[Houston] Spec's Cheese Tasting

[fifi]

I just found out about this and decided to go at the last minute. The last day was Saturday Sept 18 from 11:00 to 7:00: The Downtown Spec's, 2410 Smith Street, is holding The First Annual Cheese Festival. There are over 800 cheeses featured. Apparantly, wine and beers are also on offer. I have been invited by the manager to cover it. (My sister knows the chef and the manager for Spec's.) There are demonstrations from Rainbow Lodge at 11:00 and another for Wolfgang Puck's local chef at 1:00, another demo at 3:00 that we don't know about yet. I don't know if I will hold out that long anyway.

I also think it would be interesting to cover it with an eye to next year.

Stay tuned for a report... with pictures.

(Oh dear... That means that I am going to have to figure out the new ImageGullet.)

Edited February 6, 2006 by fifi (log)

[fifi]

Well... That was more fun than I expected. I have beaten ImageGullet into submission so here goes. I look at this as a photo essay since, while I love cheese, I am certainly no expert and would look pretty silly trying to critique any specific offering. My goal was to try to capture a bit of the atmosphere of the place and the event. Perhaps next year we could have someone that actually knows what they are doing with cheese attend and report on the specifics.

First a little about Spec's. If you are new to Houston you may not know about this Houston institution. And, if you are like a lot of us suburbanites, you shop at your local Spec's and haven't been to the "home store" on Smith Street in downtown (well... what we now call Mid Town) for a while. This place is so big, they had to build a parking garage! I love the developing topiary of the trademark Spec's rabbit.

First, I have to thank my gracious hosts, Manager Ryan Holder and Chef and Deli Manager, Jeff Lake. Jeff was especially helpful and may be my "new best friend".

[off topic fashion statement] I had to take note of the pants. Yes, Fat Guy, he also has the fish pants. He only wears these pants on Saturday. All other days he is dressed in a subdued and sophisticated all black ensemble. No, there are no pearls. The purple bandana was chosen in honor of the beauty of the eggplants in the produce section. [/end of off topic fashion statement]

Next we need to get with Jose. This is the man to go to about cheese.

And now a little about how this works. There are two long displays set up here. There is another long set up in another part of the store. You circulate around tasting as you go. There are some opportunities to taste wine, beer and cordials spotted around. There was a Boar's Head tasting table in the deli. I really like the Boar's Head horseradish cheddar.

Just to give you an idea of the variety of cheese that Spec's carries, here is one of three cheese cases.

Then there is a special case of Jeff's favorites.

He is particularly fond of this Carr Valley cheddar. He has compared it to the best from England and says it is as good as the best.

The next "best thing" of this do is the chef tastings. Guest chefs cook up something and you get a bite. The first one I encountered on Saturday was Chef Matt Maroni from Rainbow Lodge. If you haven't been there, you have missed a unique experience. Years ago, on my first visit, I was shocked to find that my beloved pediatrician, Dr. John Collier, built the original part of it as his home. Meet Matt...

He prepared this alarmingly delicious potato gnocchi with morels and pecorino di fasso.

A little later on, Chef Ben Hager from our new Wolfgang Puck's Express made an appearance. Our location hasn't made it to the web site yet but it is on Westheimer in the Carillon shopping center.

He prepared this lovely salad using baby spinach and radichio with gorgonzola, caramelized pecans and the house sherry vinaigrette. As you can see, he was making it as fast as he could. He also kept running out of spinach. As I would go by, he would say "If you see Jeff, I need more spinach." He was in a constant spinach crisis because the hungry masses couldn't get enough.

And now for a bit of "wow". This custom made cheddar weighs 2000 pounds. Yes... When they say they have "a ton of cheddar" they really mean it.

Our friend was slicing as fast as he could to feed the crowd. It was quite good, by the way.

The other wow factor was possibly the biggest provolone on the planet. We are talking 600 pounds here.

I have to say that it is also a memorable cheese. They were slicing some of it for sampling.

I wonder how much Parmesan-Bucks are tied up in this display?

Actually, Spec's prices are amazing. The Parm in the case was $10+ a pound. I remember that we have a thread here somewhere about the various Parms but I can't find it. I may need to have a discussion with Jose.

And now to my favorite find of the day. I did not know that this cheese maker was in our neighborhood. Check this out.

I spoke with James Keliehor, the Operations Manager, at some length. They have three brands: Jaimito Mexican style cheeses, Lone Star Farmstead Texas Goat Cheeses, and Texas Fresh Mozzarella. And they have goat's milk.

James may be the Operations Manager, but I think these gals are the Production Managers.

They do tours of the operation and that sounds like a good idea to me. Do check out the web site linked above. It is very well done.

And now that we have had our fill of cheese, I will go slightly off topic to some other fun things that I found. First we have to get a glass for some bubbly to keep our thirst quenched while wandering around.

Ummm... That is Baccarat. The $320 is each. Not a set of 8. Oh... but if you pay cash it is $304. Such a deal! You could even gleefully throw one into the fireplace at that price.

Since we have images of whole pigs brining in bathtubs, I couldn't resist this. (Ummm... the pigs probably taste better.)

The olive bar is just incredible. Just the thing to nibble with your cheese.

Now this is funny. The packs of foie gras at $100+ per pack nestled in the freezer case next to Tyson. Well... ok... they are rock cornish hens.

And last, but not least, and just for Mayhaw Man... there was this big display of this questionable condiment.

Guys... This was fun. We need to keep our eyes open for next year's event. Spec's on Smith Street is a fun place to go. I did my shopping to get my supply of goose fat, dried porcini, Mexican and Venezuelan chocolate, and a few bottles of wine. The prices can't be beat.

Oh... I almost forgot. The deli makes sandwiches and such and there are tables up front where you can hang out and munch. I had an outstanding chicken salad sandwich with crisp bacon and lettuce. This place is a trip. I didn't go into it but the focus of their market is wine and spirits. The selection and prices will blow you away. The fine food is a fortunate sideline that is incredibly well done. Go there.

[Mayhaw Man]

A smoky ham sandwich with sliced pickled okra and a stinky blue cheese on some decent crusty bread is a fine thing . That is some particularly good looking pickled okra. I have never seen that brand.

I love Spec's. When I was living in the Heights (long time ago) I used to go there all of the time, although it looks like they might have cleaned up the neighborhood in the last 20 years.

Nice work. Such sacrifice for eGullet! Admirable.

[jess mebane]

Miz LaRose, those are Photos great enough to make a body hop in the car and head east right this minute! God, I love Spec's! Nothing says Happy Holidays in Houston like a trip downtown to Spec's. Geemahnee!

[Richard Kilgore]

Wow! Linda. Very nice photo essay. Houston is fortunate to have Spec's.

How many jars of okra did you pick up?

[Kevin72]

Great pics and write-up.

For the love of God, someone talk the powers that be at Spec's into opening a Dallas branch, stat!

[fifi]

Thanks for bringing up the Holiday Experience, jess. Yes... It is truly amazing. I haven't done that in a couple of years. With the remodel of the previously odd collection of ramshackle buildings into the "palace of indulgence" that you see today, I just might have to reprise that tradition.

Brooks, you wouldn't know the old neighborhood. The whole area between downtown and the medical center is now dubbed Mid Town. I always wondered why that prime real estate was such a mess. The old Spec's fit right in. A few years ago, some folks came up with a "vision", got tax incentives, and BOOM! There is a lot of medium to high density residential being built so that may have helped make the expansion and renovation of Spec's economically feasible. That may have had something to do with the expansion of their food offerings. They even have a produce section. Beautiful stuff and CHEAP! If you are a Mid Town resident, you can go to the new Randall's about two blocks away for the staples and pop into Spec's for the wine and good stuff. The local customer base continues to build and it still retains its status as a "stop off" for office drones headed out of downtown for the 'burbs.

No... I didn't buy the pickled okra. But I do have suspicions about what was in my sister's cart.

[FoodMan]

OH MY GOD!!! This has to be heaven. Many thanks for the pics and I cannot believe I missed this :mad:.

I have not been to this location in a couple of years...I definitly have to head over there soon.

Elie

[memesuze]

I'm heading to Houston next month for two hearings - now I know where to hit on the way back to Hobby - Thanks, fifi....

[fifi]

I'm heading to Houston next month for two hearings - now I know where to hit on the way back to Hobby - Thanks, fifi....

←

Bring a big suitcase.

[Dignan]

Nice report, fifi, and great pictures. Thanks! I wish I had known about it. I enjoy just wandering around Spec's, searching the shelves and cases for oddities....

Edited September 21, 2004 by Dignan (log)

[fifi]

One of these days I am going to take some time and really wander the food shelves. I am sure I will find some "discoveries". Oddly enough, I have never done that. I am usually after specific things and just beeline to those things and exit stage left. I am sure there are a lot of goodies that I have missed.