Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/1506596
Photography Julie Soefer. I f the name Terrence Gallivan rings a bell, it should. From 2012 until its closing in 2019, he and chef Seth Siegel- Gardner brought Houston The Pass & Provisions, a two-in- one restaurant concept that paired a luxe fine-dining enclave (The Pass) with a chic boîte serving casual pizza and pasta (Provisions). During its run, The Pass & Provisions won critical acclaim both locally and nationally; Bon Appetit declared it the sixth best restaurant in America just a year after its debut. Other highlights of Gallivan's CV include a stay in NYC behind the range of such lauded restaurants as Charlie Palmer's Aureole, The Modern, Fiamma, and Gordon Ramsay at The London hotel. The Virginia native, who now calls Texas home, also has two James Beard Award nominations for Best Chef: Southwest under his belt. Now Gallivan has struck out on his own with Elro Pizza + Crudo, a decidedly more low-key restaurant than The Pass & Provisions, located in a circa-1928 bungalow where Midtown meets the edge of the Montrose. The intimate 1,200-square- foot space — its name, a nod to his beloved children, Eleanor and Ronan — has a dining with a smoked sofrito of peppers, garlic, onions, and aromatics mixed with farro before it's napped with a rugged piquillo pepper and hazelnut Romesco sauce ($17). Handmade pastas include a swordfish amatriciana ($17); kale cavatelli made with a salsa verde, a fricassee of summer vegetables, and smoked egg yolk ($14); and fra diavolo with an array of seafood wound around strings of squid ink linguini ($19). I ordered the ravioli en brodo, seven Lilliputian pasta squares filled with a spicy chicken sausage, bobbing in a shallow bowl filled with a 24-hour chicken-based broth and topped with fresh oregano leaves ($15). The flatbreads are made from general manager Peter Pearce's five-year-old sourdough starter, which the staff has lovingly dubbed "Miss Puff"; it lends a gentle pull to the thin crisp crust, as well as a bit of tang. Toppings include clams ($19), a classic Margherita ($15), and Italian sausage with rapini and eggplant ($17). I adored the version topped with fresh mission figs, dollops of lemon-scented ricotta, thinly sliced lardo, and fresh herbs ($17). Shareable portions — labeled "large" on the concise menu — include roasted pork belly with a gigante bean ragot ($43) and crisp chicken Milanese dressed with a prosciutto vinaigrette ($35) and the beautifully prepared hearth-roasted branzino puttanesca crowned with charred cherry tomatoes, capers and anchovy, and a squeeze of lemon ($45). End with an apple fritter — rings of Honeycrisp apples battered and delicately fried, drizzled with a reduction of vanilla-scented apple purée, and served with a pourable carafe of Taleggio fondue ($12). Pastore, 1180 Dunlavy St., pastorehouston.com. Pass the Pizza at Elro Pizza + Crudo Flatbreads are made from five-year-old sourdough starter, which the staff has lovingly dubbed Miss Puff. Elro mozzarella and mortadella pizzas Nepitella-cured salmon with apples, celery, and hazelnut 110