Stella Sola, or how I learned to love food again and start blogging

9:30pm. 9:45pm. Those were my options.

I sat in my Dallas hotel room last Thursday night, attempting to book a table at Stella Sola for Saturday night. I originally put in an 8pm request to Open Table and I assumed 48 hours was enough time to get my pick of times. Wrong.

My vegetarian sister visited for Christmas, and I was tempted by a tweet from Alison Cook that pronounced their gnocchi as one of the best vegetarian dishes in Houston. The rest of the menu appeared to be an herbivore’s worst nightmare, and after a twitter exchange with @tastybitz, I wimped out and we ended up at Beaver’s. Stella Sola would have to wait.

I could list a dozen reasons why it took me so long to finally visit Stella Sola. Even without visiting, it was obvious that Stella Sola was THE restaurant story of the year in the Heights. So yes, I’m blaming my unplanned blog sabbatical on Stella Sola. I’m only half kidding.

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“Oh my god, that’s incredible.”

The first bite of suckling pig just fell apart in my mouth. The pork meat was insanely moist and tender, complimented by a crispy, oh-so-thin pork skin. My wife and I ran into two friends sharing the suckling pig for two at the bar and they were nice enough to share a small sample with us. Offered as a special (call ahead for availability), the suckling pig not only equals, but exceeds, my recollections of the version served at the venerable Cochon Restaurant in New Orleans.

Our other dishes were equally impressive. Polenta and Shrimp (their version of shrimp and grits) was small in size but huge in flavor, with a 1 square inch hunk of fork tender pork belly plopped right in the middle. The meat market plate was a fantastic display of thinly sliced piggy parts and shows off the kitchen’s strength with charcuterie. Wide and thick handmade pappardelle pasta with wild boar meat sauce was large enough to share, and was nicely paired with a very mild house made ricotta.

Meat Market Plate | Photo: houston_foodie |flickr

Have you noticed a pig/pork theme? If REEF is Caswell and Co’s temple to gulf coast seafood, Stella Sola is their house of pig. With Feast and Catalan, can Houston support three pig focused restaurants? My take: YES. All three restaurants have completely different concepts and don’t really overlap. Plus, the pig is probably the greatest culinary animal ever. I say it deserves all three.

My criticisms with Stella Sola are minor: most of the pappardelle was pleasantly al dente, but a few areas of the large pasta sheets clumped during cooking and were unpleasantly tough. Towards the end of the night, someone changed the in house music to 94.5 and we were all treated to some angst ridden mid-90s gems. Lastly (a question directed at the previous tenants), who designed and signed off on the floor plan of this place? The footprint of the place takes up an entire city block, but the usable space is surprisingly small. There appears to be a lot of outdoor space that will probably be used for al fresco dining for the 7-10 days of nice weather we have coming this Spring.

I must admit I was skeptical of the Texas/Tuscan concept, as I imagined some ill-conceived higher end version of Spaghetti Western. After my visit, all doubts are gone. The icing on the cake: the top notch house cocktails and a wine list to make the cork dorks weep for joy.

Pistachio Pound Cake | Photo: houston_foodie |flickr

Details
1001 Studewood, Houston, TX
Dinner Tue-Sun, Brunch Sunday

Sweet Temptation

On a road known more its collection of famous Mexican restaurants (Airline Drive, in the Eastern section of the Heights) sits Sweet Temptation. The name itself creates even more confusion, perhaps signaling that this concept wasn’t fully thought out.

The best dishes are the bruschetta and the restaurant's version of a spaghetti carbonara. The bruschetta is simply prepared with fresh tomatoes and herbs and served on a fairly generic slice of store bought Italian/French bread. The carbonara is served with an egg yolk inside of a hollowed out egg shell. The best prepared dish was the sauteed chicken breast, which was pounded thin, coated, skillet fried and still juicy. The fact that I was most excited by a fairly generic chicken breast entree should tell you all you need to know about Sweet Temptation.

Misses included most of the meat entrees, which are all served with the same unimaginative duo of mashed potatoes and steamed vegetables. The biggest miss was the pork chops, which were overcooked to a shoe leather texture. Desserts include the standard tiramisu, creme brulee and cheesecake.

My dream is for the Heights to land a truly authentic Italian eatery. A few weeks ago I sat in Dolce Vita and split two starters and the best pizza I've had outside of New York City. A simple shaved brussel sprouts starter—served cold and tossed with a slight hint of acid—was one of the best dishes I've had this year. The fact that we got out for less than what we spent at Sweet Temptation is both amazing and depressing at the same time.

Perhaps I'm being too harsh. Collina's on 19th has been serving even worse fare for several years and still has a line out the door most days of the week. Sweet Temptation has the same BYOB policy, so I would expect it to be a hit as well (both recent visits the room sat mostly empty).

Sweet Temptation should be defined as an Italian American restaurant. Italian American is never going to be Dolce Vita, nor does it need to be. I would be happy if Sweet Temptation could equal the highs of Patronella's, which is located just a few miles south. Sadly, Sweet Temptation is more in the style of Birraporetti's. You'd be better off just opening a jar of Prego.

Details
1504 Airline Drive
Houston, TX 77009

Collina's Italian Cafe

So many options for my first restaurant post… why choose Collina’s? Their printed menu and website list about a half dozen critical quotations, all dated over a decade ago. Not a good sign. I admit Collina’s is a questionable choice, but follow me for one minute.

Centrally located in the Heights? Check! (19^th Street, does not get more central Heights than that)

BYOB? Yes, oh yes.

Packed? Most definitely.

It would be more than a stretch to call Collina’s a great restaurant. Despite this “glowing” assessment, Collina’s has a special place in my heart. Not for the pastas, which tend to be the smothered in tomato sauce classics so common on “traditional” American/Italian restaurants. Not for the 1.5 crowd, which tend to overrun the place on the weekends. And certainly not for the service, which is criminally overstretched.

They had me with that artichoke.

Stuffed artichoke to be exact. The stuffed artichoke served at Collina’s isn’t haute cuisine, but it is the definition of comfort food for me. For those that have read Sara Roahen’s Gumbo Tales (highest recommendation for those who love the city and cuisine of New Orleans), you already know the effort required to construct this dish. Breadcrumbs, herbs and a ton of olive oil are slammed into the crevices of half an artichoke, which is then broiled and served bubbling.

Obviously the artichokes are prepared beforehand; this is a dish that can’t be made to order. Eating this whacky pinecone is another challenge. The outer leaves are scraped between your front teeth, leaving most of it to waste. The inner portion can be eaten whole: slightly tart and just the perfect texture. Unfortunately, I wish it was consistently as good as I described. Occasionally, the cooking process is rushed and the breadcrumbs taste like the boxed variety.

As for the rest of the dishes, the specials are usually skip-worthy. The pizzas are above average, especially if you stick to the simpler versions on the menu. Avoid the small pizzas as the dough thickness ratio is way off.

If you’re in the mood for something a little different, head to Collina’s and get the artichoke. Artichoke is famous for messing up every wine that gets served, so perhaps jug wine IS the best choice.

Details

502 W. 19th st.

Mon - Thu 11am - 10pm
Fri - Sat 11am - 11pm
Sun 4pm - 9pm