THE NOW with CRIS: Paddles, Plates & Pours

I'm Christina Cooker and you're watching The Now. Today we're serving up a little competition, a whole lot of flavor, and some serious Houston hot spots. Now we start at Long Point Social Club where covered pickleball courts meets bar meets cafe meets a really great food and who says you can't work up a good sweat and then reward yourself with a cocktail. Then we're heading to Bari for a true taste of Italy where authentic Italian cuisine and ingredients brought straight from Italy make every bite feel like a European getaway next we're getting hands-on with 318 charcuterie learning how to create a beautiful board that's almost too pretty to eat then we're stepping inside Mac Allen's Houston's spectacular new hot spot with a stunning almost 360 degree bar that you have to see to believe and finally Chris in the closet is heating things up with some hilarious sauna talk let's just say things might get a little steamy it's pickleball pasta pretty boards and plenty of laughs are you ready to kick my butt yes i look like a five-year-old so Lauren my first question to you is are you good at pickleball i mean i'm not terrible i'm pretty okay because i think we're gonna try to like you call it a match yeah yeah okay yeah no i play i play i can yeah i can play on she's like i'll destroy you yeah i'm just kidding i mean oh there you go how many gosh i'm trying to like do the math real quick how many courts do you guys have so we have eight under the pavilion and then four uh uncovered courts on the back side and then we have two paddle courts there and two paddle courts behind us the big speed that's a cool name right right it actually comes from our beverage director he actually grew up right outside of san francisco it's a bridge out there um the Elevation there is 713 feet. We decided to move down to Houston, open up his own bar here. 713. Yeah, exactly. Nice. I love when I can connect the dots. So this is really cool. So it's inside the Long Point Social Club. Also kind of a bridge between the outside world and all the cool stuff that y'all have going on here on the other side. Now this particular part doesn't open until what, four o'clock each night? Yes, 4 p.m. every day till two in the morning every night. You know, Pickleball in the last, what, five years it seems like, to me, has just really taken off. Yeah, it really has. Very accessible, everybody can play it, you know, all different, like, age levels and skills. Yeah. It's really fun, it's, you know, kind of like giant ping pong, that's what I thought. Yeah. I really, really enjoy it, and it seems like everybody else does. So, you'll pick up, like, the bigger jigger. Okay, the bigger jigger. Yeah, right. Okay. And then, on the other side, you can do one ounce of the green syrup right there. That's gonna be the pandan. And I'm pouring it into this. You'll pour it into this one. Into this one, yeah. I had a 50-50% chance, And I missed. Okay, so all the way to the top, right, with this one? How does it work? I imagine there's memberships, but then also you can walk in. So we have memberships, but you don't have to be a member to come and play here. It's open to the public, and you can just go online and make a reservation or come in person and reserve a court. Let's see if I can do it, be like you. That didn't work. Okay, next. And then you're going to be doing up to the line right there. There's going to be one and a half ounces of our rum, like infused rum. Ooh, infused rum. Yeah. It's infused with what it's a secret. I can't tell you all my secrets. You have to come try it to find out Okay, fair. Couscous bowl. Okay, I have some couscous and mixed vegetables. So nice vegetarian Yeah, a little option. Yeah, I'm trying to do this gracefully, but I don't think gracefully. Uh-huh Mmm. Oh, that's good. You're gonna crack this, put the whole egg in there How much money you're gonna give me if I don't get a shell in there? Give you everything you ever want Have you talked to my husband? Okay. And then these are the banger chicken nuggets. Okay. They're a little bit spicy. Have a little kick to them, but not too bad. Oh, my gosh. It's really good. Mm-hmm. It's, like, sweet and spicy. Yeah. I'm just, like, waiting for this to go everywhere. The coffee shop's open from 8 a.m. until 10 p.m. Really amazing coffees. Really, really good coffees. Homemade in-house syrups. Just give it a little bit of, like, structure for the coffee. I look like a five-year-old. In the El Pini Bar, which is where we are, we have a full kitchen that's open until 10, and the bar's open until midnight. Ooh. And then y'all do some fun events. Well, y'all have something going on for Halloween. We do. We are doing Glow Pickleball, and that's going to be on from like 7 to midnight, or 6 till midnight. And we're doing, you know, themed events. I don't know if I should tell you what the themed events are. No, it's dead celebrities, and then, yeah. Yeah, so it's going to be pretty fun. So come dressed as your favorite celebrity. Okay. Ooh. I feel, I don't know what I feel. I feel good. Wait, what? Oh, look at the ball the whole time. Look at the ball the whole time. But I think everything from Italy is better. Including the pizza. Yes. Certified Italian master chef. Sounds impressive. Tell everybody where we are. Oops. Ciao, Cristina. Welcome to Bari. Did you always know you wanted to be a chef? Yes and no but this year would be my 40th year cooking so it's been a while. I don't even know if I remember when I started. See what that tells me is this food is about to be real good. That's what that tells me. We hope so. In Italy you always had this family dinner and the Sunday dinner and I was the one rolling the pasta. At the time I was very little so to reach the table it was like a challenge, but I was in charge of making ravioli and rolling the pasta. When creating this restaurant what was important to you? The important to do is to keep it real, to bring a piece of Italy here in the heart of Houston. So we source our product directly from Italy. The majority of whatever we have comes from Italy. that we make everything from scratch. You are more than welcome. I will share. Okay. Okay? Just say it. Caprese first. Okay. So we've got burrata. Yeah, that's a version of the caprese salad. We have burrata. Burrata came straight from Apulia. That's where burrata is from originally. Sorry, I'm trying to get everything on the fork all at once. As you should. As I should, right? Yes. Ooh, it's good. Not one thing overpowers at all. It all combines together. Everything makes sense on the plate. And the creaminess of the burrata, it does the trick. It does the trick. All right, this looks fine. Yes, that's not typical Italian because we don't have blue swimming crab in Italy. So the blue swimming crab comes from Louisiana, fresh. We make a crab cake and we cover the crab cake in avocado and we bread it and fry it. And it's served on top of a basil aioli. Mm. That's where the mixture of them. That's a very popular dish. This is tagliatelle, and we serve it with a rock shrimp and lobster sauce with tomato and a vodka and a touch of cream. Oh, my. We're gonna just make it more cheesy. More cheesy. Yeah, it gets really creamy. You absorb all the Parmesan, the final touch. Oh. Truffles. Shade. Dun-dun-dun. Look at that. roll. That's not even right with the world. That's delicious. Cheers. This year will be our 40th year doing the Halloween party. There'll be a lot of fun. We're going to have a DJ. The whole restaurant will be masquerade with the Halloween themes. And make reservations, right? Make reservations, yes, because the seating is limited and there's a lot of people that want to come. Yeah, we don't want you dressed up on the corner. We want you to be in, have a good time with us. And it is, y'all are only doing it at this location, we need to add. Yes. Okay, great. Branzino, and we serve it with sauteed broccolini, aglio e olio, and pink peppercorn beurre blanc. Half of what you just said, or what it is, but I'm here for it. Coming up, we're learning the secrets to building the perfect board with 318 charcuterie. Then we're stepping inside Mack Allen's, one of Houston's hottest new destinations, featuring a spectacular, almost 360 degree bar. And then Chris in the closet is turning up the heat with some hilarious sauna talk. Things are about to get steamy. Don't go away, we'll be right back. I'm a, I'm a, don't **** up. Michelle, you came to the right place. Yes, because we like to party. So many times, me and my girlfriends, we'll get together and we will just eat meat and cheese and drink wine and cocktails and whatever. And in my opinion, my humble opinion, That is like the perfect night. Like, I don't have to go out to eat. I don't have to, like, just being at home, eating this, like, nitpicking all night is, like, all of our ideal situation. And you have formed this company called 318 Charcuterie, right? Yes, yes. That does what? We teach you how to build the charcuterie board. So, it is pretty and presentable before you just dive in. Yeah. Yeah, I also teach you how to make a couple of mixed drinks or we pair it with wine, whatever you're choosing. All right, so you're going to cut it in half, make sure the pit is out. I think I took everybody's pit out. And why did you decide to do this? So I'm a teacher by trade. So I've been teaching 10 years and I decided to pair my love of throwing parties with my teaching background. and I created this curriculum around charcuterie because, again, who doesn't love charcuterie? Everybody. Right? Yeah. And I decided to teach people how to build the charcuterie boards. Smash it down, smash it down, and then you're going to muddle your lemon in there as well. There is kind of like a science to it, right? It's not just like thrown together. Right. It's very well thought out. Right. Yeah. We have our three, three, three, three rule. The first three is three meats. You need to have three different kinds of meats, three different kinds of cheeses, three accompaniments, and three fruits. Okay. Okay, so you show up with pretty much everything. All you have to do is supply the people and the place. Yes. Right? And so you come in with literally a whole spread. Yes. And then get up there and do what you do best, which is teach. And so we watch, and you said the cocktails, how that works by you bring everything. we supply the alcohol right yes the theme of our boards today is the transition from summer to fall okay now we got to get into the charcuterie part charcuterie part okay charcuterie charcuterie do you know a lot of people go sure sure yes yes including me so yeah including us after two of yeah let's say i decide i want to do this i've got you know say eight girlfriends that want to come over so what do what do we tell you and like how does the whole process work yeah the process is um pretty simple you tell me what you are celebrating if you're celebrating anything life life because again we all love to eat and party um but we're celebrating we um customize each event to that person. So if you love red, I'm going to look for red foods and red drinks and everything red. So we try to customize each experience to that individual. So you would just hit me up on social media, give me a call, and then we'll go from there. Give me about a week and I got it for you. I do have a coffee cart that is also mobile. I come to your office, I come to your house, So wherever you are, I'm doing a lot of Pilates studios right now. You keep talking. I'm going to get my coffee. I'm doing a lot of Pilates studios right now. And so one of the things that my customers love is our Vietnamese iced coffee. I make it myself, make it and bottle it myself. And I think it's yummy. What do you think? I cheated, guys. I've been drinking it for a while. And that's why I mentioned it because I was like, if it wasn't good, I would have just been like, oh, shucks. We didn't have time to talk about your coffee. But fantastic. Yes. fantastic so that's what all this on top is indulgence on top of indulgence layered with more indulgence you guys are putting the now in the now with Chris today we're so excited you know we've created this show so that we could always be on top of like what this fantastic city is doing Mac Allen's has been a buzz for a minute so now you guys are open tell everybody you know why why you guys decided to do this you know Mac he's been in the hospitality industry for over 15 years and this was a natural progression yeah for him uh to step into fine dining so we are here at 4400 Post Oak Parkway right next to the Junior League 16,000 square feet have you always like wanted to be a chef actually i want to be a police officer in the beginning but then uh i was in between semesters and my cousin said i'm going to culinary school and i said i'm gonna go with you and i fell in love so 20 years later you are here I am, we're gonna have a great day everybody because we've got golden crusted what looks be coffee beans on this espresso martini it's a coffee vodka we have a secret uh ingredient in there i'll tell you after the interview okay i won't tell anybody yeah that's the bluefin tuna that's the otoro okay that's the fattiest and probably the most tender in the middle is the chutoro and then towards the very right is the we're all in this together akami okay and what And what he mentioned about the escargots, traditionally it's served in a little porcelain dish. But we have it garnished over bone marrow with a garlic butter sauce. So it's indulgence on top of indulgence. Layered with more indulgence. Yes. And the idea is if they want, grab the crostinis, add the escargot and the marrow on top with a little salad to cut through some of that richness. I say don't cut the richness. That is really delicious. And different than, you don't really see that. Yeah, for sure. That's the little twist that we're trying to have. I like that very dramatic move. I'm like, yes, please. Okay, what is this? Here, it looks like some mac and cheese. Mac and cheese. Is it multiple cheeses? It is. Okay. Is that a secret? Not necessarily. We have a cheddar, mozzarella, some parm. Oh, so good. He's like who doesn't like mac and cheese. The tomahawks are really popular as well You can see the bone is branded and our chefs do come out table side and carve them and do that Oh, that is so cool. Well, I'm gonna leave that one intact That's just you just pick it up Go right in Another thing is that we do branding for any companies No way, give us a week or two and then we'll get it done for you. Okay, eventually I'm sure we're gonna work into different other things. Maybe a will you marry me or that is a fun Nothing says will you marry me like a big piece of meat on a plate in front of you, right nothing better? I mean, it's a lady's dream We'll ask all the time like when you get into your 40s What do you feel like is different like when did things change for you things changed for me like after 12? Nothing's been the same ever since shall we start from the top? I mean, we all know mentally not all there can't remember anything mid-life boom gone it's embarrassing thankfully all my friends also don't know what's going on so when we're all talking to each other and we've got so many stories and we can never complete any of them it's okay the main thing that's been bothering me lately is this little hip issue i had bursitis and then a torn labrum but then the hip issue went down to my knee and then it goes down to my ankle just working its way down my leg the other day all of a sudden my neck started hurting like you know how when you get a crick in your neck if you sleep wrong however i didn't sleep wrong like i had already been up for like an hour there was no aggressive sneeze that made me say Oh, maybe that's why I can't turn my head 45 degrees. My oldest daughter is really into working out And she's like mom try to pull up. I was like No, not in the cards anymore. Like can you imagine if I try to pull up? I would lose something, you know that saying if you don't use it you lose it not true I use it and i'm still losing it. My eyeballs were messed up the other day I just woke up and just couldn't see I was just like this Why why why it's not coming back need a little moisture drop and then everything came to that might have been user error with my lash serum That might have actually been my bad, but I wouldn't have to use lash serum had freakin eyelashes You want to know where my hair is thriving? Right here another fun story apparently came down the stairs too fast the other day Then I'm like, whoa Of course I go to our friend chat and it said the elevation change was too much for my eardrums and since when can I not go from Upstairs to downstairs why I mean I had to sit down and drink electrolytes. You know, what else is not my friend anymore My liver have fun anymore. Nope. I used to mix and concoct like a rock star does this wine have added sulfites that's where we are which brings me to my tangent the other day i posted a thing about some mocktail or something and the amount of messages that i got saying what you can't have fun without drinking yes i can have fun i can just have more fun with tequila i don't even drink that much i don't drink monday through tuesday just kidding i don't drink wednesday either i joke i joke have a bus night fun fact as we age our sweat glands shrink so So that means less sweat and less B.O. Daisies.