Lazarus Cooke > writes:

>In article >, pltrgyst
> wrote:
....
>> Where in Texas were you?
>>
>> Unless you were entirely remote from civilization (hah!), it's hard to believe
>> you couldn't find decently made Tex-Mex within a few miles anywhere in Texas.
>>
>> -- Larry
>
>Hi Larry
>
>I was based in Huntsville, where there was one of the best restaurants
>I've come across in the entire USA - the Cafe Texan. Did brilliant
>local meals at good prices, and was the first port of call every day
>for those who were being released from the penitentiary. (It's the
>world capital for executions.)

I did a gig in Huntsville a couple of years ago, and my host and his
henchman took us to the Cafe Texan. On his recommendation I had their
chicken-fried steak, which I'd had just once before, 20 years
ago or so, I think in Amarillo--at that time, because Clavin Trillin had been
raving about the dish for so long that I though I should give it a try. I
didn't like it then, and I didn't much like it in Huntsville, though I
am sure it was very good of its kind. The rest of the meal was,
however, memorably good (particularly green beans drenched in butter,
and pecan pie). I can't vouch for the "good prices", since I was
a guest (on the other hand, I know from my gig that my host is tight-
fisted, so I can't believe it was very expensive).

I was told that it's also the "first port of call" for all the
foreign journalists who come to town to cover the executions.
We were the only customers that evening, however.

>The trouble is... that was it. Everything else in town was abysmally
>bad - mostly fast food joints, even though there was a college.
>And when you went out and around in texas, it was the same string of
>fast-fried frozen foods that we're all used to. For hundreds of miles.

God knows that's true of the straight strech (which drove the next day) from
Huntsville to Austin. A small dip off the route would have taken us to College
Station, but I see no reason to believe that the Aggies have surround3ed
themselves with good eats.

>I'm slightly concerned that those who disagree with me, from Australia
>to America, are proud of their region but don't have that much
>experience of eating regularly in remote areas in continents they
>weren't born in.
>
>I'm just waiting for a flood of posts from Egyptians, Lebanese,
>southern Italians, and French people arguing that their own national
>cooking is rubbish and that American, Australian, British and Irish
>cuisines are much better.
>
>When that comes I'll reconsider my view.

Lee Rudolph