< Previous10 COASTMONTHLY.COM | SepTeMber 2023 I like food. I pore over menus before ever entering a restaurant. I plan elaborate, decadent meals while running or vacuuming, although rarely do I actually make them. I’m the guest who unabashedly hangs out in the kitchen at parties and eats. A lot. When I really like something, I hunt down the recipe like a blood hound. The most recent was an intoxicating chocolate cake with subtle hints of cinnamon. After several email exchanges, I scored that cake recipe. I made the cake and along the way some friends, who shared my obsession with it. Food, at least that chocolate cake, united us. In college, I briefly flirted with the idea of becoming a food writer. I was a disciple of M.F.K. Fisher, who wrote: “There is a communion of more than our bodies when bread is broken and wine drunk. It’s like religion. “If you have a glass of wa- ter and a crust of bread with someone and you really share it, it is much more than just bread and water. I really believe that.” I really believe that, too. Ruth Reichl, writing for Literary Hub, said Fisher was the first to write about food “as a way of understanding the world, and with ‘The Gastronomical Me’ she virtually invent- ed the food memoir.” I ate up everything Fisher ever wrote. Our September food issue is dedicated to that communion Fisher writes about and how restaurants build community like no other enterprises. Local was the theme here as we explored an emerging trend of restaurants and stores meet- ing a demand for foods and other products sourced from our own backyards. That trend goes beyond the many fresh seafood markets we enjoy on the upper Texas coast and includes coffee, honey, beer, liquor, produce and more. Locally sourced food doesn’t have to travel as far to arrive on our plates, which reduces greenhouse emissions. But it also supports local farmers and other producers. The emerging trend isn’t a perfect distribution system. Supply can be erratic and doesn’t always meet demand, restaurant owners tell us. Still, it’s a promising movement, as is the network of industry mentors you’ll read about. We also look at the rise of the supper club, as people seek like-minded foodies to share creative meals and com- panionship. And almost every small town has these — restaurants where locals gather after baseball or football games or where friends and family go to celebrate major milestones. Some are casual, some ele- gant, some both. But besides feeding people and econo- mies, what local restaurants have in common is their power to make us happier. It has long been known that people can form bonds by sharing food. In 2017, research from the University of Oxford revealed the more often people eat with others, the more likely they are to feel happy and satisfied with their lives. But in our harried world, we tend to eat on the run and alone, re- searchers found. As with all Coast Monthly editions, this one offers deli- cious recipes. We thank those who share them and our love of food. LAURA ELDER Coast Monthly editor FROM THE EDITOR FOOD AND FRIENDS MAKE THE WORLD GO ’ROUNDIS YOUR HOME MISBEHAVING? Perform a Forensic Review Mold | Moisture | Warped flooring | High humidity | HVAC failures | Odd smells Indoor health concerns | Contaminates | Staining | Water damage | Comfort issues Swollen trim | Building defects | Bad workmanship | Poor design | Mysteries "We had moisture and construction issues that NO one could solve or address - but Toner Home Matters DID. After diagnosing our issue, we followed the "prescription" we needed. We would venture to say that Toner Home Matters SAVED our home." SCHEDULE A CONSULTATION WWW.TONERHOMEMATTERS.COM Actual Google Review Find out what's wrong, why it happens, and what to do about itBLVD. Seafood. The staff is amazing and the food is delicious. Barbara Reid Falkenhagen Riondo’s. It’s a wonderful atmo- sphere for a date night — delicious food, beautiful restaurant and very great service. We also enjoy Rudy & Paco, always such a fabulous date night there! Leah Nicole Tovar Riondo’s with Chris Foster our favor- ite waiter. Excellent food, wonderful atmosphere and excellent service from all the waitstaff. Wanda Buttner Without a doubt Pier 6. Food is outstanding. Gladys Haak Fisherman’s Wharf. Good food, good view. Robert Darst Shearn’s Bar! Luis, Josh and Byron see Susan and I walk in and they “roll out the red carpet,” or should I say they begin shaking those marti- nis for us. Gorgeous sunset! Andrea Pieri Sunseri Shearn’s. Great cocktails. Great food. Great service. Great view. Favorite place on the island. Sandra Anderson Eggleston Leeland House Galveston is great for both. The whole staff is friendly, the food is delicious, the menu offers lots of options to share, and the ambience is perfect. We went last week on a double-date night before a show at Island ETC (East- End Theatre Company), and we are going this week with another couple who hasn’t been. We discovered it on a brunch date with a group of girlfriends … . Lindsey White On Cinco de Mayo, we discovered Vida Agave and have been in love with this little gem ever since. Such a fun, laid-back atmosphere. Unique menu, super-fresh food, eye-catching presentations. The frozen margaritas are the best. We always sit at the bar where the service is spot-on. We are making it our Taco Tuesday date day each week! Angela K. Escue For happy hour and bar bites, we love Saltwater Grill and Riondo’s Ristorante, but for a real special oc- casion, it’s hard to beat Vargas Cut & Catch. From the minute you enter the restaurant until you finish eating, you are treated like VIPs. And the food is wonderful! Karen Barbier T-Bone Tom’s in Kemah! Local friends and family, visiting with all. Helen Pausewang Vargas Cut & Catch. Service, food, ambience — all tops in Galveston. Always a special evening. Leona Pleasant I love the Porch Cafe! The food is excellent and decor and ambience is relaxed yet island upscale. Per- fectly relaxed for a date night. Marcy Hanson Sonny’s with friends and fans after watching the Ball High Tors under the Friday night lights. Football, friends and french fries. It’s a tradition! Margie Peters Kusnerik Sky Bar has an amazing happy hour and spring rolls! Christine Abel Salsa’s on Wednesday and Sunday nights for mariachi music. Taylor Aiken We always enjoy Marais in Dickin- son. The atmosphere is awesome, service is excellent! Getting to try different items on the menu. Re- minds me of Clary’s Restaurant. Angela Milburn-Thomas Saltwater Grill! Great food/drinks/ weekly happy hour! Oh, and the weekly specials are to die for! And the service! The best! Jacki Hart Definitely Marais. Food is always delicious and the atmosphere is super romantic. Amanda Rubach Number 13 by boat on a Sunday af- ternoon. Beautiful sunset, great small bites and a relaxing ride home. Elizabeth Urbani Kinard We really enjoy Katie’s for the food, service and view on our date night and fun get-togethers. Jerry Jackson 12 COASTMONTHLY.COM | SEPTEMBER 2023 SHORELINES WE ASKED ON FACEBOOK: What’s your favorite local restaurant for a date night or friends gathering and what makes it your favorite? Riondo’s Ristorante in Galveston is a popular date-night restaurant, and its eggplant tower with “Riondo Mozz” and zucchini zoodles is a favorite dish. FILE PHOTO: JENNIFER REYNOLDSLeading Orthopedic Care to KEEP YOU MOVING Same-day appointments for injuries. Schedule an appointment: houstonmethodist.org/sportsmed . . Our sports medicine specialists can help keep your body in motion. At Houston Methodist Orthopedics & Sports Medicine, we know every movement matters. Our board-certifi ed sports medicine specialists offer: • The latest imaging and technology • Advanced nonsurgical treatments • Minimally invasive procedures • State-of-the-art physical and occupational therapy Whether you’re suffering from simple aches and pains or dealing with a complex injury, we can get you back on your feet — and keep you moving. 20+ convenient locations across Greater Houston Houston Methodist Orthopedics & Sports Medicine Houston Methodist Orthopedic Injury Clinic — offering same-day care 45 528 146 League City 96 Pasadena NASA PKWY. BAY AREA BLVD. CLEAR LAKE CITY BLVD. FAIRMONT PKWY. Clear Lake14 COASTMONTHLY.COM | SepTeMber 2023 An oven-roasted red snapper from Katie’s Seafood Market in Galveston makes for a fresh, easy dinner. J e NNIF er re YNOLDS COASTMONTHLY.COM | SepTeMber 2023 15 FEATURE ‘A FOOD REVOLUTION’ Restaurants, retailers meet insatiable hunger for locally sourced foods story by MICHELLE LEIGH SMITH A growing movement among consumers to eat food grown and harvested locally has taken firm root on the upper Texas coast and restaurants and retailers are responding, even launching businesses to meet the demand. Area consumers long have had the luxury of fresh seafood markets and wouldn’t dream of buying shrimp, snapper or oysters anywhere else. “If it doesn’t come out of the Gulf of Mexico on one of our boats by our fish- ermen, I’m not allowed to sell it,” Katie’s Seafood House General Manager Brett Otteman said. Katie’s Seafood House in Galveston, a waterfront restaurant, serves what it and local fisher- men catch at Katie’s Seafood Market on Pier 19, also owned by Buddy Guindon and family. Most of Katie’s Seafood Market’s products — including red snapper, grouper, flounder, oys- ters, shrimp and blue crabs — come from local fishermen and shrimpers, with the mission of supporting the local economy, Guindon has said. But the local food movement sprouting on the upper Texas coast goes beyond seafood and in some ways returns the distribution and supply system to much of what it was before giants like Sysco Foods changed the world and the economy.16 COASTMONTHLY.COM | SepTeMber 2023 FEATURE A MOM’S MISSION Chasity Gibson this year opened Galves- ton neighborhood store Mom’s Farm to Ta- ble, 1127 Postoffice St., where all food items are locally sourced. The coffee is grown elsewhere, but her neighbor Matt Radosz roasts Colombian beans on the island and hand delivers them to the store. Gibson partners with local farmers and produce suppliers such as Seeding Galves- ton, Galveston Greens and Daphodill Farms, among others. Farm baskets of eggplant, okra, squash, peppers and fat, juicy tomatoes grace Gib- son’s grandmother’s oak table at the shop. Once school starts, guests will sit at that table for Saturday night suppers, dining on fare prepared by local guest chefs. “We are a neighborhood grocery store, building community around locally sourced and organic produce and homemade prod- ucts,” Gibson said. “Our mission to impact our local economy is grounded in a vision to educate people on the importance of how their food is made and where it comes from. I hope to inspire others, start a food revolu- tion, and create new distribution channels for our local farmers and ranchers.” Gibson comes from a long line of ranchers and farmers in northeast Texas and her par- ents and grandparents always had fresh food on the table, she said. “I was a growth strategist for over a de- cade,” she said. “But I started to crave home and the slower, simpler way of life I was raised in. “I made the decision to make my way back to my family’s lifestyle, working with Texas farmers and ranchers.” Vegetables arrive from Daphne Bicaise of Daphodill Farms or Galveston Greens, a culinary venture led by Chef Brian Peper, creator of gourmet salads. Sweets are from local Chef Mary Bass and the pies often are Gibson’s own from the residential kitchen in the back of the store. The way Gibson supports local farmers and other business owners is reminiscent of a time when the hospitality industry on the island and upper Texas coast was quite small. Shop owners shared resources and worked together. Before faxes and cell phones, business was conducted via face-to- face conversation. (From top) Chasity Gibson owns Mom’s Farm to Table, a market dedicated to providing fresh produce and arti- san-crafted food and goods, in Galveston; Daphne Bicaise, with Daphodill Farm in Magnolia, sets out bundles of long beans for customers at Galveston’s Own Farmers Market. (Opposite) Fresh produce at Mom’s Farm to Table. J e NNIF er re YNOLDS STUA r T VILLANU e VASTUArT VILLANUeVA18 COASTMONTHLY.COM | SepTeMber 2023 FEATURE GROWING PAINS Island native Mike Dean can remember days when fishermen would drive up in pickups to de- liver their catches to restaurants, a practice likely not legal anymore. Dean is president of Yaga’s En- tertainment and Island Holdings, which includes Yaga’s Cafe, Tsuna- mi Exotic Tequila Emporium, Float Pool and Patio Bar, Beerfoot Brew- ery, Ohana Surf & Skate and BLVD. Seafood, and produces several festivals in Galveston each year. He has seen a new demand for more locally sourced foods, but the movement isn’t without its challenges. Beef nearly is impossible because local cattle ranchers are in short sup- ply, he said. And sourcing produce can be hit or miss. A restaurant like Yaga’s Cafe, 2314 Strand, can go through 300 pounds of vegetables a day, he said. He buys produce when he can from local suppliers, but often the supply is erratic. Island soil and land restrictions aren’t conducive to large crop yields of anything. Once, Dean bought car- rots from a local produce supplier. But when he ordered more car- rots, the producer could offer only zucchini, which wasn’t what Dean’s restaurants needed. Smaller restaurants with flexible menus might be able to more easily support local produce suppliers because they can adapt daily dishes to ingredients that are available, Dean said. Dean, who supports Froberg’s Farm in Alvin, sees the rising con- sumer demand for locally sourced food, he said. Although locally sourcing some foods is challenging, local seafood is easy, Dean said. “We get our seafood from the Galveston Shrimp Co. and Katie’s; that way, it doesn’t have to hit the freezer,” Dean said. TIDE TO TABLE Nick Gaido, president of Gaido’s Seafood Restaurant, 3802 Seawall Blvd. in Galveston, has noticed a dis- tinct uptick in consumers requesting local menu options. Gaido’s orders shrimp locally and oysters in season, he said. FIL e p HOTO: STUA r T VILLANU e VA Samuel Grocholski serves up grilled oysters and stuffed crab claws at Pier 6 Seafood and Oyster House in San Leon.Fresh red snapper on ice at Katie’s Seafood Market in Galveston. STUArT VILLANUeVANext >