Monica Pope’s Houston restaurant, T’Afia, has garnered her much attention, from James Beard to Food and Wine Magazine; the list is far too long to mention. Critics around the country have called her food “brilliant”. She bases her entire philosophy of cooking on “two fundamental truths,” as she calls them — first, “what grows together goes together; and second, “food tastes better when you eat where your food lives” (she acquires all of her ingredients within 200-300 miles of the restaurant). I think that’s pretty inspiring considering she’s in the concrete jungle of Houston, a/k/a the “chemical coast.”
Pope also helped found the Houston Mid-Town Farmer’s Market, which happens every Saturday morning in the parking lot of T’Afia. At every market, Pope offers a free cooking class in her restaurant, inspired by what is available at the market that day. Her love for what she does and where she lives is infectious; an average of 300-400 supporters and lovers of her food crusade pack the market weekly to take part in this “eat where your food lives” movement.
But for Pope, a single mom, her biggest job and greatest responsibility is her 6-year-old daughter Lili. I was lucky enough to catch up with them on a Tuesday night, which was pizza night. The two split a cheese pizza from Romano’s in the living room of their mid-town home. No local ingredients here, nothing organic, but it sure was sweet and real and right up there with everything that makes life delicious.
