OUR REVIEW OF THE LODGE AT BAYOU BEND

Question: When is a landmark restaurant not a landmark restaurant? Answer: When it’s actually a landmark restaurant location.

All of our standard assumptions about restaurant identity got a swift kick recently when the wild game eatery known for 30 years as Rainbow Lodge hoofed it across town to the location long associated with Old French La Tour d’Argent. That, we suppose, makes it a beloved local landmark inside a beloved local landmark, a fact worth pondering all by itself. But the best news among all these musical forks is the new restaurant that has risen where Rainbow Lodge used to be, a stylish yet totally comfortable food and wine emporium on the banks of Buffalo Bayou called The Lodge at Bayou Bend.

For all but the hunters in any crowd, the most welcome change in these nature-blessed digs is that Rainbow Lodge took all those sad-eyed game heads with it. In times past, they seemed to not only fill every inch of wall but clutter the very airspace with their crazy quilt of lifeless horns and antlers. More than a few customers complained the animals were “looking at them” in a really unfriendly way, accusing them no doubt of taking part in the slaughter. The new, cleaner décor suffers from no such angst: it’s a kind of upscale Colorado-Meets-Wyoming residence built of dark wood and windows, the glass not only inviting in the gracefully illuminated trees at night but making the whole feeling one of Big Sky Country.

This sea change on the bayou started with the decision of longtime property owner Fred Welling to ask his high-profile tenant to move so he could create a restaurant that he and his son Derek could actually form. Once the move was accomplished, and rumors that the beloved building was being torn down to build a highrise quashed, the Wellings could set out on a path to make their personal vision stick. The gardens have been manicured yet still feel strikingly wild for being a few steps off Memorial so close to downtown. Lights, pools, fountains and pathways have been added or improved, showing the family’s cards a little when it comes to becoming a top-shelf weddings venue.

And best of all, a team has been built around the last great chef at the old Rainbow Lodge, a guy who enjoys cooking wild game but by no means wishes to be typecast. Matt Maroni serves a substantial list of red meats at The Lodge, but it’s clear when he’s talking to you tableside that his heart is in the more complex and personal constructions. Some of those are seriously good, while others feature a touch of whimsy – a facet seldom seen in Big Meat dining palaces. The result is a light and creative touch that surprises as often as it fascinates.

Appetizers, for instance, are billed as Palate Teasers and include both an excellent crab cake with tomato confit, poached red onion, crispy artichoke and fennel buttermilk aioli and a smile-to-your-lips little platter called the Lobster Trio. Besides your basic lobster claw with an apple-vanilla gastrique, this joyride takes in a salty-sweet lobster “club sandwich” and a lush lobster truffle “cappuccino.” As we say, the whole thing is as much about smiling as eating. Another must-have starter is the grilled quail breast, which seems simple enough - until you Deep South it with cheddar biscuit, braised greens and a hollandaise kicked up with jalapeno duck sausage.

Almost in answer to anyone trapped in a Rainbow Lodge time warp, The Lodge serves some serious seafood entrees – not just the mandatory things old-fashioned steakhouses put on the menu. And while Maroni is ever-quick to use words like “easy” and “simple,” his dishes can have a whole lot shaking, as it were. Yellowfin tuna, for instance, is barely seared, but then labor-intensively outfitted with yellow pepper aioli, sprout leaves, sweet onion rings, golden potato and olive vinaigrette. Even better, we think, is the pan-roasted grouper with a savory fricasee of veal sweetbreads, trumpet royale mushrooms, several purees involving root vegetables – and then, from out of nowhere, razor clams. Of course, some might shout “overkill!” by this point. But Maroni has convinced us he has a deft hand with these mixtures, and we are inclined to trust him. Certainly, anyone relishing every morsel of his Harris Ranch beef tenderloin with truffle potato emulsion, wild mushroom ragout, a fluffy-soft poached egg and herb bordelaise would let the chef choose the entrée and probably the entire menu from this day forward.

Nigerian-born pastry chef Edet Okon seems to blend the best of Paris with the best of Vienna whenever he comes out to play. Desserts are satisfying yet not particularly gargantuan, the pastry guy following Maroni’s lead in preferring many perfect little pleasures to a single big and heavy one. A recent threesome of Okon’s best desserts included a priceless strawberry “fraisier” blending mousse with maybe souflee glace, another dish of the world’s smallest raspberry jellyrolls (no, that’s not what they’re called, but it’s what they are – Guinness Book, take note!) and yet another soft, delicate, air-whipped confection rolled in and around crunch-happy pistachios.

In the dining room, where all these goods things find their resolution, each meal is the province of GM Jason Morgan and especially of wine steward extraordinaire David Orchard. Having handpicked the wines on the Lodge’s list, Orchard can give you all the detail you want on any bottle, half-bottle or glass – he’s like a delightfully obsessed baseball commentator, full of oenological batting averages and ERAs - along with dead-on suggestions for pairings. Considering the number of tracks some of Maroni’s dishes run on, this is a great service to have. The next time you try choosing a wine to go with jalapeno duck sausage hollandaise, you’ll have some appreciation of Orchard’s mastery.

SHOW & RECIPE FOR MARCH 3

UNCORKING THE RODEO
In addition to all the “normal” fun associated with the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, over the past few years wine and food have come to play a major role – and not surprisingly, we’re all for it. Bear Dalton of Spec’s joins us in the studio to taste and talk about the winning entries of what must be one of the world’s largest wine tastings.

NOT WITHOUT A HITCH
Mark Shanahan really is a film professor who teaches a course in Hitchcock. But thanks to the Alley Theatre, he’s also an actor portraying a film professor - who teaches a course in Hitchcock. Mark joins us to talk about the enticing new play “Hitchcock Blonde,” and what it teaches us about Hollywood’s late, great Master of Suspense.

IT’S A MYSTERY
Scottish writer Peter May first attracted out attention with a “police procedural” novel set in today’s China – not the least of which because he wasn’t the least bit Chinese. Not only is May coming to Houston to talk about his new China novel “The Fourth Sacrifice” but about his new series featuring an Italian-Scottish crime solver living in France. Since May himself lives in France, we may be getting a bit closer to home.

CHICKEN AND ANDOUILLE QUESDAILLA
WITH CILANTRO SOUR CREAM

Cilantro Sour Cream:
½ cup sour cream, preferably Mexican-style
1 teaspoon finely chopped cilantro
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

3 large (10-inch) flour tortillas
1 cup diced grilled chicken breast
1 cup diced grilled andouille
1 roasted red pepper, roasted with char removed, diced
¾ cup shredded Chihuahua (or Monterey Jack) cheese
3/4 cup jalapeno Chihuahua (or pepper jack) cheese
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
¼ teaspoon ground guajillo chile

Top a tortilla on a plate with about half the chicken, andouille, pepper and cheese, then cover with a second tortilla. Spread the remaining fillings and top with the third tortilla. In a bowl, combine the olive oil with the guajillo pepper and brush this on the top of the guesadilla. Carefully transfer, oiled side down, to a nonstick pan over medium heat. Brush the second side with the oil-guajillo mixture and cook, flipping once carefully, until both sides are golden brown and cheese is melted, 5-6 minutes per side. Transfer the quesadilla to a large plate and cut into 8 wedges. Serve with Cilantro Sour Cream.
Makes 8 wedges.

SHOW & RECIPE FOR FEB. 24

This week’s program hosted by John DeMers comes to us from the beach in Jamaica – from the Grand Lido Braco Resort on Jamaica’s north coast, to be precise, between the bluewater playgrounds of Montego Bay and Ocho Rios.

YOU CAN GO HOME AGAIN
The chef at the Grand Lido Braco Resort spent nearly two decades cooking the flavorful foods of his island – for the hip-happening chefs of the so-called Mango Gang in Miami, Coral Gables and super-chic South Beach. Eventually, though, he found a job that let him come home and cook Jamaican food for visitors more primed than ever to taste the real deal. We chat with him about the sea change that has taken a little-understood cuisine into stylish kitchens in the States in less than 20 years, along with what that means to a true Jamaican in the kitchen.

APPLETON RUM EXPRESS
Like every other Caribbean island, Jamaica produces some mighty fun rum. At the Appleton Estate distillery in the center of the island, however, perfectionists are mastering the distilling and blending of this colorful pirate spirit in a way that’s attracting the attention of the wider world. We enjoy a tasting of Appleton’s finest with the estate’s chief blender, learning of the miraculous ways aging in oak has of making rum not just your mama’s white lightning anymore. We learn when to pour this rum into a Planter’s Punch, Pina Colada or Mai Tai – and when to sip it like a fine cognac.

COOPERATIVE SPICE
On the shelves of Spec’s and other fine food purveyors in the States, the products of a Jamaican company named Walkerswood are surefire promises of quality. But as we hear from the international marketing director and the executive chef, Walkerswood isn’t so much a company as a rural cooperative, more like a village in which everyone has one very tasty goal. Over the past 30 years, and especially in the past five when the products have found a home in American kitchens, Walkerswood has become synonymous with the jerk seasoning and other spicy flavorings that make Jamaica famous.

JAMAICAN SMOTHERED CALLALOO

1 cup unsalted butter
2 cups chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 Scotch Bonnet pepper, finely chopped
2 medium sized bunches fresh callaloo, or kale
1 tablespoon salt
½ teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
4 cups chicken stock

Melt the butter in a large saucepan and sauté the onion, celery, garlic and pepper until lightly caramelized. Add the callaloo and stirfry until lightly browned, 15-20 minutes. Add the salt, pepper and chicken stock. Reduce the heat and simmer until callaloo is tender and liquid is almost gone, about 30 minutes. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking. Serves 8.

SHOW & RECIPE FOR FEB. 17

A LIFETIME OF WANDERLUST
Longtime Houston chef Joe Mannke took his first breaths in a country that doesn't exist anymore - Pomerania, a place long German, now a part of Poland. But in the years since, he has traveled and cooked on nearly every continent. His new autobiography with recipes, titled Wanderlust, is his intriguing personal story with the dishes that make it even more so.

A BIT OF POLO
Chef Polo Baccera has been a semi-discovered treasure of the Houston dining scene for some years now. With the opening of his new restaurant, he not only kicks his own cooking up a notch but seeks a wider audience for all he's about. Polo joins us in the studio to tell us all about it.

AUSTRALIA BY WAY OF FRANCE
Roman Bratasiuk's name doesn't sound Australian OR French, but his incredible wines are a dazzling taste of both. Roman happens to be Australian, and that's where he makes his wines. But he is so enamored of the wines of France that his style is primarily French. Try a bottle of Clarendon Hills before or after today's Grape & Grain segment, and you'll see what we mean.

This Week's Delicious Mischief Recipe...
SEARED YELLOWTAIL SNAPPER
WITH SHRIMP-CELERY ROOT CROQUETTE

Croquette:
1 pound celery root, peeled and quartered
1 Yukon gold potato, peeled
2 quart chicken stock
1 ½ pounds peeled and deveined raw shrimp
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup all-purpose flour
6 eggs, beaten
3 cups panko breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons grapeseed oil

1 fresh coconut, peeled and cut from shell
2 cups shrimp stock
1/6 cup light soy sauce
3 tablespoons ginger juice
1 tablespoon jalapeno juice
½ tablespoon garlic juice
1/6 cup cilantro juice
6 (6-7 ounce) snapper fillets, preferably skin on
Garnishes: grilled scallop, lump crabmeat, chopped bok choy (optional)

Cook the celery root and potato in the chicken stock until tender, 35-45 minutes. Let cool and puree in a blender or food processor. Add the shrimp and puree to thoroughly incorporate. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Form the puree into croquettes using a ring mold, then dip in sequence into flour, egg and breadcrumbs. Heat grapeseed oil in a pan and saute the croquettes until golden brown, about 2 minutes per side.

To make the sauce, puree the coconut meat in the shrimp stock, then add the soy and all the juices. Mix well. Heat in a pan but do not boil, to preserve the fresh flavors. Saute the snapper with the skin side down for 6 minutes, then turn and complete cooking, 4-6 minutes more. To serve, ladle the sauce onto the bottom of a bowl, position croquette on the sauce and lean the snapper against the croquette. Garnish other seafoods or vegetables if desired. Serves 6.