December 18, 2011
Paleo in Houston
Just as I'm enjoying dining Paleo in New York City, one of my regular readers has kindly offered to post her account of a lovely meal she recently had at FEAST in Houston, TX, which specializes in nose-to-tail dining.
I was so impressed with her follow through and adherence to many of the same tips I often suggest to clients, that I simply had to ask her to share with me and all of you readers! I couldn't have done it better myself!
Easy enough to simply not eat those foods that might accompany dishes, like the potato and polenta that are described below that came with the otherwise Paleo dishes, or, if you're dining with someone (as in this case, the reader's boyfriend isn't Paleo), you can let them have it!
"We had our lovely dinner last night at Feast, the British owned nose-to-tail dining venue here in Houston that I mentioned, and it was truly delish!
First, I prepared by doing a minute's worth of homework and preparation for the venue. I had a look at the menu beforehand and saw several dishes that looked very Paleo friendly, with the exception of just needing to ask them to leave off a certain starches or sub for more veggies, which they were happy to do. I did call ahead to ask about if they put any gluten or thickeners in their dishes that said braised in broths and they said no, and I said I had a gluten intolerance and they said their broths are not thickened with anything, just meaty goodness. Anything with a "gravy" would be something I would stay away from, so I didn't feel the need to ask about those.
When we sat down they brought us a nice plate of house-made sourdough bread, very crusty and delicious according to my boyfriend. I was happy with my organic red wine and some water. For our starter, we shared the melon with their house cured ham… I'm sure there was some sugar in the ham but it was seriously delicious and such a treat to experience someones own curing and passion. This really came out through this delicate, thinly sliced meaty delight!
For main dishes I ordered the braised lamb shank, which was cooked in a very light, garlic and wine broth, and served with crispy kale and white sardines, and roasted potatoes.
My bf ordered the braised pork shoulder cooked in a red wine sauce served with spinach and some crispy polenta cake on the side.
The server kindly kept all starches off the protein plates, and also gave us some extra veggies. We shared both dishes and they were both seriously yummy!
I can honestly say that is was not only easy to eat a Paleo meal, but extremely delish, luxurious, and even romantic 🙂
