). See www.visituvalde.com or call 830/278-4115. The Texas Soaring Association is in Midlothian. Check out details at www.texassoaring.com or call 972/775-4234. The Silent Wings Museum in Lubbock honors WWII glider pilots at the Lubbock airport. Find out more at www.silentwingsmuseum.com or call 806/775-2047. Learn to soar in San Antonio at www.learn2soar.net or call 210/667-3716. And for yet another reason to visit Marfa in West Texas, find out about their perfect scenario for gliding at www.flygliders.com/marfa.htm.

I’ve called Austin home for the last 14 years, but before that, I lived in 11 Texas towns, from Palacios to Lubbock (several of them more than once). I like to think this background makes me a better Texas Highways editor, but the truth is, this state is so big and so diverse that any knowledge I have of it barely scratches the surface. Almost every week I come across the name of another little town I’ve never heard of. Most recent on that list: Circle Back, on FM 298, between Sudan and Needmore. I’ve passed within miles of it many times as I drove from Lubbock to Muleshoe to visit friends. (What? You’ve never heard of Sudan, Needmore, or Muleshoe?) I used to be embarrassed when this kind of thing happened and think, “I should know this stuff,” but not anymore. Other TH editors who grew up in Texas tell me they often have the same experience.

Town names are one thing, but I’ve learned that longtime Texans sometimes have appalling gaps in their state lore, myself included. For example, I remember mentioning to former senior editor Ann Gallaway a few years ago that a freelancer had gotten it wrong when she had written about a field of bluebonnets exuding a distinct aroma. “Bluebonnets don’t have a scent,” I said. “Yes, they do!” she said, and a discussion ensued. Both of us had grown up in South Texas and thought we had our “Texas facts” down cold. It turned out that Ann was right, as she was about most things.

Until I moved to Lubbock, I thought “raining mud” was another exaggeration. It’s not. The phenomenon occurs fairly often in West Texas, when a fast‑moving storm mixes with dust already in the atmosphere. Of course, the list of things in West Texas I thought were myths that turned out to be true is quite long. “Only in West Texas” is more than a slogan….

And then there’s the time in July when I was driving from Austin to Houston on US 290 and kept wondering what the pretty purple flowers were that I kept seeing along the roadside. I later learned they were bluebells. Duh. Fields of flowers in the Brenham area. Sure enough, Blue Bell Ice Cream is named for these late‑summer bloomers. For more about bluebells, see our April 2004 article Bouquets for the Years: 30 Wildflowers by Ann Gallaway (of course).

OK, I’ve confessed, at least partially, to ignorance of some basic Texas facts. Any other longtime Texans want to share similar stories? We could start a support group, or at the least, educate each other. But even a little knowledge about Texas is a good thing. I know this because I’ve also lived for brief periods in California and Alabama. Nice places, but not Texas, not home.