Playing with your food is not a requirement at Max’s Wine Dive, but executive chef and operating partner, Michael Pellegrino will be disappointed if you don’t.

Talking animatedly about the wine-centric, comfort food-oriented restaurant’s seasonal menu, Pellegrino dives into his childhood, dredging up fond summer memories that provided inspiration.

“Our food is very serious, yet playful, and that’s what we want to get across,” said Pellegrino during a complimentary media tasting. “We want to satisfy the kid in you while entertaining your adult palate. So that’s kind of our new focus. How can we make you giggle, laugh, tell a story about when you were a kid?”

Skeptical at first that this might be over-thinking it or perhaps a cheesy ploy at pitching coverage for their new menu, after three more minutes with Pellegrino, I knew he was as sincere as a heart attack that one might suffer after eating too many of the new elk corndogs on the menu. Of course, the fact that there was a corndog (my absolute favorite food) helped clear away any cynicism as well. Pellegrino had one hell of a childhood, and that comes across in his newest dishes.

Take for instance the new nachos (left) – not something I’d usually order at any place other than a stadium or Tex-Mex institution. But these, in all their messy authenticity, don’t derive any ingredients from a can.

“I remember being a little kid, going to the movies, and when I didn’t know better, that was the world,” said Pellegrino. “When I was six years old, eating the little nachos at the movies. I was a little fat kid. I was happy. Now I’m like, ‘Dude, how do you eat that slime cheese?’ But, we made a play on that.”

Served in an old-school clear plastic stadium container still found at Astros’ games, the thick, rounded tortilla chips are topped with a pile of Texas oak-smoked pulled pork shoulder, a prickly pear barbecue sauce and pico de gallo. Along for the ride (and filling up those extra compartments on the side) is Veldhuizen Family Farms’ Paragon cheese sauce and house-pickled jalapeños, onions and carrots to spice things up even more.

For those (like me) who remember annual trips to various beaches along the Gulf Coast, Pellegrino has come up with a fancy version of the traditional seafood platter found in every seaside or bayside restaurant. Called the Captain Jack’s Platter – named after Max’s (yes Max really does exist) little brother – the epic portion of fried seafood uses Gulf Coast snapper, monster-sized shrimp and oysters and comes with caraway hushpuppies and a saffron tartar sauce. Maybe it’s nostalgia, or maybe it’s my loyalty to jalapeños, but the hushpuppies were the only thing I tried that had me wishing Pellegrino had gone a less adventurous route. Give me some overly sweet, fried cornbread batter any day.

Speaking of overly sweet cornmeal-based batters, Pellegrino’s summer vacations are also featured in the aforementioned elk sausage corndog, which is not cheap at $22, but then again, these aren’t the same corndogs Pellegrino was so fond of eating upon his visits to roller coaster heaven, Cedar Park in Sandusky, Ohio – not to mention the upscaled accoutrements of “kitchen sink” house-made mustard and fennel coleslaw. While I didn’t get to taste this dish, my curiosity and general love of corndogs means I’ll be back before summer’s end to sink my teeth into one.

Additionally inspired by the amusement park midway, there’s a caramel corn-crusted pork belly braised in root beer; tuna tartare with wasabi cotton candy; funnel cake-battered shrimp; spicy candy apple salad and a smoked turkey leg sandwich with a very special serving platter.

“We literally serve [the smoked turkey leg sandwich] dish on a frisbee (left) and you take the frisbee home,” said Pellegrino. “Because, when you are a little kid, you get little prizes. F***ing happy meals. And you’re just excited, but it’s just some stupid little toy, but you still get excited. We can get away with it. And I almost feel like we’re obligated to do stuff like that, because we can.”

They can and they do, and it sure is fun.

MAX’S WINE DIVE, 4720 Washington Ave., 713-880-8737 maxswinedive.com