April Beginnings and Evens

NOTE:  THIS WAS AN APRIL FOOL'S DAY PRANK COLUMN.  THE ONE POSTED THE NEXT DAY WAS THE REAL DEAL.  SORRY IF I OFFENDED ANYONE.  

Greetings Readers!  April has begun and there is no shortage of things for this Foodie Professor to talk about.  So let's get started:

Chef Rob Feenie of
Cactus Club Café

1. Cactus Club Café opens in Houston, TX.  

That's right Houston Foodies!  The Vancouver, BC headquartered high end West Coast Asian European Fusion "House of Yes" has taken over a spot near Westpark and the Sam Houston Tollway and will be opening it's doors this month.  Celebrity Top Chef Rob Feenie of Vancouver, BC is very excited to be opening in the Bayou City.

"I realize it seems odd to have a location so far from our main cluster of restaurants.  However, Houston is home to a number of wonderful restaurants, close to many great farm and seafood sources, and has a very strong food culture.  The fit is perfect and with such great food bloggers as Hank on Food, HTown Chow Down, Jack Tyler Dines and Dude, are you going to Eat That?, I expect our opening will be as big, if not bigger than Uchi was just a few months ago."

Three of my Cactus Club Café favourites:
Four Mushroom sirloin, with Asparagus;
Prawn-Scallop Spaghettini;
White Chocolate Cheesecake

As a huge fan of Cactus Club Café (I go to the Burnaby-Kingsway location every year I visit Vancouver, and have every intention of visiting the English Bay location this Summer), this could not be more welcome news.  As a huge fan of their 4 mushroom sirloin steak, their signature Caesar cocktail, Rob's Flatbread, and  their White Chocolate Cheesecake, among other dishes, this is very welcome news.

Chef Feenie has also indicated that they are developing special Houston-only items for the Westchase location which will be all locally sourced and "reflect the culinary and cultural diversity that is Houston, Texas."  I expect some Southern, Pan-Asian, Latin and Cajun fusion will be served up deliciously.

Prior to their official grand opening date (not finalized yet), a Media Event will take place (I've been invited along with other Houston Foodbloggers, local media, etc.) to taste many of their dishes and provide a preview of Houston's House of Yes.  Rest assured, I will probably be there and will need to exercise every day for a month to work it off.

2. Pink Slime Protest Goes to the Dogs

That does NOT look appetizing

After the protests by consumers successfully got many chains of grocery stores and burger joints to remove Finely Textured Ammoniated Lean Beef (a/k/a Pink Slime) from ground beef, apparently Pet owners are protesting its inclusion in pet food.  According to the USDA, Pink Slime was from cuts of beef that was largely used in dog and cat food.  However, if legions of Dog Owners and members of PETA have their way, it will no longer be included in Animal Food as well.

A large number of dogs, cats, parakeets, a ferret, some hamsters and  a whole herd of Guinea Pigs protested outside several plants that process canned dog food around the country this morning.  They carried signs such as "Woof means No Pink Slime in my Food!!!" and "If you put pink slime in my canned food, I'll use your legs as a Scratching Post!!"  Right now executives at Alpo, Purina and Hartz have been strangely silent.  IAMs has gone on record, however, that they've never used ammonia treated beef in their dog food and never will.

From where I sit, it looks like Alpo will only include meat and no more meat byproducts in its canned food, which is probably for the best.

3. Upcoming Events


I'm planning on taking things down a notch in order to save money.  Rather than review high end limited chains and great local places, this month I'm going to focus only on the cheap big guys out there.  I'm going to review several school cafeterias, several grocery store delis, nationwide chain buffets and new dishes at Denny's.  I realize that's a major departure from my usual M.O., but sooner or later, cash gets tight and the only way to keep this blog going is to downgrade.

Sorry folks. Times are tough and I need to economize as much as the next guy.

4.  One last note

APRIL FRIGGING FOOLS FROM HANK ON FOOD!!!!
And remember:


Eat Happy, not Crappy Y'all!!!