Cooked Book

Everyone agrees on the importance of Houston's ethnic diversity to its dining scene. Culinary Capital includes Italian, Thai, Greek and French cafes. But no Chinese restaurant? "There is," Salvagio says. "Well, Vietnamese. I don't know."

Salvagio doesn't give the impression of being much of a foodie, but she clearly has a passion for the basics: "chickn," to be sure, but also raw commodities such as paper, steel and oil. These were the types of products she marketed for Enron. That perhaps explains her affinity for Sysco, which deals in huge quantities of goods such as milk, beef and soybeans.

"You know, the days of a company like Sysco being able to just provide the paper napkins and the food products and all that without any creative intervention are over," she says. "There's so much competition that a lot of these suppliers…have a chef working for them, and they come up with ideas for restaurants."

Some restaurateurs chuckle at the notion that Sysco is calling the shots behind the swinging kitchen doors of Houston's putatively original dining spots. "That works in cases like the chain restaurants," says Gerard Brach, owner of Chez Nous, "because they don't have chefs."

Brach and others such as Pope pride themselves on buying fresh, seasonal produce directly from small, independent producers, many of whom are local. "We can't use most stuff" from Sysco, Brach says. "I can't get the kind of meat that I want, stuff that is aged long enough, because they deal in huge numbers and they have to freeze it."

Being left out of the book hardly concerns Brach. The native of France does note that the "crème de le crème" reference in the press release should be "crème de la crème."

"At least they are trying," he adds. "You know, like when they came out with Bartles & Jaymes, the wine punch. It wasn't that great, but it was a step in the right direction."

"I don't know that I am necessarily saying that if you are not in this book, you are not the top talent in Houston," explains publicist Paula Murphy, who wrote the press release. "But I am saying, 'If you are a top talent, a lot of the top talent is in this book.' And I think most people would agree with that."

At Chick-fil-A, Salvagio finishes her wrap and declines a free refill on the diet lemonade. A busy day of restaurant hyping remains, and she's happy the book is doing some of the work for her. People can buy it at Borders and Barnes & Noble. "What's the other? There's a third bookstore that's famous," she says, "but anyway, those are the major ones."