By Marene Gustin
When you think of an Italian restaurant you probably think pasta, pizza and Parmesan cheese but when Abbas Hussein opened an Italian restaurant down the street from his Sorrento — home to one of the best veal osso buccos in town — he decided to make it about the meat.
And that’s worked out pretty well for Bistecca Prime Steak House, which was listed as one of the top new eateries in 2016 in Modern Luxury. From the elegant and artistic interior, with its high ceiling and white walls, to the cozy patio and exterior architecture, Bistecca is both modern and comfortable at the same time. Very much like the menu here.
Executive chef Alberto Baffoni, who has been a fixture of Houston restaurants since the late 1990’s and has won numerous awards himself, has created a masterful menu that will delight lovers of Italian dishes as well as beef eaters. Think big, thick prime steaks charbroiled in the kitchen to the perfect temperature then served with or without sauces like Béarnaise or garlic butter — because who doesn’t like butter on beef? —and one side, preferably the fragrant hen of the woods mushrooms when in season. The specialty is the Bistecca alla Florentina, a giant 36-ounce bone-in juicy and rare Tuscan steak similar to a Porterhouse with two cuts of meat, a strip sirloin and a filet mignon. It might break the bank at $79 but is certainly worth the price as a special occasion meal. The ten-ounce filet mignon is a more affordable $48 and is a melt-in-your-mouth delicacy.
Budget diners need to head over to Bistecca for the Monday through Friday three-course business lunch that at $25 is a steal. Start with house-made goat cheese and beet raviolo served with truffle cream and toasted almonds. With a glass of Blindfold by Prisoner white wine blend this could be a light lunch in itself but you can’t pass on the second course that offers a choice of prime tenderloin chicken fried steak, seafood, pasta or chicken. But the real prize is the grilled filet Spiedini over herbed polenta. Spiedini is an Italian, often Sicilian, dish of grilled meat cubes on a skewer and is truly one of the best tastes on the lunch menu and a great way to sample the meats here while watching your spending. The third course is, of course, dessert and there are currently three choices of which the best might be the ricotta cheesecake topped with a poached pear.
If you’d rather order a la carte at lunch, there are some fine flatbreads and even a prime burger on the menu plus a couple of very filling salads like the panzanella bathed in a red wine vinaigrette. And yes there are plenty of Italian pasta dishes if you choose, also a rather luscious lobster bisque and a delightful beef tartare prepared table-side for you at a mere $18. Other restaurants will charge at least several dollars more for this raw beef delight mixed with onions, capers, pepper and Worcestershire sauce. And if you are a fan of raw meats, you need to try the beef Carpaccio, a flavorsome appetizer of paper-thin slices of raw beef served with mushrooms and
Parmesan cheese.
Bistecca has a full bar and a reasonably priced wine list that includes the above mentioned Blindfold wine as well as some Super Tuscans from the affordable Col di Sasso, Banfi to the $490 bottle of 20143 Solaia, Antinori. And speaking of the bar, if you’re dining alone it’s a nice cozy place to sit. But since the weather is turning cooler, well, at least a little bit, the patio is also a fine place to dine al fresco.