It was, you know, OK . . .

Today was a work lunch to meet a new employee who had flown down from the Mother Ship.  Reservation for 7 at Line & Lariat, the revamped restaurant in Hotel Icon.  The old placed was called Voice, which was a stupid name.  Voice food was good but the service always sucked.  The restaurant revamp did not include a service revamp.  It is still slow as molasses and clueless.  Ex: we had a reservation- walked in and were the only people there other than staff and had to wait while they pushed tables together for us and rearranged chairs.  Seriously people.  You knew we were coming what is the deal?  This happened before as well when it was Voice and we had to stand around in the bar that time for 30 minutes before a table was ready.  What is the deal?  I don't get it.

So we sit down after this tortured furniture rearranging goes on for 15 minutes.  The waiter was so soft spoken you could barely hear him so it's a good thing there was about zero other ambient noise.  Turns out it is also Restaurant Week here in H-town, which I was totally clueless about so we get the regular menu and the RW menu.  Several good looking choices, a red snapper, a gumbo and shrimp and grits.  Ultimately decided on the tomato salad and then the shrimp and grits off the restaurant week menu b/c it's cheaper that way--that's just how I am.  Someone also ordered truffle fries for the table which I did not get a picture of but arrived perfectly hot and crisp and as noted by one of my esteemed colleagues, just the right amount of truffle oil.

Seems like it took forever for the tomato salad to get out to the table.  We finally concluded that there was one person in the kitchen so everything was made and plated one at a time because that is how everything came out.  Salad had a nice variety of tomatoes, French feta and a vinaigrette dressing.  Truly fantastic salad.

Very nice portion too, especially for a prix fixe menu.  It was generous, not stingy at all.  Also the bread that came to the table was very nice too.  I was skeptical when it was first brought out but the yeast rolls were very good.  Flavor just right, moist and dense but not too much.  The onion cornbread muffins were also very tasty.  Moist with good flavor. A hint of jalapeno, but not overwhelming.  Good cornmeal to flour ratio so they were real corn muffins as opposed to being real cake-like.

And then we sit some more while we wait for entrees to be brought out one at a time.  I went with shrimp and grits.  One of my standards if it is on the menu.  Line & Lariat had a gumbo too but for some reason it didn't appeal to me today although someone else got it (FLB2 was in attendance).  Shrimp was fried in this version with some panko bread crumbs it looked like.  It was actually very well done and nice.  A little on the salty side but the grits were so bland that turned out to be a plus.  And you can see it was served with some sauteed greens.  The were a little bitter but not bad.  Fairly standard preparation with some garlic and oil.  You know, it was fine.

 
The red ring around the grits is hot sauce.  It wasn't enough to make any impact in which case, why bother?  As a garnish it's ok but when the menu lists something as part of the dish you generally expect to taste it don't you?  Right? Or am I just crazy to think that?  It also said grits with cheddar and bacon.  Not much though.  I know those are yellow so look like they are some nice cheesy grits, but do not be mislead.  Grits were smooth and creamy but lacked in flavor.  It was ok if you ate them with a bite of the fried shrimp but if you like grits for grits sake then they were disappointing.  I ended up full but not being satisfied which is a pretty crappy way to leave lunch.  I suspect I'll be hitting the deli downstairs for a Skor in the next 40 minutes.  Also a big waste of calories which means I'll have to go run tonight for at least a little bit.  I am joining a running club though so that should help.  Why?  I guess I probably have not mentioned I am training for a half marathon after Christmas.  I've never run one before and historically have not really enjoyed running that much so its kind of a big deal.  I am enjoying the running when its not 98 degrees out but I have a ways to go before I'm ready.  Shrimp and grits are not helping either.  Soon I will have to get serious and cut out sweets and then where will we be?  Some pretty boring blog posts perhaps!  For now though, I am off to get a Skor and a Gatorade.  Then I will be UNSTOPPABLE this afternoon.

Almost forgot-- Heirloom tomato salad is a 5 and recommended.  Shrimp and grits I will give a 3 to despite the strength of the shrimp.  The taste of the overall dish was just meh.