Powered by immigration and innovation, Houston is as flavorful as ever.
Is there anything sadder than missing your first dinner in a new city because your plane was delayed? Well, yes, but I had been looking forward to starting at the South Asian emporium Aga’s like a mountaineer awaiting a blessing from the right kind of weather. And not because the Houston Chronicle had just named it the best restaurant in the city. “This is the only place in Houston I’d ever go for Pakistani cuisine,” a Pakistani acquaintance had insisted. “Apologies if you’re vegan.”
I clutched a note listing his favorites as my Uber hurtled through Houston’s vast web of highways. The city is huge. It was New Year’s Day, and service was set to conclude in 30 minutes. I had gory visions of arriving to dining chairs being turned up over tables. Instead I encountered 700 still-aspiring diners milling outside and servers sprinting by with giant trays of mango lassi with the consistency of molasses.
And that is how I ended up having my goat seekh kebab and chicken kali mirch karahi as takeout on the benches outside Vishala Grocery next door, staring at an Office Depot. The South Asian families who wandered by cast approving nods at my to-go containers. Surely, they were veterans of similar circumstances…