A Houston Restaurant’s Great Comeback: Wonderful Kielbasa Rekindles a Culinary Romance

Provisions rapidly became my favorite restaurant not long after I moved to Houston, in July 2013. It was not uncommon to find me there at least one evening a week. I loved the pizza pies, I enjoyed the pastas, and I felt comfortable in the interior, complete with the voices of Julia Child and Jacques Pépin emanating from the unisex bathroom. It was my local, and I was happy there. (Here is an account of one of my delightful Provisions experiences.)

Then something happened, as I wrote on Mise en Place in March of 2014. The food there took what seemed to me a rapid turn for the worse. I gave it a few more chances, then lost hope and bid my lover farewell.

But hope springs eternal, and this week, I returned to Provisions for the first time since that disappointing evening in 2014. And much to my delight, I am glad I drove down the Allen Parkway and took a left on Taft, because the dish I ordered, and the hospitality and service on hand (thanks to the professionalism of Angela Moore), were back to the level that made me fall in love with the restaurant in the first place.

Kielbasa it was. Made in the Provisions kitchen and smoked outside near the restaurant’s patio. (Listed on the menu thusly: Smoked Kielbasa/Chayote/Romaine/Honey Mustard/14.) It was an ample link, and it was crisp and smoky and almost perfect (a few minutes less on the heat would have been more to my liking, as the interior was perhaps nearing “dry”). I sat at the comfortable rear bar overlooking the kitchen, and each bite was assured and full of flavor. The chayote and romaine mix served on the plate was an ideal pairing — the former crisp, the latter green and fresh — and the honey mustard mingled in it endearingly.

I will go back for this. You, too, should try it. And on my next visit, I am going to take the next step: I’ll order a pizza and continue to rekindle the relationship with my ex.