“Local isn’t always better.”—Tony Vallone
“We source as many ingredients as possible from Texas farmers and fishermen,” says Tony. “One of my signature dishes — the salt-encrusted red snapper — comes from the Gulf and is fished by local fishermen with whom I’ve worked for decades.”
“But the notion that ‘everything local is better’ isn’t always true,” he adds.
The subject came up yesterday when Tony was discussing a new dish with one of Houston’s leading food and wine writers.
“For example, our new black sea bass is served with morel mushrooms that we over-night from Washington and fresh white asparagus that comes from California, also by courier. The prosciutto is from San Daniele in Friuli [northeastern Italy]. Prosciutto di Parma can be great but at Tony’s it has to be San Daniele. And of course, our extra-virgin olive oil used in all of our dishes comes from my family’s farm in Sicily.”
Top ingredients, attention to detail, and passion are how we do it here at Tony’s.
