Smoked Brisket Tacos: Your Heights Dish Of The Week

I really don't brunch too often in Houston, and I wasn't intending to this past Sunday, but I was meeting a friend for a drink and wanted him to try FM Kitchen + Bar, the (fairly) new restaurant on Shepherd Drive overseen by Ryan Hildebrand, he of Triniti fame.

We arrived around 2 p.m. and found a few empty places at the bar, and the $5 Bloody Mary looked great, so that's what we ordered — and they were good, with great tomato flavor and a hefty spiciness.

The bartender offered us the brunch menu, which we initially ignored, but after we talked of a trip one of us had taken to New Orleans, hunger set in, and we looked at the offerings with new eyes. The burgers are front and center here, but my attention was taken by another item on the brunch menu, the brisket tacos. My friend went for a single FM Burger, a study in simplicity if there ever was one.

I've had the burgers before, and like them, but the brisket tacos, available on the brunch menu only, seemed a more suitable choice on that afternoon, and the Bloody Mary, I thought, would go well with them. I was right. Smoky meat, moist and spicy, scrambled eggs, some fried potatoes and avocado on the side, served with Shhh Sauce (a mayonnaise/ketchup creation) and salsa. And the tortillas were top-notch, fresh and hot and sturdy enough for the fillings. I'm not sure how long Hildebrand and crew cooked this brisket, but it was done with skill.

I didn't attempt to put the avocado pieces in my tacos, because they would not have fit, so I took a bite of the main component, then finished with a slice of cool avocado. I added more salsa to the tacos, and ate another bite. Wonderful. Just what I needed. The potatoes, which I saved for last, benefited from a drizzle of the salsa, and added what I assumed would be appreciated by any diner nursing a hangover.

— Image: Brisket tacos by James Brock