Date night

Several months ago, we were invited over to dinner in Houston with a lovely colleague and his partner in the Galleria area, along with a few other work friends. Todd suggested we dine in; we could call in an order to Tony's and he'd go pick it up. Joe and I thought maybe we'd misheard or that there was a Tony's Italian Corner or something similar near their home - the only Tony's we knew in Houston was THE Tony's, generally considered, as their tagline reads, Houston's top destination for innovative fine dining. No, sir, Todd did indeed regularly order pick-up from Tony's, and we enjoyed an absolutely wonderful top-shelf dinner at their home.

Flash forward to this week, when Joe is working 12-hour days and I'm confined to the house with an adorable newborn, and he and I have been subsisting on quickly-prepared sandwiches and frozen dinners and occasionally Jack in the Box. We decided it was time to have ourselves a little Date Night a la Todd. Thursday evening, Joe called in an order to our favorite high-end Woodlands restaurant, Hubbell & Hudson Bistro (aka H&H), home of awesome chef Austin Simmons. I think they were a bit confused - unlike the take-out boxes at Tony's, our entrees and appetizers came in cardboard boxes and clear soup containers - obviously they don't currently have a lot of regulars ordering take-out (but that all may change now!).

Thanks to a bit of a scheduling conflict (Ethan opted for an earlier dinner seating than I had planned) our fancy-pants Date Night consisted of Joe spoon-feeding me foie gras, pork belly, and ricotta ravioli, while I fed the little one. Incidentally, if you head to H&H for your own Date Night (either in person or in the comfort of your home), by all means try the ricotta ravioli. The sauce, a white soy orange reduction, is to die for. Like, put the plastic soup container to your lips and drink the sauce good. Everything else I ate was also fabulous, especially the foie gras, and I hear that Joe's strip steak and mushrooms and potatoes were tasty, as always. 

The accompanying bottle of wine (I saved my glass for after the baby-feeding - something about nursing with a wine glass in-hand felt wrong!) was perfect as well. 2009 Nice Malbec Reserve, courtesy of the nicest (sorry) and most talented sommeliers I know, Ryan Levy and Ian Eastveld of Nice Winery. Looking for a gift for the oenophile in your life? Check out their wine club!

Of course, the best part about in-home fine dining is that it gives us more time to look at the many faces of Ethan Scott...

first outdoor walk! he's so teensy in that stroller (and in newborn clothes)!