Oy Vey I'm full!

As I type this post I sit in my hotel room located on the corner of what must be the busiest intersection in America. I don't know if that is true or not, but I do know that it sure as hell sounds like it is true. I just returned from a wonderful dinner at one of my favorite restaurants while frequenting the Houston area, I've got the Colbert Report on in the background and am sitting here in my undies.

Take a moment...picture the scene. Feel better? I won't be offended if that mental picture doesn't help you sleep peacefully tonight.

Anyway there are two things that I always can expect to encounter when I come to Houston. First is my favorite restaurant, which happens to be Pappadeaux's. More on that later. The second is that Houston especially is full of, well, lets just come on out and say it. Fat people. There I said it.

Now when it comes to this particular subject, I am in no position to throw stones so I will try not to. While I have always noticed the cross section of larger folk when I travel south of the border (especially in Houston), this trip feels different. For some reason on this trip, I seem to have noticed it more in others, but have also noticed more in myself at the same time. I don't know why. Perhaps it had something to do with the very large Texan I found myself crammed next to in the plane on the way down. This guy was big and had some of the worst sleep apnea I have ever heard. I swear he died at least a dozen times beside me and all of a sudden he would snort back to life. Once again, my Bose Noise Cancelling headphones paid themselves off in spades. Maybe I'm a bit more sensitive to the subject just coming off of a week in the Caribbean surrounded by people that, with a few exceptions, were in pretty good shape (my wife included :)). I don't know what's behind my shift in perspective, all I know is that this time I really feel like I am one of those people and have decided to start to do something about it.

As of tomorrow morning I am going to make a commitment to myself to lose some weight and get back in shape. I'd make the commitment tonight, but you'll understand why that doesn't make any sense after what I had for supper.

So just to add a little twist of irony to the post, I thought I would start the first entry in what I hope to become a regular column about some of my favorite restaurants or meals. I always enjoy reading Alex's food exploits when he is in Vancouver so I figured I'd shamelessly steal his idea and do one of my own.

Every time I am in Houston I always try to eat at least once at a Pappadeaux. For those who don't know or have never been to one, it is a Cajun/Creole seafood restaurant chain that serves some mean, artery clogging seafood that really is to die for (and I probably will). I love this restaurant so much that it has been known to influence which airline that I choose when I fly to Houston. You see, Continental airlines happens to have a nice brand spanking new terminal in Houston which also happens to have a Pappadeaux in it. Air Canada flies into the old, shitty terminal in Houston that has a Chili's Express and that's about it.

Every time I go to the restaurant I get the same thing. What they called their "Orleans Fillet" and follow up with Creme Brule for dessert. The Orleans Fillet was a lovely piece of blackened Catfish smothered in a cajun crab/crawfish cream sauce, all sitting on a wonderful pillow of dirty rice. The Creme Brule is also to die for and no matter how full I am after dinner I can never resist the velvety seduction that is the Creme juxtaposed against the crunchy exctasy that is the Brulee. Note to self - inquire with Bon Appetit magazine if they would be interested in starting a food porn column and volunteer to write it. "Dear Bon Appetit, you will never guess what just happened to me....." End Note.

I refered to the main dish in the past tense because when I went tonight I was politely told that they do not have that on the menu anymore. Well after I got over the shock of having to order something else, I plowed in to the menu. Since tonight was going to be a departure from my regular fare, I decided to completely mix it up and start off with a pound of crawfish. I love crawfish and this place did not dissappoint. They used a wonderfully spicy broth to boil them all in and served them up in a seafood boil kinda style with some baby potatoes and corn on the cob. Needless to say, I sucked on a lot of heads tonight.

Moving on to the main course, I couldn't find it within myself to stray too far from my Orleans Fillet so I ordered something called their Ponchatrain Fillet. This was essentially is the same thing as what the Orleans fillet was except it used a brown butter sauce instead of the cream sauce. That's right, I had found the only way to make the Orleans Fillet more unhealthy. I upgraded from a cream sauce to a butter sauce. You know me...go big or go home. Or in this case, go home big. The Ponchatrain Fillet was also very good so hopefully they do not remove that from the menu anytime soon, I don't think I could handle the trauma. The only positive to come out of upgrading from a cream sauce to a butter sauce was that it was so rich that I could not possibly find it in me to get the Creme Brule. It may not sound like it, but for me that's kind of an important step. It's like a crack addict saying that he's so fucked up that he couldn't possibly take another hit. Some would say that's a sign that I've hit rock bottom, I prefer to look at it like I finally learned how to say "sorry, I'm too full" to the seductive mistress that is Ms. Brule.

There is hope for me afterall.

DC