boyz n the hood

can you believe that movie came out in 1991? it seems like i just saw it in the theater, well, not just yesterday. so the norcal kids (andrew, paul, and steve) came out to visit me in houston this wknd. it sounded like the best experiences for them were the food and treasures.

we started by going to benjy's in the village on friday night. it's a trendy place for american fare and cocktails and a decent place to people watch. there were 10 of us at dinner, i invited a few ladies out with us. paul started with a salad and tuna egg rolls, steve had the tuna tartar, andrew and i munched on flatbread and calamari. then paul and steve each had the steak and fries and andrew and i split the steak and fries and seared scallops. pretty good really altho our steak was just a tad undercooked, no biggy. for dessert they brought out two big ass servings of chocolate bread pudding. i think it was just normal bread pudding with chunks of melted chocolate in it with a side of whopper malted milk ball ice cream. i don't usually get into bread pudding but this shit was good. afterwards we went to some warehouse party hosted by a houston magazine and then to this lounge in midtown. both were fairly forgettable.

saturday morning we all played in a sand volleyball tournament, andrew and paul in the aa division and steve and i in a/bb division. as expected they won their division and we won a game. the weather was beautiful, sunny and in the 70's, and there were these brazilian twins that were quite talented and lovely. steve had his eye on this really tan asian gal in the green bikini and big white sunglasses. she had some chinese characters tattooed on her upper back that looked like you or i might have done it. in other words, not so artistic. the characters were arranged in a circle about the size of a coaster, i think it translated to "put your beer here". we left the tournament at 6pm, our reservations at fogo de chao were at 7pm. i called and tried to push our reservation back but it wasn't possible. that meant we had to go chow in shorts, sweats, flip flops, and covered in sand. fine with us really. the food there was great, if not overwhelming. 15 different types of grilled meats including steak, chicken, pork, and lamb. the salad bar was amazing too! at the end of dinner andrew decides that he needed a laxative to move all that meat along and pours cream for his coffee into his ice water. this lactose intolerant fool claims it tasted good too. we also got into the discussion of dogs in the tub. not for the squeamish: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Dogs+in+the+Tub.

we get home, wash up, and try to get some rest before heading out again. i was upstairs trying to nap but i kept hearing them crack up while watching "anacondas: the hunt for the blood orchid". at 11:30pm we head out to treasures, andrew kept reminding us what the garlic beef we just ate smelled like. as we're pulling into the parking lot we see an ambulance and about 6 cop cars, maybe more, out front. this doesn't really deter us. we see them carting out an entertainer with a sling around her right arm, maybe she fell off the stage or something. anyhow, i spent some time with "the teacher" (tan lines rule!), steve was with an asian gal, paul was with a latin american gal, and i'm not sure who neo was with, maybe donyell marshall. at 2am they serve hot food there so there's really no reason to leave. nonetheless, we did.

sunday was pretty slow. we left the house at 1pm and ate lunch at pappadeaux, which made me hate nola's in palo alto. it's a cajun seafood joint that has some tasty food and big portions. we started with 4 pounds of boiled crawfish with some new potatoes and corn thrown in. it was so good that after all the crawfish was gone we were soaking the potatoes in the seasoning and oil at the bottom the tray and throwing that down. then came the freshly tossed (hawman) greek salad and the crawfish bisque and sausage and seafood gumbo. for entrees we had some fried oysters, crawfish ettoufee, and the blackened opelousas. the latter is an 11-13 ounce farm raised redfish filet blacked with cajun spices, topped with shrimp, crabmeat, and oysters in a lemon garlic butter sauce and served with a side of dirty rice. the sad thing is i remember all of this because i was a waiter here back in college. for dessert we had creme brulee topped with berries and this mason jar filled with banana pudding, crushed vanilla wafers, and topped with fresh whipped cream. again, good shit. afterwards i drove them thru memorial park and river oaks. we got back to the crib at 3:30 in the afternoon, which meant 3.5 hours until dinner.

after watching "alien vs. predator" we left for the airport. on the way we stopped at hickory hollow for a little snack. steve got this loaded baked potato topped with chopped beef. i kid you not, this thing was bigger than his head. steve's got a small melon but still... andrew and i split the cowgirl special, which was the chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, and salad. paul got a combo of bbq chicken, beef brisket, chicken fried steak, potato salad, and salad. this place was about a mile from the crib, i think the fellas would have preferred eating here instead of benjy's friday night.

all in all, it was a fun and relaxing weekend. next time they're back, more food and treasures. i'm not going to eat meat for a week.