Big Bite Nite

Last night Jose and I went to Big Bite Nite at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. It’s a lot like the zoo’s Feast with the Beasts event, where several dozen restaurants are set up with bite-sized offerings of a featured dish or two. Big Bite Nite was a lot nicer in terms of crowds — we never had to wait in line for anything like you do at Feast with the Beasts. But the zoo wins for entertainment. The theme last night was “Bollywood” which could have been awesome, but the only entertainment was a DJ and two 5-minute dance performances. It was good music and good dancing, but I wanted more of it! But the focus is the food, and the food didn’t disappoint. We were both stuffed by the time we left.

Reggae Hut set up under a dinosaur

Tops on my list were the mango mousse from Bombay Brasserie, lobster balls with chipotle honey from Sambuca, the mini crab cake sandwich from Truluck’s, and the chocolate cake from Strip House. (I may or may not have gone back for a second mini chocolate cake. And a third.) Green Eyed Susan had a mango curry macaron that they’d created specifically for this event and it was fantastic — but their chocolate macaron tasted weird, so they only get an honorable mention. The worst thing I ate was a smoked salmon lollipop from Quattro. I was intrigued by the lollipop idea and I usually like smoked salmon, but it was just…not good. A for effort though, and I’ve heard other good things about Quattro in the past.

Overall it was a very fun evening, and exactly what I needed this week. I’ve been in a bit of a funk since returning vacation, which is a pretty common occurrence. Vacation is fun and coming back to real life — although I love my real life — is a bit of a let down. It’s nice to remember that there are fun things to do in real life too.

Another good thing that happened this week: I finally got a desk in the same office as the rest of my group! For the last 6 months I’ve been sitting on the other side of the building with a different division, and for the 6 months before that I was still sitting with the rendezvous group. I’m really happy to be sitting with the rest of my coworkers because 1) it’s always easier to be co-located with the people you work with and 2) they are fun. Once I unpack, maybe I’ll take a picture of my new digs — but don’t hold your breath, because it’s no more impressive than any other desk I’ve ever had. Same government-issue brown furniture. I do have cubicle walls for the first time ever though, so that’s new.