3 HRW Alternatives
3 Houston restaurants dish out new charitable promotions for generous diners
Houston Restaurant Weeks may be the most prominent charity dining event taking place during August, but it isn't the only one. Three Houston restaurants have used the charitable feelings created by HRW to launch their own events that support equally worthy causes.
Kenny & Ziggy's chef-owner Ziggy Gruber has recruited some of the country's most prominent delis to participate in National Deli Month. Similar to HRW, each participating establishment offers a prix-fixe menu that includes some of the restaurant's most popular items. Locally, Kenny & Ziggy's will donate 10 percent from each three-course, $45 menu to the Holocaust Museum Houston.
The available selections feature a number of Gruber's signature dishes. Appetizer options include chopped chicken liver, matzo ball soup, and knish, which is puff pastry stuffed with potato, spinach or kasha. Entrees, which include a choice of one or two sides, include Eastern European specialities such as Hungarian goulash and Roumanian steak, as well as classic Jewish brisket with a potato latke. Finish with one of three desserts.
At The Union Kitchen, August is the "Month of Gr8 Giving." Each of the restaurant's five Houston-area locations will serve a three-course, $22 lunch menu and a three-course, $35 dinner menu that will prompt donations of $2 and $4 respectively to Casa de Esperanza. Long supported by Union Kitchen owners Doris and Paul Miller, Casa de Esperanza is a local non-profit that "provides safety, hope, and a home to children whose families are affected by domestic violence, substance abuse, poverty, homelessness and mental illness,' according to its website.
Choices on the lunch menu include mango shrimp egg rolls, seafood chowder, chimichurri steak sandwich, and herb-crusted chicken tortellini. At dinner, look for selections such as roasted vegetable bruschetta, pecan-crusted flounder, and a surf and turf of grilled Gulf shrimp with pepper-crusted filet medallions. In additions, diners will receive a free order of beignets when they donate items such as diapers, baby wipes, baby food, or toys (newborn to 3 months).
In River Oaks, Frank's Americana Revival is celebrating an "Italian Summer Holiday" with a three-course, $49 dinner menu of Italian-inspired dishes (also available at lunch without dessert for $39). The restaurant will donate $5 from each meal sold to No Kid Hungry, a nationwide program that aims to end childhood hunger.
"I have been personally involved with No Kid Hungry for more than 20 years," Frank's owner Michael Shine said in a statement. "My family and I have a tremendous passion for kids, and we believe working to end childhood hunger is extremely important."
The four appetizer choices include fried calamari and meatballs made with a mixture of pork and beef. The three entree choices consist of gnocchi marinara, pork chop milanese, and smoked salmon pasta. For dessert, select either strawberry rhubarb sorbet or apple crostata with vanilla bean ice cream.
