Let's get snacky

This new Heights happy hour is pretty sweet

Shortly after a new bar or restaurant opens, a happy hour menu soon follows. It makes sense. People love to get a deal on light bites or a drink after work, and establishments like that the perception of a deal attracts customers who might either stay for a full meal or return in the near future.

The whole system works great, but it really is a grown-up activity. What about kids who want an after school snack that doesn’t come from a drive-thru? Or parents who want to get together with friends at a restaurant that’s both kid friendly and affordable?

Tish Ochoa understands. The Melange Creperie co-owner has a five-year old daughter who needs a bite after school but has found a lack of appealing options.

Recently, the restaurant rolled out a new promotion it’s calling Snacky Hour. Available Monday through Friday from 4 pm to 5 pm, Snacky Hour offers kids a mini-crepe, a small sweet like a macaron, and a drink like a milk, aqua fresca, or hot chocolate. It only costs $10. Parents who want to reserve the restaurants 10-seat community table can do so by emailing or calling the restaurant.

“It’s not anything that’s going to ruin dinner or cost a lot of money,” Ochoa tells CultureMap. “If you have a play date after school, you can go to the park for a little bit then come to snacky hour. You’d still be home in time for dinner.”

Melange Creperie’s recently-opened brick and mortar restaurant at Heights Mercantile offers kid-friendly features like a large patio and tables that are chalkboards. The park across the street makes it an ideal spot for a after school play date and snack.

“When I was designing and building this, I was designing it to be family-friendly. I wanted a place I could bring my kid,” Ochoa says.

While Melange has always been known for Carrol’s inventive flavors, the restaurant has plenty of options for those with less adventurous palates. Ochoa says they’re happy to make simple crepes like plain cheese, banana nutella, or cinnamon sugar for younger guests.

Melange Creperie now hosts groups of kids for snacky hour.

Photo by Lulu Lopez

Melange Creperie now hosts groups of kids for snacky hour.

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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.

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