By Jim Ayres  I always thought, and still do, that Hugo’s on Westheimer has the most decadent weekend brunch in town. Buffet tables surround the vibrant dining room, overflowing with Chef Hugo Ortega’s succulence.  But my recent birthday dinner proved there’s more to Hugo’s than a splurge-y hangover cure. Hugo’s is highly popular any time

By Jim Ayres Happy November, MONTROSE STAR readers! Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays and I hope you all will have a nice and filling one.  A friend and I recently stopped into Dish Society’s Heights location. And I loved it so much I went to their San Felipe location for breakfast two days

By Jim Ayres Why am I writing this month’s Foodie Diary so far ahead of deadline? I’m having a moment over this evening’s restaurant and don’t want to forget the details or the food, gruesome as they were.  Disclosure: I did write my first draft that night. But my sharp fingertips kept calling me back. 

By Jim Ayres I had a most triumphant Sunday “brunch†recently at a place called Hungry Like the Wolf. If you suddenly hear Duran Duran playing their biggest hit from their biggest album, Rio, it’s no coincidence. Hungry Like the Wolf is Houston’s only 1980s-themed diner and bar. It serves deadly legit breakfast (and lunch

By Jim Ayres The night I visited Hamsa was the night I fell in love.  Not with my dining companion (it wasn’t a date.) And not with anyone else. It was with this jewel of an Israeli restaurant, its ambiance and charming service, and amazingly good food.  You’ll find Hamsa on that storied block of

By Jim Ayres Did you miss me? I certainly missed you, STAR readers.   Mobility issues have kept me homebound for a few months, but miracles happen and I’m on the prowl again for restaurants I think you’ll want to know about.  This month, I’m easing into it. Do you, like me, have days when you’ve

By Jim Ayres  If you work from home (as I do), you may only have a fleeting knowledge that the height of summer is upon us. It’s hot and humid out there, so it’s time to dive into crisp, refreshing salads. Here are four of my favorite salads in the Houston area.  Italian Family Salad

By Jim Ayres  Indian cuisine is so fragrantly comforting. To find it so fresh, so full of spice and care and love, in a quiet inner-loop spot is a joyful discovery.  This was a dinner I’d been looking forward to for ages. My friend Bill raves about Surya and has taken several friends there. This

By Jim Ayres  Marmo, in the new Montrose Collective mixed-use development on Lower Westheimer at Grant, is quite a pleasant, sunny L.A.-style restaurant. Once they tighten a few screws, it will become a great one.  Marmo’s website calls it an “…Italian chophouse concept. Marmo, meaning ‘marble’ in Italian, features fresh hand-rolled pastas, house-made charcuterie, and

By Jim Ayres  After a particularly dull (if I’m being nice) meal at a Houston institution, I’m warming like the weather to one of Houston’s newer, healthier dining options.   Let me get the bad out of the way. Before trying to curate three different health-related diets into one I can manage, I decided to splurge