Drink Up

A new Houston cocktail quest turns drinking into a very good deed

Houstonians love eating for charity. Consider that, during the month of August, enough people participated in Houston Restaurant Weeks to raise more than $1.2 million for the Houston Food Bank. We love drinking for charity, too.

Just look at the ever-increasing monthly donations made possible by patrons of the Original OKRA Charity Saloon.

The syrup combines cinnamon, allspice, clove and star anise to give the Rotterdam a sweet, spicy flavor that's perfect for fall.

This month one of Houston's most beloved art institutions, The Orange Show Center for Visionary Art, get in on the charity drinking movement with the Falliday Cocktail Quest. Through the months of November and December, order a Rotterdam Falliday at a number of bars around town, including Lowbrow, Goro & Gun and Grand Prize, and a portion of the proceeds will benefit The Orange Show.

What is a Rotterdam Falliday?

Developed by Grand Prize/Bad News Bar/Goro & Gun co-owner Ryan Rouse, the drink combines Deep Eddy vodka, fresh lemon juice and G&G Aromatic syrup developed by Goro & Gun bar manager Alexander Gregg. The syrup combines cinnamon, allspice, clove and star anise to give the Rotterdam a sweet, spicy flavor that's perfect for fall.

At a tasting at the CultureMap office, everyone who tried the drink liked it, with a few staffers going back for seconds. At work. It's pretty addictive.

To promote the cause, the Quest has hooked in with the Free Press New Year's Eve concert. Every week, a bar will host an event to promote the Rotterdam and give away tickets to FPNYE. Check the Falliday Events website for times and locations.

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better than blini

Houston pizzeria unveils indulgent caviar pizza for the holiday season

Courtesy of Pizaro's Pizza

Get the Holiday Decadence pizza through the end of December.

One of Houston’s most well-regarded pizzerias is giving diners a way to splurge this holiday season. For a limited time only, Pizaro’s Pizza is topping one of its Neapolitan-style pies with caviar.

Called the Holiday Decadence, it’s a personal-sized, 8-inch, Neapolitan-style pizza topped simply with Pizaro’s housemade mozzarella cheese and seasoned with a little furikake. Alongside, the restaurant provides diners with lemon zest crème fraîche, a small bottle of prosecco, and a one-ounce jar of paddlefish caviar from Houston’s DR Delicacy. Priced at $59, it’s either an indulgent treat for one person or an extravagant appetizer for two.

Pizaro’s co-owner Nicole Bean tells CultureMap she sees the new pizza as an improvement on the caviar special the restaurant tried two years ago, which used its thicker, Detroit-style pizza.

“This year, we simplified things,” she says. “We made it more affordable. We added more caviar. The feature is the caviar, focusing on having a whole, one-ounce container either for yourself or to share with one other person.”

In this configuration, the pizza crust essentially serves as an oversized blini, with the furikake boosting the caviar’s oceanic flavors. Serving the caviar in the jar allows diners to add as much or as little to the pizza as they want. Introduced last week, Bean says the restaurant hasn’t sold that many caviar pizzas yet, but that doesn’t surprise her.

“People are a little hesitant with it being caviar and the $60 price point,” she says. “It’s not for everybody. It’s for people who are curious and want to try it or really love caviar and want to try it every way they can.”

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The restaurant always uses its monthly specials to experiment beyond familiar toppings like pepperoni and mushroom. Next month, Bean and her brother, co-owner Matt Hutchinson, will present dueling pies — his topped with crispy prosciutto, sautéed onions, and balsamic drizzle and hers a simple tomato pie, anchovies optional but strongly encouraged.

“The fun thing about pizza is you can literally do anything with it,” Bean says. “I want people to try different things on pizza. It can be decadent. It can be upscale. It can be fresh and new.”

The Holiday Decadence is available at both Pizaro’s locations through December 31. Find more details at the Pizaro’s Pizza website.

news-you-can-eat pizza caviar