Caffe Bello - good food comes with awkwardness

Quality	Ambiance	Service
8.0	7.0	5.0

Location: 322 Westheimer, Houston, TX 77006
Phone: (713) 520-5599
Cuisine: Italian
Price range: each item $10 - 26
http://caffebello.com/

So we decided to go try Caffe Bello on the usual Saturday night hunt for food. Unfortunately, parking at all the Cajun places were ridiculous and the line at Dolce Vita was out the door. So we drove for 3 more minutes and ended up at Caffe Bello. Despite the fact that the rather spacious parking was attached to the restaurant, Caffe Bello employees insisted on the complimentary valet parking for our car. First point of awkwardness at Caffe Bello - our car was right next to where you pick up the car. Do we still tip if they don't need to drive our car? Moving on, the interior of Caffe Bello was dim, and it was quite romantic. Fun fact we learned - it opens until midnight on Friday and Saturday.

Their website touted, "Our menus are always changing, reflecting the best ingredients available that day." It is undeniable that their food is delicious. There was complimentary bread basket with a cream sauce rather than olive oil and also a delicious complimentary amuse-bouche. The amuse-bouche was a mustard yellow shooter with crispy prosciutto sprinkled. We ordered:

• Bresaola, taleggio, pear, Italian truffle honey Pizza
• Roasted Beet Carpaccio with goat cheese panna cotta, arugula, and pine nut puree
• Risotto Reggiano with crispy pork belly, green garlic, grilled mushrooms, and saba

Drool at your own convenience. The pizza was delightfully proportioned and very crispy. There were no unfortunate greasy residue. The roasted beet carpaccio (yes - beet! not beef) was surprising. I usually dislike beet because of the awkward sweet aftertaste, but the goat cheese panna cotta offset it very nicely although there was an annoying cloying aftertaste. I was equally surprised by the goat cheese panna cotta. Usually, panna cotta is eaten as a dessert and has a mild sweet and creamy taste, but the goat cheese panna cotta was very savory and the sweetness came from

the beet rather than the cream. The risotto reggiano was probably my favorite part of the meal. The crispy pork belly was, unfortunately, not crispy, but there were also very little fat (so it totally made it up for the not crispy) on it as the fat was infused into the risotto instead. The mushrooms were very tender and I'm not quite sure if they used saba the fish or saba the syrup. The amount of food was quite sizeable and according to Yelp, Caffe Bello is really good for brunch. (Bresaola, taleggio, pear, Italian truffle honey Pizza image courtesy of Albert N. on Yelp)

Service was a nightmare. I'm pretty sure it was only our waitress though as I saw other seats got their orders taken promptly and drinks delivered on-time. Instead, we waited a good fifteen minutes before we were served breadsticks and almost twenty before our orders were even taken. My order of italian soda wasn't even delivered until half an hour later. This really wasn't an excuse as we were her only table. Quite honestly, we almost just got up and left. It was that bad. When she came to take our orders, she took away our menus before taking our orders. WHO TAKES AWAY THE MENU WHEN THE CUSTOMER IS TRYING TO ORDER? Moreover, she did not bother to explain anything on the menu or explain the amuse-bouche until we asked. In fact, we were left in a confused state when the amuse-bouche was placed before us...not quite sure if it was for our carpaccio, bread, pizza, or what. Her redeeming feature was that after the initial wait and awkwardness with ordering, everything came along quite well.

So, in conclusion - food is great. Definitely come and get the pizza at least. I'd definitely come back here again for brunch or lunch or dinner. Valet parking might be useful when it's at a more popular hour, but if I get the same server, I might just get up, make an awkward remark about coming into the wrong place, and split.

Any suggestions as to where I should go next? Leave a comment!

Top 5 Coffee places

Coffee is a large part of the modern adult's life. You can't wake up without it and it's a fantastic thing to drink at night when you're studying/working. For me, it's often one of the first things I drink and the last thing I drink before going to bed. I also often study at coffeehouses as it inspires me to actually work instead of goofing off on my computer.

I've compiled a list of top 5 coffeehouses I love in no particular order.

1. Tuscany Premium Coffee

• Favorite Drink: Vanilla Latte
• Location: 5 E Greenway Plz Ste C610, Houston, TX77046
• Pro: Their latte come with elaborate coffee art. They make all their own syrups and the baristas are super friendly. Their cookies are also pretty darn delicious and if you sit at the bar and converse with the barista, sometimes they let you taste new coffee.
  
• Con: It's hard to find and it's in a food court. Not to mention, they close at 5 and they only validate 2 hours of parking.

2. Inversion Coffee

• Favorite Drink: Latte
  
• Location: 1953 Montrose Boulevard, Houston, TX 77006
• Pro: Sunny and spacious, it's a great place to study. They have wonderful decor and a food truck outside. Inversion also sells 50% old pastries and apparently smoothies. Also, they're opened late (around 10 pm).
  
• Con: Parking is really hard to find
  

3. Salento

• Favorite Drink: Mocha
  
• Location: 2407 Rice Boulevard, Houston, TX 77005
• Pro: Located in Rice village AND at Rice, Salento has fantastic coffee and food. Seriously, try their brie sandwich and empanadas. It's also a great place to meet up with people and chat but they have free wi-fi in the morning for people to work. I can probably credit at least four of my papers to Salento mocha.
  
• Con: Free wi-fi is stopped at 6 pm and it may be too dim to study during the night as everything is by candlelight.
  

4. Agora

• Favorite Drink: Greek iced coffee/ Earl grey lavender tea
  
• Location: 1712 Westheimer Road, Houston, TX 77098-1612
• Pro: It's opened until really late (2 am), the clientele is pretty international and many people are open to conversation. They also serve wine and beer as well as sodas, so if you don't want just coffee/tea...try those out. Wednesday has belly dancers so that's always a rowdy day. Otherwise, Agora is really nice to study or for a good chat on couches.
  
• Con: Crowded, oftentimes loud, and their mochas taste more like chocolate milk. The stairs to get upstairs are also kind of steep, so be careful when you're balancing a full cup of hot drink. The owner could also be kind of gruff on a busy day.
  

5. Catalina

• Favorite Drink: Cappuccino/everything
  
• Location: 2201 Washington Avenue, Houston, TX 77007
• Pro: Small, intimate location with comfortable chairs. The baristas are pretty nice and they have fantastic selection of coffee. Pretty much anything here is worth drinking. The espresso is just fantastic and it's just really nice and quiet so you can get a lot of work done (bookwork that is).
  
• Con: They close too early for me (8 pm), and it's hard to actually get there. It's also kind of hard to find if you don't know where it is. Also, don't bring a laptop...they don't really have more than one plug. Do your bookwork here.
  

Honorable Mention:

1. Rice Coffeehouse
2. Coffee Groundz
3. Katz (not actually a coffee place, but it's 24 hours and they have some awesome coffee)
4. House of Pies (also not a coffee place, but they serve coffee and you can get pie, and it's 24 hours)

Brasil - good food with a dollop of hipsters

Quality	Ambiance	Service
8.0	7.0	5.0

Location: 2604 Dunlavy Street. Houston, TX 77098
Phone: (713) 528-1993
Cuisine: Modern, American
Price range: each item $5 - 12

Brasil is one of the best known places on Westheimer and ideal for people watching. Located right next to Domy bookstore on Westheimer, Brasil and Domy hosts movie screenings during the summer and live music can often be heard on the patio of Brasil. Every time I come around, I never cease to be amazed at the large range of hipsters that frequents the place.

The food at Brasil is really what keeps me coming back. The menu is sizable, and their penchant for goat cheese continues to draw me in. Despite the name, don't expect actual Brazilian food - most of it follows modern American cuisine. Which is not really anything to be too upset about (unless you're looking for actual Brazilian food). Brasil has one of the best pizza around. The Alsace pizza, with red onions and prosciutto, is tasty and large enough for 2 to eat. The Mediterranean sampler is also just right for two to eat. The hummus and baked chickpeas has a vibrant taste while the olive salad and the artichoke, pine-nut dip provides a lovely compliment. The pita bread they come with are also excellent and the right amount of chewy. As for coffee, you're probably better off going to Empire Cafe right across the street (and serves very similar fare with similar ambiance), but Brasil's coffee is not bad either. Their ice coffee is refreshing, but their mixed coffees are a bit too sweet. But Brasil still rates high on my food list.

The dining area is large - there are three main places for dine-in: the area directly adjacent to the counter, the patio, and the middle section which sort of resorts a glorified warehouse. Despite the large space, there may be some claustrophobia due to how close the seats are. The general din of the other customers are easy enough to block out, so sound isn't that big of an issue. However, the music being played are usually enjoyable and range from the indie pop to obscure.

The service at Brasil isn't exactly the most outstanding. The servers do tend to stand around and look more interested in being cool than actually helping you. You can almost hear them judging you as soon as you walk in the door. As Domy is connected to Brasil, you might find that your server is now hanging around the bookstore instead. Since you make your orders at the counter before finding your spot, the actual ordering may take a little bit especially around busy hours. It also takes a little while before the food comes out, but not extravagantly so.

Anyways, I'd come back to Brasil again, if not for the food, then definitely for those summer nights when the patio is open and a good film is playing. It's also a lovely place for a brunch date.

Any suggestions as to where I should go next? Leave a comment!