• By TOMMY SIMMONS
• Advocate Food writer
• Published: Oct 30, 2008 - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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I’m devoting this column to food tidbits, consumer tips and a “buyer beware” observation I want to share. But, first, I’ll start with a reminder.

• The Food Section is planning a story on turkey dressings. If you have a great Thanksgiving dressing recipe, please share it with Food readers. E-mail the recipe (please be exact), plus your name, city of residence and phone number to Food@theadvocate.com by 5 p.m. Nov. 3.

• In addition to offering tips about interesting places to eat and the new dishes we’ve discovered, the Food team has decided to share bad food experiences. If you happen to be flying out of New Orleans International Airport and are hungry for a snack, don’t purchase the Natures Harvest Mix of nuts, seeds and dried fruits from The Grove kiosk located in Terminal D Gate 5 unless you ask for a spoonful to see if it’s fresh. The Grove’s Natures Harvest Mix is $11.98 a pound — certainly not inexpensive. I bought some of the mix on Sept. 25 to munch on during the flight. The mix was dry and tasteless. The nuts were not rancid, but definitely stale. My advice is to ask for a taste before buying.

• On the more upbeat side, the food, service and general ambience of the Omni Hotel in Houston’s Galleria area is top quality. The upscale hotel served as the headquarters for the annual meeting of the Association of Food Journalists, which Cheramie Sonnier, assistant food editor, and I attended Oct. 14-19. The hotel is at 4 Riverway off Woodway Drive near the 610 South Loop.

The Omni was a great choice for the food journalists’ event because of the hotel’s commitment to developing and serving interesting foods in its restaurants. Zaheer “Zee” Qureshi, director of food and beverage, said a group of 45 Omni chefs recently returned from a session in France to study the foods, preparation techniques and wines from several regions. The trip resulted in the chefs developing a new “Savor the Flavors of France” lunch and dinner menu to supplement the regular menu served in the Houston Omni Hotel’s signature restaurant, Noé.

We tried several of Noé’s French-inspired selections, including an appetizer of cured meats, French cheeses, cornichons, Dijon-style mustard, strawberry preserves, sliced French bread, $12; a spring roll filled with chopped duck and wild mushrooms accented with arugula and sliced orange, $10; a bowl of Saint Germain pea soup garnished with bacon and scallions, $5; and braised short ribs accompanied by artichokes, baby potatoes and Dijon-style mustard, $24.

Two of the recommended wines for the menu were Gala Rouge Pinot Noir Languedoc-Roussillon 2006 at $7 a glass and Arrogant Frog Chardonnay/Viognier Languedoc (AOC Vin de Pays D’Oc) 2006 at $8.50 a glass.

During our stay, we talked with members of the staff about hurricane damage to the hotel during Hurricane Ike on Sept. 13. One of the members of the staff showed us his cell phone photos of the damage.

When the hotel staff discovered we were from Louisiana, they seemed to relax knowing that even if the service during our conference wasn’t quite up to the Omni’s usual five-diamond rating level, we would understand. And we did.

The hotel staff has accomplished a great deal in a short recovery timeframe. Not only did we understand, we were impressed with the staff’s determination to restore their hotel’s panache.

By the way, the hotel offers free shuttle service to the Galleria and to other nearby attractions, and it also has a complete European-style breakfast buffet, offering everything from customized omelets to charcuterie selections of sausages and cheeses.

• H-E-B Corporate dietitian Rosalinda Benner told the food journalists that food sales at the H-E-B supermarkets in Texas are skyrocketing. H-E-B management attributes the increase in food sales to the rising cost of gasoline and the economic downturn.

For several years, Benner said, 70 percent of the food dollar has gone toward foods consumed while eating out. This is changing now that consumers are eating out less often. The challenge, she explained, in adjusting to this eating change is teaching consumers how to cook simple, fast and nutritious meals. H-E-B has also introduced meal packages so that consumers can buy in one location in the supermarket everything they need to prepare an entrée, two sides, bread, salad, dessert and beverage.
The stores are also reducing product size to keep costs down, offering weekly specials and coupons and developing more value-conscious house brands for the H-E-B stores.

Benner noted that the food prices which have been hit hardest by inflation at H-E-B stores this year have been flour, 37 percent; eggs, 34 percent, bell peppers, 29.2 percent; milk, 23.1 percent; and dried beans, 21.6 percent