‘Bluebonnet Mist,’ Fantastical Fake Avocados Highlight Resto’s Wild Spring Menu

‘Bluebonnet Mist,’ Fantastical Fake Avocados Highlight Resto’s Wild Spring Menu

There's more than meets the eyes with Musaafer's new avocado appetizer.

ONE OF HOUSTON'S most celebrated new-ish restaurants, the upscale Indian outfit Musaafer in the Galleria, has a new spring menu that's said to blend two cuisines — including authentic Indian recipes, of course, and also Mexican — all highlighting local ingredients, with the fantastical modern techniques and gastronomy Musaafer is noted for.


Indian-born Chef Mayank Istwal previously worked in Mexico at the renowned Quintonil, where he learned about Mexican flavors. He was also said to be particularly inspired by salsas, as his native cuisine leans on the use of tomatoes in many of its dishes.

"Fast-forward to today," says a rep for the restaurant, "Mayank applies his Quintonil learnings in his new Mexican-inspired interpretation of butter chicken using tomatillos which are caramelized in custom tandoors with wild honey, cashew, cilantro and fenugreek. Other menu highlights incorporate the use of wild Texas bluebonnets … and a cocktail uses a custom root-to-stem tea blend."

The new mango and turmeric salad

Blackwood Farm in nearby Hempstead is a new partner of the restaurant and will contribute fresh produce to all the new dishes. One of them is features morels stuffed with the farm's Malabar spinach — an ingredient native to India's Himalayan region — with house-made malai cream, mushroom soil, spiced creamed cheese and garnishes of "yogurt stones" and granny smith compote.

New starters also include avocado chaat with corn crisps and tamarind and mint chutneys in a dish painstakingly crafted to look like a very real avocado. This kind of edible trompe l'oeil is one of the restaurant's favorite tricks; it also turns up in a now famous dessert from the original menu with yogurt, raspberry and pomegranate gussied up to looks like mushrooms.

A new salad of mango and turmeric incorporates "green mango carpaccio," burnt chili flakes and jicama. The Rizala entrée is a lamb chop, or you can substitute paneer, with rose petals, brown onion, serrano, cilantro and house-made roomali roti.

Pastry Chef Ruchit Harnej will introduce three memorable desserts, as well, including the Phirni, which is rice pudding with fresh black pepper, rose cremeux, spiced apple compote, prune cereal bar and a Texas bluebonnet mist. "Guests are invited to spritz the bluebonnet mist on their dominant hand," explains the restaurant rep, "filling the senses with the aromas of a lush floral field in each bite."

Food
Fried Chicken, Fancy Bubbles, and a Side of Glamour: Sundays at The Marigold Club Just Got Fun

Chef-owner Austin Waiter of The Marigold Club, now serving fried chicken and Champagne on Sunday nights.


IF YOUR SUNDAY nights could use a little sparkle—and a lot of fried chicken—The Marigold Club has just the thing. Starting May 25 at 5pm, the Montrose hotspot known for its playful mix of Southern charm and London polish is rolling out a new weekly tradition: Fried Chicken & Champagne Sundays.

This isn’t your average comfort food situation. We're talking a shareable fried chicken dinner for two, made with farm-raised birds from Deeply Rooted Ranch, and served alongside buttery whipped potatoes, minted peas, aged cheddar scones, and some over-the-top sauces — including a foie gras sauce supreme that’s as extra as it sounds.

Keep ReadingShow less
Food

Heather Almond and Zinat Ahmed

NEARLY 1,700 GUESTS headed to Cotton Ranch in Katy for Cotton Holdings’ 13th annual CrawFest— a Texas-sized evening of food and music. The event raised a record-breaking $768,000 for the Cotton Foundation, which supports families facing disaster, illness and hardship.

Keep ReadingShow less
Parties

Maddy and Patrick Moffitt and Christina and David McAllen

A DERBY WATCH party was so much more than the fastest two minutes in sports! The Post Oak Hotel hosted the Hats, Hearts & Horseshoes event benefiting Bo's Place, and the most fashionable and philanthropic Houstonians turned out.

Keep ReadingShow less
Parties