La Casa del Caballo, Pizzeria Solario and More

For her first review as the Houston Press's official food critic, Kaitlin Steinberg tackles Mexican steakhouse La Casa del Caballo. While she finds the Tex-Mex offerings to be lackluster, she's very impressed by the meat offerings, particularly the signature four-pound ribeye cap. "Regardless of what cut you order or which salsa you douse it in (if any), the red meat really is the star of the show at La Casa del Caballo. All cuts are tender and juicy and smoky and fall apart under the weight of a fork. If you're feeling extra hungry (and have some money burning a hole in your pocket), please do me a favor and order that four-pound rib eye cap medium rare. Take it home and eat it all week if you must, but I doubt it will take you that long." [Houston Press]

Over at the Chronicle, critic Alison Cook continues her exploration of the city's improving pizza offerings by awarding two stars to recently opened Neapolitan joint Pizzeria Solario. "My favorite pie at Solario (so far, anyway) was the Appolonia, a brilliant variation on the carbonara theme in which the spicy-slick dry salami called soppressata consorts with Parmesan cheese, a runny-yolked egg, a soft, red-peppery garlic confit and a lot of black pepper. Elegant stuff. I liked its minimalist construction better than a Parma 600 pie in which thin slices of soft, mild prosciutto aged that many days were muffled by a cushion of white Parmesan cream." [Houston Chronicle]

The Blogs: Lots of people went to the opening of new grocery store The Fresh Market, including Houstonia food editor Robb Walsh, Urban Swank and Hank on Food. H-Town Chow Down finds that national chain BurgerFi is a worthy addition to The Woodlands. Daniel the Gluttonous Chinaman enjoys the big portions at Taiko in Sugar Land.