I have been mostly disinterested in Cafe Annie for the last several years. The food just didn’t seem to get quite to the level of other top restaurants in Houston and the menu was getting long in the tooth. There are only so many times you can see "wood grilled this" and "pan roasted that" on the menu before falling sound asleep.
Lately, a couple of good lunches have made me wonder if I was just making poor menu choices or if perhaps Cafe Annie is going through a renaissance of sorts. To be clear, the menu is still way too formulaic, especially so at lunch, but the flavors are brighter and the more refined. Overall, the food seems to be at a much higher level than before. Or is it just me?
While the tortilla soup seemed perfectly average a bit less than a year ago, the mushroom soup with truffle croutons and the chilled potato with leeks and watercress I had recently were both exceptional. The potato soup today, served just a touch below room temperature over a chilled potatoes cubes, was delicate and perfectly balanced. A great spring dish. The mushroom soup a few months ago was just as good of a fit for winter - smooth, deeply flavored with actual mushrooms, rather than chicken broth and salt. Added bonus? The word "foraged" was nowhere to be found on the menu. How’s that for understated?
After striking out with lackluster entrees like buttermilk fried chicken salad, wood grilled shrimp with potato enchiladas and wood grilled skirt steak with yet more potato enchiladas (see the trend here?), I changed my strategy and started paying more attention to the daily specials instead. On both of my recent visits the specials was pan roasted sea bass, but they were served with sides and sauces interesting enough to make them stand out as distinct dishes. Both times the fish was simply prepared, with a perfectly crisp skin and very delicate texture. Reef offers a similar preparation with their Crispy Skin Snapper, but Cafe Annie seems to execute it with far more precision worthy of the acclaim the restaurant usually receives and maybe just a little beyond.
Another thing I have noticed recently (unless I just missed it before) is that every meal begins with an amuse. I know it’s not a big deal, but it’s a nice way to start anything. A good amuse bouche is the difference between a well thought out gift and a generic gift certificate - something selected for you by the chef that you might not otherwise order yourself.
The amuse for one of my lunch in February was the classic gulf crab tostada w/ avocado relish served on a single tortilla chip. Today it was a bite sized serving of shrimp wrapped around a green chile pepper served on a bed of creamy grits, which does not appear on the regular menu. I thought the shrimp was over seasoned for a split second, until I realized that I really should be eating the whole thing in one bite. After that, everything fell in it’s place.
Another sign Cafe Annie is heading in the right direction?
You are absolutely right about the formula. The other aspect of CA’s formula is to recycle old sauces and spices. You rarely see a CA menu that does not inlcude some cinnamon roasted (insert game bird) or coffee-crusted (insert steak or chop). Some might call those “signature” items. Others might call them tired.
One thing always impresses me about Cafe Annie — ingredient quality. I usually order at least one dish involving fowl because the quality is consistently outstanding.
I believe CA has been serving an amuse bouche for a few years, although that is a fairly recent — and welcome innovation. I hope you are right that CA is making other innovations.
Well, I wouldn’t necessary call them innovations just yet, but the execution seems better. I think its long overdue for Cafe Annie to raise it’s game to the level of acclaim it gets.
This person definitely liked her experience…http://eats.com/restaurants/texas/houston/cafe-annie-43889/details/, and that was about a year ago. Then again, Cafe Annie is kind of a “mom” spot.
here’s my recent review of bar annie: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/517932
i wouldn’t hesitate to eat at the bar again where i can pick and choose items from the bar menu and regular menu, but i may not dine in the dining room. i’d rather spend that kind of money at mark’s or da marco.
I have to admit, the whole Bar Annie thing confuses me. This is the bar at Cafe Annie that serves a separate side menu, but also allows you order from the main menu as well? No dress code, or roughly the same as in the restaurant itself? Walk in only?
I have seen the bar there, but always assumed it was part of the restaurant.