NEWS

Fall 2021

STYLE, CULTURE, BUSINESS & MORE

Dancing with the Stars

EMMA FORRESTER’S dreams of being a professional ballerina began at age two. This fall, the 19-year-old Houston native is officially joining the Houston Ballet — a rare honor for a local gal, as the company only picks the best of the best from all over the world. It’s a full-circle moment for Forrester, who joins as an apprentice, having grown up as a student of the Houston Ballet Academy — and who today finds herself working alongside her role models. “I have pictures of me as a child with some of the dancers who are still in the company now! It is beyond thrilling to think that I will now share this stage with some of my idols. Honestly, it is a dream come true.” –zach mckenzie, photo by ashkan royaee

THE DISPATCH

TELEVISION

Season 19 of Bravo’s Top Chef cookingcompetition show will be set in Houston. Per a Chron report, Padma Lakshmi will host, and Tom Colicchio and Gail Simmons will serve as judges. Houston’s own Dawn Burrell, who went far on Season 18 in Portland, will have a role as a returning fan favorite, as well. City leaders tout the production as a major opportunity to showcase Houston’s diverse and impressive culinary community to would-be tourists nationwide.

ART

MFAH has exhibitions this fall offering fresh takes on the works of Georgia O’Keeffe, Pablo Picasso and Alexander Calder. Georgia O’Keeffe, Photographer, opening Oct. 17, highlights the influential painter’s little-known exploration of photography as a medium, touting 90 modernist photos from a previously unstudied archive. CalderPicasso, opening on Halloween, examines how the contemporaries made use of “the void, or absence of space,” the museum says. “Provocative, unpredictable and dynamic.”

Music

Personal Best

Houston-reared indie rocker and American Idol alum Zach Person’s new self-titled debut record, which was put on hold due to Covid but finally dropped earlier this year to rave reviews, includes his white-hot single “Can’t Stop Running,” a bluesy track that climbed radio charts nationwide. “The spirit of the blues is at the heart of most of my songwriting,” says the 24-year-old Person, who now bases in Austin. “A lot of the tracks on this album possess a theme of pain and suffering, and the will to overcome the obstacles ahead of one’s self.” –jeff gremillion

Style Male Call

New high-luxury boutiques have hit the Galleria, including a Louis Vuitton men’s store, a first for Texas. The sleek, artful new store proffers the fall-winter 2021 ready-to-wear collection and popular accessories such as Evidence sunglasses. And Paris’ 260-year-old perfumery House of Creed has bowed, touting the brand’s newest men’s scent, Viking Cologne, with notes of sandalwood, bergamot and nutmeg.

THE DISPATCH

Style Tote Note

JEWELRY

After temporarily shuttering, Bella Madre Jewelry is back, touting new owners who share the same inspiration as the brand’s founders — to honor the most important women in their lives: mothers. The new owners will continue to the focus on “meaningful” contemporary fine jewelry. bellamadre jewelry.com

CULTURE

Blue Squirrel Productions will present The Woman in the Mirror, a play based on wellknown Houston radio personality Dayna Steele’s 2012 memoir about her mother’s Alzheimer’s journey, Nov. 4-14 at Match.

SHOPPING

New area boutiques include two shoe-savvy shops at M-K-T in the Heights. Nollege, a Dallasheadquartered high-end consignment shop focusing on exclusive sneakers, streetwear and vintage is opening its first Houston brick-and-mortar this fall. And the first Houston location of stylish Europeaninspired men’s footwear purveyor Taft has arrived.

Books

Bad Girl Confidential

Anew young adult novel by Houston author and Bellaire High School teacher Jennifer Mathieu about girl gangs in Houston in 1964? Yes please. Which also happens to be the name of Amy Poehler’s memoir. The connection? Poehler directed and acted in the Netflix adaptation of Mathieu’s previous novel, Moxie, the story of a “riot grrrrl” rebellion, which debuted earlier this year to critical and audience acclaim. In October, Mathieu’s fifth novel, Bad Girls Never Say Die, serves up a feminist reimagining of S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders, one that promises to explore the deep bonds of female friendship. Naturally, the book features a rivalry between the “good girls” from the “right” side of the tracks and Mathieu’s star Evie Barnes, a “bad girl” who is a little too brash, bold and into boys for the times. Mischief? Yes please. Mayhem? Yes please. Murder? Maybe! Read it to find out. Hits bookstores on Oct. 7 –ed nawotka, photo by daniel ortiz

INSPIRED by the fashion house’s 100th anniversary celebration this year and a sense of nostalgia — note the iconic red felt that’s long been used in the packaging of the brand’s leather goods — the Gucci 100 tote also has the Guccireferencing lyrics of the Cramps’ 1983 hit “You Got Good Taste” emblazoned on the back. Many accessories from the centennial collection reflect Creative Director Alessandro Michele’s fondness for styling the Italian brand’s logo in new and distinctive ways. $2,800, in the Galleria

Development Checking In

Arguably Texas’ hippest hotel developer — soundtrack-savvy Bunkhouse, whose properties include ATX’s Hotel Saint Cecilia and Hotel San Jose and Hotel Havana in San Antonio — is coming to Houston. Designed crisply and in scale with its mostly residential Montrose setting near the Menil, Hotel Saint Augustine will break ground next year.

Lake Side Living in the Heart of Houston

333 W Friar Tuck Lane

Spectacular Sherwood Forest colonial style home, situated on Lake Carter on a sprawling 4 acres just a few minutes from the Galleria. This 17,192 sqft home boasts 3 levels, 5 bedrooms, 6 full & 3 half baths, 7 car garage with a/c, a large pool. Elegant rooms throughout the house including all mahogany panel office/den with floor to ceiling windows throughout the house that have shutters that close in case of a storm. Computer monitored & controlled security and cooling system. Guest house with large living area, bedroom with full kitchen & 2 baths. 4-year-old 200 KW generator for entire home. Plus 2 large storage buildings & a water well for the lawn. This is a must-see property!

Contact Norma Jean Moore to schedule a tour. 713.557.3061 Coldwell Banker Realty®

THE DISPATCH

Addie and Dustin Teague

CULTURE

The city’s top performing arts groups are back to business this fall after Covid shutdowns and slowdowns and digital interludes. HGO, which has also announced the imminent arrival of a new CEO in Khori Dastoor, the first woman to fill that role, offers the classic Carmen starting Oct. 22. The Houston Ballet, after performances of Jubilee of Dance Sept. 30Oct. 3, presents the opulent holiday favorite The Nutcracker beginning Nov. 26. And the Alley Theatre, celebrating its 75th anniversary this season, opens its curtain for Sweat Oct. 1, the Pulitzerwinning play about factory-worker women; 72 Miles to Go…, an immigration drama, runs Oct. 15-Nov. 14.

JEWELRY

Tiffany & Co.’s new Knot collection transforms a familiar industrial shape — the chain-link — into something that is modern and refined, it says. Shoppers can find the striking jagged angles on bracelets, rings, necklaces, pendants and earrings at Tiffany’s Galleria store.

Duos

Relish the Moment

What happens when an entrepreneurial restaurateur marries a chef? Well, if they’re Addie and Dustin Teague, they make a big impact on Houston’s restaurant scene. Their Relish Restaurant & Bar, now celebrating a milestone anniversary, has become one of River Oaks and Upper Kirby’s favorites. “It’s been a crazy five years,” says Addie.

They met in high school in Houston but went separate ways — her to New York, him to Austin and Vegas — before finding their way home and reconnecting in 2009. “I had the idea to open up

Relish Fine Foods, and Dustin was working in catering at the time,” says Addie. “He came on board to help me as executive chef and the rest is history.”

That history includes making the leap from working together to dating, to tying the knot and starting a family; little George is 4, and his baby sis June is 1.

Some big changes happened at Relish, too. They outgrew the fine-dining concept and decided to make their cuisine more accessible to more people. “We felt like there was a need for a neighborhood restaurant serving simple, delicious food,” Dustin says. Customers seem to love the deviled eggs and cioppino, while Dustin cites the beef carpaccio as his favorite and Addie picks the porchetta melt and barbecue shrimp.

The couple is considering expanding with a second location, but there’s no rush. All is good for now. “This is what we’ve dreamed of,” Dustin says. “We provide for our family and get to employ a lot of wonderful people all while serving the great community we live in. And doing it all with your best friend makes it that much more fun.” –zach mckenzie, photo by julie soefer

Bott’s ‘Candy’s Dandy, But…’ from 2010

Art Go for Baroque

Known for his geometric works, a Houston legend will be featured in an Anya Tish Gallery retrospective, HJ Bott: A Baroque Minimalist, Oct. 23-Nov. 27. Bott, a ’50s propaganda artist for the U.S. Army, has made politically progressive pieces for 60 years.