Houston CityBook Premier Issue

Every business has a story.

And for almost 50 years our story has been told over and over by our clients.

It’s a story of pride in service, professionalism and an investment in market knowledge. Staying up on and ahead of trends is both fact-based and instinctual. You won’t learn the nuances of a city or its neighborhoods by studying charts on the internet.

You must live and breathe their history, and therefore know what the future has in store for their growth or even their decline. We live and work where you live and work. Together that knowledge and our incomparable sales team are the reasons we will remain the leader in residential real estate.

We take our role in your success very seriously and give you our commitment to providing superior service and results.

John Daugherty, Realtors will be celebrating our 50th Anniversary March of 2017.

713.626.3930 johndaugherty.com

Pictured: Cheri Fama, President and COO John A. Daugherty, Jr., Chairman and CEO

Eggersmann USA | 5120 Woodway Drive, Suite 250 | Houston TX 77056 | 713.877.8088

new york | dania beach | houston | chicago | scottsdale | toronto | pittsburgh | costa mesa | santa monica | sand city | maui

HoustonCityBook.com HOUSTON’S HOTTEST NEW WEBSITE FOR FOOD, FASHION, DINING, DESIGN, ART, CULTURE AND MORE!

Jeff Gremillion Editor-in-Chief

Managing Editor

Fashion Director

Evan Wetmore

Kate Stukenberg

Art Director

Assistant Art Director

CJ Soukup for CKO Digital

Brian Murcia for CKO Digital

Contributing Editors

Stylists & Groomers

Todd Ramos and Meredith Xavier

Allyson Bowers, Arielle Griffin, Tisha Hughes, Molly Jodeit, Tonya Rimer and Jacob Wimberly

Writers

Dennis Abrams, Chris Becker, Allyson Bowers, Nick Winsome Cook, Holly Crawford, Steve Jansen, Chris Kelly, Caroline Starry LeBlanc, Edward Nawotka, Dan Oko, Mellanie Perez, Daniel Renfrow and Megha Tejpal

Photographers

Alefiya Akbarally, Kennon Evett, Shannon O’Hara, Daniel Ortiz, Julie Soefer and Todd Spoth Website Developer

Seth Bruce for CKO Digital

Design Support

Stuart Conway, Mishelle Echeverria for CKO Digital, Nancy Flemm, Patrick Magee, Jessica Tsao, Jill Unrau and Lance Young

945 MCKINNEY STREET, SUITE 119 HOUSTON, TEXAS 77002 832.514.3001 PHONE 832.514.3002 FAX INFO@HOUSTONCITYBOOK.COM PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER JEFF GREMILLION | VICE PRESIDENT LISA HOLTHOUSE CHIEF SALES OFFICER M. SONNY GARZA | CHIEF OPERATIONS OFFICER ERIC HOLDEN CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER CHRISTOPHER J. NODD | FASHION DIRECTOR KATE STUKENBERG

Lisa Holthouse

Executive Publisher

Associate Publisher & Advertising Director

Operations Director

Eric Holden

M. Sonny Garza

Controller Technology Director

Jeff Bingham

Christopher J. Nodd

Distribution Specialist & Account Manager

Integrated Marketing Director & Account Manager

Jared Jinkerson

Hannah Lonergan

Production Manager

Account Managers

Tressa Barzilla, Lisa F. Johnson, Annette Miller, Vali Monreal, Mason Moss, Dena Prasher, Carol Gambill Roberts and Eric Thompson

Ann Bracker for CKO Digital

945 MCKINNEY STREET, SUITE 119 HOUSTON, TEXAS 77002 832.514.3001 PHONE 832.514.3002 FAX INFO@HOUSTONCITYBOOK.COM PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER JEFF GREMILLION | VICE PRESIDENT LISA HOLTHOUSE CHIEF SALES OFFICER M. SONNY GARZA | CHIEF OPERATIONS OFFICER ERIC HOLDEN CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER CHRISTOPHER J. NODD | FASHION DIRECTOR KATE STUKENBERG

Contributors

Adam Piore, formerly of Newsweek and Reader’s Digest, is a contributing editor at Discover Magazine and Popular Science.

For this issue, he wrote the sprawling special report, “Into the Jungle,” which follows UH engineer Juan Fernandez as he

A graduate of the Tisch School for the Arts at NYU, Houston editorial and fineart photographer Julie Soefer cut her teeth working with legendary New York photographers Arnold Newman and Andrew Eccles. Her work has since been featured in such outlets as The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times,

ADAM PIORE uses groundbreaking (literally) LiDAR laser technology to explore and unearth Honduras’ Lost City of the Monkey God. “Who knows how many lost civilizations are hidden in distant jungles ... or beneath just a few feet of growth, waiting to be discovered?” says Piore. The writer’s first book, The Body Builders: Inside the Science of the Engineered Human, will be published by Ecco in February.

22 | houstoncitybook.com

Cleveland-born, Houston-based writer Chris Becker penned several articles in this issue, including the cover story on Cammie Gilbert of metal band Oceans of Slumber.

“I am grateful when I come across a band that gives me the same goose

Fervently fashionable stylist Todd Ramos, contributing editor, is often the man to call for photo shoots, fashion shows and fundraisers. The Houston Chronicle has dubbed him “Houston’s fashion guy,” and he appears frequently on local and national media

Photographer Shannon O’Hara grew up in Tougaloo, Miss., and moved to Houston by himself at age 16 to pursue a career as a ballet dancer with the Houston Ballet. Once his career ended due to an injury, he moved to New York to study photography at the

JULIE SOEFER

CHRIS BECKER

TODD RAMOS

SHANNON O’HARA

Texas Monthly and Food and Wine, and on multiple magazine covers, including this one! “I wanted a simple, clean background because Cammie Gilbert’s look is so strong,” she says of the covergirl. Soefer regularly produces national ad campaigns and has worked on shoots for major motion picture studios — she photographed the iconic movieposter image of Morgan Spurlock for Super Size Me — and TV networks. She is represented in Houston by Barbara Davis Gallery.

bumps I experienced as a teenager seduced by the pleasures of FM radio,” he says. “Oceans of Slumber is most definitely one of those bands.” A musician and artist in his own right, he also writes for the Los Angeles Review of Books, and he is the author of Freedom of Expression: Interviews With Women in Jazz.

He enjoys laughter yoga and good conversation with folks who scramble their own eggs.

outlets. He and noted fashion scribe Joy Sewing cohost the new radio show Joyful Life on 102.5 FM. Ramos collaborated with Fashion Director Kate Stukenberg for our men’s fashion story featuring actors from the Alley Theatre. “I loved working with handsome men from Houston in fashionforward editorial,” he gushes, unbothered by the 100-degree heat the day of the outdoor shoot. “It was literally hot haute.”

International Center of Photography. He’s been published in Food and Wine, Esquire, Garden & Gun and The New York Times. In this issue, O’Hara documents the culture of Greek food in Houston. “I loved hanging out with [Greek American fishmonger] Frixos on the docks in Freeport, watching him inspect every fish that came off the boat with such enthusiasm and care,” he says. “It inspires me to dig a little deeper and experience life with the same passion, joy and richness.”

The Lone Star State is known for its independent spirit and pioneering culture. So is Texas Children’s Hospital.

As one of the top four hospitals in the nation for children’s care, we’ve spent six decades conducting and providing the most innovative research and treatments in pediatric medicine, pushing boundaries and exploring new territory.

We’re keeping the frontier right here in Houston, where you’ll find extraordinary care whenever you need it.

Best in Texas.

4th in the U.S.

©2016 Texas Children’s Hospital. All rights reserved. MPR1531_080416. Texas Children’s Hospital is the only children’s hospital in Texas on U.S.News & World Report’s 2016-2017 Honor Roll.

Editor’s Letter

24 | houstoncitybook.com

would be, from cover to cover, all local. We aspired to hold up a mirror to a great city, teeming with ideas, rife with ambition, and diverse.

Hopefully that can all be said of this premier issue.

So am I feeling proud today?

Heck yes. But it’s a practical sort of pride. This is really just the beginning. We have to keep our promises to our readers and advertising partners as we go forward; we have to produce great content, and reach an important audience, regularly.

And it’s also a bittersweet moment. I had just begun to think seriously about my plans for CityBook when by best friend Alison, blonde and blue-eyed and faithful, was diagnosed with terminal cancer. The last time I saw her, she told me she was counting on me to make it happen, to breathe through the setbacks, to smile through any naysaying, to rise to my calling and to launch my magazine. (She also told me to find a spouse already and start a family, but maybe let’s have that as a project for another day.)

That conversation was two years ago, almost to the day. Alison died a couple weeks later, in the last days of summer — her favorite season — with autumn beckoning. I wish she were here to share this joy with me, but I’m content to know she believed in me then and saw this in my future.

Not all dreams are created equal, it’s true. So I’m honored to know that CityBook was one meant to come true.

JEFF GREMILLION Editor-in-Chief

photo by julie soefer, styling by todd ramos, clothing courtesy of m penner

NOT ALL CHILDHOOD DREAMS are created equal.

The silly little ones — like, say, guest-hosting for Johnny on The Tonight Show — quietly untether themselves from your spirit and, if left unrealized, drift off into the cosmos. No angst. Your life goes on, unaffected, except for the odd smile in recalling what a goofy little kid you were.

But other dreams, the ones that matter, linger across decades, part minor nuisance and part amorphous goal, until you contend with them.

Until you accept you’ve outgrown them and grieve for them and let them go. Or until you make them come true.

A chill hits me, and I picture that goofy kid and his peculiar fantasy, to start his own magazine one day, and I shiver. My heart calls to him. You did it, Jeffrey! The dream is real, and it’s called Houston CityBook.

My remarkably committed colleagues and I envisioned a magazine with the feel of a fashionable lifestyle publication that also made room for more serious journalism. We wanted it to be upscale and focused without being elitist and narrow. We imagined a periodical with the look of a beautiful national magazine but that

In the perfect home, every room is a living room.

Doliver Drive Refined home on a double lot with a floor plan arranged for both elegant and easy daily living and entertaining. Amenities include: large gathering rooms with multiple conversation areas and walls of windows; superbly appointed kitchen; sheltered outdoor living/dining with a fireplace and summer kitchen; guest/pool house with living, kitchen, bedroom, bath; home office or staff apartment; sumptuous master suite with dual full baths, plus en suite secondary bedrooms. Pebble and paver paths wind through the extensive, lush gardens.

± 9,208 sq. ft. | 4-6 bedrooms | 5.5+ baths Price Upon Request | MLS 60871154

Ruthie Porterfield | 713.558.3247 | ruthie@ruthieporterfield.com

Operated by Sotheby’s International Realty, Inc. Real estate agents affiliated with Sotheby’s International Realty, Inc. are independent contractor sales associates and are not employees of Sotheby’s International Realty, Inc. Equal Housing Opportunity.

Publisher’s Letter

Executive Publisher

26 | houstoncitybook.com

photo by todd spoth; dress by dior, available at tootsies

LISA HOLTHOUSE

IF YOU HAD ASKED ME TWO years ago if the publishing industry was in my future, my answer, quite simply, would have been NO. So why am I here?

That answer is simple. Jeff Gremillion is why I’m here. I respect his talent and I absolutely adore his personal characteristics. He is a special human being, and there is nobody else who could have brought me in with such zest. I am proud to be on his team.

But there are two other reasons that I am here. One is that I am a magazine fanatic! I am that person who spends $98 at an airport shop to stack up for a long flight. Yes, I enjoy reading books. But I get a wild creative rush reading magazines. I rip out pages on cool shops I want to frequent. I tear out pictures of a bedroom that has a pretty vignette that I want to emulate. Or I snap a photo of a great quote that I want to send to my kids. I live in a magazine world, as a reader.

The third reason I wanted to join the Houston CityBook team is because I love my hometown of Houston. This thriving metropolitan Texan city in recent years has captured the attention of people across the world. All eyes are on Houston! It is a flourishing, progressive urban metropolis that often and equally feels like a cozy little village. It is a special place, warm and familiar, and it should be delicately peeled open like a rose in bloom, by journalists who care about it as much as I do. And we at CityBook intend to peek inside

at those petals, to uncover a wide range of interesting aspects that are distinctly local, distinctly Houston.

I would personally like to thank the Founding Circle of advertisers that you see featured in this inaugural issue. We are blessed and grateful that you entrusted your businesses to our care, and we are proud to partner with you in expanding your reach into the community. And speaking of “care,” we are equally grateful for the founding nonprofit partners that have agreed to work with us through our CityBook Cares initiative. As we have said from the get-go, we are not just a magazine, we are Houstonians who care. And we are proud to be able to donate all net proceeds from subscriptions to our wonderful and important local charities.

As for me, I have no end game.

This is a journey of self-discovery in an industry that fascinates me. And I’m doing my best to bring something wonderful to my community. I invite you to join me and experience the splendid opportunities that our emerging city of Houston has to offer. Now please allow our team to surprise, inform and delight you.

For the unique. For the savvy. For the refined. For the connoisseur of Life.

Virginia Street Houston’s first LEED Platinum home. Expertly situated amongst towering live oaks, this well published home is designed to have minimal impact on the environment, but at the same time, create an amazing space for the homeowner. Outdoors becomes one with the indoors with its vaulted/trussed ceiling allowing loads of north light to fill the living spaces. Open floor plan with polished concrete and bamboo floors, low-voltage art lighting, solar panels, private cistern and Lutron lighting system. Simply spectacular.

± 3,789 sq. ft. | 3 bedrooms | 3.5 baths

OFFERED AT $2,495,000 | MLS 8490294

Jay Monroe | 713.504.6936 | jay.monroe@sothebyshomes.com

Operated by Sotheby’s International Realty, Inc. Real estate agents affiliated with Sotheby’s International Realty, Inc. are independent contractor sales associates and are not employees of Sotheby’s International Realty, Inc. Equal Housing Opportunity.

Contents

64 22 CONTRIBUTORS 24 EDITOR’S LETTER 26 PUBLISHER’S LETTER

Feeder 35 NEWS Smokin’ hot chefs take over H-Town, jazz prodigy Jason Moran gets inspired, and Whim follows Wink in River Oaks.

Plus! Can’t-miss concerts, art shows and more around town.

52 STYLE Designers put a colorful stamp — literally! — on fall’s fun outerwear and accessories.

54 STYLE Sisters open Kissue in Rice Village, and more boutique buzz.

56 STYLE Red all about it: Christian Louboutin opens his first Houston boutique.

58 STYLE Roll up your sleeves and check out the

84 season’s coolest shirts from H-Town’s hottest men’s boutiques.

60 DESIGN The Museum District says bienvenido to Tienda X, and other stylish news to know now.

62 DESIGN Décor inspired by Cubism is a cut above.

64 MUSIC Micaiah Walker is the comeback kid, while Josiah Gabriel puts his spin on the city’s electronic music scene.

68 ART John Jenkins’ propaganda-pushing paintings chart Romanticism’s evolution to the advertising age.

70 ART Musician Misha Penton orchestrates a mixed-media art show.

72 ART Artist-entrepreneurs Angel Rios and Rusty Arena merge art and textiles.

76 FILM Hear Hollywood’s controversial take on the Deepwater Horizon disaster.

78 BOOKS Author and presidential historian Douglas Brinkley muses on The Donald.

86 BUSINESS Lee Ellis dishes on how he’s rebuilding his empire of comfort-food-chic cuisine.

Plus: The future of crowdfunding.

92 BUSINESS For billionaire Tilman Fertitta, starring in a reality show is “just something fun” — but reshaping the Galleria skyline is the culmination of a lifelong dream.

94 GIVING BACK Two motivated moms hit the books to ensure that thousands of Houston kids are well read year-round.

96 REAL ESTATE As hurricane season peaks, is the City doing enough to help deluged ’hoods like Meyerland?

Contents

112 Features 98 LOUD & PROUD An unlikely ambassador of a misunderstood genre, Cammie Gilbert is proving her heavy metal.

112 MORE, MORE, MORE! The season is all about a ’70s-savvy, more-is-more maximalism. Here’s your all-excess pass!

130 OXFORD CALLING In a home outfitted by his sis, Blake Tartt channels college glory days with good “Ole” Southern style.

100 WE WERE SOLDIERS The Alley’s Michael Brusasco and Jay Sullivan suit up in military-inspired styles amid the sun-swept ruins of an urban wasteland.

126 INTO THE JUNGLE Using high-tech laser technology, UH engineers and researchers lead a dangerous, epic international effort to unearth a lost city in Honduras.

136 FAMILY STYLE Not far from the bachelor pad she designed for her brother, a decorator and her brood live in colorful comfort.

Contents

156 140 PARTY PEOPLE

Book Reports

166 TRAVEL With new restaurants and hotels galore, Austin is as weird and wonderful as ever.

152 DINING Steaking out the best of the River Oaks District. Plus: Houston’s tastiest food news in small bites!

174 TRAVEL SoCal for spa lovers: Cal-a-Vie turns 30 fabulously, and the surf-savvy new Ranch at Laguna Beach makes a splash.

160 FOOD CULTURE Go on an odyssey into the flavors and families of Houston’s Greek scene.

ON THE COVER Cammie Gilbert was photographed by Julie Soefer in Montrose.

Hair and makeup by Victoria Callaway/VCI Artists.

178 WELLNESS Houston is at the forefront of a new trend that’s bringing more focus and less bullying into area schools.

181 GUIDEBOOK Where to eat and who to know in Houston’s ever-evolving restaurant scene.

192 HOU-IQ Everything you never knew about Beyoncè!

®ROBERTOCOIN

POIS MOI COLLECTION

SUBSCRIBE 10-TIME SUBSCRIPTION $40 for 10 issues Visit CityBookCares.org Have 10 issues of the most talked-about new magazine in town, Houston CityBook, delivered to your home or office! Or give a subscription or two as gifts! And the best part—besides the stylish, substantive and all-local publication itself, and the nice discount off the cover price—is that all the net proceeds of your purchase ($30 of the $40 fee) will go to the Houston-based charity of your choice.

• Have hot, new Houston CityBook delivered right to your door.

• Keep current on local Houston style, dining, business and more.

• Enjoy an attractive 33 percent discount off the cover price.

• Support the local Houston nonprofit of your choice.

Charity of Your Choice Texas Children’s Hospital Contemporary Art Museum Houston K9s4COPs Memorial Park Conservancy

Fall 2016 STYLE, CULTURE, BUSINESS & MORE

UP IN SMOKE

THEY SAY WHERE THERE’S SMOKE, there’s fire. Such is the case with the Southern Smoke dinner, during which five of Houston’s hottest chefs serve smoked meats. On Nov. 6, the HOUBBQ Collective — Underbelly’s Chris Shepherd, Oxheart’s Justin Yu, Coltivare’s Ryan Pera, and Seth Siegel-Gardner and Terrence Gallivan of The Pass and Provisions — join many other highly sought-after chefs at the second-annual fundraiser, in hopes of topping last year’s $184,000 till for the MS Society.

The donation will be made in honor of Shepherd’s friend and former sommelier, Antonio Gianola, who was diagnosed with MS in 2014. –evan wetmore, photo by julie soefer

Pit Masters Shepherd, Yu, Siegel-Gardner, Pera and Gallivan team up as the HOUBBQ Collective for the second annual Southern Smoke dinner, which takes place at Underbelly and Hay Merchant on Nov. 6. Tickets available at southernsmoke.org.

NEWS

09.16 Tegan and Sara. 8pm.

Warehouse Live, 713.225.5483, warehouselive. com 09.17 Houston Symphony Opening Night concert and gala.

6pm. Jones Hall, 713.337.8585, houston symphony.org 09.17 Switchfoot and Reliant K. 6:30pm.

House of Blues, 888.402.5837, houseofblues. com/Houston

Culture

Dare to Diva

Stage Right Nicole Heaston at the Wortham, where she performs with HGO this fall

36 | houstoncitybook.com

WHEN ASKED WHAT can be done to introduce new audiences to opera, Chicago-born soprano Nicole Heaston does not mince words. “People think that in order to compete with performers like Beyoncé, opera singers need to be naked,” says Heaston, a former Houston Grand Opera Studio member who is now based in Katy. “Beyoncé can’t do what we do, and we can’t do what Beyoncé does. But when people see what we can do, and we do it right, they become excited about it.”

Houston opera fans will have a lot to be excited about this season, when Heaston’s star shines bright on multiple stages. She joins the Houston Symphony for three performances of Haydn’s oratorio Die Schöpfung (The Creation) (Sept. 29-Oct. 2). And in October, Heaston sings the lead role of Adina in HGO’s production of Donizetti’s comic opera L'Elisir d'Amore (The Elixir of Love) (Oct. 21-Nov. 4).

In a twist of staging, the HGO production takes place on the Italian

Riviera in the 1950s. The atmosphere is likely to be an entertaining combination of La Dolce Vita and screwball comedy.

“Instead of running a farm or vineyard, my character is going to be a hotel owner,” says Heaston. “I’m totally game.”

Haydn’s The Creation, which portrays the beginning of the world according to Genesis, is more serious in tone, but just as popular with modern audiences.

“Haydn’s music is so incredibly beautiful,” says Heaston, who sings the roles of archangel Gabriel and Eve. “Gabriel’s recitatives and arias are declamatory, with more syncopation than Eve’s. When I sing Eve, I imagine the sun rising. Her music has a sweet, more naïve feel.”

Heaston, who has sung lead roles for major companies around the world, believes outreach is key to creating fans of her genre. “If you diversify the stage and diversify the audience,” says Heaston, “people will come.” – chris becker , photo by alefiya akbarally

09.18 5 Seconds of Summer.

7:30pm. The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, 281.364.3010, woodlands center.org

09.18 Matt Wertz and Leon Russell. 7pm.

House of Blues, 888.402.5837, houseofblues. com/Houston

DR. SHERMAN YU Texas Laparoscopic Consultants tlcsurgery.com

MICHAEL CORDÚA Cordúa Restaurants cordua.com

ANNA GAMMILL Studio A Pilates studioapilatestx.com

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NEWS

Fashion

Belt It Out

LOCAL LUXURY SHOE DESIGNER Joyce Echols, whose shoes have recently received huge press thanks to Miranda Lambert having worn her gun-toting Come And Take It stiletto, has launched a line of made-to-order corset belts featuring such signature details as 12-gauge bullets in silver or gold. Made-toorder corset belts, starting at $385, at joyceechols.com –kate stukenberg

Art

Fair Game TIME TO PAINT the town! This season, a trio of art fairs hits Houston, beginning with the Houston Art Fair (formerly the Houston Fine Art Fair), where nearly 50 local and international galleries exhibit Sept. 29-Oct. 2 at Silver Street Studios. On the same weekend, the Texas Contemporary event is held Downtown at the George R. Brown Convention Center.

Opening-night festivities include a collaborative performance with the Houston Ballet’s Oliver Halkowich and multi-media artist Chris Doyle. And a week later, the semi-annual Bayou City Art Festival returns to the streets of Downtown with hundreds of outdoor booths.

09.20 Kanye West.

8pm. Houston Toyota Center, 713.758.7203, houstontoyotacenter.com 09.21 Boyce Avenue.

6pm. House of Blues, 888.402.5837, houseofblues. com/Houston 09.22 Beyoncé.

7:30pm. NRG Stadium, 832.667.1402, nrgpark.com

09.23 Ray LaMontagne.

8pm. The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, 281.364.3010, woodlands center.org 09.24 Alabama Shakes. 7:30pm.

The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, 281.364.3010, woodlands center.org

So Fine At the Houston Art Fair, galleries including Houston’s Deborah Colton display works such as Dorothy Hood's “Tixo’s Revenge.”

38 | houstoncitybook.com

introduces ‘‘le Roi Soleil’’

by Marcel Wanders

W W W. B A C C A R A T. C O M T h e g A l l e R i A • 5 0 8 5 w e st h e i m e r r oa d, s u i t e 2 63 0 • h o u sto n • 7 1 3 . 572 . 4 0 01

NEWS

09.24 James Blake.

6:30pm. House of Blues, 888.402.5837, houseofblues. com/Houston 09.25 Counting Crows and Rob Thomas.

6:45pm. The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, 281.364.3010, woodlands center.org

Two Truths and a Lie

Shore Thing?

09.29 Charlie Puth.

8pm. House of Blues, 888.402.5837, houseofblues. com/houston 10.01 Mana. 8:30pm.

Houston Toyota Center, 713.758.7203, houstontoyotacenter.com

THE NEW KID at KPRC — Emmy-winning L.A. import Derrick Shore, 35, of justlaunched afternoon lifestyle show Houston Life — is already enamored of the city.

It started the minute he and co-anchor Jennifer Broome were introduced to their appreciative audience on Life’s first live broadcast in the Galleria. “Just to walk out and have people applaud, on day one?” says Shore. “It’s remarkable how welcoming people in Houston are.” The bachelor, originally from Salt Lake City, was game to help CityBook launch this column, based on the college-orientation icebreaker. Can you spot the fake fact?

Answer’s on the next page.

–jeff gremillion, photo by todd spoth

40 | houstoncitybook.com

1. He was the first and, at age 19, the youngest reporter to visit the sunken Titanic, miles below the Atlantic’s surface. “It was cool, but I don’t think I’ll go back,” he says.

“Too dangerous.”

2. H is given name is Farnsworth Shorenstein.

Why change to such a Hollywood-happy matinée-idol moniker? “Isn’t it obvious?”

3. H e cuts his own hair. Well, used to. “When you’re a reporter, your schedule’s always changing,” he explains. “I kept missing my appointment.”

10.02 Flume. 9pm.

Revention Music Center, 713.230.1600, reventionmusic center.com 10.07 Young the Giant.

8pm. Revention Music Center, 713.230.1600, reventionmusic center.com

Experienced.

Connected.

Knowl-

edgeable. Committed. Collaborative.

Genuine. Af fable. Honest. Heights.

Inner Loop. Galveston. Residential Real Est ate. Construction. Remodeling. Design. Community Leaders.

Market Analysts. Advisors. Exper ts.

Negotiators. Urbanists. Volunteers.

You know us.

We know you.

Prudent. Invested. Trusting. Hardworking.

Concerned.

Informed.

Nearby.

Optimistic.

City -wide.

Re-

locating.

Live.

Work .

Celebrate.

Retreat.

Professional.

Taxpayer.

Homeowner. nomic Citizen.

Buyer.

Backbone.

Renter.

Market

Neighbor.

Eco-

Driver.

Houstonian.

Our most valued relationship.

Perhaps you know us as the premier Heights real estate firm with 20 year-old roots in what was once an offbeat enclave but now a Houston hotspot. Or, you know us from our beautiful art deco building overlooking Kirby Drive.

You met us at a party, you saw one of our signs or we have a mutual friend.

What’s more important is that we know you.

Experience, study and intuition have taught us what matters most to you. Whether it’s in knowing the neighborhoods you find most desirable, the best places to invest your real estate dollars or the shared sentiments that make up the current state of the market, we take to heart the fact that you are the most important part of our business.

Simply put, our greatest commitment is to knowing what you need and seeing how we can help.

Broker/Owner

Realtor. Resource. Friend.

7 1 3 . 8 6 2 .1 6 0 0 | yo u r b l vd .c o m 1 5 4 5 H e i g h t s B l vd .

Houston, TX 77008

6 1 1 7 K i r by D r.

Houston, TX 77005

2228 Mechanic St. Suite 100 G a l ve s t o n , T X 7 7 5 5 0

NEWS

Trend of Two

A Hole New World

Fashion

WALK IN WARHOL’S SHOES LONGTIME SALVATORE Ferragamo designer Massimiliano Giornetti may have parted ways with the fashion house earlier this year, but he’ll be remembered for his stylish stamp on the iconic Italian brand. Every look of Giornetti’s final men’s collection features a multicolored-splatter-painted shoe inspired by the exact Italian calfskin Ferragamo oxford the iconic pop artist Andy Warhol chose to wear when he painted. And Giornetti’s version is even more pop than the original, with each pair lined in a Warholesque orange sheared fur, just peeking at the seams — a design that surely will endure much longer than Warhol’s oft predicted 15 minutes of fame.

“Gris” shoes, $960, at the Salvatore Ferragamo boutique. –ks

IN A CITY where Shipley’s Do-Nuts reigns supreme, it is the oh-so-indulgent Shipley Do-Nut bread pudding at Corner Table (2736 Virginia St.) that has doughnut fiends rushing in for a taste. The ooey-gooey dessert crafted with glazed doughnuts, baked to a buttery crisp and topped with ice cream is a favorite at the River Oaks hot spot where the menu is made up of mostly paleo and gluten-free dishes.

The “doughnuts à la mode” craze is gaining momentum with the addition of doughnut icecream sandwiches at Lee’s Fried Chicken & Donuts (601 Heights Blvd.) The highly soughtafter Texas-sized dessert is made to order with two full-size glazed doughnuts cradling double scoops of Lee’s Creamery ice cream in flavors like Mexican chocolate and strawberry cheesecake. A great way to maintain a wellrounded diet! –megha tejpal

Lee’s Fried Chicken & Donuts

By the Numbers

Corner Table two truths and a lie answer: 2

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10.09 Your Wedding Experience featuring David Tutera. George R. Brown Brown Convention Center, 713.853.8002, yourwedding experience.com

10.13-10.15 Glimpse collections by international and local designers, including Chloe Dao, at Fashion X Houston, presented by Cadillac. Also browse readyto-wear items at a pop-up shop.

Silver Street Studios, houston. fashionx.co 10.14 Marc Anthony.

8pm. Houston Toyota Center, 713.758.7203, houstontoyotacenter.com

200 Organizers of the second annual Whiskies of the World expo promise to offer at least this many different “expressions” of whisky for tasting. More than 100 distillers from around the world will present wares at Downtown’s Hyatt Regency Oct. 1.

10.07-11.5 A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Alley Theatre, 713.220.5700, alleytheatre.org

10.14 Echo & the Bunnymen. 7pm.

House of Blues, 888.402.5837, houseofblues. com/houston

REAL MUSCLE

IN HEART Setting the pace in cardiovascular care.

Across Memorial Hermann, affiliated heart and vascular physicians performed more than 50,000 procedures last year alone. Break that down and you’ll find Memorial Hermann’s lifesaving expertise extends from heart rhythm disorders and heart attacks to treatment for advanced heart failure, including the most complex vascular surgery and heart transplant. Their groundbreaking work puts this program at the forefront of advancing heart health, and that means patients have a better chance of recovering faster and returning to the things they enjoy sooner. So for true strength in cardiovascular care, turn to Memorial Hermann Heart & Vascular Institute.

Learn more at heart.memorialhermann.org

NEWS

4

3

Cy Twombly Gallery

Jones Hall

1

2 Frenchy's Chicken

10.15-11.19 Three Texas artists — painter Becky Newsom, photographer Ann Stautberg and sculptor Frances Bagley — display works during Sculpture Month. Studio 1821, 1821 W. Alabama St., 713.522.2336, studio1821.com

5 6 7

Cezanne

MacGregor Park

1) Cy Twombly Gallery at the Menil Collection “Twombly composes abstraction in a way that seems to challenge anybody else’s notion of abstraction. And then maybe challenge everyone’s notion of what a narrative is.”

Houston Homing

Inspiring an Artist

JAZZ PIANIST and MacArthur “Genius” Grant winner Jason Moran, 41, returns to his hometown Oct. 7 to present Da Camera’s In My Mind: Monk At Town Hall at the Wortham. Born and raised in the Third Ward, Moran’s highly conceptual approach to jazz often references landmarks of his early years. Here are some of those places in the heart, from which he says he draws “inspiration … repeatedly.” –chris becker

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2) Cezanne “When I started playing gigs, they would generally be at Cezanne. Which is still there, thank goodness. It’s a small bar, but it’s got a great vibe. That’s the place where a lot of us from HSPVA [high school] got the chance to break open our music.”

3) Jones Hall “I remember my parents taking us to Jones Hall to see André Watts, Wynton Marsalis’ band in the mid-’80s. ... There were things my parents wanted us to see and visualize, not in the hopes that we would become artists,

but to understand that people worked hard to get there.”

4) The Silver Slipper “A tiny little place, very low-lit, mostly nothing but red lights. ... The music is a classic Texas mix: a bit of jazz, a lot of blues, and a lot of soul.”

5) Frenchy’s Chicken “Frenchy’s Chicken in Third Ward is a real space — a real meeting place.

When I go there, I’m listening to where I am. Of course, I’m thinking about what I’m going to eat, but I really go there to listen. I think about it just as I would an art gallery.”

6) MacGregor Park “Learning tennis there was the first time I saw dedication to a sport or an art form could be your passport out of certain situations.

The piano would become my passport, the object that

would transport me far from the place where I learned to make it happen.”

7) The Shrine of the Black Madonna Community Center and Bookstore “When I was in high school, the Shrine was the place where I’d buy books I heard about through Public Enemy or my parents.

It was a place where you could go and get inspired and also recognize yourself as a person and your relationship to the world.”

8) A future jazz spot that Houston musicians would be able to come back to and play “Now that so many Houston jazz musicians have made a serious etch into the history of the music, it’s about time we try to put something in the ground that will stand the test of time. That future venue will be my new inspiration.”

10.18 Dec My Room luncheon with appearance by David Yurman.

11:30am. Café Annie, decmyroom.org 10.19-10.21 Ryde for a Reason, team indoor-cycling event benefiting The Rose. Ryde, River Oaks Shopping Center, 832.581.2878, letsryde.com

10.20-10.21 Lott Entertainment kicks off its season with Mx Justin Vivian Bond performing an original.

8pm. Alley Theatre, lott entertainment presents.com

NEWS

Art

Under the Hood

10.21-11.4 Houston Grand Opera presents The Elixir of Love. Wortham Theater, 713.228.6737, houston grandopera.org 10.22-11.05 During its pop-up Neighborhood Series, Mercury the Orchestra performs at MFAH, Dosey Doe, MATCH and Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church. mercury houston.org

10.24 Troye Sivan.

7:30pm.

Revention Music Center, 713.230.1600, revention musiccenter.com

WHEN SAN ANTONIO artist Vincent Valdez began work on his latest painting, “The City,” in November of last year, the 38-year-old painter had no idea that the real-life counterparts to the whitehooded apparitions that are depicted in his new piece would find many of their racist ideas being floated around in the loaded rhetoric of this year’s presidential campaign. The Ku Klux Klan may still be universally reviled, but this election cycle has proven that white supremacy is still alive in America, and Valdez suspects it may have a familiar face.

The massive, 43-foot-long piece that the artist has spent nearly a year meticulously painting debuted in early September at the David Shelton Gallery, and hangs through Oct. 8. The way that

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Valdez has painted the Klan members in his piece — holding cellphones, a baby, a beer — humanizes them, bringing home the idea that these insidious figures are everyday Americans. And as he painted each hooded character, the artist says he found himself wondering who was lurking underneath the cartoonish masks. Could they be teachers, doctors, neighbors or councilmen? “[We] have had an ongoing staring contest in the studio every day for the last 10 months,” he says. “I am as curious about them as they are about me. I fear them as much as they do me. Perhaps this is where we find ourselves in 21st-century America, endlessly drawing lines over histories, territories and differences.”

–daniel renfrow

Black & White Vincent Valdez, at work on "The City" in his San Antonio studio

10.25-11.06 TUTS presents How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.

Hobby Center, 713.558.2600, tuts.com 10.26 Elle King. 7pm.

House of Blues.

888.402.5837, houseofblues. com/houston

NEWS

10.26 Gavin DeGraw and Andy Grammer. 8pm.

Revention Music Center, 713.230.1600, revention musiccenter.com 10.28 SPA presents the interactive Underwater Bubble Show.

7:30pm.

Wortham Theater, 713.237.1439, spa.org 10.28 St. Lawrence String Quartet.

7:30pm.

Hobby Center, 713.524.5050, dacamera.org

Shops

On a Whim WHO DOESN’T REMEMBER Cindy Reich’s stylish fashion boutique Wink? Reich closed up her beloved shop in 2008 to focus on family, but during its prime Wink was renowned for introducing such emerging designers to Houston as Nanette Lepore, Alice & Olivia and Rebecca Taylor, all of whom are boldface names on the floors of Neiman Marcus

and Nordstrom these days. Now she’s back with a new shop, Whim (3636 W. Alabama St., Ste. 160, shopwhimhouston.com).

And while the lines are different, her knack for finding stylish looks that no one else knows about returns. Think lots of day dresses, great tops and timeless pieces for the office from Jason Wu’s newly launched contemporary line Grey, plus perfectly cut bohemian pieces from the recently resurfaced dress designer Tracy Feith — and exclusive to Whim, cult fashion favorite Jenni Kayne’s relaxed line of California cool staples.

Say What?

“It’s not about being in the spotlight. … It’s about winning games.”

–UH quarterback Greg Ward Jr. on the glare of media attention — including a Sports Illustrated cover — he garnered over the summer. The Tyler native, 22, landed on the Heisman watchlist, and the team began the season with a win over No. 3-ranked Oklahoma, moving the Cougars up to No. 6 in the AP rankings, their highest posting in 26 years.

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10.28-10.30 Greek violin virtuoso Leonidas Kavakos.

Jones Hall, 713.224.7575, houston symphony.org 10.29 Il Divo. 8pm.

Revention Music Center, 713.230.1600, revention musiccenter.com 10.29-10.31 Haunted Briargrove, a haunted house for The Children’s Fund.

Donation $5, hauntedbriargrove.com

Living Well is Always in Good Fashion

NOW SELLING Perfectly placed and where you want to be, The Sophie at Bayou Bend offers 42 exclusive condominium residences in the heart of Houston’s Memorial Park and Bayou Bend neighborhoods. Sleek and sophisticated, each spacious city estate-home features soaring ceilings, panoramic terraces with outdoor summer kitchens and all-weather fireplaces.

Make the Move.

SALES CENTER OPEN DAILY 6017 MEMORIAL DRIVE, HOUSTON, TEXAS 83 2 . 6 9 9.1 7 6 8 ¡ T H E S O P H I E H O U S TO N .CO M

Notwithstanding any other information (including, without limitation, any marketing, sales, advertising, brochures, or similar information), all prices, building design, architectural renderings, plans, amenities, features and specifications of any and all improvements to any part of the Condominium or Property are subject to change or cancellation without notice.

MIRADOR GROUP

NEWS

11.03-11.06 DASH — Design Antiques Show Houston — hits Silver Street. Grab a cocktail and peruse Round Top-esque finds.

Silver Street Studios, dashhouston.com

Classic paintings by Peter Max and, at right, the artist back in the day.

Art

MAX OUT Design

Print Ready Tribute Goods’ new graffiti-inspired textiles

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OFF THE WALL GALLERY in the Galleria presents a retrospective of the career of painter Peter Max, known for his punchy, color-saturated works and interpretations of pop-culture phenoms from Taylor Swift to Monet’s lilly pads. The show runs through the end of September, and the aptly named Max makes an appearance Sept. 24-25.

Street Wise WHILE THE INTERSECTION of street art and high fashion is not new — hello, Moschino — it has now made its way to the world of luxury linens. Local interior designer Karen Pulaski has commissioned artwork from Houston’s Kevin Peterson — his work typically features portraits of children painted near graffiti-covered walls — for the latest installment of her Tribute Goods bedding.

The fall collection of pillows, shams and duvets features a graffiti border, pulled from Peterson’s painting “Wisdom & Purity” and digitally printed on Italian woven Egyptian sateen. “When isolating motifs from Peterson’s painting, it was important to maintain its fantasy element with unexpected changes in power, mood and scale,” says Pulaski. And from street art to the streets of Houston, Tribute Goods donates 10 percent of profits to supporting local arts, education and AIDS research. –meredith xavier

11.04 Ingrid Michaelson.

7pm. House of Blues, 888.402.5837, houseofblues. com/Houston 

Photo credits: P1: 5 Seconds of Summer courtesy EMI Music; Matt Wertz courtesy Fleming Artists. P2: Alabama Shakes courtesy The Fun Star; Ray LaMontagne courtesy Paradigm Artists. P3: Flume

by Cybil Malinowski.

P4: Petite Sweets and Chloe Dao

by Julie Soefer.

P5: Jason Moran

by Clay Patrick McBride; Cezanne

by Hart Photo; Cy Twombly and Jones Hall courtesy Visit Houston; Mx Justin Vivian Bond by David Kimelman. P6: Vincent Valdez by Michael Stravato; Troye Sivan and Elle King courtesy EMI Artists. P7: Greg Ward courtesy @ UHFootball. P8: Ingrid Michaelson courtesy Paradigm Artists.

MOVE IN SUMMER 2017

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Federal law prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status or national origin in the sale, rental or financing of housing.

Broker participation welcomed. Prices and specifications subject to change without notice. Images are meant to evoke the character and the mood of the design and is not meant to represent the exact features or materials. Please see a sales associate for details.

STYLE

Sticker Shock!

Doodles, patches or pins, pop-art illustrations have taken center stage in fashion, on everything from handbags and raincoats to denim jackets and shoes. A few favorites? “Sticker”-emblazoned bags by Anya Hindmarch and Hermès’ illustrated totes. Just looking to add a dash of cheeky personality to your look?

Consider ironing on one of Texas-based artist Blake Wright’s clever patches, or stick on one of Madewell’s Brooklyn-designed Pintrill emoji pins. –kate stukenberg

Kors Light iron-on embroidered patch, $25$35, by Blake Wright at Saint Cloud Sabine jacket, $3,100, at the Stella McCartney boutique Rain Rain Go Away printed raincoat, by Mira Mikati, $1,370, at Nordstrom and The Webster

Patched racecar slipons, by Mira Makati, $675, at Nordstrom and The Webster Pintrill Emoji pin, $12, at Madewell Bolide 45 Shark bag, $7,000, at Hermès, in the River Oaks District

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M I R ADOR G RO U P

Architecture. Landscape Architecture. Interior Design.

MiradorGroup.com

STYLE

Boutique Buzz DENISE LUCIA and daughter Katie are celebrating 30 years of Katia (5634 Westheimer Rd., 713.621.1817), their chic, appointment-only boutique that carries the likes of Moussy denim, Gabriela Hearts and Louiza Babouryan. The shop is celebrating in equally exclusive fashion. The

Take a Look Kailey and Kaygan Tissue inside their Kissue boutique

Sister Act FASHIONABLE SISTERS and online retailers Kailey and Kaygan Tissue quietly opened the doors this summer in Rice Village to their first permanent brick-and-mortar location of their online Kissue fashion boutique.

Located on Amherst Road, next door to popular menswear shop The Classroom, the 1,800 square foot, minimally designed black-and-white space is actually their second location, as the girls experimented with a temporary setup at Memorial City six months prior to opening in the more central Houston locale. “We learned so much more about the type of customer our merchandise appeals to because we worked at the store all day, every day.” Kailey and

Kaygan opened their online shop three years ago while Kaygan was still in college at Texas Christian University and Kailey was working in New York City for such fashion designers as Vivienne Tam and Rag & Bone.

Their long-term vision? To launch their own Kissue fashion collection. But until then they stock a selection of affordable fashion and accessory brands from New York and Los Angeles, both in stores and online. Their top sellers include fashion designs by Renamed, Mono B, and Lumiere, plus Australian sunglasses brand Quay, and jewelry line Wrapped by Sav. 2532 Amherst Road, 713.899.3102; kissuetx.com –kate stukenberg

GET IN STEP THE PURVEYOR of every fashion insider’s favorite bucket bag, Mansur Gavriel, has introduced its first line of shoes, an elegant collection of suede mule sandals and loafers, which Tootsies exclusively carries in Houston. -ks

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A fall look from Akris

stylish duo are planning a private celebration in Tulum at hot hotel Gitano. … After months of commuting back and forth to New York, designer Hunter Bell is officially living in Houston and has opened a design studio near Rice Village (2449 South Blvd., hunterbellnyc.com). Expect seasonal sample sales of her contemporary women’s line now that she’s moved production from New York to H-Town. … River Oaks District (4444 Westheimer Blvd.) continues to add to its offerings of luxury boutiques with the openings of posh Parisian children’s couture clothing boutique Bonpoint, and the luxurious contemporary collection of fashion and accessories by international fashion house Akris, its boutique located next door to Hermès. … Meanwhile, a new children’s clothing store has opened a temporary space next door to popular Cafe Brasil. Small Noise (2608 Dunlavy St.), which will move to an undisclosed permanent space in the coming months, will carry a vast assortment of cult kid brands not previously available in Houston including Bink & Boo, Wee Gallery, Noe & Zoe, and Agatha Club. –ks

STYLE

What a Stud!

Sandal with pearl-andgold pyramid ankle cuff and toe detailing, $1,195, at Christian Louboutin boutique

Red All Over ICONIC FRENCH SHOE DESIGNER Christian Louboutin, known for his signature red soles, opens his first boutique in Houston this month at the Galleria. The 2,250 square foot space, located near Neiman Marcus and next door to MaxMara and Miu Miu, will feature the brand’s signature red carpet throughout.

The area designated for women features a blue-lacquered façade, on which multicolored studs create a camouflage pattern; shoes

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and accessories are displayed in custom metal gates calling to mind a western motif. Meanwhile, the men’s shopping area features lots of leather, gray lacquer panels and a gray-patterned rug, evoking a more masculine ambiance. The latest shoe and handbag offerings from fall/winter 2016, including a spectacular Fireworks collection for men and women, will be on display when the store opens. christianlouboutin.com –kate stukenberg

Butchers & Restaurant

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE CELEBRATION!

Congratulations Chita & Lane Craft CHITA’S GOWN COMPLIMENTS OF

STYLE

Step Up, Button Down

The Pioneer Sawtooth Western denim shirt, $88,

by Levi’s Red Tab at Stag Provisions

LONG GONE ARE the days of the boring ol’ button-down.

Denim is hot, collarless too, and textures both bold and subtle.

And, with more great men’s boutiques in Houston than ever before, the fun options seem almost unlimited. From biz-casual to weekend-ready, here are the season’s coolest shirts, from the city’s hippest shops. –todd ramos, with photos by kennon evett

The Mod Man Denim banded shirt, at Manready Mercantile

The Literary Navy window pane with contrast cuff, $395, by Ermenegildo Zegna at M Penner

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The Good Ol’ Boy Foulard broadcloth sport shirt, $145, at Sid Mashburn

The Artisan White-cotton whale-print shirt, $640, by Lanvin at The Webster

The Traditionalist Mustard check shirt, standard cut, $195, by John T Shirt at Billy Reid

The Classicist Denim button-down shirt with front pocket, $156, at Rye 51

DESIGN DESIGN

Artifact Check

TABLE TOPS The Museum District’s new Tienda X, formerly a yoga studio, displays rarified antiques side-by-side with more contemporary pieces.

ART-LOVING INTERIOR designer Garrett Hunter and architect Michael Landrum have opened Tienda X (1420 W. Alabama St.) in the Museum District. The yogastudio-turned-design-shop focuses on 20th-century modernist pieces, artisanmade furniture, and rarified antiques.

Works from Pierre Jeanneret and Afra Scarpa are displayed alongside artifacts dating as far back as the Ming Dynasty.

Hunter and Landrum recently launched their own in-house collection of furniture and lighting which currently includes a line of statement-making floor lamps and steel custom commissions. –meredith xavier

Stripe Zone

BRIT DESIGNER RICHARD Brendon has teamed up with the London-based design website Patternity to produce a line of eye-catching bone china, which makes its Houston debut this season at Kuhl-Linscomb (2424 W. Alabama St.). Brendon is known for modernizing traditional tabletop decor with avantgarde touches, as in the new line of blueand-white dinner plates, servers and cups and saucers. He’s playfully mixed stripes and geometric shapes to create an optical shift in pattern that quickly catches the eye, bringing an entirely new audience to the traditional craft. –mx

PLATE MATES Richard Brendon’s Patternity collection of bone china includes plates, cups and saucers.

TURN THE PAGE

ONE OF THE WORLD’S leading collectors of modern and contemporary art, Chara Schreyer has spent the past 40 years working with designer Gary Hutton to build homes meant to prominently display her collection. Assouline’s newest publication, Art House, is a visual tour of these five residences that together house more than 600 works of art, including masterpieces by Marcel Duchamp, Andy Warhol, Donald Judd, Louise Nevelson, Diane Arbus and Frank Stella. A visual journey of living with and honoring art, Art House will be available this fall at the Assouline shop inside La Table in BLVD Place. –mx

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The TAustin’s radiTion ConTinues Newest Luxury Hotel

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DESIGN

Get Bent Byron figurine, $9,000, by Kelly Wearstler, kellywearstler.com

THE RULE-BREAKING, asymmetrical shapes found in this season’s home-dècor collections are a playful nod to Cubism. Icons Picasso and Braque have inspired pieces with an ability to create a bold presence in any space.

–meredith xavier

Facet table, price upon request, by John Lyle at David Sutherland in the Decorative Center Large mobile, $820, by ParkerWorks at Found for the Home Cubed sculpture, $79, at West Elm Chaise, from $1,910, by Vondom Faz at Internum

MUSIC

Call It a Comeback

G

After changing course, even changing names, and later calling it quits, Micaiah Walker’s VerseCity is rising up again. By Steve Jansen

etting the band back together might sound like a cliché best left to post-grad party boys looking to reunite for a bender, or The Blues Brothers. But for Micaiah Walker, 26, it’s quite real, and he’s all in. His once renamed and later defunct band, VerseCity, is making a second run at commercial success. “If you don’t have everything invested,” says the handsome, lanky frontman, things start to fade.”

Walker’s journey back to the starting gate began on the high school basketball court, perhaps unsurprisingly, since he stands six-foot-four barefooted. Until 2008 he was set on pursuing a career in basketball. A standout with the state-playoffs-bound Clear Lake Falcons, he had an opportunity to walk on to the UH Cougars basketball team as a freshman. But a couple of chance meetings — on and off the court — diverted his path.

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He linked up with Chase Gutierrez, an aspiring music manager he met while playing rec-league basketball, and Marcus Edwards III, who lived in Walker’s dorm. Soon after, the trio formed VerseCity (pronounced “versity,” like “diversity”) and the band — influenced by Incubus, Maroon 5 and Jack Johnson — would share stages with such well known acts as Slim Thug and Lifehouse.

In 2010, VerseCity released a rock-bathed version of Ke$ha’s “TiK ToK,” and the cover tune climbed international radio charts.

Eventually, the band signed with Austin-based Foundation Recordings, which coaxed them into changing their name, among other things. They became The Anthem.

Overall, it was quite an accomplishment, given that Walker is largely a self-taught singer and guitarist. He learned some guitar chords from his dad, a professional musician who traveled the

Photo: Chris Bailey Photography

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www.HoustonOaks.com • 713.888.0000

MUSIC

country to make a living after Micaiah’s mother died when Micaiah was a toddler. But Walker figured a lot of it out on his own. “Once I realized I wasn’t going to make it to the NBA, that’s when I got really into — falling in love with — music,” remembers Walker, who plays a hybrid acoustic-electronic guitar while belting out vocals, recalling a less-emo and less-tortured Fall Out Boy. However, the commercial breakthrough wasn’t an entirely gratifying experience for Walker. “The label wanted us to sound more like a boy band,” he says. “Although the record was well produced, it didn’t sound like us. It didn’t become a big radio success like they had hoped. Eventually, the fans went away, our morale was super low, and the band members jumped ship and got full-time jobs.”

Now, four years later, Walker has revived the band — called VerseCity once again — and the new crew is playing shows at venues like House of Blues, and will release a 10-song album

early next year. Walker is also making a splash as a solo artist, picking through songs he’s written over the years and adding electronic-centric sounds, hip-hop beats and dubstep bass. In his spare moments, Walker enjoys playing pick-up basketball and watching NBA games. (He can still dunk, by the way.) He also spends his time with his wife of nearly five years, Suzie, a health expert, life coach and Page Parkes model.

One of VerseCity’s newest tunes, “Rise Up Lights,” which will be included on the new record, is a particular favorite of Walker’s.

It’s also apropos of his journey, as Walker says his career is back on track after a blow that could have forever crushed the fulltime musician.

“When you’ve gotten knocked down a bunch of times and you’ve had a hard road and some hard times, you keep pushing,” says Walker. “When your time comes, you have to rise and you have to shine. The idea is you keep working, and you rise up and you take people by surprise.” 

BASIC INSTINCT Electronica may be Houston’s hottest new music scene, and Josiah Gabriel’s stripped-down sound is leading the vanguard. By Daniel Renfrow, Photo by Todd Spoth WHEN JOSIAH GABRIEL — née Noah Clough — DJs at one of his many latenight gigs, he dances hyperactively, like he’s had one too many vodka-Red Bulls.

But in gyroscopic fashion, the 29-year-old producer and DJ maintains his classic equipoise and, with his audience hanging in wait, hits every drop right on cue. That’s why Gabriel is one of the hottest DJs in Houston’s burgeoning electronica scene.

It’s a position he affirmed with his stellar set at last year’s inaugural Day For Night festival and by his most recent EP, EP$, which just dropped.

Gabriel credits much of his sound — simple beats tinged with a hypnotic mélange of elements from various subgenres — to a singular event on New Year’s Eve in 2012: the theft of his backpack. Stolen moments before he was due to ring in the New Year with a musical set, his backpack contained much of his musical equipment and a hard drive that held all of his masters. Gabriel was forced to go back to basics and create strippeddown, vocally scarce (his microphone was also stolen) music from the scraps of what remained of his gear.

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“I was like, ‘Sh*t, I have no body of work.

I need to make stuff fast,’” he remembers.

“So I made this EP called #nothingmatters because I was f***ing sad, and it was great material, and it popped harder than any of the sh*t I was doing before it.”

His material has evolved further still.

And for his new record, Gabriel decided to go back to that moment of desperate focus and hash out tracks that combine elements of his simple, sparse music with the more vocally driven tracks he created before the theft.

“I’m messing with material that is very basic, and then the vocals are incredibly pop and R&B with a little bit of soul,” says Gabriel, who leaves in October for an extended visit to Germany, whose capital city of Berlin is the international mecca for the electronica scene.

He’ll be back in time to reprise his rep-setting performance at this year’s Day For Night, which begins Dec. 17. Fans may perceive a new Euro edge, or maybe not. What’s for sure is that the set will be uniquely Josiah. “I make weirdo sh*t and I’m not trying to do anything else,” he says.

“I’m making what I want to make.” 

ART

True Romance John Jenkins’ arch, propaganda-savvy show charts the evolution of Romanticism to the advertising age.

By Daniel Renfrow

F

or a long time, painting was just something that John Jenkins did.

The Memorial-based artist, who has new work up this fall at Nicole Longnecker Gallery (2625 Colquitt St., 346.800.2780), discovered his passion for the palette by playing around with some paint a friend was using for a college art class. At that point, painting was not necessarily anything he’d want to share with the public on a larger scale. “A gallery wasn’t very important to me,” muses Jenkins, now 45. “There’s a lot of pretension that goes along with the gallery scene, and I wasn’t thrilled with it.”

It wasn’t until a friend badgered him into carting his art over to Bering & James Gallery that he found a gallery that assuaged his concerns. The now-defunct gallery signed him on the spot, unburdened him of the art he walked in with, and in 2007 gave him his first solo show, which nearly sold out. His career took off, and now he presents bold new work that

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zings the media as propagandists.

Jenkins grew up in what he calls a “nerdy family” — both of his parents work for NASA — so a heavy intellectual current flows from this work. The 40 graphic and mostly representational acrylic paintings in his current show, The Triumph of Romanticism, are inspired by what Jenkins sees as the appropriation of Romantic Era notions by the nationalists of the World War II propaganda machine, which evolved into today’s advertising industry.

That evolution is why you’ll find a four-panel piece featuring pinup girls and ’50s housewives painted beneath Chinese characters that alarmingly translate as: “We will not attack unless we are attacked.

If we are attacked we will counterattack.”

Then there’s a piece that features George Washington and Vladimir Lenin on opposite sides of the Paramount logo.

The show’s darker subject matter is a departure for Jenkins, and unexpected from the amiable artist; he’s worked part-time at the Container Store for the past 10 years mainly because he likes being around people.

But then again, there is a subtle humor to be gleaned from how he punctures the zeitgeist. “It’s a fine line to walk, because you don’t want to be offensive,” he says, “but you also don’t want to say the media is bad and advertising is bad because that’s not really what it’s about.”

But according to Jenkins, his critique goes deeper than just the media and places some blame on consumers themselves. “You can’t just blame the media and the advertisers,” he notes. “Sometimes it’s just basically the gullibility of people.” 

art images courtesy of the artist; jenkins portrait courtesy of julia cote

The Art of Politics From left: Jenkins’ “Alliance,” and the artist with his “Autumn Bomb”

ART

Colors of the Song

Sound Check ‘Blood & Salt,’ paintings and audio works by Misha Penton, shows at The Jung Center of Houston through Sept. 28.

Singer Misha Penton utilizes new instruments in a moving, mixed-media art show at The Jung Center. By Chris Becker

W

hat compels so many musicians to paint? watercolors, emerged from a period of intense professional transition. “I felt very stuck in my creative life,” says Penton.

For soprano Misha Penton, painting is a “I had been doing these very complicated, large-scale music meditative and cathartic process, and productions that were kind of eating me alive. So I decided I’m provides solace from the demands of her career as a contemporary classical singer and not going to do that anymore. impresario of her performing arts company “I can get myself busy and make stuff,” she adds. “But the challenge was how do I put those skills to good use, and not just Divergence Vocal Theater.

Out of what started as a private and therapeutic pastime, produce for the sake of producing.”

Penton has created a substantive body of work, including several To stay connected to those skills, Penton kept watercolor pads acrylic paintings now showing at The Jung Center of Houston on her kitchen table, and occasionally stopped her day-to-day activities to quickly paint a line or two here, a dab of color there, through Sept. 28. The show’s title, Blood & Salt, comes from a text by Penton, who also writes; it describes what lies beneath until she had amassed several completed paintings. It took a while. “the armor we wear in the world.” Sound provides an additional “I attribute all that I am doing now as the result of waiting,” says layer of meaning at the exhibition. Using QR codes displayed Penton, whose first successful show took place in Austin this by each piece of art, viewers can access audio of Penton singing summer. “Waiting and allowing what needed to emerge in my and chanting her mysterious, stream-of-consciousness writings. practice to emerge.”

Onstage, in costume, her dark hair styled to evoke the heroines Born in Germany and raised in upstate New York, Penton of ancient Greece or Romantic-era literature, Penton is a riveting and her energy-entrepreneur hubby have made the Heights their performer. But painting, not performing, is the medium Penton home base. She firmly believes that goes to for “an emotional release,” she says. “It’s a very personal living and working in Houston practice that is now becoming more externalized. I’m now has allowed her various creative thinking of it in the same way as music and performance.” obsessions to converge. “People here respect you for the gumption and Her expressive brushwork evokes the transformative energies of fire, water and air to reveal a series of highly charged and audacity to just do your thing and emotional inner landscapes. Perhaps not surprisingly, much realize your vision,” says Penton. of her recent work, including hundreds of delicate, ephemeral “For an artist, that’s a huge gift.” 

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ART

Material Gains Angel Rios in the Ken Kehoe showroom in the Decorative Center, where AER Textiles are displayed

Magic Carpets Part artist and part entrepreneur, luxury rug maker Angel Rios champions Houston artists — and invites you to walk all over them. By Edward Nawotka, Photos by Alefiya Akbarally

A

ngel Rios designs heavenly rugs. Heavenly, because these bespoke, pricey floor coverings are woven out of wool and silk and tufted by hand in the high climes of Tibet and Nepal — literally as close as you can get to heaven on Earth.

Rios, now 37, got his start in the rug trade after getting fed up with working as a private banker at J.P. Morgan. “I wanted to pursue a profession that satisfied my aesthetic and creative interests,” he says. His curiosity led him to working with Hokanson custom rug makers in Houston, which in turn landed him a gig helping produce rugs for the Governor’s Mansion in Austin. After a stint in New York with top interior design firm Fortuny, Rios returned to launch his own new line of floor coverings this year in Houston, after he was invited to be a part of the Ken Kehoe showroom at the Decorative Center.

Together with his business partner David Domangue, a 27-year-old former J. Crew stylist, Rios launched AER Textiles, now offering something new to the market: rugs inspired by and created in collaboration with local artists. “In this way, we are harking back to the much older tradition of tapestry-making,” explains Rios. “Historically, you hung the tapestry — which is

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basically a rug — on the wall as art. Now we’re taking the art, and turning it into something beautifully functional.”

The process of creation involves a bit of artistic voodoo, but is enabled by advances in digital scanning and design software, which allow Rios to reproduce a design, scale it and add contour and texture.

Some of AER’s collaborators are well established local artists such as Rusty Arena, Rene Garza and Nicola Parente. But it’s the opportunities that the duo are offering to emerging artists that may be the most exciting. These new artists include Kornelia Krslovic, a student at New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology, who began working with Rios after he was impressed by the edgy organic watercolor paintings she submitted to a design competition; and Magdalena Pamula, a Polish painter who produces vibrant geometric patterns.

And AER is going a step further. Rios and Domangue will soon offer Houston’s emerging textile-design community another home by converting their warehouse in EaDo into an experimental workspace for young creators. “We’ve taken in donations of leftover materials from clients and designers,” says Rios. “So far, we’ve collected some 200 bolts of fabric; we are creating a textile resource library that we can open to

ART

young artists who want come in and experiment with material design.”

It goes without saying that Rios is hard at work on his own designs as well.

He is, like his creations, understated in his style — stubble, jeans, fresh white Converse All Stars — and easy-going, but with an edge of rakishness. He offers a playful smile when he admits to having taken some commissions that led to some rather curious, custom pieces for clients: A design that echoes the curves of and colors of a woman’s vulva is one example.

But so far, it is the art-based originals that have attracted the most attention.

Rug designs licensed from Parente and Pamula’s art are going into the new BHP Billiton building on Post Oak, and AER has also produced rugs for the new Galleria-area Astoria high-rise and more

Weaving a Story Left to right: Fine art used to create AER Textiles includes “Andante d’Oro” and “Fantasie Impromptu” by Argentinian painter Nicolas Urquiza; “Retro Renew” by Houston’s Nicola Parente was converted into a rug.

than a half-dozen private homes. The rugs are available to order, and prices are in line with those of other custom, highend designer floor-coverings — or, jokes Rios, “perhaps just a tiny bit more.”

This is just the start, says Rios, who notes that there is no reason that AER’s partnerships with artists can’t extend

into a broader range of textiles, such as upholstery or window dressings. But for now, rugs — bespoke, beautiful, luxurious rugs — are enough.

“Just feel this,” says Rios, running his hand along a hand-tufted Tibetan silkand-wool sample swatch. “Doesn’t this just feel divine?” 

Art Smart Textile artist Rusty Arena

DARINGLY DIGITAL A pioneer in making textiles from art, Rusty Arena conquers a new medium: the computer.

By Edward Nawotka, Photo by Alefiya Akbarally RUSTY ARENA HAD already had a long career working in textiles — from upholstery to wall coverings — when he was approached by Angel Rios to have some of his designs turned into rugs. “It has been a new experience and fun so far,” says Arena while roaming his warehouse-like studio in Northeast Houston. “Seeing my designs in Angel’s creations reminds me a bit of sculptural bas-reliefs: There’s a textural topography to the surface.”

Rugs are not the only new project on Arena’s agenda. This fall he’ll open an exhibit at the Jung Center highlighting a new series of tonal glyph prints. “These works are very different for me, and are really strange insofar as they seemed to have sprung directly from my unconscious.”

At first and up close, the prints are beautiful but meaningless, the work of someone with OCD intent on covering a sheet of paper with random strokes from a grey marker. And, confesses

74 | houstoncitybook.com

Arena, “I drew them almost casually, as a way of expending extra energy at the end of the day and to keep the flow going. I thought nothing of them.”

But inspiration hit after he brought them to his design assistant Lee Wilde, who began to transform them on the computer.

Suddenly, a series of patterns emerged. “We both saw it. It was like all of a sudden, ‘Wow, there’s the art,’” he says.

The resulting large-format prints offer a coherent but mysterious series of visualizations (a cross here, an egg there) that mutate as the viewer moves. Part inspiration, part optical illusion, part pure gestural imagery.

As for his part in the creation of the work, Arena is happy to say that the result is “computer-assisted.” But, he contends, the resulting work is no less profound for it: “It’s so strange. The final image wouldn’t exist without the digital intervention, yet somehow they always existed.” 

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FILM

Going Deep Mark Wahlberg stars in the September action flick ‘Deepwater Horizon’

Oil Rigged?

Hollywood’s take on BP’s epic oil-spill disaster hits theaters this month. But will ‘Deepwater Horizon,’ controversial in Houston, tell the whole truth? By Dan Oko

O

n Dec. 25, 2010, The New York Times published a stirring, gut-wrenching article by a team of reporters, including Pulitzer Prize winner David Barstow, on the fate of the Deepwater Horizon oil platform. It was a riveting account of the chaotic events on the rig that followed the earlier failure of the Macondo well-blowout preventer, 41 miles off the coast of Louisiana — some 350 miles southeast of Houston, where well operator British Petroleum has its U.S. headquarters. In the end, Barstow and his colleagues performed an autopsy of sorts on what exactly caused the hightech, 25-story offshore derrick to suffer such catastrophic damage.

The original 2010 article was published just eight months after the deadly accident aboard the Deepwater Horizon, which that April killed 11 workers, setting the scene for the worst oil spill in American history.

Five million barrels of oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico. BP was fined billions of dollars, and Transocean, the Swiss owner of Deepwater Horizon and the largest operator of offshore rigs on the planet — not to mention the employer of most of the rig workers — paid hundreds of millions in penalties.

But when Hollywood screenwriter Matthew Sand received a copy of the Barstow story from his agent, with a note suggesting it might make a first-rate movie, what captured his

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“When it comes to getting the story right, the laymen might not know it.

But it’s a story we in Houston are going to be able to tell.”

attention wasn’t the environmental tragedy or the economic cost. Rather, Sand was initially struck by the heroic efforts that the rig workers undertook to save their own.

As the Times reported: “In the most hellish of circumstances, men and women helped one another find a way to live.”

Although many across the Gulf are still coping with the aftermath of the Macondo oil spill, Sand found inspiration in the immediate questions of life and death aboard the rig. “Our story ends where the environmental story begins,” he tells Houston CityBook, in an interview from Los Angeles. “The scene that really first got me was where [electronics technician] Mike Williams goes back into the wreckage. The 11 men who died took a hit for the team.

I mean our national team; my car runs on gas that for all I know came from the Gulf.

And Williams, he undertook this incredible act of bravery to save his brothers.

“That moment of heroism was the key.”

In turn, Sand’s screenplay attracted the attention of actor-turned-director Peter Berg, known to Texas audiences for his work behind the camera for the film Friday Night Lights and as a producer of the television series. It also caught the eye of actor Mark Wahlberg, who worked with Berg on the dramatic 2013 film Lone Survivor. Screenwriter Matthew Michael Carnahan — his 2007 Jamie Foxx actioner, The Kingdom, was also directed by Berg — was brought in to help with rewrites, and this fall, audiences will finally be able to witness Wahlberg playing Williams in Deepwater Horizon.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 190

BOOKS

President or Bust Author and historian Douglas Brinkley, pictured with a bust of Abraham Lincoln, has authored books on several presidents, including his latest on Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Trump Wins!

Then What?

50 articles in magazines such as Rolling Stone and The New York Times Magazine. He is also the literary executor for the late Hunter S. Thompson, an old buddy, and he edited the diaries of Jack Kerouac.

And soon some of his work hits the small screen, and it hits close to home. Brinkley’s award-winning 2006 masterpiece, The Great Deluge: Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast, is being transformed into a television miniseries by Ryan Murphy, showrunner of FX’s The People v. O.J. Simpson. Also for FX, the new show will be called Katrina.

With all of his adventures and efforts to document events in America’s present, it’s easy to forget that the telegenic Brinkley is best known for his expertise about America’s more distant past, especially its chief executives. CNN once called him “a man who knows more about the presidency than just about any human being alive.” He has written books about presidents Reagan, Ford, Kennedy, Carter and both Roosevelts, among others. His most recent book, published earlier this year, is Rightful Heritage: Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Land of America. He has some thoughts on Hillary, Trump and the future of the republic.

Has there ever been a presidential campaign like this before? I think the big story here is the media coverage. For a long time we talked about 24/7 Historian and Rice prof Douglas Brinkley, whose cable-television saturation, but now with new Katrina book may be TV’s next big thing, knows what media sources, it’s every second. It’s gotten so rapid, it can seem unglued. There can seem to be America will look like under Trump — or Hillary. nothing holding down the story. It’s just flying

By Adam Piore, Photo by Sandy Carson past every moment. By the time you and I are talking in this interview, I’m sure there are two HOUSTON’S MOST FAMOUS historian, Douglas Brinkley, news cycles we’ve missed. Nobody is waiting for the next day’s doesn’t exactly fit the stereotype of a tweedy, mild-mannered acanewspaper and so that’s very unique. demic. Over the years, he’s flown to Haiti for Vanity Fair to hang out with a Glock-toting Sean Penn, cruised the high seas with What about Donald Trump? How does he fit into history? People Johnny Depp, and dined with President Obama. have compared him to third-party candidates, people like Ross Lured to Rice from Tulane in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina, Perot, who won 19 percent of the vote in 1992, or P.T. Barnum Brinkley is also one of the city’s most prolific authors of popular who was a great showman. But if he won, it would be an nonfiction. Over the years, he has penned no less than a dozen books, extraordinary rebuke of the American political system as we scores of journal articles and somewhere in the neighborhood of know it today. If Trump wins, it’s a revolution in America.

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What would future historians say if Trump wins? It would be the final end of kind of a joint establishment foreign policy. In that way, Trump would be a revolutionary president. We wouldn’t have seen something quite this dramatic of a policy shift. The key to when you study American history since World War II is that there’s usually been a consensus between Democrats and Republicans on a lot of things. And that’s formed what used to be called the Wise Men, or the ruling class, the Eastern establishment. Today we call them elite. If Trump wins, it’s not just beating the Democrats, it’s also a dismissing of the power wing of the Republican Party.

Has that ever happened before? If Trump became president it would actually ring my Andrew Jackson bell. Jackson is someone who wanted to open up democracy, bring in more voters, was seen as somebody who was hardscrabble, spoke straight, never scripted, didn’t feign to be an intellectual. These are things that Trump echoes a bit. There was also an ardent language to Jackson; the Indian removal of Andrew Jackson is equatable to the deportation of Mexican Americans of today.

It would be empowering people’s sense of anxiety that they don’t have a piece of the American pie anymore, that they been marginalized. Some people call it the mob rule. Suddenly a new group comes in and they throw out all the bad guys.

for decades now. I mean in national politics, Obama’s been huge, but in Democratic politics, Bill and Hillary Clinton have seemed to own the store.

If Trump loses, will there be a role for him in American politics? He will try to argue that, even though he lost to Hillary, it’s just a setback to the revolution that he is leading and he will want to remain a major voice. As soon as Hillary Clinton in 2017 hits her first bump in the road, there will be Donald Trump saying I told you so. But I think for electoral politics, he could never possibly again get the Republican nomination. He would almost be a pariah figure in Republican politics. And if he ever took it seriously again, I would imagine it would be as a thirdparty candidate, which he would bankroll on his own.

What do you do you see as the future of the Republican Party? I think it’s an anomaly. I think it might be a bright future for people like John Kasich from Ohio, because there’ll be a feeling that, in order for conservatism to move forward, it’s going to have to be optimistic, not fear-based. So it will go harking back to Ronald Reagan, the sunny optimism of the conservatism, and it will go back to George W. Bush’s compassionate conservatism that he ran on to get elected, before 9/11 turned him into a war hawk and things changed. So it will be the discarding of Chris Christie and Rudy Giuliani and the reemergence of a little more of what I would call the traditional conservatives and sunny optimistic conservatives, not the pessimistic crowd.

“If she gets elected, people will talk about Bill and Hillary in the same breath as Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. It becomes a tale of a power couple who dominated the political scene, not for one cycle but for many.”

What if Hillary wins? What historical bells will that ring, and how will historians talk about her? If she gets elected, people will talk about Bill and Hillary in the same breath as Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. It becomes a tale of a power couple who dominated the political scene, not from one cycle but for many. I think that they will say the two giant women of the 20th and 21st century politics are Eleanor Roosevelt and Hillary Clinton. Hillary Clinton has not been a beloved national figure, but I think once it really sinks in, if she defeats Trump, the national media will build her up as the historic first woman president and a pioneer in women’s rights. And also, if she wins, I think it means that [both] the Clintons are large historic figures. And a lot of historians will ask, “Are we living in the age of Clinton?”

What about Obama? Barack Obama was such a once-in-a-lifetime charismatic candidate — gave electrifying speeches, had a million-megawatt smile and kind of a storybook back life — that he’s almost an aberration. But the Clintons seem to have been able to kind of pin down the Democratic Party apparatus

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Let’s talk about Hurricane Katrina. You and your family rode it out in a high-rise building in New Orleans, while you were still with Tulane. Those turned out to be fateful days. It forced you from your home, and also gave you the material for a brilliant book, and soon a TV show. I got to see the wrath of Katrina. I was perched right over the Mississippi River, and I saw the river running backwards, in the opposite direction. There was debris flying everywhere. It was almost indescribable, the power of nature. It made me realize how insignificant human beings are in the grand scene of things. We’re all quite helpless when a storm of that magnitude confronts us. I had a bird’s eye view of the storm, and I then started wandering around the French Quarter, the Lower Ninth Ward, and started to work rescue boats and also talk to people around town. At that moment I was writing a biography of Theodore Roosevelt, and I put it on hold to write The Great Deluge.

Why? I realized that I was an eyewitness to all this. I was kind of a socialite in New Orleans so I knew everybody. I knew people in the police department and City Hall, and the governor’s office. So I knew how to reach folks very quickly.

Reporters coming down to New Orleans from The New York Times and The Washington Post were at a disadvantage. They were trying to get their sources together and I already knew everybody. And I realized that it was kind of my calling to write a descriptive book about what transpired during the ghastly week of Katrina. I was seeing doctors working around the clock helping people, and firemen doing rescue missions. Everybody seemed to be putting their trade to work. I happened to be a historian that had learned my trade well. So I would employ my trade capturing what occurred there. 

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SPECIAL PROMOTION

September 27

Delicious Alchemy: The Art of Food BENEFITING: Recipe for Success CHAIRS: Gracie and Bob Cavnar WHERE: Four Seasons INFO: 713.520.0443 TICKETS: $250 September 28

Presented by BBVA Compass and Francisco & Co.

SEPTEMBER September 15

Mission to Mars: What Will It Take BENEFITING: Space Center

Houston STEM programs CHAIRS: Janet and Harvin Moore; Alice and Keith Mosing WHERE: River Oaks Country Club INFO: 281.244.2118 TABLES: $2,500+

Charles Hall WHERE: River Oaks Country Club INFO: 713.552.0420 TABLES: $5,000

BENEFITING: The Health Museum CHAIRS: Gina and Devinder Bhatia HONOREE: Carolyn Farb WHERE: Hotel ZaZa INFO: 713.337.8442 TABLES: $5,000+ September 17

Symphony Opening Night Concert & Gala BENEFITING: Houston Symphony CHAIR: Ralph Burch HONOREE: ConocoPhillips HONORARY CHAIRS: Lisa and Ryan Lance WHERE: The Corinthian, Jones Hall INFO: 713.337.8585 TABLES: $5,000+ September 21

Women of Distinction Announcement Party BENEFITING: Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation CHAIR: Franelle Rogers HONORARY CHAIR: Margaret Alkek Williams WHERE: Tootsies INFO: 713.572.2232 September 22

Yellow Rose Distilling’s Spiked by the Scoop BENEFITING: Homemade Hope WHERE: CityCentre Plaza INFO: spikedbythescoop.eventbrite.com TICKETS: $35 September 22

The Amazing Place 20th Anniversary Celebration BENEFITING: The Amazing Place CHAIRS: Dan Dinges; Mary Lou and

Craig Campbell BENEFITING: MD Anderson and TJ Martell Foundation CHAIR: Franelle Rogers HONORARY CHAIRS: Jeanne and Jim Janke; Carolyn Faulk; Gene and Linda Dewhurst WHERE: Hotel ZaZa INFO: 866.366.5274 TICKETS: $750

September 23

Big Black Tie Ball BENEFITING: Big Brothers Big Sisters CHAIR: Sarak Bolka HONOREE: Dr. Mike Feinberg WHERE: Omni Riverway INFO: 713.860.8209 TABLES: $5,000+

September 16

Hearts of Gold Gala

Best Cellars Celebrity Wine Dinner EVENT NOTES: Singer

September 24

Go Boldly Gala, Concert and Dinner BENEFITING: River Oaks Chamber Orchestra CHAIRS: Ginni and Richard Mithoff HONOREE: Margaret Alkek Williams WHERE: St. John the Divine, River Oaks Country Club INFO: 713.665.2700 TABLES: $5,000+ September 26

Legacy Luncheon

BENEFITING: Legacy Community Health Systems CHAIR: Mary Ann McKeithan HONOREE: Kelli Cohen Fein WHERE: Wortham Theater INFO: 832.200.7150 TABLES: $3,000+

September 29

Mary Jo Peckham Luncheon

BENEFITING: Assistance League CHAIRS: Jenny Price and Betty Puryear HONOREES: Leisa Holland Nelson, Phyllis Holland, Laura Max Rose WHERE: River Oaks Country Club INFO: 713.526.7983 TABLES: $2,500+ September 29

One People, One World BENEFITING: Medical Bridges CHAIRS: Kelli Cohen Fein, Barbara Van Postman, Peter Remington HONORARY CHAIRS: Mary Ann and Bob Wilkins HONOREES: Tony Bradfield and Kevin Black of Tenenbaum Jewelers; Spirit Golf Association WHERE: Hotel ZaZa INFO: 713.748.8131 TABLES: $2,500

OCTOBER October 5

September 27

Help…Hope…Healing Luncheon EVENT NOTE: Speaker

Tim Gunn BENEFITING: Depression & Bipolar Support Alliance of Greater Houston CHAIRS: Reagan and George Fibbe; Ashley and Michael Hannah; Carol Ann and Bob Paddock WHERE: River Oaks Country Club INFO: 713.600.1131 TABLES: $3,500+ September 27

At The Heart of Families BENEFITING: Harris County Protective Services CHAIRS: Marilyn and George DeMontrond; Ellie and Jack Sweeney HONOREE: Trini Mendenhall WHERE: Junior League INFO: 713.394.4068 TABLES: $2,500

Blues On the Bayou

BENEFITING: Bayou Preservation Association CHAIRS: Lindley Arnoldy, Brittany Cassin WHERE: Private home in Memorial INFO: 713.529.6443 TABLES: $3,000+ October 5

Home Safe Home Gala

BENEFITING: AVDA CHAIRS: Meg and Preston Kamin; Stacy and John Andell; Brooke and Jeff Wise HONOREES: Trini Mendenhall, Richard W. Mithoff WHERE: The Astorian INFO: 713.224.9911 TICKETS: $250 October 5

Think Pink Luncheon BENEFITING: Zeta Tau Alpha

Foundation and breast cancer awareness and research WHERE: River Oaks Country Club INFO: 281.684.2150 TICKETS: $150 October 6

Razzle Dazzle Luncheon

BENEFITING: Bobetta C. Lindig Breast Center at Memorial Hermann CHAIRS: Kristina Somerville, Hallie Vanderhider HONOREES: Mayor Pro Tem Ellen R. Cohen, Mary Ann McKeithan WHERE: Westin Memorial City INFO: 713.242.4450 TABLES: $2,500+ October 7

“Come Dance with Me” Grand Gala Ball BENEFITING: Museum of Fine Arts Houston CHAIRS: Laurie and Reed Morian WHERE: MFAH INFO: 713.639.7512 TABLES: $10,000+ October 7

Huffington Award Luncheon BENEFITING: The Asia

Society HONORARY CHAIRS: The Honorable George and Barbara Bush; The Honorable Charles and Anne Duncan HONOREE: Gerald D. Hines WHERE: Hilton Americas INFO: 713.496.9907 TABLES: $2,500+ October 7

Gala Noche de Las Americas BENEFITING: The Institute of Hispanic Culture of Houston CHAIRS: Karina and Carlos Barbieri WHERE: Junior League INFO: 713.528.1492 TABLES: $2,500+ October 7

Celebration of Champions Luncheon and Fashion Show BENEFITING: Texas Children’s Hospital Cancer Center CHAIRS: Sidney Faust, Judi McGee, Scott Basinger, Elsie Eckert WHERE: River Oaks Country Club INFO: 832.824.6917 TABLES: $3,000+ October 8

Flashback to the ’40s

BENEFITING: Mission of Yahweh CHAIRS: Mary Ann and David McKeithan; Kathi and Bill Rovere JUNIOR CHAIRS: Megan Blaisdell, Becky White HONORARY CHAIR: Sybil Roos HONOREES: Samantha Kennedy, Julie Pitts WHERE: Hilton Post Oak INFO: 713.466.4785 TABLES: $5,000

SPECIAL PROMOTION ART

Living Water International Gala BENEFITING: Living Water

Iron Sommelier Grand Tasting BENEFITING: The

Jeans and Jewels “Fiesta on the Rio Grande”

October 22

Club INFO: 713.401.9930 TICKETS: $350

International WHERE: Hilton Americas INFO: 281.207.7800 TICKETS: $150

Periwinkle Foundation CHAIRS: Sean Beck, John Clutterbuck WHERE: The Houstonian INFO: 713.807.0191 TICKETS: $200

BENEFITING: Northwest Assistance Ministries HONOREES: Darlis and Tom Fuller HONORARY CHAIRS: Carol and Mike Watford WHERE: Woodlands Waterway Marriott INFO: 281.885.4608 TICKETS: $200

October 27

October 13

October 14

BARC on Broadway Ball

October 20

BENEFITING: Houston BARC Foundation CHAIRS: Elizabeth Brock, Elise Eckert, Sidney Faust, Judi McGee HONORARY CHAIR: Mayor Sylvester Turner HONOREE: Carolyn Faulk WHERE: Junior League INFO: 713.622.4191 TABLES: $5,000+

BENEFITING: Houston Zoo CHAIRS: Nancy and David Pustka; Randa and KC Weiner HONOREES: Rick Barongi, Don Kendall WHERE: Houston Zoo INFO: 713.533.6584 TABLES: $5,000+

October 15

October 21

Barkitecture BENEFITING: Pup Squad Animal Rescue CHAIRS: J.D. Adamson and Tony Gibson; Tiffany Halik WHERE: Greenstreet INFO: pupsquad.org October 15

The Mad Hatters Ball BENEFITING: The Children’s Museum CHAIRS: Elva and Truett Akin; Monica and Greg Meeks WHERE: The Corinthian INFO: 713.535.7210 TABLES: $5,000+ October 15

Cuisine for a Cause BENEFITING: Dress for Success CHAIRS: Mary and Ben Patton; Rachel and Jason Volz WHERE: Dress for Success INFO: 713.337.0879 TICKETS: $500 October 18

Foundation for Teen Health Luncheon BENEFITING: Baylor

College of Medicine Teen Health Clinics CHAIRS: Annie Beck, Lauren Randle HONOREES: Jan Carson and Sen. Rodney Ellis WHERE: River Oaks Country Club INFO: 713.256.6593 TABLES: $1,500+

October 20

Feed Your Wildlife

Jungle Book Gala BENEFITING: Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Foundation CHAIR: Lizzie Andrews HONORARY CHAIRS: Dwight Howard, Lucas Somoza WHERE: The Dunlavy INFO: 346.212.2309 TICKETS: $130

October 23

Who R U? Children’s Halloween Party

BENEFITING: Menil Collection WHERE: Menil Collection INFO: 713.525.9467 TICKETS: $85 October 26

Key to the Cure Kickoff Party BENEFITING: Memorial

Breast Care Centers at Memorial Hermann CHAIRS: Jo Lynn Falgout, Kimberly Falgout, Christine Falgout WHERE: Saks Fifth Avenue INFO: 713.242.4450 TICKETS: $75

October 21

HGO Opening Night ‘Elixir of Love’ BENEFITING: Houston

October 26

Grand Opera CHAIRS: Valerie and Tracy Dieterich; Mary and Mark D’Andrea HONOREE: Dr. John Mendelsohn WHERE: Wortham INFO: 713.546.0242 TABLES: $6,000+

Unleashed Gala BENEFITING: K9s4COPS CHAIRS: Laurie Krohn, Rachel Raz HONOREE: Interim Police Chief Martha Montalvo WHERE: J.W. Marriott Galleria INFO: 713.523.2677 TABLES: $2,500+

October 21

October 27

BENEFITING: The Living Bank CHAIRS: Ileana Trevino, Margot Rosson, Mari Trevino HONOREE: Kayla Lehmann WHERE: Junior League INFO: 713.961.9431 TABLES: $5,000+

Theatre CHAIRS: Oscar Brown, Glenn Vangolen WHERE: Coronado Club INFO: 713.315.3370 TABLES: $10,000+

The Incredible Journey

Wild Things Black-Tie Men’s Evening BENEFITING: The Alley

October 27

October 22

True Blue Gala BENEFITING:

Texas Safari Party at the Houston Zoo BENEFITING:

October 18

Houston Police Foundation CHAIRS: Paige and Tilman Fertitta; Laura Ward WHERE: Home of Paige and Tilman Fertitta INFO: 713.651.3122 TABLES: $5,000+

Epilepsy Foundation CHAIRS: Dylan and Jordan Seff HONORARY CHAIRS: Bill and Colleen O’Brien WHERE: Houston Zoo INFO: 713.789.6285 TICKETS: $300

Personal appearance by David Yurman BENEFITING: Dec My Room WHERE: Café Annie INFO: 832.538.1201 TICKETS: $250

The Jones Hall 50th Ball: A Mad Mid-Century Celebration EVENT NOTES:

Let’s Do Lunch EVENT NOTES:

October 18

Laura Lee Blanton Community of Spirit Award Dinner BENEFITING: Houston Hospice Foundation CHAIR: Sue Stiles White HONOREE: H-E-B WHERE: River Oaks Country Club INFO: 713.677.7123 TABLES: $2,500+

October 22

Performance by Itzhak Perlman BENEFITING: Jones Hall renovation efforts CHAIRS: James Postl; Alexandra and David Pruner HONOREES: The family of Jesse H. Jones; Houston Endowment WHERE: Jones Plaza INFO: 713.807.1411, ext. 112 TABLES: $15,000+

October 27

Dream Out Loud Celebration Dance Sing Act BENEFITING:

TUTS’ River Performing and Visual Arts Center CHAIR: Michele Womack HONORARY CHAIRS: Robin and Danny Klaes HONOREES: Colleen and Coach Bill O’Brien; Cathy and Bob Binstock WHERE: Junior League INFO: 713.558.2656 TABLES: $3,000+ October 28

Bone Bash BENEFITING: Arthritis Foundation CHAIRS: Sabrina Elias and Dr. Bela Thacker HONOREES: Dr. Sippi Khuranna, Ashley Seippel, Aylssa Elias WHERE: Hotel Derek INFO: 713.253.0688 TABLES: $3,000+ October 29

The Bash: A Halloween Happening BENEFITING: Easter Seals CHAIRS: Newie and Dr. Mark Brinker; Anabel and Steve Thompson, Jr. WHERE: Hotel ZaZa INFO: 713.838.9050, ext. 304 TABLES: $3,000+ October 29

“Lost Lagoon” Boo Ball BENEFITING: Ronald McDonald House CHAIRS: Suzanne and Bucky Farrow; Jan and Oneil Mendenhall; Joelle and Mitch Derrick WHERE: Hilton Americas INFO: 713.795.3585 TABLES: $5,000+ October 29

“Mystery Masquerade” Orange Show Gala BENEFITING: The Orange Show CHAIRS: Penelope and Lester Marks WHERE: Crowne Plaza NRG INFO: 713.926.6368 TABLES: $6,000+

NOVEMBER November 1

Crime Stoppers Dinner

Spirit of Excellence Gala

EVENT NOTES: Speaker Michael Rezendes BENEFITING: Crime Stoppers HONORARY CHAIR: Laura Ward WHERE: Hyatt Regency INFO: 832.849.1589 TICKETS: $500

EVENT NOTES: Speaker Peggy Noonan BENEFITING: Houston Baptist University CHAIRS: Beth and Greg Looser WHERE: Royal Sonesta INFO: 281.649.3442 TABLES: $5,000+

October 27

Hold ‘Em for Heroes

BENEFITING: Heroes for Children CHAIRS: Donya Davis, Suzanne Coppola WHERE: Houston Country

November 2

Gems of the World: A Night to Shine BENEFITING: Best Buddies CHAIR: Kimberley Perich

SPECIAL PROMOTION ART

November 12

Paw-ty with the Great Gatsby BENEFITING: Citizens for Animal Protection CHAIRS: Marian and Austin Cornelius; Patricia and Sig Cornelius HONOREES: Lara Bell and Brent Milam; Cindy and Jack Childress; Kim and Scott David; Duke and C.C. Ensell; Jo Lynn and Greg Falgout; Yanira and David Huntington; Roland Maldonado, M.D. and Enid Sanchez; Paige and Bob Martin; Charlene and Charles Signorino; Ray Wisniewski and Jonathan Jarrell WHERE: Royal Sonesta INFO: 713.942.1896 TABLES: $3,000 November 14

The Art of Conversation

HONORARY CHAIRS: Colleen and Coach Bill O’Brien WHERE: Crystal Ballroom INFO: 832.673.0305 TABLES: $5,000

Houston CHAIRS: Marcia and David Solomon HONOREE: Ric Campo WHERE: Hilton Americas INFO: 713.942.8000 TABLES: $2,500+

November 2

November 3

One Great Night BENEFITING:

Catwalk for a Cure

Museum of Fine Arts Houston WHERE: MFAH INFO: 713.639.7572 TABLES: $10,000+

BENEFITING: Amschwand Sarcoma Cancer Foundation CHAIRS: Stephanie and Ernie Cockrell; Christine and Ty Hoffer WHERE: The Astorian INFO: info@sacrcomacancer. org TABLES: $5,000

November 2

Another Great Night BENEFITING: Contemporary Arts Museum INFO: 713.284.8250 TICKETS: $750 November 2

Signature Chefs Dinner BENEFITING: March of Dimes CHAIRS: Valerie and Tracy Dieterich; Jaci and Jim Smith WHERE: Revention Music Center INFO: 713.964.5415 TABLES: $5,000+ November 3

Heritage Award Dinner BENEFITING: Boys and Girls Country WHERE: Hilton Americas INFO: 281.351.5293 TABLES: $5,000

November 4

Trees of Hope Holiday Gala BENEFITING: Star of Hope CHAIRS: Donna Grehn, Sharon Schwartz HONORARY CHAIR: Lynn Wyatt HONOREES: Lisa and John Stoika WHERE: The Citadel on Kirby INFO: 713.942.8733 TABLES: $5,000+ November 4

Una Notte In Iltalia BENEFITING: Bo’s Place CHAIRS: Stacey Soriero and Tiffany Wong HONORARY CHAIR: Debbie Festari WHERE: Royal Sonesta INFO: 713.942.8339 TABLES: $2,500+

November 3

Nature Rocks BENEFITING: The Nature Conservancy CHAIRS: Kate and Steve Gibson WHERE: Polo Club INFO: 713.807.8052 TABLES: $5,000+ November 3

The Guardian of the Human Spirit Luncheon BENEFITING: Holocaust Museum

November 5

Sing for Hope: We Are All Made of Stars BENEFITING: Bering Omega and HACS CHAIRS: Ben Carey; Sarah and Fernando Aramburo HONORARY CHAIR: Mayor Sylvester Turner WHERE: Hotel Derek INFO: 713.529.6071 TABLES: $3,000

BENEFITING: City ArtWorks CHAIRS: Deborah Colton, Staci Henderson HONOREE: Sybil F. Roos WHERE: Junior League INFO: 713.681.1331 TICKETS: $175

Americas INFO: 713.266.2800 TABLES: $1,500 November 17

Vintner Dinner & Wine Auction BENEFITING: George Bush Presidential Library Foundation, Bush School of Government & Public Service at Texas A&M CHAIRS: Lisa and Ryan Lance HONORARY CHAIRS: Doro Bush Koch and Bobby Koch WHERE: Royal Sonesta INFO: 979.862.2251 TABLES: $5,000 November 17

What’s Up Doc? BENEFITING: Texas Children’s Hospital Pavilion for Women WHERE: The Pavilion for Women INFO: 832.824.2685 TABLES: $3,000+

DECEMBER December 2

November 15

Touchdown for TEACH

Houston Achievement Place Holiday Gala BENEFITING:

EVENT NOTES: Guest Troy Aikman BENEFITING: TEACH CHAIRS: Carol and Mike Linn; Dee Dee and Wallis Marsh WHERE: River Oaks Country Club INFO: 866.366.5274 TABLES: $3,000+

Houston Achievement Place CHAIRS: Tracy and Harry Faulkner; Megan and Jason Williams HONOREES: Janiece Longoria, Steve Lasher WHERE: Westin Galleria INFO: 713.868.1943 TABLES: $2,000+

November 15

December 2

Salvation Army Lunch EVENT

Jubilee of Dance BENEFITING:

NOTES: Guest coach Bobby Bowden BENEFITING: The Salvation Army CHAIRS: Kenneth Holbrook, Vicki West WHERE: River Oaks Country Club INFO: 832.201.8026 TICKETS: $300

Houston Ballet CHAIRS: Kelley and Stephen Lubanko; Kristi and Christopher Bradshaw HONOREE: Margaret Alkek Williams WHERE: The Wortham INFO: 713.535.3215 TABLES: $5,000

November 15

A Taste of SPA BENEFITING: Society for the Performing Arts CHAIRS: Margaret and Brian Bravo; Mignon and Stephen Gill WHERE: Jones Hall INFO: 713.632.8103 TABLES: $2,500+ November 16

December 6

Kickstart Your Holidays BENEFITING: Kickstart Kids CHAIRS: Alice and Keith Mosing WHERE: Private home INFO: 866.366.5274 TICKETS: $250 December 7

Family Portrait Luncheon

Angels of Hope Luncheon

BENEFITING: Houston AWARE Alzheimer’s Association Houston WHERE: River Oaks Country Club INFO: 713.314.1331

BENEFITING: Child Advocates CHAIRS: Lisa Erwin, Cherie Hassenflu HONOREE: Lisa Frantz WHERE: Royal Sonesta INFO: 713.539.1396 TABLES: $3,000

November 16

National Philanthropy Day Luncheon BENEFITING:

Holiday Schmooze

Association of Fundraising Professionals CHAIR: Susan H. Coulter HONORARY CHAIRS: Sue and Lester Smith WHERE: Hilton

BENEFITING: Legacy Community Health Systems WHERE: Private home INFO: 832.548.5276 TICKETS: $350

December 7

BUSINESS

The New Lee Ellis Restaurant innovator Lee Ellis, who sees Frito pie as fine dining and creamed corn as an ice cream flavor, is quickly rebuilding his company — ­ after leaving behind his empire.

By Edward Nawotka, Photos by Julie Soefer

L

ee Ellis, one of the city’s best known restaurateurs, who is now a few months into a massive reinvention of himself and his company, swears that he didn’t grow his long, Billy Gibbons-esque beard in homage to the ZZ Top frontman. “I’ve always had a weird hair thing,” he says while sitting in Petite Sweets (2700 W. Alabama St., 713.520.7007), the dessert bar run by his new restaurant g r o u p , C h e r r y P i e H o s p i t a l i t y.

“It’s just that when I started losing my hair on top, I went for a weird beard instead … and it gets a lot of attention.”

Known also for his colorful, dark-tinted eyewear — “I have a friend at Oliver Peoples who makes my glasses, and I have them in multiple shades of blue, rose, amber,” he says — the 57-year-old has also amassed 75 or so pairs of Nikes: Air

86 | houstoncitybook.com

How Sweet It Is Restaurateur Lee Ellis

Jordans, LeBrons and KDs. “I’ve been into it long enough to know that the best deals aren’t necessarily found at the specialist shoe boutiques,” says Ellis. “I buy most of my shoes, even limited-editions, from the guys at the Foot Locker out at Crosstimbers and 45.”

One wonders if Ellis, given all the attention to his trademark quirky look, is a bit vain. After all, he did name at least

one of his restaurants after himself; Lee’s Fried Chicken and Donuts (601 Heights Blvd., 713.880.3550) also boasts a nearly life-size depiction of the restaurateur, in neon, out front. But, then again, he’s also clearly pragmatic and down-to-earth — characteristics that are reflected both in his comfort-food-happy menus, and in the way he runs his business. Ellis, who’s been called the Godfather of Comfort-Food

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Chic, explains how when he needed to hire a manager for his eponymous Heights chicken-anddoughnuts setup, he found a great one just up the road managing … a McDonalds. “I went in and had an Egg McMuffin and checked the place out. Was it clean, was Flavor of the Week Lee’s Creamery it run efficiently? She knew her ice cream at Petite Sweets customers. She was just the sort of person we wanted to hire.”

Ellis, who was born in Lafayette, La., but raised in Houston and attended HSPVA, has been a fixture around town for several decades, having run a variety of businesses, including a surf shop, a screen-printing business and a nightclub. For the past several years, he’d been associated with F.E.E.D. TX, the restaurant group that runs several iterations of Liberty Kitchen and the recently shuttered BRC Gastropub. But this spring, Ellis split from his F.E.E.D. TX business partner Lance Fegen, prompting the launch of Cherry Pie. Ellis declines to elaborate much on the headline-making divorce, conceding only that “partnerships are a lot like marriages: Sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t.”

As for marriages? Ellis celebrated his 25th wedding anniversary with his jewelry-designer wife Melissa Savarino in wine country this summer. “I travel for inspiration and am always looking for something great to bring back to Houston,” says Ellis, who takes his dogs — a Shih Tzu named Mimi and a Havanese named Millie — everywhere, including on trips.

“California has had a big influence on my thinking as a restaurateur,” says Ellis, whose group recently took over operations for a trio of Houston restaurants originally opened by Cali farm-to-table pioneer Bradley Ogden.

They have been converted into wholly new concepts: Bradley’s Fine Diner and Funky Chicken in the Heights have become, respectively, Starfish (191 Heights Blvd.), which emphasizes seafood, and Pi Pizza (181 Heights Blvd.), the first brick-and-mortar location for distinctively tattooed former-food-truck-pizza-maker Anthony Calleo.

And in Memorial, Pour Society became State Fare (947 Gessner Dr., 832.831.0950), which focuses on

Sliced & Baked Ellis’ latest venture is Pi Pizza in the Heights.

The In Crowd Houston’s NextSeed gives online investors more than just warm-fuzzies. They get their money back — with interest.

By Edward Nawotka, Photo by Julie Soefer Business Savvy NextSeed proprietors Abe Chu and Youngro Lee

FOR $100 OR LESS, you can invest in a piece of Houston’s future. Houston’s NextSeed, an internet startup, lets you participate in crowd-funding campaigns to help small businesses open or expand. Earlier this year the company crowd-funded $440,000 for Chapman & Kirby, a new gastropub coming to EaDo, and another $358,000 to help the South African-themed Peli Peli restaurant group expand westward with a fastcasual concept that opens this fall.

“Often, small businesses have a hard time raising debt capital — that is, getting a bank loan,” explains co-founder Youngro Lee, an ex-attorney. So we use the power of crowd-funding to make that happen for them.”

To invest, participants sign up on the NextSeed site, browse the campaigns, and choose what they want to help fund. In return, they’re offered terms in which their investment will be paid back, either with a “multiplier” (essentially interest), or as a form of revenuesharing. There are often perks as well: Investors in Healing Waters,

a new floatation spa in Montrose, raised $110,000, with funders being offered “free floats.”

“It’s a win-win: Businesses get the money they need, and customers get to support businesses they believe in and can actually enjoy first-hand,” says Lee. So far, the company, which is housed in a cramped rent-anoffice in an anonymous low-rise near Greenway Plaza, has focused on raising money for Texas-based projects, from Texans. (Other campaigns have included ones for SquareRut Kava Bar and Jenna’s Asian Kitchen, both in Austin.) But a change in crowd-funding laws has enabled them to open the platform to a national audience.

The first national campaign was for The Native, an ATX boutique-hotel concept, which raised $396,000.

All in all NextSeed has raised nearly $1.5 million for small businesses and returned nearly $100,000 to investors. “We’re democratizing private investment,” says Less, “and, hopefully, making it profitable to build community in the process.” 

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BUSINESS

FARE PLAY From top: State Fare’s menu touts comfort-foodchic plates such as Jimmy’s Texas Red beef chili and cheese fries, house-made potato chips with dill pickle sauce, and the Sabine Pass Gumbo. Below: Sandwiches made with cookies and Lee’s Creamery ice cream are available at Petite Sweets.

Texas-style comfort food — the cuisine Ellis was known for at BRC and Liberty Kitchen. Menu highlights at State Fare include Frito pie, and a burger slathered with house-made pimento cheese. “We’re even exporting State Fare and are planning to open one in Sacramento soon,” says Ellis with a small degree of pride.

That said, the sweetest accomplishment may be the one of which Ellis is most proud: the launch of his own line of ice creams. With flavors such as Creamed Corn, Bacon Bourbon, Vietnamese Coffee and Avocado Lime, they reflect Ellis’ Houston-trained palate. In all, Ellis developed 75 flavors under the Lee’s Creamery brand. “Houston has a lot of ice cream, but what makes this different is the richness of the base — it’s 50 percent milk fat! And the milk, which comes from Tomball, is so fresh that it’s still yellow when we put it in there.”

So far, the ice creams are available only at Petite Sweets — where Ellis says he and baker partner Susan Molzan have perfected the best chocolate chip cookie in town — but Lee is looking for a location to open a proper ice cream parlor. It will be, he says, another new opportunity for the right group of employees.

With Cherry Pie’s aggressive expansion, Lee finds himself listening to a lot of pitches for restaurants or people otherwise looking for opportunities. “I just sat down with a man I’d never met before, but who is an accomplished chef, a man who’d

been on and won a reality-TV show, and lost his job when the restaurant he worked at was sold,” explains Ellis. “He wanted to talk about working with me. I told him, ‘I don’t know what the future holds, but I do know you won’t get the opportunity to start where you are stopping, and you will need to pay your dues again. You just might have start at the bottom.’ It’s a tough lesson, but a true one.”

Ellis notes that he has had his own setback or two, none more so than having endured open-heart surgery two years ago.

While he’s too macho to suggest that it gave him a change of, well, heart, he does signal that the man who once infamously posted a sign in Liberty Kitchen banning both smoking and Houston Chronicle food critic Alison Cook, has softened.

“One of the things I learned over the past few years is that, before, when I used to think that running a business was all about putting the customer first, I was wrong,” says Ellis, stroking the brim of his hat.

“Now, it has actually flip-flopped for me. I learned that when you put your employees first and make them happy, then good service will follow. Sure, the food will always be a priority, but kitchens can have an off night. If the service is good, that can make up for a bad meal.

So, in that way, my job really is about making my employees happy. It’s not what you’ll hear from a lot of restaurateurs, but it’s true.” 

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BUSINESS

Take My Advice Fertitta in action on ‘Billion Dollar Buyer’

‘Buy’ and Large For billionaire Tilman Fertitta, starring in a reality show is ‘just something fun.’ But reshaping the Galleria-area skyline is the culmination of a lifelong dream.

By Jeff Gremillion

T

ilman Fertitta takes the cake. Well, the cookie. The Liber boys, three Austin brothers who make flavored syrups for cocktails, have dropped by the hospitality mogul’s Grecian-column-wrapped corner office atop his Landry’s, Inc. HQ near the Galleria to give him an oversized chocolate chip cookie. The treat is a thank-you for Fertitta’s six-figure purchase of their ginger and grenadine versions for his restaurants and resorts, on the first episode of his Billion Dollar Buyer reality show on CNBC, which returns for Season Two this fall. The show finds the magnate vetting vendors offering products from sheets and soap to cookies and jam for his properties.

Fertitta excitedly pulls himself away from his desk and its multiple video monitors, keeping closed-circuit watch on his five Golden Nugget casinos, to greet the men with whom he dishes about the behind-the-scenes antics that didn’t make it to air. He apologizes for his sometimes gruff onscreen persona. “I never want to come off as an a**hole,” he says.

Then why do a reality show at all? After all, Forbes says Fertitta is among the richest people in America, citing his net worth at $3.1 billion. The father of four, who’ll turn 60 in June, could afford to wind down and enjoy the fruits of his labor. “It’s just something else to do,” he says, almost blithely, “something fun … something else to see if you can be successful with.”

And that’s not all. Besides his sometimes controversial philanthropic pursuits — he’s giving $20 mil to UH, where he chairs the Board of Regents, to rebuild its basketball arena, which the school will name after him despite having already named it after a judge — Fertitta is opening at least a dozen

92 | houstoncitybook.com

new restaurants, expanding his casino in nearby Lake Charles, La., and building a mixed-use high-rise complex next door to his corporate offices. The latter project, The Post Oak, boasts a yet-to-be-named luxury hotel, the first Texas location of high-end Mastro’s Steakhouse, two vast ballrooms, deluxe office spaces for rent, and a two-story showroom for his Bentley and Rolls-Royce dealership. Here’s the billionaire on his busy fall.

Which new project are you most excited about? The hotel in The Post Oak. It’s in my hometown. It’s nearly 500 feet tall. I have no partners; I’m just doing it myself. I’ve always wanted to do it, and I think it’s going to be great for Houston. We’re the only city in America that’s one of your top 30 or 40 cities that does not have a first-class hotel. And it’s exciting to bring an office space with perks and benefits. You’re going to have helicopter service if you want it, and you’re going to have 24-hour room service.

There’s a concierge. We can do things that other people can’t do.

Somebody described you as a frustrated wannabe architect. When you go into jobs and you see them all screwed up, that’s because the owner isn’t there to fix it. It’s really not being an architect; it’s being a designer. I’ve said, [The Post Oak will] look better if we tier it up [like the tiers of a wedding cake], not just make it straight. I came up with the solid-glass two stories, 50 feet in the air, for the Bentleys and Rolls [showroom].

Is there one thing that top entrepreneurs have in common? Drive.

Wanting to succeed. And I think all entrepreneurs all have an A.D.D. problem. If you talk to every one of the great CONTINUED ON PAGE 190

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GIVING BACK

Hitting the Books Two motivated moms turn the page on illiteracy, giving thousands of school-age children access to books all year long.

By Holly Crawford, Photo by Alefiya Akbarally

T

housands of school kids heading back to class this fall have a head start in learning, thanks to an inventive, ambitious new nonprofit that believes books — lots of books — belong in every child’s life. Even during summer break.

Books Between Kids (booksbetweenkids. org), a massive collector and distributor of gently used books for young students, began to take shape in 2012, when Sandra Ahlhorn and Amy Barnes realized that thousands of students across the city don’t have books in their homes. And since studies show that simply living with books can improve reading level, performance on standardized tests and help kids stay in school, the pair had to find a way to get free books in their hands.

“I grew up with parents who loved to

Well Read Ahlhorn and Barnes at Blue Willow Bookstore

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read, who read aloud to my sister and me, who raised us both up to love to read, and I didn’t think twice about it when I had children,” says Houston native Barnes, who has three sons, ages 10 to 16. “For multitudes of children, this was not an option.” In fact, a recent study shows that, while the ratio of age-appropriate books per child is 13 to 1 in middle-income neighborhoods, it’s one book for every 300 children in low-income neighborhoods.

To begin to change the abysmal stats, Books Between Kids sends students home with a stack of books, gathered from a variety of donors big and small, for their nearly three-month summer break. The idea is to curb the “summer slide” — which occurs when kids lose ground on classroom learning because school’s not in session. And later this school year, barely three years after its founding, the

nonprofit will give away its millionth free book. “Almost 750,000 books have been distributed since we started,” says Ahlhorn, a transplant from South Africa and mother to 14-year-old Samantha.

Here’s how it works: Each May, Books Between Kids partners with 60 elementary schools and early-learning centers in HISD to host massive book “celebrations.”

Think book fair, but without the exchange of money. “Every child in the school chooses any six books, or maybe seven or eight, and some kids ask if it’s OK to take one for their little brother,” says Ahlhorn, who owns Speedy Printing with her husband, Craig.

The book ladies tear up in recalling the range of responses they get — from parents worried their child has stolen the books to expressions of gratitude.

“We got an amazing thank-you letter from a child, asking me to be her best friend,” Ahlhorn smiles. And Barnes says she’s “simply stunned” by the impact the books have on the children. “They do so much more than build up a library for a young child and help them become readers; they make these children so happy,” Barnes says. “They expose children to other places, to other ideas; they offer escape; they grow imaginations — the possibilities are endless, once they open the cover of a book.”

The organization has gone from the two founders working out of a borrowed warehouse into occupying its own 4,500 square foot space with two full-time employees, 800 volunteers, including many kids who have logged a whopping 3,200 hours to help sort and move tens of thousands of books donated by various partners. Bookseller Better World Books annually delivers two 18-wheelers full, and the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo Trailblazer Committee gives big, as well, donating nearly half of all the tomes Books Between Kids gives out.

Books also find their way to Books Between Kids via churches, schools and generous parents. A recent KHOU drive brought in some 9,000 books. An annual fall fundraiser — to be held on October 26 at Armadillo Palace — also helps increase awareness and cover operation costs.

“It’s a lot of the community coming together,” Ahlhorn says. “People are willing to put their heart and soul and effort in to make it happen. But for everything we have given, we’ve gotten so much more back.” 

REAL ESTATE

Hell or High Water he flooding in Louisiana made national headlines late this summer. But for many in Meyerland, the images on the nightly news were just too familiar. In the neighborhood, which experienced two catastrophic floods in an 11-month period, such reports, to say nothing of a thunderstorm, come with a sense of dread.

Of the 2,307 homes in the area, nearly 800 flooded in the Memorial Day flood of 2015. And nearly 100 flooded on Tax Day this year — in many instances just days after residents had moved back into their newly renovated homes. Many in Meyerland are questioning whether they should rebuild (again) or move away.

“A lot of people are just sitting on their houses,” says Ron Teitelbaum, a retired lawyer who has lived in the area since 1988, and who had to replace the sheetrock in his home after it was inundated with three inches of floodwater on Memorial Day. Residents with high mortgages are waiting to sell until the market improves, but that means Teitelbaum has had to get used to seeing vacant, damaged homes in the district. “The neighborhood just doesn’t look right.”

It’s a challenging time for Meyerland, long the influential center of the Jewish community in Houston. It’s evolved from proud beginnings — then Veep Richard Nixon attended its 1955 ribbon cutting — to a hotbed of redevelopment, as many of its original ranch-style homes have been replaced with bigger, pricier models.

While Teitelbaum is staying put, many of his neighbors are putting their homes up for sale in a market that has become aggressively tough for sellers. According to the Houston Association of Realtors, the median price for single-family homes in the area has dropped from $441,000 for 2015 to $386,000 for the first half of 2016, a 12.5 percent decrease. In that same time period, the city-wide median price increased by nearly 4 percent.

In February, FEMA approved $15.3 million in funds for the Texas Water Development Board and the City to pass on to homeowners in grants to enable recipients to elevate their homes. The average cost of elevating a home is $100,000, and the grant covers 75-100 percent of the costs, with a cap of $250,000. But with a slow, complicated application process, many don’t even bother applying.

96 | houstoncitybook.com

“It’s the most byzantine thing you can imagine,” says Teitelbaun.

In the meantime, he thinks the city could assuage concerns by enforcing existing drainage rules. According to Teitelbaum, many developers are not following the rules — partly due to grandfather clauses and other loopholes — to detain their storm-water runoff.

“They could solve that problem in one city council meeting,” he says.

“And it wouldn’t be controversial.”

Local realtor and Meyerland resident Ed Wolff, whose home flooded this year and last, believes that Project Brays could help to prevent future area flooding. The $480 million project, a jointeffort between the Harris County Flood Control District and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, will widen the 21-mile-long Brays Bayou and improve or rebuild existing bridges along the waterway.

Once completed, the bayou should move 30 percent more water.

However, the project, which has been ongoing for 15 years, remains behind schedule due to funding delays. The Meyerland section was set for a 2013 completion, but it could be 2019.

Wolff believes the problem with the project, and other floodmitigation efforts in the city, is that there is no all-encompassing authority to oversee flood prevention. “The City of Houston is responsible for drainage, and Harris County is responsible for flood control, while the federal government ... gets to tell everybody what to do,” he says. “If you don’t have project integration, financial integration and political willpower to drive the bureaucracy to do what they’re supposed to do, it’s never going to happen.”

Wolff is optimistic for the future, however. “We don’t know what the final effect of all of [this flooding] is going to be,” says Wolff.

“But I have a good feeling that if we can … get the plans that are already underway implemented, that values will not only return to where they were pre-flood, but increase.

“You’re going to see higher values in Meyerland over the next two to three years than we’ve ever seen.”  Water Water Everywhere An aerial photo, left, shows the widespread devastation of last year’s Memorial Day floods in Houston. In hard-hit Meyerland, a Coldwell Banker listing at 5523 Rutherglenn has an unusual selling point, noting that the home “did not flood per owner.”

aerial photo by jordan anderson for doublehorn photography; home photo courtesy of eric campbell of coldwell banker

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In Meyerland, where some homes were deluged twice in a year, property values fall when floods rise. Is the City doing enough to help? By Daniel Renfrow

hair and makeup by victoria callaway/vci artists

LOUD PROUD An unlikely ambassador of a misunderstood genre, Oceans of Slumber’s Cammie Gilbert is proving her heavy metal. By Chris Becker, Photo by Julie Soefer

WHEN VOCALIST CAMMIE Gilbert sings, regardless of how vulnerable the lyrics may be, it ultimately sounds like a celebration of strength.

Strength, and volume, as in amplitude, for Gilbert happens to be the front woman of the progressive metal band Oceans of Slumber, one of Houston’s most popular, experimental, and critically acclaimed musical exports.

So-called “prog metal” is heavier than heavy metal: complex, visceral and really, really loud. Oceans of Slumber takes the music to new and uncharted places, and is enjoying international success both representing and exploding the genre. “We blend things people aren’t used to hearing blended in such an authentic way,” says Gilbert of the band’s unique sound, which incorporates folk, psychedelic and classical influences.

Gilbert, a 28-year-old African American woman partial to a wardrobe of both leather and lace, and usually rocking either a Mohawk or braided rows or some combination thereof, also brings a measure of female energy to a genre often stereotyped as a bastion for heavily tattooed alpha dudes. (To be fair, she has some serious ink on both arms.)

Still buzzing after a headliner performance at White Oak Music Hall’s opening weekend, Oceans of Slumber is now touring Europe in support of their latest album, Winter, named by Metal Hammer magazine and Houston Press as one of the best albums of 2016. The 34-date tour, with metal veterans Ne Obliviscaris and Enslaved also on the bill, includes stops in Berlin, Vienna and Paris. Fans well beyond Texas borders are embracing the band’s exploratory music and Gilbert’s soaring, soulful vocals.

Born in Chicago and raised in Sugar Land, Gilbert grew up in a musical household. She grew up singing hymns in choirs — her dad was a choir director — ­ but

the music she truly loved “was always much heavier … off the righteous path.” Aretha Franklin was a major inspiration. “She was boisterous and sassy. No-f***sgiven, to put it not-lightly. When she came on that strong and powerful, it resonated with me.”

After singing with an improvisational band — “more artistic than musical” — and the alternativerock band Miles to Glory, Gilbert was invited by drummer Dobber Beverly to join Oceans of Slumber.

The band also includes guitarists Anthony Contreras and Sean Gary, bassist Keegan Kelly and keyboardist Uaeb Yelsaeb, all “kids of the ’90s,” whose musical backgrounds encompass jazz, blues and classical.

Gilbert’s rich and powerful voice gives their music its devastating emotional range, conveying subtle and varying degrees of rage, desperation and strength, sometimes within the space of a single song.

For her part, Gilbert is pleased to see a growing number of women exploring the metal genre. “I attribute that to how the internet helps a lot of minority scenes grow,” says Gilbert. “I feel it’s not as common for women to bond over music. For the few that do ... it’s now easier to find each other.”

Gilbert is also happy to have helped women connect at the recent Girls Rock Camp Houston, a weeklong workshop where girls aged 8 to 18 learn how to write, perform and promote their own music. The week culminated with a concert where the campers proudly, and loudly, performed onstage at Fitzgerald’s.

Gilbert believes the success of Oceans of Slumber shows that listeners, both women and men, are indeed open to fresh, emerging styles of music. Again she references the egalitarian powers of the internet. “The radio doesn’t determine what you listen to anymore,” she says. “So you hear us, and go, ‘Metal? I didn’t know I liked metal.’” 

WE WERE Suited up in militaryinspired styles, amid the ruins of a sunswept urban wasteland, Alley Theatre actors Michael Brusasco and Jay Sullivan report for duty.

Previous page: Jay wears Coach 1941 Workman shirt, $195; wool jean Jacket, $595; straight leg trousers, $350, all at the Coach boutique. Diagono Chronograph in 18k yellow gold, price upon request, by Bulgari at Tenenbaum Classic Jewelers.

Michael wears Coach 1941 Mariner’s Coat, $895, at the Coach boutique. PRPS Goods & Co. shirt, $325, at Saks Fifth Avenue. Raw selvedge jeans by Ace Rivington, $220, at Manready Mercantile. Big Bang watch in 18k yellow gold, titanium and tantalum, price upon request, by Hublot at Tenenbaum Classic Jewelers.

This page: Jay wears Michael Kors Melton fur-trimmed anorak peacoat, $995; cashmere pullover, $395; and flannel hiking pant, $295, all at the Michael Kors boutique. Ceramic military type watch, $4,500, by Bell & Ross at Zadok Jewelers.

Photos by Julie Soefer Produced by Kate Stukenberg Styling by Todd Ramos Text by Daniel Renfrow Grooming by Tisha Hughes/Neal Hamil Agency Photography assistance by Harry Dearing III Styling assistance by Allyson Bowers, Arielle Griffin and Jacob Wimberly ON LOCATION IN THE GREATER FIFTH WARD

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his fall two of the city’s most admired leading men — Michael Brusasco, 39, and Jay Sullivan, 35, both New Yorkers still fairly new to the company — will costar in the Alley Theatre’s highly anticipated and sure-to-be frenetic production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a funny-sexy love letter to its playwright, William Shakespeare himself, on the 400th anniversary of his death.

Rumor has it the Bard’s greatest comedy, running Oct. 7-Nov. 5, is to be retold with revealing costumes and an edgy, steampunk vibe.

But the heart of the story is, well, the heart of the story. “When you’re in love, you’re f***ing crazy,” says Brusasco, who plays the romance-challenged Demetirius in the production. “I think that’s one of the beautiful things about Midsummer. You get to watch people fall in love and go a little crazy.”

This fashion shoot — made in and around a vast, artfully decaying former rice mill and automotive graveyard in the Greater Fifth Ward — also channels a steampunk sensibility.

And, like Shakespeare’s play, is largely set outdoors. The actors slip in and out of military-inspired looks by Ferragamo, Brunello Cuccinelli, Bottega Veneta and others to deliver winning shots, with few complaints about the late-summer heat. “You know Houston,” laughs Brusasco. “It’s like being in a nice bowl of soup, a nice bowl of pho. New York is hot, but it’s not hot like this.”

It’s the first time Sullivan — Midsummer’s mischievous elf Puck — has ever tried his hand at fashion modeling. But he thinks he might already be a pro. “Changing clothes is the easiest part of my job,” he laughs. “I’ve got that down to a science.”

Opposite page: Calfskin and sheepskin biker jacket with pony hair effect, price upon request, and pants $695, at the Canali boutique. D&G camo polo shirt, $645, at Saks Fifth Avenue. Berluti boot, $2,240, at Neiman Marcus.

This page: Shirt, $370, and trousers, $1,100, at the Salvatore Ferragamo boutique. Woven belt, $185, by Andersonn at M Penner.

This page: Coat, $4,730, sweater vest, $1,260, and pants, $1,400, at the Prada boutique. Balmain boots, $1,300, at The Webster.

Opposite page: Paneled shirt jacket, $1,140, by Maison Margiela, and hat, $539, by Maison Michel, both at The Webster.

Opposite page: Luciano Barbera gray wool shirt, $795; Ermenegildo Zegna navy lamb plonge aviator leather jacket, $3,395; and Eledenty brown pants, $295, all at M Penner.

Panerai Luminor Submersible timepiece, $11,000, at Zadok Jewelers.

This page: Insulated ski jacket, $4,995, and insulated ski pants $3,995, at the Ralph Lauren boutique. Vintage handmade Mexican souvenir biker ring, $575, at Manready Mercantile.

This page: Patch Pocket cashmere jacket, $4,695; ribbed turtleneck, $1,275; and Pocket work pant, $875, all at the Brunello Cuccinelli boutique; select pieces at Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus. Watch, $17,100, by Panerai at Zadok Jewelers.

Opposite page: Dark Sergeant Smoky Loden wool coat, $3,300; matching pants, $950; lace-up boot, $820; and Croc Club Fume duffle, $13,700, all at the Bottega Veneta boutique.

Ceramic military 42MM watch, $5,900, by Bell & Ross at Zadok Jewelers.

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MORE Photography by Julie Soefer Produced by Kate Stukenberg Model Charlotte Stevens for Page Parkes Hair & makeup by Tonya Riner for Page Parkes Styling assistance by Molly Jodeit & Alyson Bowers Special thanks to Janet Gust for the use of her home

Here’s your allexcess pass to the season’s ’70s-savvy and glamorously glittery gestalt.

More colors, more patterns, more embellishment, more sheen. How do you like it?

PHOTOGRAPHY ASSISTANCE BY HARRY DEARING III

ON LOCATION IN THE GALLERIA AREA

Embellished mini dress, $4,385, by Balmain at The Webster; select pieces at Tootsies. David Webb yellow gold and diamond earrings, Henry Dunay yellow gold ring, and Cartier yellow gold oversized curblink bracelet, all price upon request, at Tenenbaum Classic Jewelers.

Allison top, $2,065, at the Stella McCartney boutique; select pieces at Neiman Marcus. Italian wood, yellow gold and multicolor diamond bracelet, price upon request; and Elsa Peretti for Tiffany & Co Bean rings, $295 each, all at Tenenbaum Classic Jewelers.

Wool silk jacket, $2,900; silk trouser, $1,925; knit vest, $950; and shoes and scarves, price upon request, all at the Roberto Cavalli boutique; select pieces at Tootsies and Saks Fifth Avenue. Lotus One Leaf Pave Diamond ring, $3,995; and Lotus North-South ring, $3,450, both by Carelle at Zadok Jewelers.

Metallic scattered flower dress, $2,595; and fringe coat, $3,695, at the Burberry boutique; select pieces at Saks Fifth Avenue. Magnum python heel sandals with 12-gauge gold button accents, $1,265, by Joyce Echols at joyceechols.com.

Tiger ring set with diamonds and black onyx, $7,398; wrap design ring with diamonds, $7,100; gold and enamel ring set with a princess cut citrine, $4,800; and sterling silver earrings set with blue sapphires, $1,950, all at DeVille Fine Jewelry.

Resin cheetah clutch, $428, by Serpui Marie at À Bientôt.

Sea life printed crepe de chine long sleeve scarf chemisier dress, $3,200; merino cape with ruched detail, $3,700; elastic belt with brass wolf head buckle, $395; cotton socks, $115; and high heel pump with black fur detail, $1,290, all at the Gucci boutique; select pieces at Saks Fifth Avenue and The Webster. Citrine colored cocktail ring, $88, by Betty Carré at À Bientôt. Gold bracelet, $33,750; and Goshwara gold citrine necklace, $6,500, both at Zadok Jewelers.

Silk and lace dress, $2,350, by Giambattista Valli at Saks Fifth Avenue. Earrings, $3,690, at Tenenbaum Classic Jewelers.

Betty Carré cocktail ring, $118, at À Bientôt.

Previous page: Metallic pleated gown, $2,650,

by Adam Lippes at The Webster. Suede point toe pump with pearl and crystal accents, $1,195; and small Paloma bag, $1,900, both at the Christian Louboutin boutique (opening late September), Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue and Joseph. 1970s Lalaounis gold and rock crystal choker, price upon request; David Webb yellow gold cuff bracelet, price upon request; Italian wood, yellow gold and multicolor diamond bracelet, price upon request; and Henry Dunay yellow gold ring, $4,450, all at Tenenbaum Classic Jewelers.

This page: Ariel Armour dress, $2,200, by Diane von Furstenberg at Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue and Tootsies. Miss Circus peep toe bootie, $1,995, at the Christian Louboutin boutique (opening late September), Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue and Joseph. Cabachon Emerald ring, $40,000, at Zadok Jewelers.

Knit turtleneck sweater, $990; wool skirt with zippers, $2,250; and woven leather heels with mink detail, $1,590, all at the Salvatore Ferragamo boutique. Topaz and diamond chandelier earrings, $4,480, at Tenenbaum Classic Jewelers.

Sequined collar sweater, $920,

by Sonia Rykiel at The Webster.

Pleated skirt, $2,200, by Gucci at the Gucci boutique, The Webster and Saks Fifth Avenue.

Sandal with pearl and gold metal pyramid ankle cuff and toe detailing, $1,195, at the Christian Louboutin boutique (opening late September), Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue and Joseph.

Roberto Coin earrings, $1,480; gold cuff bracelet, $33,750; Carelle Lotus One Leaf Pave Diamond ring, $3,995; and Carelle Lotus North-South ring, $3,450, all at Zadok Jewelers.

Clutch, $1,195, by Edie Parker at The Webster.

Valentino embroidered felt coat $22,000, at the Valentino boutique. Betty Carré Citrine colored Cocktail ring $88 at À Bientôt.

INTO THE JUNGLE

USING LIDAR, THE MOST HIGH-TECH LASER TECHNOLOGY EVER DEVISED, UH ENGINEERS AND RESEARCHERS ARE LEADING AN INTERNATIONAL EFFORT TO UNEARTH HONDURAS’ STORIED LOST CITY OF THE MONKEY GOD. IT MAY SEEM LIKE A PLOT STOLEN FROM ‘INDIANA JONES,’ BUT IT’S QUITE REAL. IT’S A GAME CHANGER FOR ARCHAEOLOGY. AND DEADLY.

BY ADAM PIORE, PHOTO-ILLUSTRATION BY CJ SOUKUP

movie he’d seen in which scientists discover the ruins of a lost city in a remote African jungle — and are then hunted down and killed by a pack of giant gorillas.

Or was it the flick where everybody was eaten by the giant anaconda?

Regardless, the similarities between Fernandez’s present situation and the bloody scenarios spun out in a particular genre of sci-fi horror movies continued to weigh upon the young engineer as the last sunlight of the day evaporated, and he hurried to secure his hammock at the campsite. As in the movies, Fernandez reflected, he too was a member of a small science team, dropped into thick uncharted wilderness in search of a mythical lost city. He too was surrounded by towering, ancient trees, cinematic shadows, the fecund smell of wet earth and vegetation, and a tumult of unseen, wild animals hooting and cawing so loud the rainforest itself felt alive.

He too had heard the warnings, weighed the jungle’s many dangers, and decided, along with the rest of his companions, to proceed with his expedition nonetheless.

It had taken Fernandez and his team many months to win the government’s permission to enter this area of western Honduras, a forlorn green spot on the map, known to harbor drug traffickers and murderous bandits, jaguars and venomous snakes. But the payoff was potentially spectacular. They had come in search of the famed La Ciudad Blanca, or “the White City,” also known as “the Lost City of the Monkey God.” The mythical ancient metropolis was said to be constructed entirely of white stone, built around a magnificent temple, capped with a towering stone sacrificial dais inhabited

by a giant statue of the Monkey God. The legend of the site’s existence and the potential treasures to be found around it had tantalized westerners for centuries.

The area’s riches were rumored to “exceed Mexico” and “equal it in the largeness of its town and villages,” the author and journalist Douglas Preston had written a few months before in The New Yorker, quoting a 16th century letter from the famed conquistador Hernán Cortés to the Spanish Emperor Charles V. Preston, a bestselling author, was in fact there that day in 2015 to further chronicle the adventures of Fernandez and the small advance team on the ground.

And even his presence added to the young engineer’s sense of déjà vu. I’ve seen this film, haven’t I? That night, as the team sat down for dinner, the author excused himself momentarily from the campfire and headed to the nearby campsite to fetch an item from his pack. Several minutes later Preston’s voice pierced the jungle tumult.

“It was a huge scream, like the movies,” recalls Fernandez excitedly, “and I thought, ‘Oh my God — this is the first one, the first casualty!”

The outburst sent the mission’s government-appointed guard, a single Honduran soldier, scrambling for his machine gun, and the team’s survival experts, former members of the British Special Air Service (SAS) forces, for their machetes. Fernandez rose empty-handed and raced to the campsite with the rest of them, bracing himself for the worst. They arrived to find Preston contemplating a frightening apparition directly beneath

Fernandez’s hammock: On the ground lay a coiled, six-foot-long, yellow-jawed fer-de-lance — a monstrous breed of pit viper that carries a fatal and particularly gruesome kind of hemotoxic venom.

“If that thing bites you, you wish you died immediately,” Fernandez says. “But you don’t. Instead it starts eating your tissues. You can lose your leg first and you die several weeks later. It’s terrible.”

Despite the perils and the paranoia, Fernandez and his team had good reason to take a calculated risk that day back in 2015. Since 2010, Fernandez, who was actually born and raised in Honduras, has worked as a technician at the UH’s National Center for Airborne Laser Mapping (NCALM), a National Science Foundation-funded research entity operated jointly with the University of California, Berkeley. NCALM, which recently moved into a newly renovated 5,000-square-foot facility Downtown in UH’s Energy Research Park, is one of the few centers in the world capable of using a revolutionary technology known as airborne LiDAR (short for light detection and ranging). LiDAR allows researchers, for the first time, to peer beneath seemingly impenetrable jungle canopies from above and produce detailed topographical maps revealing that which is hidden below.

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hat night in 2015, with the pit vipers and the Hollywood-worthy horror, was only the latest chapter in a story that actually began for Fernandez in May 2012, on a previous trip to Honduras, when he squeezed himself into a battered Cessna 337 Skymaster, along with The New Yorker’s Preston and a daring pilot named Chuck. Fernandez then spent the better part of eight days personally operating a large metal box containing the center’s sophisticated machinery. LiDAR works on a principal similar to that used by radar or sonar, emitting pulses that bounce back when they hit something solid, and, thus, allowing engineers to calculate the location and shape of distant objects. Instead of beaming high-frequency electromagnetic waves or sound and measuring how long it takes them to return, LiDAR uses pulses of laser, which are so numerous and finely focused they are a capable of penetrating gaps in the jungle canopy and bouncing back off objects on the ground.

As Chuck piloted the plane back and forth over the thick jungle, “mowing the lawn,” as the UH engineer puts it, at about 2,000 feet, Fernandez beamed the

vector artwork by travis avery

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he pilot dropped Juan Fernandez in the only jungle clearing large enough to land a helicopter, a tiny opening in an impossibly thick tropical canopy that stretched as far as the eye could see. As the sound of the rotors receded into the distance, the young University of Houston engineer followed his machete-toting survival guides deep into the shadowy Honduran rainforest. Fernandez, 40, had never been to this particular patch of jungle before that day in February 2015. But something about it felt oddly familiar. With unease, he realized it reminded him of a

Laser Focus A LiDAR rendering of Teotihuacan, another ancient city that engineers mapped using LiDAR

laser downward through a hole in the bottom of the plane, and monitored the computer as it registered the location and timing of 125,000 laser pulses leaving and returning to the box every second. Inside, the plane, it was stifling — there was no air conditioning, or bathroom (in a pinch, you used a bottle). The flight was turbulent enough to cause motion sickness to those with weak stomachs. And more times than once, the pilot had to identify himself via radio to the Honduran military, concerned the small plane was trafficking drugs.

But, with the help of sophisticated computer analysis that began that very day, and would continue for months, the trial would pay off.

LiDAR images can be hard to interpret.

But researchers are able to precisely calculate the changing coordinates in space of every single one of those millions of departing and returning laser pulses using Global Positioning Systems (GPS), and the same kind of powerful sensors used to track the spatial position of guided missiles. A visual representation of the laser impact points is then produced from this data, and different layers are then gradually stripped away from the image to reveal what lies below. The images lack the resolution of an actual photograph, so you have to know what to look for.

Thus when Fernandez and the rest of team sent their initial data on to Houston, nobody here spotted much — at first.

When they passed their first batch of images on to William Carter, NACLM’s most experienced data reader, Carter quickly recognized their significance. “l looked across this little valley and I

said, ‘Oh, my gosh — there’s a plaza!’” recalls Carter, a retired National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientist, and one of the center’s founding directors.

“To me it was clear it was manmade. I could see these rectangular mounds down both sides and on both ends of this flat area.”

Pouring over the images, Carter also spotted multiple mounds in the valley hidden beneath the canopy, suggesting the presence of buried buildings. Once he pointed it all out to the team down in Honduras, other big finds quickly followed.

Soon Fernandez spotted what had the look of terracing for agriculture. They found evidence of reservoirs and what appeared to be manmade stone quarries.

And a few months later, while sitting in his office back in Houston late one night manipulating the data, Fernandez realized he was looking at what appeared to be a 30-foot-high, multi-tiered pyramid, cut into a hill opening onto the central plaza — a feature four times as big as anything yet spotted.

These were stunning discoveries in the making — and, in fact, had the potential to be watersheds in the field of archeology — if they could actually be confirmed on the ground.

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hough the team had used it for more than a decade to map geologic faults and beach erosion and perform accurate land surveys, the idea that LiDAR might be used to unearth previously hidden archeological ruins is a relatively new one.

In fact, the idea that a LiDAR system could itself be mounted on airplanes and used to gather scientifically useful data from above was itself considered so novel back in the early 2000s, that when NCALM’s founders Carter, Ramesh L. Shrestha and UC Berkeley geologist William E. Dietrich first applied for NSF funding to open a center at the University of Florida, they were turned down.They finally prevailed in winning federal support for their new center in 2003 by promising to embrace a three-pronged mission: to provide the best possible LiDAR data to selected projects from across the scientific community; to develop and improve emerging LiDAR technologies; and to educate and train a workforce to produce and analyze data.

By most accounts, they have succeeded in all three goals. Since opening 13 years ago, initially at the University of Florida, the center has supported roughly 400 applications from different researchers, about half of which were then able to

raise sufficient funding from the NSF and other government organizations to carry out the projects, Shrestha says. The center recently deployed a system capable of beaming 300,000 laser pulses a second.

And, after moving to UH in 2010, lured by the engineering school with the promise of the resources to more than double its size, NACLM won approval from the Texas state legislature to start a graduate program. They graduated their first six Ph.Ds. this past summer.

Finding lost civilizations, however, is another level of achievement altogether — sexier and more glamorous than mapping beach erosion, salmon migration routes, or earthquake faults from the air. And it has garnered NACLM worldwide headlines.

NACLM did its first big archeological project in 2009, to support the work of two University of Central Florida researchers who had spent more than two decades excavating a famed Mayan archeological site at Caracol, Belize. Over the course of the previous 25 years, the two had relied on traditional techniques to map the area, and the pace had been agonizingly slow. They had succeeded in doing just 10 kilometers, and they wondered if LiDAR might speed up the process. The results exceeded even Shrestha’s expectations.

Not only did the airborne LiDAR produce detailed maps of 77 kilometers in a matter of days, but the quality of the data was far superior to anything available using traditional methods.

“They were amazed after we mapped and showed them a lot of stuff that was there that they didn’t know was there,” Carter recalls, “including a lot of buildings, foundations of buildings and so on, and openings to more than 50 caves that they walked by quite often.”

The Caracol results caused a sensation in the field of archeology, a flood of press coverage, and calls from other researchers around the globe. One of the most interesting came from a nonconventional source. Steve Elkins was a successful “Hollywood guy,” recalls NCALM’s Shrestha, a former cameraman for the television show Cops, with a background in science, his own video production company and a career’s worth of connections.

Elkins had been captivated by the legend of the lost city of the Monkey God for years, even going so far as to conduct extensive research on possible locations, and launching several on-theground expeditions.

“We went down CONTINUED ON PAGE 190

Oxford Calling In a posh Tanglewood bachelor pad, a developer channels college glory days with party savvy and good “Ole” Southern style.

By Chris Kelly, Photos by Julie Soefer

In Living Color Blake Tart III’s living room, designed by his sis Courtnay Elias, boasts saturated shades throughout.

Deep-blue velvet chairs sit across from a masculine leather sofa, and a custom painting hangs above the mantle.

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lake Tartt III is always smiling.

And why shouldn’t he be? “I’ve never had a bad day in my life,” declares the fourth-generation Houstonian and reputed host with the most. The exuberant Tartt, 55, is as well known for being a visionary commercial real estate developer and the president and CEO of New Regional Planning as he is for throwing a great party.

And so, not surprisingly, when it comes to his 5,400-square-foot, two-story white-brick Tanglewood home, put together beautifully by his designer sister Courtnay Tarrt Elias, he says it’s “one-hundred

percent about entertaining … with a feeling of New South.”

(Elias’ home is featured in “Family Style” in this issue.)

Tartt’s always loved a good party, and the South. He grew up in River Oaks, but when it came time for college, he headed to the University of Mississippi. “When I was a senior in high school, my father took me to Ole Miss for the Sigma Chi Derby Day, and that was it for me!” The young man fell in love with the Southern charm of Oxford, where he now owns a second home, and made a name for himself on campus in the ’80s for organizing phenomenal theme parties — “I built go-go cages

Headline Goes Here A pop-up picnic in Wari-Li. Nunc gravida fermentum lectus, nec fermentum augue consectetur vel. Phasellus viverra consectetur dolor, at varius augue rhoncus id. Quisque quis diam ut orci congue aliquam. Aenean id viverra leo.

and recreated Animal House,” he muses—that, to this day, are annual traditions.

“The stories about Blake are legendary,” says Buckner Corso, a newly minted Ole Miss graduate and Sigma Chi brother. “One time he filled the whole Sigma Chi house with sand for a beach party. The housemother almost killed him because it took about 10 years to get all of the sand out!” And a couple of years ago, Tartt threw what the Oxford Press dubbed as “the biggest tailgate party in Mississippi.” On the evening before the Ole Miss vs. UT football game, Tartt put on an extravaganza that included a

Lighten Up Opposite page: Floor-length teal curtains add a pop of color to an otherwise light, bright dining room. Above: The kitchen, where Tartt does a lot of entertaining, boasts four brass barstools and a backsplash of patterned tiles that extends all the way to the ceiling.

live band, Ole Miss cheerleaders leading a private pep rally, lots of local cuisine and plenty of booze.

Naturally, when it came time to design his own home, creating a great space for entertaining was a priority. So the self-described “bachelor who hasn’t finished dating” turned to his younger sister to spearhead the design. And Courtnay Tarrt Elias of Creative Tonic delivered.

The spacious living room interprets Southern comfort as a deep, beige leather Chesterfield sofa. A colorful abstract painting by the late abstract master Dan Christensen, with his vibrant, fun-loving colors of yellow and green, hangs over the fireplace, echoed in a custom rug. Bookshelves on either side of the fireplace are backed with evocative blue and gold wallpaper that resembles the marbleized paper found on the pages of antique books. Elias also designed a setup for Tartt’s vinyl record collection so that Tartt and his guests can get into the party mood with a heavy dose of vintage soul, blues and, naturally, Elvis.

The nearby powder room is pure Oxford. Tartt commissioned Houston muralist Leslie Segreto to create a dream-like Mississippi collage with a riverboat, azaleas and the woods leading up to the home of Oxford-reared author William Faulkner, who once famously noted, “If Oxford were ever taken away, the universe itself would collapse.”

The dining room, the scene for formal affairs, sports a sleek brass-inlayed dining table—and an antique gilded mirror that belonged to Tartt’s grandmother set rather glamorously upon a mirrored wall. Louis XI chairs and framed family portraits hanging on the walls project a sense of old-school Southern gentility and family heritage. And yet glimpses of Tartt’s fun-loving, modern lifestyle are close, as well: The dining room overlooks a brick-paved courtyard with a swimming pool, where a row of flames dramatically dances atop the length of a water wall.

There’s also an outdoor cigar lounge and dining area, along with a flat-screen TV and barbecue. “I like having my friends over for cookouts,” he says. “I’m pretty good at grilling steaks.”

For more entertainment, Tartt and his guests sometimes go up to the second floor, where there is an elegant combination billiard-media-wine room. There are custom jade mohair sofas, a pool table and a huge, purple-fringed ottoman, and Elias designed a brick barrel-vaulted wine area with New Orleans-style gas lamps and a mahogany wine-tasting table. An amethyst Murano glass chandelier hangs overhead.

Not that Tartt is all-play-and-no-work. Far from it. His commercial real estate portfolio includes properties such as Post Oak Plaza, Memorial City Mall and Northline Commons. He’s director of the Houston Police Foundation, and is an avid supporter of MFAH and Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo. He also has several projects in Oxford, and serves as president of the Ole Miss School of Business Real Estate.

For all his parties and business interests, though, he finds time for family. He says that often, late at night, after a long day at work capped by an impromptu social gathering at his place, when he’s alone at last, he texts his sister the same simple message: “I love my house.” 

Behind the Eight-Ball Tartt and his designer sister created an area made for entertaining, with a pool table, big-screen TV and wine-tasting alcove. The second-floor billiards room is a houseguest favorite.

Host With the Most From far left: The ceiling of Tartt’s expertly organized and color-coded closet — 100-plus pair of shoes!

— recalls Gucci’s signature pattern. His brick-paved courtyard includes a firetopped cascading waterfall.

FAMILY STYLE Not far from the party palace she designed for her brother, a decorator and her brood live in mod, colorful comfort.

By Chris Kelly, Photos by Julie Soefer

‘W

hen my brother and I were little, we’d get baby formula and sawdust all in one swallow,” laughs native Houstonian Courtnay Tartt Elias. “Our parents were always moving and redoing houses.”

The vivacious Elias, 50, credits her passion and gift for interior decorating to years of growing up in Houston around homerenovation projects — and then there’s also the fact that after graduating from SMU, she attended a prestigious work-study program at Sotheby’s in London, focused on 19th and 20th century decorative arts, as well as other design programs in France and Italy.

She pulled all of that together and, in 2005, opened Creative Tonic, a business Elias describes as “open-ended, with a creative

Warm Wishes From left: Designer Courtnay Tartt Elias opened up the walls of her Tanglewood home, to create gracious living areas full of lovely objects, colorful books and beautiful art.

bent which includes interior design, special events, fashion and architectural projects.” And while decorating her developer brother Blake Tartt III’s house was a labor of love — “we’re very close,” she says — the project dearest to her heart is the white stucco Tanglewood home, a bright contemporary stunner with classical embellishments and whimsical pops of color that she shares with her family. The brood includes her husband, Mark, 54, a private wealth management executive for UBS; their three sons, Baker, 21, Brooks, 20, and Sterling, 15; and their spunky King Charles Spaniel named Clemens. “It’s constant in-and-out in our house, tennis shoes everywhere,” says Elias, smiling. (Her client brother Blake’s home is featured in “Oxford Calling” in this issue.)

When she and Mark purchased their 4,800-square-foot, twostory home, it had been vacant for a while and was in a state of disrepair. Still, the bones of the house were magnificent, says Elias.

Houston architect Albert Pecore, who designed the home, provided the couple with his original drawings, and they got to work. “We knocked out walls to create open living areas,” she says. “I didn’t want hallways. I wanted our home to be sprawled out and a great place for the kids to ride their scooters.”

Overall, the home is comfy-chic with large, sturdy furnishings.

Elias goes for neutral colors in her fabrics, and adds bright colors with pillows and contemporary art. She also weaves nostalgia into her décor: There’s an Art Deco dining table in her family room that was a wedding gift from a professor who taught her in Paris.

“It was in his and his wife’s apartment,” she explains. “I spent many days there studying at that table.” And in the sleek, modern kitchen hangs a turquoise French glass chandelier that belonged to Elias’ grandmother. “I like experimenting with my house,” says Elias, who is constantly trying-out new looks.

Elias and her husband, to whom she tenderly refers as “my lucky charm,” are all about a casual family-and-friends-havingfun atmosphere. There’s the pool in the backyard, and their next project is building a wall around their large front yard to create an enclosed outdoor entertainment/dining area.

Still, this kid-friendly house exudes sophistication, with a collection of evocative abstract contemporary art that Elias has acquired over many years of traveling to Miami’s Art Basel, as well as to Santa Fe’s annual contemporary art exhibition SITE. Other art-collecting excursions include a recent trip to Cuba, where she and Mark visited the studios of emerging artists. The couple’s passion for art and design is also reflected in their involvement with Rienzi and the MFAH — and their commitment to the community can be found in the Eliases’ support of the Children’s Fund.

Children, family and creativity are cornerstones of Elias’ life.

She’s currently collaborating with brother Blake on the renovation of a Galveston home that will soon be an Elias-Tartt family retreat for vacations and reunions. “Here we are again,” says Elias of her brother and herself, “swallowing sawdust!” 

Color Correct Clockwise from top left: The family room, whose design was inspired

by Japanese artist Shosuke Osawa, features a reflective, white-lacquered ceiling; the homeowner says the powder room’s metallic Cole and Sons wallpaper is her “most favorite;” a bedroom incorporates vivid color, an Elias signature; the kitchen is sleek and mod.

Party People Lesli and James Geitz

The scene at Night in Havana

Shiva Rafferty

For eight years, the annual Night in Havana bash has been a highlight of the otherwise slow summer social season. And this year, the soiree had a record turnout of nearly 1,000 PYTs, all of whom arrived dressed up and ready to get down to the beats of DJ Senega — all to raise money for Big Brothers Big Sisters and its young professionals group.

The scene unfolded at new Bar Bleu in Rice Village, formerly Hudson Lounge. Outfitted in chic summer whites, partygoers sipped drinks from the mojito and margarita bars, and the guys — including David King, who came dressed as Fidel Castro — puffed on Cuban cigars.

photos by daniel ortiz

Riyad Abu-Taha

Havana Heat

JP and Ember Hull

Amanda Wickman, Wade Laycook and Emily Nikkel

Uchenna Agu

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Low & Slow Is HOW WE SMOKE IT. WHEN IT’S PERFECTLY DONE, IT SHOULD BE EATEN.

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Party People

Light It Up! Some 200 culture vultures alighted at Warehouse Live for Lott Entertainment Presents’ first fundraiser, Spotlight Houston. While dining on a menu specially curated by co-chair Lee Ellis of Cherry Pie Hospitality — dill pickle dip and homemade chips, Southwest Caesar salad with pulled pork and doughnut and ice-cream sandwiches for dessert — guests enjoyed a roster of entertainers highlighting important emerging Houston artists. DJ Sun opened the evening with a set inspired by his Chinese ancestry, setting the stage for thoughtful performances

by Brent Croucher, Jawaad and Lyric Michelle. Organization founders Kathryn Lott and Allison Lott were beaming, as they glad-handed friends including co-chairs Jonathan Beitler and Stuart Folb.

Jawwaad Taylor and Lee Ellis

Catherine Sullivan, Ceron, Eleni Demeris and Nicole Lang

Brant and Lainey Croucher

Caitlan Flanagan, Jill Edwards and Sharon Lott

Kathryn Lott and Allison Lott

photos by emile c browne photography

Mark Sullivan, Claudia Solis and Greg Morago

Kristy and Chris Bradshaw

Great Southwest Equestrian Center Meetings Special Events

Horse Shows

Scott Niemeyer Food and Beverage Director scott@gswec.com

Party People Mark Shanahan and Dean Gladden Mady Kades, Jay Sullivan and Ken Kades

Rob and Julie Goytia

Jonathan and Karen Finger, and Rob Askins

Jennifer Smith and Peter Ragauss

Curtain Call

Tino and Nini Bekhradi

photos by priscilla dickson

Supporters of the Alley Theatre gathered Downtown to give the stars of Hand to God, well, a hand! More than 50 guests experienced a private dinner catered by City Kitchen in the upstairs dining room overlooking the Downtown skyline. Then everyone made their way downstairs for the show, which tells the tale of how a sock puppet named Tyrone possessed the congregation of a church in Cypress, Texas. After the somewhat scandalous performance, patrons popped bubbly with cast members, who stood by for photo ops.

Connie and Roger Plank, and Ryan Arnoult

Where Excellence Is a Tradition

Party People

Sharon Montgomery

Allison Piccirillo and Amy Lach Annie Daugherty

Richard Brown Orchestra

Anthony Milam and Chris Olsen

b&b photos by daniel ortiz

As the social crowd has come to know, B&B Butchers & Restaurant and its owner, Benjamin Berg, can throw a great bash. And so, of course, when the restaurant celebrated its first birthday, the private upstairs dining space and adjacent patio were packed, and the crowd was urbane and chic. Channeling the spirit of The Carlyle in New York, Berg’s hometown, the host put out quite a spread, including mini beef Wellingtons, sliced tenderloin and a sea of oysters on the half shell. Champagne flowed and feet tapped, the latter owing to the hip pop tunes of the Richard Brown Orchestra. A Houston who’s who made the scene, including Dominique Sachse, Becca Cason Thrash and Randall Davis.

Kelsey Groves and Chris Mastrangelo David and Frani Denenburg 146 | houstoncitybook.com

photos by daniel ortiz

Killer B’s!

“Even New Orleans doesn’t have a better New Orleans restaurant!” – Zagat LUNCH • BRUNCH • D I N N E R • P R I VAT E PA R T I E S 33 0 0 S M I T H S T R E E T | H O U S TO N , T E X A S 77006 | 713 - 52 2 - 9 7 1 1 | B R E N N A N S H O U S TO N . CO M

real life living.

DESIGN . FURNISHINGS . LIGHTING . BEDDING HOUSE ACCOUNT | Mon.-Fri.10-6, Sat.10-5 12649 MEMORIAL DR, SUITE B | 713.932.0232 | WEIDNERHASOU.COM Photo by Karen Sachar

Party People Courtney And Clayton Casey, Carly Freels and Claudia Freels at Bowl & Barrel

Luke Fertitta and Mary Kueser at Bowl & Barrel

‘Strike’ a Pose, Get Fit! Two exciting new businesses have bowed — and celebrated with festive functions! Bowl & Barrel, an upscale bowling alley and bar with a gourmet menu, founded by Kyle Noonan and Josh Sepkowitz of San Antonio import FreeRange Concepts. Fun food included giant pretzels with Texas fondue with Champagne chasers!

Meanwhile, some big names strode the red carpet to mark the opening of O Athletic, a hip new gym concept in the Heights. Mayor Sylvester Turner was on hand, as was Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson, a coowner of the athletic club. O promises a workout like a pro athlete!

Bailey Pembroke and Kylee Kimosh at Bowl & Barrel

John Kim, Courtney Olesen and Courtney March at Bowl & Barrel

Jenna Cooper and Monica Iles at O Athletik

Anne Elizabeth Daugherty, Hunter Comiskey, Reagan Hall And Kyle George at Bowl & Barrel barrell photos by chris brown;

Hattie Ralph and Kelsey Ralph at O Athletik

o athletik photos by mike charlton

Katie Winans, Mary Kueser, Stephanie Gura and Christina Porras

Home a

is more than a lifestyle...

2017 Winter Ball celebrates its 30th year with 3 0 TH A N N I V E R S A R Y

Winter Ball

Join our Gentlemen’s Committee and you will be invited with a guest to the private VIP event November 2, 2016 6pm to 7:30pm B&B Butchers & Restaurant

Hosts

Jeff Gremillion Patti & Don Murphy Roland Maldonado, M.D. Elizabeth & Alan Stein as we celebrate the 2017 ABC-13’s Women of Distinction and Ambassador presented by Mercedes-Benz Dealers of Greater Houston For information contact Laura Stein at 713.572.2232 or lstein@ccfa.org By making a $150 donation to the Gentlemen’s Committee you will join a very special group of supporters, the 2017 “Gentlemen Gems”.

A home is where memories are made!

713.622.9339 www.bethwolff.com

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Lunch With Yurman and Dec! On Tuesday, October 18, Dec My Room, with the support of Neiman Marcus, Café Annie and Houston CityBook, will host its annual “Let’s Do Lunch” event featuring a personal appearance

by David Yurman and his new fall designs!

Houston-based Dec My Room, a nonprofit childrens charity has been creating healing places in Houston pediatric hospitals for nearly a decade. Dec My Room was started by mother/daughter team Susan and Kendall Plank when a family friend was admitted to Texas Children’s Hospital for a bone marrow transplant. They transformed his plain hospital room into a comfortable, personal and cozy space. Since then, Dec My Room has started seven additional chapters, serving the top pediatric hospitals across the country, 14 hospitals in all.

Enjoy a VIP “first look” at David Yurman's newest jewelry creations on Tuesday, October 18, at the organization’s “Let’s Do Lunch.” For more information visit DecMyRoom.org or call 832-538-1201. Tickets for the luncheon are available for purchase through the website now. Many thanks to our sponsors Neiman Marcus, Café Annie and Houston CityBook.

Eat. Drink. Travel. Live.

Branch Out Everyone knows money doesn’t grow on trees. But powdered doughnuts? Beignet trees are among the different, decadent delicacies at sexy new Steak 48. photo by julie soefer

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Dining

River Oaks’ New Number With contemporary flair and a sexy, scene-seeking following already secure, River Oaks District’s new Steak 48 is already the top of H-Town’s must-hit list.

By Dennis Abrams, Photos by Julie Soefer

C

Coming to Houston direct from Arizona, the 48th state — courtesy of brothers Jeff and Michael Mastro, who sold their own Mastro Steakhouse concept to Tilman Fertitta’s Landry’s Inc., which plans to open up its own Mastro’s in 2017 (yes, it’s complicated) — Steak 48 stands out among the city’s already crowded steakhouse scene by offering up appetizers, sides and desserts that do justice to the restaurant’s mouthwatering steaks. In other words, Steak 48 is more than just another steakhouse.

It’s a steakhouse, though, that fits perfectly into the River Oaks vibe, as evidenced by the well-dressed, wellheeled crowd inundating the restaurant’s sprawling floor space, filling the room with the sound of a raucous Thursday night in Houston. (For those looking for a more quiet space, call ahead and reserve one of the windowed private rooms overlooking the kitchen, which, after all, is where the action really is.)

Take the appetizers for example. Sure, there are the usual wedge and Caesar salads, shrimp cocktails and the like. But why not start with something a bit more unusual, perhaps deep-fried deviled eggs — crunchy on the outside, still creamy on the inside, and just as decadent as one might imagine — served with sriracha aioli? The crispy little fried shrimp, tossed with sweet

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Sea and Be Seen The seafood tower at Steak 48 comes with the customer’s choice of fresh shellfish and housemade cocktail sauce.

Thai peppers and a luscious garlic aioli, are good, too. (An added bonus? Both dishes can be ordered as a small or large plate — perfect for sharing, no matter the size of your group.)

The pork belly is even better. Perfectly braised thick slices served on a bed of sautéed spinach, finished with a glaze of honey and Thai chilies. Rich and meaty, and spicy and sweet, and bitter from the spinach. It’s everything you could want from an appetizer.

As for the main courses, there are dishes like an intriguing prime steakhouse meatloaf (really!) and assorted chops and seafood dishes — but when a restaurant is called Steak 48, one feels obliged to eat steak. And the restaurant’s steaks do not disappoint.

Those with a smaller appetite might want to order the rarely seen bone-in filet mignon.

Yes, bone-in filet. As a general rule of thumb, anything cooked on the bone is more tasty than anything cooked off the bone, and Steak 48’s filet just confirms the rule. Filets can sometimes be lacking, but not these beauties, which have a huge depth of flavor combined with all the tenderness one could want.

And for the true carnivores, nothing will do but Steak 48’s signature cut: an 18-ounce

Dining

Kansas City strip, which, truth be told, could convert even the most indifferent diner into a dedicated steak lover. A well seasoned char combined with the rich beefiness of a wet-aged steak (hand-cut in-house) pushes this strip into the upper echelon of Houston steaks.

Of course, a great steak demands great cooked sides, and it is here that Steak 48 stands out among the crowd. Consider, if you will, Chef Jeff Taylor’s au gratin potatoes — layer upon layer of thinly sliced potatoes, caramelized onions, gouda and mozzarella. Or the spectacular-looking Hasselback potato that appeared on many a table, like a regular baked potato at a

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glance, but crispy-skinned and salted and segmented for easy sharing, with garlic and truffle butter and chive cream cheese on the side for slathering.

Or, should you want to shoot the moon when it comes to rich decadence (and why not?) it’s all about the Alaskan king crab and rock shrimp macaroni and cheese with Tillamook cheddar, provolone and parmesan that, truth be told, tastes even better than it sounds.

Dessert may be the last thing on your mind after a meal like this, but you really

mustn’t skip the brioche-chocolate-chip bread pudding. Or go for the “ultimate” warm vanilla-caramel cake topped with vanilla gelato, whipped cream and housemade pralines.

It’s rare that a steakhouse gets the kind of “buzz” that Steak 48 has already achieved.

But in this case it’s well deserved. The combination of high-energy atmosphere and top-end cuisine makes it “not your daddy’s steakhouse,” an appreciated addition to the burgeoning River Oaks restaurant scene. 

We Meat Again Clockwise from bottom left: The glitzy dining room at Steak 48; the restaurant’s prime steaks and chops are wet-aged 28 days, and are supplemented by sides like the crispy Hasselback potatoes; the bar is a scene at all hours; the bread pudding is made with brioche and topped with chocolate chips and vanilla gelato.

Fish Story Ca Chien Saigon, crispy whole red snapper, is chef Nicole Routhier’s favorite dish.

Dining

LATEST DISH! HOUSTON’S BEST FOOD NEWS, IN SMALL BITES ...

Colonial Rule

Smartly channeling the romance and exotic allure of a faraway, long-ago world — and proffering beautifully accomplished Vietnamese fare — Le Colonial bows in River Oaks. By Dennis Abrams, Photos by Julie Soefer

T

Think Marguerite Duras’ The Lover.

Think Graham Greene. Think dark wood, slowly rotating ceiling fans, and women in sumptuous Ao Dai. Think of all of your most romantic fantasies of the mysteries of the East, of another era come to life. Think escape.

Now imagine yourself sitting at a table at the River Oaks District’s newest finedining concept, Le Colonial.

A canopy-like entrance of wrought iron leads into the 95-seat dining room with an intimate bar at the entry. The dining room is stunning, with cement floor tiles from Provence, antiqued mirrors, brass wall sconces, mahogany millwork, period photography and wicker seating, all of which combines to create a luxurious, yet relaxed, “colonial” atmosphere.

The interior dining space gracefully leads to an outdoor sidewalk café with authentic Gatti Paris chairs in bent bamboo and natural straw. And the upstairs lounge accommodates an additional 50 with seating and banquettes, perfect for intimate conversations. The expansive mahogany bar makes the upstairs lounge a great place to sample unique cocktails such as the Tamarind (Maker’s Mark, tamarind pulp, pineapple, and — the kicker — star anise) as well as a special late-night menu.

Of course if the food doesn’t live up

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to the décor ...

At Le Colonial, Culinary Director Nicole Routhier, who developed the menu at the original location in New York nearly 20 years ago — and is today considered the premier author of Vietnamese cuisine in the country — has teamed up with Exec Chef Dan Nguyen to create a menu filled with light, healthy dishes designed for sharing. Nguyen is “a Vietnamese chef … praised for his traditional fine Vietnamese fare who brings an incredible authenticity and level of operational skill and culinary ... expertise to the Le Colonial kitchen,” says co-owner Jon King.

And that expertise is evident in each bite. The Cha Gio — crispy rice paper spring rolls filled with shrimp, pork and Asian mushrooms with aromatic herbs and chili-lime dipping sauce — is a case in point. A dish that appears on every Vietnamese menu in town, these rolls are exceptionally delicate and crispy, ready to be wrapped in already-prepared little cups of butter lettuce filled with herbs and such, then dipped into a surprisingly subtle sauce. It’s the attention to details that raises this dish above the norm.

The same can be said about the Suon Nuong, perfectly grilled babyback ribs whose lemongrass-garlic rub and honey glaze don’t come close

The husband-andwife team behind Relish Fine Foods have moved their fast-casual River Oaks-area fixture two miles west, to a bigger, hipper space in Upper Kirby. Newly renamed Relish Restaurant & Bar, it’ll maintain quick counter-service for lunch and brunch, while evenings offer a full-service dining experience with the addition of cocktails, wine and beer. 2810 Westheimer Rd., 713.599.1960

Find a one-stop shop in Bebidas Juice, Coffee & Bites, a River Oaks-area outpost, by the brother-sister duo behind Adair Kitchen. Opening soon, the new spot pours cold-pressed juices, smoothies and coffee, plus proffers quick food choices. One mile west, the team is set to open Eloise Nichols Grill & Liquors, serving Southern dishes made with ingredients from local purveyors. Bebidas Juice, Coffee & Bites, 2606 Edloe St.; Eloise Nichols Grill & Liquors, 2400 Mid Lane

The lauded team behind Helen Greek Food & Wine homages classic Italian American cuisine with its newest concept Arthur Ave., now open in the Heights.

Pasta lovers savor rustic, red-sauce recipes in a luxurious space designed by veteran restaurant designer Erin Hicks.

1111 Studewood St., 832.582.7146

The Pit Room debuted in Montrose in August with a juicy menu of backyardbarbecue favorites.

In addition to the usual brisket, pulled pork and beef ribs, the restaurant plans on incorporating In Good Taste From top: Arthur Ave.’s cannolis; Relish’s Addie and Dustin Teague; juicy offerings from Bebidas; and glazed carrots with creme fraiche at Relish.

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713-932-7177.

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Dining

to overwhelming the sweetness of the pork. And of the Goi Ga, a red and green cabbage salad tossed with pulled chicken, Texas pink grapefruit, more aromatic herbs and a chili-lime dressing, totally reminiscent of an evening in Saigon.

Among the entrees, both the Com Chien Dac Biet (fried rice with chicken, lap xuong sausage, broccoli, lemongrass and basil), and the Bo Xao Sate (cubes of filet mignon served in a mildly spicy sauce with haricot verts, yams, coconut milk and Thai basil) are notably sophisticated and satisfying.

But the dish you must try, the one you’ll return for, is the Bun Thit Nuong. Imagine calling this a salad: vermicelli noodles, mesclun, bean sprouts, more herbs, limegarlic fish sauce and peanuts, topped with skewers of tender yet ever so slightly chewy chargrilled pork belly. A hit to be sure.

For dessert, you could go one of two ways: the traditional banana tapioca pudding, or the pineapple flambé. Or get both! What a lovely end to a lovely evening, a trip to the Saigon of the 1920s, without leaving Houston. 

Green Room Inside Le Colonial, designed to recall a French-Colonialera villa

What a Spread From left: Korean fried chicken and more at Bonchon; inside B&B Butchers; and the ricotta-stuffed steamed bun with whipped local honey and summer truffle, on the new vegetarian menu at Cureight.

a Tex-Mex touch to the menu — think tacos and queso. 1201 Richmond Ave., 832.265.0063

Also in Montrose, burger and beer bar The Burger Joint kicks off the 2016 NFL season with “Burger Joint Tailgates” on Sundays in September, with off-themenu specials cooked on the patio, tailgate-style. In addition to the regular menu of burgers, chilidogs and fries, guests can expect smoked buffalo, elk, and venison. 2703 Montrose Blvd., 281.974.2889

Meanwhile, Triniti chefowner Ryan Hildebrand has launched his first burger and beer concept, FM Burger. With an ice house feel, the family-friendly joint will feature a straightforward menu of burgers, hand-cut fries, and loaded shakes, along with local beer, cocktails and wine. Until the official opening later this fall, score a sneak peek of the namesake FM burger on the happy-hour menu at Triniti for $4.99. 1112 Shepherd Dr.; Triniti, 2815 Shepherd Dr., 713.527.9090

Popular Mexican cantina Maria Selma closed to make way for Gulf seafoodfocused Texas Shrimp Shack by the same owners.

At the ultra-casual seafood joint, expect a menu of allthings-shrimp — including Mexican favorites like shrimp nachos, ceviche and shrimp enchiladas. 1617 Richmond Ave., 713.528.4920

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A certification by the Kobe Beef Association in Japan allows boutique steakhouse B&B Butchers & Restaurant to now offer 100 percent authentic, A5-certified Kobe Beef — a distinction received by only nine restaurants nationwide. Known for its even marbling and exquisite flavor, the highly coveted beef is a delicacy. This recent certification comes as B&B embarks on its 55-day dry-age beef program to trump the 28-day dryaged steak already offered.

1814 Washington Ave., 713.862.1814

Clear Lake. 24437 Katy Fwy., 281.394.9188 Chef Austin Simmons celebrates one year of his tasting-menu-only Cureight inside Woodlands favorite Hubbel & Hudson with the launch of a dynamic new vegetarian menu.

Meatless highlights include kombu-bamboo rice with miso chanterelles, and a ricotta-stuffed steamed bun with whipped local honey.

A list of wine pairings from around the globe curated

by Sommelier Derek Ryan is highly recommended to enhance the one-of-akind dining experience. 24

As the Vietnamese food craze reaches new heights, new Oui Banh Mi scores extra points with its drivethrough window — leftover from the building’s days as Lucky Burger — and extended late-night hours, serving those hard-to-resist sandwiches, plus desserts from Oui Desserts, until 3 a.m. 1601 Richmond Ave.,

Tis the season! For truffles at Tony’s, that is.

This year, the fine-dining destination is featuring an Alba white truffle soufflé baked to perfection, served with white-truffle essence tableside, and garnished with freshly shaven Alba truffles. 3755 Richmond Ave.,

832.831.5172

713.622.6778

Chef Eric Aldis (Corner Table, Midtown BBQ) is the culinary director for Bonchon’s first Houston outpost, now open in Katy. The global restaurant chain, known for its Korean fried chicken, offers much more than a menu of finger-licking wings — try the kimchi pancakes or fried octopus dumplings sprinkled with tobiko flakes. Stay tuned for more locations soon to follow in the Heights, Galleria and

Stephen Long, proprietor of the Reserve 101 whiskey bar Downtown, has branched out to beer.

Occupying the former Mission Burrito space on West Alabama, Hops Meet Barley pours 150-plus beers and has a menu of shareable plates — from panko-crusted cheese curds to healthier options like hummus with wheat pita — plus a solid selection of sandwiches. 2245 W.

Waterway Ave., 281.203.5641

Alabama St., 832.767.5167 

THE REYNA REALTY GROUP

SPRING BRANCH MARKET AREA

1701 Huge Oaks

1701 Huge Oaks |

$

1,795,000

Agent: Mel Reyna 281.546.1999 Nestled on a large 15,000 sq ft lot in popular Monarch Oaks this new home will offer the high end finishes and features that Quintessa Homes is known for. The innovative plan features a 1st floor Master, 2nd floor Game Room, Media Room, seasonal storage closet & computer niche. Separate guest casita, 4 car garage & motorcourt accessible via Porte Cochere. 60in Wolf range, 66inSubzero frig, outdoor kitchen, alarm & sound pre-wire, sprinkler system and more.

ROYAL OAKS CC MARKET AREA

11506 St Germain

MEMORIAL WEST MARKET AREA

11930 Taylorcrest

$

1,850,000

Agent: Monica Simpson 281.796.7267 Absolutely stunning Custom Estate home. Private gated courtyard entrance with pool welcomes you to this impeccably maintained home. Property boasts impressive foyer with hardwood floors, gourmet kitchen with tons of storage and commercial grade appliances. Formals, family room/ den off kitchen, walk-in wine grotto; huge master suite w/ balcony overlooking courtyard, luxurious master bath/huge master closet, game room up, media room w/stadium seats, courtyard casita ensuite! Absolutely gorgeous!

MARKET AREA

4111 Sandhill

$

1,195,000

Agent: Sandy Steitz 713.392.4133 Wonderful Memorial home, styled for today's living Large updated family room with a fireplace, vaulted beamed ceilings, Restoration Hardware lighting, all opening out to a backyard with room for pool, play equipment, etc. Kitchen is centrally located between family room, dining & breakfast and boasts its own remodel. Master and study down, upstairs 2 bedrooms with Hollywood bath, 1 bedroom ensuite and 3 car garage.

GALVESTON 11506 St. Germain Way |

11930 Taylorcrest |

4111 Sandhill |

$

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Food Culture

Catch of the Day Frixos Chrisinis proudly displays a fresh-caught cobia at sunrise in Freeport

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Food Culture

A Houston Odyssey As one of the city’s most venerable block parties, The Original Greek Festival, turns 50, the Greek community reflects on its immigrant past — and how it’s shaped the way Houston eats.

By Chris Becker, Photos by Shannon O’Hara

TO TELL THE STORY of Greeks in Houston, one must begin with the ocean. From the water that surrounds New York’s Ellis Island, first stop for the earliest Greek immigrants who chose to settle in Houston, to the Gulf of Mexico, where today, Frixos Chrisinis, owner of Blue Horizon Wholesale Seafood and Market (2516 Wroxton Rd., 713.942.1055), greets the captains of commercial fishing boats at various ports before jumping on board to choose the freshest catches to sell. Thanks to Frixos, Houstonians now have access to restaurant-quality fish at his convenient Southampton-area market.

“We put out nothing but the best,” says Frixos, who refers to every customer as ‘my friend’ and in turn is known to everyone in Houston by his first name. “You come in, and we only have two types of fish? I tell you, ‘I’m sorry! This is what’s fresh!’” What’s fresh in the spotless walk-in freezer at Blue Horizon is clear-eyed, large and shiny, with dark red gills, and packed in finely crushed ice, “so they don’t bruise,” he explains.

Wednesdays through Saturdays, the intrepid home chef can find flounder, sockeye salmon, trout, Gulf Stone crab and more.

The care and dedication required to make trly great food — and make a successful business from it — is common in Houston’s long-established Greek community. It’s a storied, and tasty history, which will be celebrated at the 50th anniversary of The Original Greek Festival (Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral, 3511 Yoakum Blvd., 713.526.5377), Oct. 6-9.

For his part, Frixos’ personal Houston history goes back even further. Born on the Greek island of Arkoi, Frixos was earning a living diving for octopus before the age of 10. His father taught him to fish, his mother taught him to cook. He came to Houston in 1963 at age 12 as a tourist, and quickly found work in his relatives’ kitchen as a dishwasher — a slightly easier task in Texas than back home. “The kitchen had washing machines,” he recalls. “On the Greek islands, we did everything by hand.”

In 1980, Frixos opened the popular Mykonos Island Restaurant, where members of Houston’s Mediterranean community came to savor lamb riganato, moussaka and charcoal-grilled red snapper smothered in a secret-family-recipe sauce; listen to music as played on the bouzouki, a sort of Greek mandolin; and occasionally dance on the tables. Mykonos closed in 2007 when the landlord refused to renew the lease.

Undaunted, Frixos continued on as the city’s go-to fishmonger.

He opened Blue Horizon market early last year, and now provides fish for more than 90 Houston restaurants. “I just have the connections,” says Frixos of the tremendous demand. “Not too many people are willing to get up at midnight to go get fish!”

This work ethic goes back to the Greek men who arrived in Houston beginning in 1889 and worked menial jobs. The city’s weather and proximity to the ocean provided a palpable

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Food Culture

Language of Love Clockwise from top left: Dancers near the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Montrose; orzo-stuffed peppers at Helen Greek Wine & Food; members of the Greek Orthodox church typically light candles when entering the church; Frixos Chrisinis at his Blue Horizon fish market; in addition to keeping a bee hive for producing honey, physician Michael Macris grows figs on a tree in his yard that has a direct lineage to one that stands at the opening of the Cave of the Apocalypse in Greece; a chalkboard menu at Myth Kafe; and a selection from the all-Greek wine list at Helen.

connection to the home they left behind, and within a few decades, Houston became home to one of the largest Greek communities in the United States.

Many of the first Greek-owned businesses were cafés and confectionaries, some of which would become Houston institutions — sometimes proffering Greek fare, often not. In 1923, Tom and James Papadakis opened up the first James Coney Island Downtown at Walker and Main to sell the then new “Coney Island” wiener on a bun. In 1967, the four sons of restaurateur H.D. Pappas, who emigrated from Greece to Dallas in 1887, opened the Dot Coffee Shop as part of their successful Pappas Refrigeration Company. Today there are more than 90 Pappas-owned restaurants located across the country, including Tex-Mex and creole variations and firstrate steakhouses, as well as Houston’s Yia Yia Mary’s Pappas Mediterranean Kitchen (4747 San Felipe St., 713.840.8665, and at Hobby Airport). Among Greeks, “yia-yia” is an affectionate term for grandmother.

In 1977, Chrysanthos and Eleni Fetokakis borrowed money to turn a neighborhood gas station into Niko Niko’s (2520 Montrose, 713.528.4976), which grew to four locales managed by their son Dimitrios. Haritos Bibas arrived in Houston in 1978 and opened the popular 24-hour Bibas’ One’s A Meal, now Theo’s Restaurant (812 Westheimer Rd., 713.523.0425).

Of course, for Greek people, cooking and sharing great food isn’t just good business, it’s an expression of hospitality and love. “If you’re going to become friends with a Greek,” says Doug Harris, a representative of The Original Greek Festival, “sooner or later, you’re going to have a meal with them.”

Harris, whose father Rudolpho Zaharoulis changed his last name while in the army, was just a teenager when members of the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral decided to include a “Greek night” as part of the celebration of the community’s anniversary. The festival has enjoyed enormous growth in the past decade, and offers Houstonians a completely immersive experience of traditional Greek culture, including plenty of traditional food, live music and performances by the festival’s own dance troupe, whose members dress in the traditional costumes of different regions in Greece.

In the early years of The Original Greek Festival, food was prepared in the church’s small kitchen to sell at the charity event. That kitchen has grown to include a walk-in cooler and the latest in cooking technology, all designed to handle the challenge of adapting yia-yias’ recipes to serve more than 10,000 festival attendees. In the three months leading up to the fest, volunteers, sometimes two or three generations from one family, work in teams to prepare tray after tray of popular Greek dishes, including baklava, kourambiedes (butter-almond cookies), and spanakopita, a spinach and cheese pastry. “It’s less a production line, and more of a community gathering,” says Harris.

How to keep food authentically “Greek” while keeping up with the demand of the market is the challenge Myth Kafe (1010 Prairie St., 832.397.6373) took up when it opened its Downtown location in April of 2015. The food, including tzatziki, a dip made of yogurt, cucumbers, olive oil and spices

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Food Culture

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Food Culture

Rolling Along For months leading up to the Original Greek Festival in October, dozens of ladies, young and old, gather at the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church to prepare food to sell.

and typically served with meat, and arnadiko, which is lamb marinated overnight with garlic and herbs, is prepared each day from scratch by chef Xaralambos Koutroumanos — “Harry” for short — at the restaurant’s original location (1730 Jefferson St., 713.739.0990). “We are just cooking food the Greeks like to eat,” says Georgios Petrou, who co-owns the restaurant with his artist wife Paige Moore, a native of Houston.

For her part, first-generation Greek American Roulah Christie has something similar to promote, to her own children. She’s adamant about the importance of staying connected to her ethnic roots. “I want my kids to know about my parents,” says Christie, who speaks fluent Greek, “where they came from, and what it meant for them to come to America.”

Houstonians know Christie both as the cohost of KRBE’s popular The Roulah & Ryan Show, and as the daughter of restaurateur Jim Christie, who remained a presence in his much loved Christie’s Seafood and Steak Restaurant (6029 Westheimer Rd., 713.978.6563) until his passing a few years back. Christie says her mother and father were both “very gifted in the kitchen.” “When my dad finished his routine for the day, he always made something special for us,” she recalls. “He loved to make xoirino sto fourno me patates, which is ovenroasted pork with oregano and lemon potatoes. He would get that skin crisped just right!”

Georgea Pappas, daughter of Chris Pappas and head of Pappas Restaurant’s Culinary Research and Development team, also sees Greek cooking as a way to connect with and hold on to her roots. She notes that Yia Yia Mary’s, where chocolate cake is soaked in raspberry juice and ouzo before it’s glazed with ganache, the menu is indeed inspired by what she learned in her grandmother’s kitchen. “It was like the seasonings were coming out of her fingers,” says Georgea of her grandmother’s cooking. But along with those seasonings, Georgea says “love and generosity” are essential ingredients to Greek cooking.

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“Growing up, you have so many good memories of your parents cooking for you,” explains Georgea, who is expecting her first child. “My friends would come over, and everyone was welcome. My mother even says that now, ‘There’s never too many people!’”

“I hope I can fulfill the same thing for my kids,” she says, “the way I was provided for.”

While Yia Yia Mary’s is pointedly traditional in its approach, Helen Greek Food and Wine (2429 Rice Blvd., 832.831.7133) is more novel. The restaurant’s concept comes from co-owner and sommelier (and non-Greek) Evan Turner who, while living in Thessaloniki as a child, became enamored with Greek cuisine.

After a failed Kickstarter campaign to fund his vision for a new type of Greek restaurant in Houston, Turner partnered with friends Sharif Al-Amin and Tim Faiola to make his dream a reality. Less than a year since it opened, Helen has received critical accolades, including a 2016 James Beard Award semifinalist nod for Best New Restaurant.

While Helen’s menu, which creatively incorporates Gulf Coast ingredients into its recipes, may be more Greek-inspired than traditionally Greek, both Greek and non-Greeks speak highly of Executive Chef William Wright’s deeply researched culinary skills, as well as the restaurant’s expansive and entirely Greek wine selection, the second largest Greek wine list in the U.S. Helen’s non-traditional yet traditional menu includes — in addition to a roasted chicken cleverly brined in water salted with feta — the “Frixos catch,” a majestically presented, deboned, lemony whole fish that you know is fresh since it comes from Houston’s favorite fishmonger.

“I love Texas so much,” says Frixos, who has lived in the city for 56 years. “This is my place. This is my home. In Greece we say, ‘A rock that moves doesn’t root.’

“We appreciate the country,” he adds. “We want to give something back.” 

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Weird. And Wow!

F

With scores of smart new hotels, restaurants and more, Austin is a more sophisticated destination than ever before. But don’t worry, it’s still quirky. By Daniel Renfrow

Famously quirky ATX has long been a favorite weekend destination for Houstonians who feel as if they know the city well. But the truth is, if you haven’t been to Austin lately, you really haven’t been to Austin. The growth in recent months has catapulted the city into a new era, capturing the attention of the national press, who can’t get enough. New boutiques, hotels and restaurants abound — all just a little weird, appropriately.

Situated in Austin’s increasingly lively Rainey Street Historic District and named after the state’s iconic Van Zandt family, which gifted the music world Townes Van Zandt, longtime Bruce Springsteen guitarist and E Street Member Steven Van Zandt, and lead vocalist and founding member of Lynyrd Skynyrd Ronnie Van Zandt — among many others. Needless to say, the Hotel Van Zandt (605 Davis St., 512.542.5300) homages Austin’s music scene at every level. From the massive horn-inspired chandeliers that greet guests upon arrival to the carefully curated individual playlists that are selected for each common area and meeting room by the hotel’s director of music — yes, that is a job that exists — it’s hard to forget that you’re in one of the music capitals of the world. Where else can you find a hotel that pumps Bob Dylan and Lyle Lovett into their elevator speakers, or plays Lynyrd Skynyrd in their lobby? The hotel even has underwater speakers in the pool pumping out opera

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favorites, just in case a swimmer wants to catch a little Puccini on her way up for breath.

All 319 rooms at the Van Zandt are sleek and spacious, with views of either downtown Austin or Lady Bird Lake, both of which are accessible to guests on a leisurely ride on a custom-designed bicycle available in the lobby. Or, if guests prefer to tour the town with Fido — all pets are welcome at the Hotel Van Zandt regardless of breed, weight or species — they can stroll the area and check

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psyche photo by reese vonderschssmidt; café no se photo by kate lesueur

Park Place From top: Psyche Jewelry is a bauble boutique in a food-truck park; Café No Sé’s ricotta dumplings with basil and grilled sweet corn.

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emmer

Emmer Strozzapretti, which is a pasta made from wheat milled in-house, is served with confit pork, cabbage, kale and lemon — and also pick several small plates such as the dry-aged beef tartare (served with beets, plantain leaves and puffed Sonoran wheat berries) from the dim sum carts the servers taxi about. “The ultimate goal of the restaurant was to make this kind of fun food and local experience accessible to a lot of people,” says Fink, who notes that the Rainey Street-area location is as important as the food at Emmer & Rye. “We always wanted a restaurant that had energy to it, and this street has a ton of that.”

Meanwhile, downtown, accommodations include the brandnew, behemoth JW Marriott (110 E 2nd St., 512.474.4777). The 34-story, 1,000-room hotel, now the largest in Austin, is in the heart of the district and a short walk away from Sixth Street and other go-to destinations — so guests can enjoy time in the JW’s spa

hotel van zandt photos courtesy of the hotel;

out one of several new bars popping up along the strip, like the delightfully divey Clive Bar (609 Davis St, 512.524.1623) or Bangers (79 Rainey St, 512.386.1656), a beer-lover’s haven with more than 100 on tap. And for those who don’t want to leave the hotel for dinner and drinks, the Van Zandt’s restaurant Geraldine’s offers a chef-driven menu of culinary classics with only-in-Austin twists. The restaurant’s Smoked Yellow Taco has Thai tomatillo sauce, taro root, candied garlic and cilantro.

A short walk from the hotel down Rainey Street will take you to Emmer & Rye (51 Rainey St., Ste. 110, 512.366.5530), a contemporary American standout that opened last fall. Helmed

by Executive Chef Kevin Fink (French Laundry, Noma), who was named one of Food & Wine’s Best New Chefs of 2016, the restaurant has a seasonal menu that changes daily. Here, you’ll want to start with some shareable dishes off the main menu — the

& rye photos courtesy of the restaurant

Austin on Record Clockwise from top left: The lobby of the Hotel Van Zandt; lamb tartare with puffed white sonoran wheat crackers at Emmer and Rye; “The Record Player Birds” installation by Paul Villinski in the Hotel Van Zandt lobby; a handpoured cocktail at Emmer & Rye.

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and Gemma Patford rope baskets.

Nearby, Juniper (2400 E. Cesar Chavez St., No. 304, 512.220.9421) is an chic-yet-homey, upscale eatery that opened late last year with a focus on Northern Italian cuisine. Nicholas Yanes, the former chef and creative director at the flagship Uchi in Austin runs the restaurant, which has an open-kitchen concept to create the feeling of an intimate dinner party in someone’s home. The best seats in the house are along the communal chef’s table, which wraps around the kitchen and the bar, allowing interaction with the chefs as they cook up rustic favorites like their version of Porchetta — a savory and fatty Italian pork roast served with butternut squash, rosemary and onions. “We wanted to do pretty straight-forward food that was interesting in its flavor combinations,” says Yanes, “and that were still true to central Texas and true to the heart and the idea of Italian cuisine.”

East Austin has a lot to offer when it comes to dining and imbibing, but those who seek to shop on vacation will be hard-pressed to find a more convenient place to roost than the South Congress Hotel (1603 S. Congress Ave., 512.920.6405).

Taste of the South Located in the center of Austin’s famous Clockwise from bottom left: SoCo shopping district, it is also less than a The Sunroom boutique in the South Congress Hotel; year old — and may be the best bet in town light and bright details at for shopaholics. The 83-room boutique the hotel’s Café No Sé; hotel is already a top attraction for its the entrance to the South Congress Hotel complex; high-end amenities — down to the Aesop grilled lamb chops at Café hand soap in the bathrooms. The warmly No Sé; and more of the decorated, minimalist-chic hotel is also complex’s hip details.

south conress hotel photos by nick simonite; café no se photos by nick simonite and kate lesueur

without worrying about how to get to the bar later! Or consider posting up at the hotel’s pool and patio area, which offers stunning views. If cooler weather has set in, don’t fret. Grab a drink at the patio’s rooftop bar and take in the view by one of the hotel’s fire pits. The hotel also has three dining concepts — the high-end Italian restaurant Osteria Pronto; Corner, a regional-cuisine restaurant with an excellent tequila selection; and Burger Bar, which touts handspun shakes and freshly ground burgers, which may just be the perfect cure for a hangover (just saying).

For the boutique-hotel set — and God knows they love Austin — Hotel Eleven (1123 E. 11th St., 512.675.0011), opened in April in East Austin as a lodging option with the best of both worlds. It’s just a mile away from the downtown conveniences and destinations, and it’s in the heart of one of the city’s most eclectic ’hoods. Breweries, bars and restaurants dot the streets of the district, and Hotel Eleven fits right in. The scenic — and sceney! — rooftop deck and lobby bar is lots of fun. Plus, with only 14 guest rooms, the service is uniquely personalized and attentive.

Beyond the booze, East Austin boasts several cool boutiques, like the bright and bohemian Aro (906 E. 5th St., Ste.106, 512.348.7094), which recently relocated from South Lamar. Owner Leslie Hernandez — one of the many, many New York expats who now call ATX home — worked for several independent jewelry designers on the East Coast, and her boutique has a stellar collection of funky jewelry from indie lines like MVaz Jewelry, LAB by Laura Busony and Lila Rice. Aro also carries a curated selection of apparel and artisan lifestyle goods like handcrafted Tactile Matter vases

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ATX IMPORTS

FROM BOUTIQUES TO JUICE BARS, THERE ARE MANY BUZZY NEW AUSTIN-BASED BUSINESSES TO CHECK OUT IN H-TOWN. Beehive

Houstonians can channel the funky fashions of ATX at Beehive (2519 University Blvd.), opening this fall in Rice Village. Expect bright colors, flowing tops, frayed denim and funky bomber jackets.

Splash Town Clockwise from above: The funky lobby of the JW Marriott; the hotel’s rooftop pool; and fresh pompano fish at Juniper restaurant.

Black Swan Yoga & JuiceLand The donation-based yoga studio (3210 White Oak Dr., 713.640.5060) and adjoining juice bar (832.433.7831), both Austin-based, arrived in the Heights earlier this year. Try the protein-packed Hulk smoothie for a post-sweat-sesh refreshment.

Hopdoddy Burger Bar

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Austin shopping, but it’s not the only place to make hip discoveries. One surprise can be found even further west, off the beaten urban path, in the beautifully sprawling hills of Westlake. Houston’s (by way of Italy) Giorgio Borlenghi has expanded the Granduca Hotels to Austin. The boutique hotel’s Tuscan-villa design is an elegant counterpoint to the quirk — if only for an aperitivo.

Another of Austin’s hidden gems, Psyche Jewelry (1720 Barton Springs Rd., 917.202.5034), is a short drive away, on somewhat unexpected terrain. Located on Barton Springs Road at The Picnic, a bustling food-trailer park, Psyche Jewelry is housed in a petite airstream trailer in a grassy little yard dotted with pink flamingos. New York transplant Nina Berenato, the founder and designer of Psyche Jewelry, stocks her shop-on-the-go entirely with baubles of her own design — think geometric shapes, and pieces that run the gamut from intricate and dainty to bold and chunky. New this fall is her “Warrior” collection; dramatic statement pieces include a spiked, golden ear cuff and a ring that looks like a dagger.

Buying jewelry out of an airstream trailer is probably one of the most quintessential Austin things you can do, an experience that really mustn’t be missed in a city still full of idiosyncrasies. 

Kick Pleat This fashion-forward women’s boutique, which originated in Austin, had a busy year: The Upper Kirby location (2565 Kirby Dr., 713.528.1112) opened in the spring, and in late August, Kick Pleat moved into a new ATX storefront on North Lamar.

Milk + Honey With three locations in Austin and their newest in Houston’s West Ave (713.231.0250), this day spa is located in a second-story, light-filled space caddycorner from Kick Pleat. It’s praised not only for its packages — the Signature Retreat includes an hour-long massage, hour-long facial and a mani-pedi — but also for its haircuts and blowouts.

Stag Provisions Located near both Kick Pleat and Milk + Honey, the cool and curated appareland-more men’s store (2614 Westheimer Rd., 832.667.8211) — think hip clothing, coffee-table books and top-shelf grooming products — arrived in H-Town last summer.

–allyson bowers

Milk + Honey spa in West Ave

jw marriott photos courtesy of the hotel; juniper photo by carla williams

home to three restaurants, a coffee shop, two boutiques and a high-end nail salon — which means one could basically spend an entire weekend in Austin without leaving the property.

Otoko, a 12-seat Japanese restaurant captained by James Beard Foundation Award and Top Chef winner Paul Qui, is the crown jewel of the property, and one of the hardest reservations in Austin to come by. Here guests can have the rare experience of a Kaiseki — a traditional multi-course, artfully plated Japanese dinner — and try dishes from a menu that changes daily but often features favorites like Hokkaido Uni, which is served with white sturgeon caviar and wasabi, or fresh Copper River King Salmon, which is plated with papaya, cilantro and shottsuru.

Book early!

Meanwhile, the South Congress Hotel’s Café No Sé offers one of the best brunches in town — Pastry Chef Amanda Rockman’s crispy kouign-amanns, which are a type of Breton cake made with buttery and sugary viennoiserie dough, are a must-try.

And Sunroom, the complex’s cool, beachy boutique that carries hard-to-find lines like Lisa Marie Fernandez, Brother Vellies and DEZSO, is so well curated that the owner, New York transplant Lucy Jolis, was called on to curate the hotel’s gift shop as well.

South Congress may be the mecca of

This casual South Congress spot with a cult following expanded to Houston this spring, located on a primo corner in the brandnew River Oaks District (4444 Westheimer Rd., 713.227.2337). Don’t skip the truffle fries — or the nutella-pretzel milkshake.

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S

California Dreaming

SoCal has never been better for spa lovers, as Cal-a-Vie turns 30 fabulously, and the surfsavvy new Ranch at Laguna Beach makes a splash. By Holly Crawford

Southern California may be known as the backdrop for reality TV shows and Destination Disneyland, but it’s also home to playgrounds of an entirely different ilk. Less than 50 miles apart, Cal-a-Vie — an internationally renowned luxury health spa now celebrating its 30th anniversary — and Orange County’s hip, newly unveiled Ranch at Laguna Beach serve up two distinctly different slices of SoCal spa style.

Owned by Houston power couple Terri and John Havens and tucked into the lush, lavender-rich hills of Vista in northern San Diego County, Cal-a-Vie (cal-a-vie.com) gives guests permission to step away from the crazy-busy, the devices, the news — and into a veritable postcard that feels far away and otherworldly, for at least three days. Thanks to architectural wonders — like its centuries-old stone Meditation Center shipped from Dijon and reconstructed on-property — and European antiques, it has the footprint of a French village. Of its 32 Mediterranean-style villas, two have a television, and newspapers do not land on doorsteps

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daily; only in common areas can guests glean what’s going on outside the spa’s pristine and private 200 acres, which include vineyards that yield red wine for “therapeutic” tasting.

It’s a good sign when a trip begins with easy packing: workout clothes, SPF and a good book. No fancy outfits or accessories needed, unless it’s a Fitbit. And things only get simpler upon crossing the threshold. Like a health and wellness reboot camp for the super-successful and often supremely stressed, the spa shifts the focus from any worries from home. There’s very little decision-making after day one, when a scheduling guru presents options for meal plans, fitness activities and spa treatments.

(Guests also have the option to be weighed and measured upon arrival and departure.)

Every day thereafter, each spa-goer is placed on a path for a one-of-a-kind experience that can be modified at any given moment. Scheduled for spin, but prefer to try a Brazilian booty class? No problemo: Go Brazil! Consuming 1,800 calories per day,

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Calm and Cool From left: The grounds of Cal-a-Vie; dishes are specially prepared with clients’ food needs and calorie count in mind; yoga is one of many fitness classes available at the resort.

but want 1,500 or 2,100? A quick word with any waiter ensures the change will take effect immediately. Plus, there’s take-home value in seeing exactly what a specific number of calories looks like. Executive Chef Curtis Cooke, by way of Lake Austin Spa Resort, uses fresh ingredients from local farms — plus organic herbs and veggies from the garden steps from his kitchen — and partners with on-site nutritionist May Tom to answer questions about the menus.

To complement the cuisine, Cal-a-Vie’s extensive fitness program is a standout with daily sunrise hikes through hillside trails and more than 100 classes like TRX, MELT Method and LaBlast dance. The intimate classes feel more like a personaltraining session, and it’s possible to pack in as many as four or five a day.

Extracurricular activities like guided meditation and chakrabracelet-making ensure mind and spirit do not miss out on the wellness experience, while relaxing spa and salon treatments (massage, facial, reflexology, acupuncture and more) are the icing on the cake. Every hour is different, and 72 of them are not enough in the highly tailored environment with a staff-to-guest ratio of five-to-one. Guests leave as higher functioning versions of themselves, programmed with tools to carry into everyday life — and simply wanting more. (That explains why 70 percent of the spa biz is repeat!)

A three-night “La Petite” stay, made for Sunday arrival and

Wednesday departure, runs $4,550 per person. It includes three meals and two snacks a day, single accommodations with a king bed, six spa treatments, unlimited fitness classes, nutrition lectures, a cooking lesson and transportation between the spa and San Diego International Airport. Bonus: New friendships with fellow guests — often interesting knowledge-seekers — are unexpected extras. In the vein of more, Cal-a-Vie offers longer stays with more amenities because, after all, anything is possible.

Speaking of possibility, the new Ranch at Laguna Beach (theranchlb.com) serves it up on a golden Orange County platter.

Originally built in 1962, the re-decked 97-room resort sits quietly between two canyons — 350 yards from Aliso Beach. Home to the longtime community gem Ben Brown’s Golf Course, a sand volleyball court, the Ranch’s brand-new additions include Harvest restaurant and the 3,000-square-foot indoor-outdoor Sycamore Spa, which faces the pool. That means hiking, biking, beach time, tee time, California cuisine and treatments like a stone-and-shell massage are all close.

Sitting on the first tee and adjacent to Harvest, the patio is made for languid lunches and happy hours like weekly Thirsty Thursdays with local breweries and live music. At the center of the property, the swimming pool — dubbed the “Pond” — is both a buzzy social spot with a full-service tiki bar, and a relaxation zone for 45 minutes of gentle flow yoga on weekend mornings.

Several guest-room patios, each outfitted with a pair of rocking

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Travel

chairs, have a pool view. Inside the rooms and two-bedroom cottages, it’s equal parts coastal-chic and rustic — with a hint of cozy Round Top charm. (Interior designer Laurie Alter, who owns Tuvalu Home, frequents Antique Week halfway between Houston and Austin, so Texans will feel right at home.) Think sloping, white-wood ceilings with burnished chandeliers and nautical touches. Nightly rates start at $350, and change seasonally.

For anyone (kids, too) wanting to help their handicap, golf pro Ryan Sheffer will observe, coach and demo through nine holes before following up with a detailed private tutorial. But for explorers, there are dozens of adventures for the taking, beyond the boutique hotel’s 87 acres. Topping the list: Laguna Beach is surf central, and stand-up paddle-boarding is popular, too. So hit the water! The Ranch will facilitate a private lesson with seasoned Hobie pro Byron Kurt, who gives clear instruction with a good Look Out! Clockwise from below: A mod bathroom with a view at the Ranch at Laguna Beach; dishes at the Ranch’s restaurant Harvest are made with ingredients grown in the onsite garden; and the resort’s 97 acres includes the longtime community gem Ben Brown’s Golf Course.

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dose of patience. Tip: Before venturing off-property, stop by Ben’s Pantry — right off the Harvest patio — for a homemade granola bar (or two). Take a chocolate peanut butter or white chocolate cranberry bar for the road.

Art galleries and charming shops of every persuasion are prolific, but not necessarily walk-able. If the free open-air trolley isn’t running, drive or Uber. Keep an eye out for local merch like luxurious Ruby Mint beach towels and Laguna Salt Co. salt and hit laid-back boutiques like The Shop, Twig and Thalia Surf Shop.

On the way back to the Ranch, pop into Coyote Grill, an oceanside Baja-style Mexican joint with a local vibe and a view. What any self-respecting Houstonian orders without hesitation: the calamari taco plate and a Cadillac “Caddie” margarita worth its salt, thanks to the house-made sweet-and-sour mix and a Grand Marnier topper.

It’s a choose-your-own adventure kind of place, whether R&R or a whirl of activity appeals, but the one constant is the glory of Mother Nature and breezy temps that make Houston heat and humidity feel a million miles away. 

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Wellness

THE WELCOME MAT

ADULT YOGIS CAN GET IN ON THE RELAXATION, TOO. HERE ARE FIVE OF THE PRETTIEST PLACES TO PRACTICE. 1. Yoga on the Avenue

Presents of Mind Houston is leading the nation in introducing mindfulness to school kids, and the results — more focus, less bullying — are starting to show. By Holly Crawford

W

What happens when a classroom of giggly, busy-bodied kids begins stretching and focusing on breathing is a lot like what happens when distracted, stressed adults center themselves on a yoga mat. The resulting calm is what drives the Pure Edge Foundation (formerly the Sonima Foundation) to bring yoga-inspired exercises into dozens of K-12 classrooms coast to coast, including 52 in HISD — the highest concentration of schools implementing the curriculum in any city. “Pure Edge teaches students how to exercise, eat right, breathe, relax and center themselves,” says Exec Director Terry Grier, the former HISD superintendent who initiated the Houston program in 2014.

“We’re already seeing improvements.”

Motivated by staggering mental-health stats, like the fact that 3.2 million kids ages 7 to 17 have been treated for depression, PEF originally donated millions to schools so they could hire yoga professionals to instruct students. The program has evolved into two models to help kids handle everything from the pressures of high-stakes testing to problems at home.

In one model, a teacher incorporates bitesized well-being lessons throughout the week. The second involves trained teachers giving biweekly wellness lessons. “These are auxiliary classes, like P.E. and music,” explains PEF’s Houston program manager Gill McLean. “Math and science seem to be more important, but if we place as much importance on well-being, and students

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deal with stress, they get better test scores.”

Like studying languages from a young age, showing children how to regulate their stress and emotions through mindfulness and breathing is thought to yield lifelong healthy coping skills. “It helps prepare kids for difficulties for the rest of their lives,” says physician John K. Graham, president of the Houston-based Institute for Spirituality and Health. But that’s not all: Graham, who practiced medicine for 20 years before going to seminary, says mindfulness and meditation have measurable physiological benefits.

“Everything you want to name — cholesterol, blood pressure, hospitalizations, suicide rates — goes down, and a sense of wellbeing and longevity goes up.”

Grier and McClean have heard glowing anecdotal reports from teachers implementing the curriculum at schools like Rice and Whittier Elementary. “Kids went from being hyperactive to more focused, and we’ve cut suspensions by half at the high school level,” Grier says.

To further its mission, PEF is in the midst of a three-year study with Stanford University, which will use CAT scans, sleep studies and other scientific methods to measure the effects of its curriculum. Grier believes it’s only a matter of time before the findings help the foundation grow.

“We will expand,” he says, “when it is real clear that kids who are socially and emotionally well have higher graduation rates and do better.” 

Hundreds of Houstonians hit the mat with instructors from Revolution Studio during this monthly morning block party at West Ave (2800 Kirby Dr., westaveriveroaks. com). Held outdoors every third Saturday of the month at 9am, it’s BYOM (bring your own mat!) for 45 minutes of flow.

2. YogaMass Established in January at Grace Episcopal Church (4040 W Bellfort Ave.), this free monthly mass with movement, scripture, prayer, communion and the sounds of sitar and quiet drumming is open to all faiths.

“Very powerful,” says a regular. Upcoming dates: Sept. 17 and Oct. 29 at 5pm.

3. Lululemon Athletica The retailer’s Highland Village location (4023 Westheimer Rd.) hosts free flow on Sundays at 11am. And at the Galleria, the activewear brand presents rooftop poolside classes on Saturdays at 10am at the Westin Galleria hotel.

4. Discovery Green Grab your mat and channel the calm in the middle of Downtown (1500 McKinney St., discoverygreen.com), Mondays at 11am.

Bring the gang for family yoga on Sunday afternoons at 1pm.

5. Santuary Spa The River Oaks-area spa (1701 S. Shepherd Dr.) hosts meditative Emotional Freedom Technique classes on Tuesdays at 7:30pm, and also offers $10 weekly meditations and adult coloring sessions.

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Guidebook

Here’s where to dine, what to order, and who to know now in the most deliciously diverse city in America. –megha tejpal 51fifteen Restaurant Located inside the posh new Saks Fifth Avenue in the Galleria, this twostory restaurant is a design dream, with an oversized spiral staircase joining the first-floor coffeeand-wine bar to the second-floor dining room. Serving lunch and dinner, the restaurant’s dishes are as pretty as the designer wares and perfectly suited for a day of retail therapy.

5175 Westheimer Rd., 713.623.6100, 51fifteen.com Adair Kitchen This Tanglewood neighborhood gem is popular for its cold-pressed juices, big breakfasts and giant salads. Counter

service (except at dinner) keeps the healthful homestyle meals casual and quick, but regulars are known to settle in with a bottle of wine and stay awhile.

5161 San Felipe Ste., 390 713.623.6100, adairkitchen.com Aka Sushi An intimate sushi house hideaway with low lighting and edgy Japanese decor, Aka is best known for its hardto-beat happy-hour specials. From sushi and sashimi to sake cocktails, an array of items is nicely discounted during the twice-daily and allweekend happy hour.

2390 W. Alabama, 713.807.7875, akasushi.net

Aladdin’s Mediterranean Cuisine Bringing the true, authentic flavors of Mediterranean cuisine to Montrose, Aladdin serves up such savory delights as caramelized-onion hummus, baba ganoush, and lamb kabob sandwiches — and is a hub for off-duty chefs from nearby Uchi and Underbelly.

912 Westheimer Rd., 713.942.2321, aladdinshouston.com Américas This upscale eatery with locations in River Oaks and The Woodlands serves pan-Latin American cuisine.

Highlights from the menu include South

American sea bass, three different types of ceviche, and the signature Churrasco steak. While dining during dinner can get pricey, opt for the daily happy hour when a list of cocktails and small plates are $5 or less. 2040 W. Gray St., 832.200.1492; 21 Waterway Ave., 281.367.1492, americas restaurant.com Anejo With a menu that ranges from spicy tequila lobster tail to fajitas wood-grilled over Texas oak, Anejo promises an upscale Tex-Mex dining experience from start to finish.

The lively restaurant boasts a sprawling

covered patio with scenic views of Uptown Park, and a vibrant bar scene where margaritas are crafted tableside.

1180-1 Uptown Park Blvd., 713.963.9032, anejotexmex.com

Linguine su Barchile, and cocktails like the house favorite Grapparita are best enjoyed in the lively Doro Bar. 5000 Westheimer Rd., 713.621.6888, arcodoro.com

Antica Osteria Enjoy a Tuscan feast at this rustic bistro where fine Italian wines and hearty pastas are the main attraction.

The restaurant’s low-lit dining room and quaint front patio make it a charming datenight destination.

2311 Bissonnet St., 713.521.1155, anticarestaurant.com

Armandos This Upper Kirby hangout is famed not only for its elevated Tex-Mex menu — but also for its lively Thursday nights, when guests are invited to dance the night away in the main dining room.

(Tequila is optional, but encouraged.)

2630 Westheimer Rd., 713.520.1738, armandos restaurant.com

Arcodoro Savor the traditional flavors of Sardinian food and drink at this Uptown hot spot.

The menu offers a sophisticated spin on Italian classics like the Risotto ai Funghi and

Arnaldo Richards’ Picos Arnaldo Richards’ popular River Oaks restaurant draws influence from the seven regions of Mexico for its

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photo by debora smail

BCN Taste & Tradition

Guidebook

cuisine. In addition to staples like chicken quesadillas and beef enchiladas, expect chef specialties such as the red snapper Veracruz. 3601 Kirby Dr., 832.831.9940, picos.net Artisans With its intensely romantic dining space and rustic French décor, this posh Midtown restaurant is the ideal backdrop for special occasions.

Elegant French classics include escargot and foie gras, and there’s a wellcurated global wine list. Reservations are highly recommended.

3201 Louisiana St., 713.529.9111, artisans restaurant.com Arthur Ave. A Heights newbie pays tribute to classic red-sauce recipes with a menu of traditional ItalianAmerican dishes.

The progressive cocktail program also focuses on Italian spirits and old-world flavors, while the space designed by veteran restaurant designer Erin Hicks offers a laid-back but chic vibe for lunch and dinner. 1111 Studewood St., Ste. B, 832.582.7146, arthuravehou.com Backstreet Café A cozy River Oaks restaurant inside a two-story 1930s-era home, Backstreet Café became a staple on the Houston dining scene more than 30 years ago by James Beard-nominated chef Hugo Ortega. Expect savory seasonal American cuisine and an expansive separate menu that caters to vegetarians.

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1103 S. Shepherd Dr., 713.521.2239, backstreetcafe.net Batanga Come for the tapas and stay for the party at this festive patio restaurant in the heart of Downtown.

Guests can count on live Latin music on Wednesday–Saturday evenings, along with daily specials like $5 sangria at happy hour and half-off bottles of wine on Sundays.

908 Congress St., 713.224.9500, batangahouston.com BB’s Cafe Get your Cajun-food fix at BB’s — from Maw Maw’s gumbo to the platter of fried shrimp and catfish, find the best of New Orleans-style cooking with a Texas twist.

Multiple locations, bbscafe.com B&B Butchers & Restaurant Enjoy a casual meal in the butcher shop or a more formal affair in the main dining room at this boutique steakhouse on Washington Ave. The rooftop terrace with sweeping views of Downtown is the ideal backdrop for weekend brunch, and B&B’s recent certification with the Kobe beef association in Japan has diners racing in for a taste of the rare A5 Kobe beef.

1814 Washington Ave., 713.862.1814, bbbutchers.com BCN Taste & Tradition Named after Barcelona’s airport code and nestled behind the Carriage Car Wash in Montrose, BCN offers authentic

Spanish cuisine in a white-tablecloth setting. The gin and tonic is a must-have, as is the Spanish Iberico ham. 4210 Roseland St., 832.834.3411, bcnhouston.com Beaver’s Guests love the Texas-sized portions, cool cocktails and “dam good vibes” at this neighborhood icehouse steps away from Washington Avenue. With overthe-top plates like the Frito pie mac and juicy barbecue sandwiches, it is no surprise that Beaver’s will open a second location near the Galleria soon. 2310 Decatur St., 713.864.2328, beavershouston.com Benjy’s One of the pioneers of farm-to-table dining in Houston, Benjy’s consistently wows diners with an ever-changing menu of fresh, contemporary American fare for vegetarians and meat-lovers alike.

Both locations of the trendy restaurant are bustling during the ultra-popular happy hour, when apps and cocktails are discounted to $6 and less. 2424 Dunstan Rd., Ste. 125, 713.522.7602; 5922 Washington Ave., 713.868.1131, benjys.com Bernadine’s A still-new Gulf Coast-inspired dining concept from the Treadsack group, Bernadine’s serves up a menu of bold selections from the sea and the South.

Guests love the hip, laid-back vibe at

this Heights spot, where wining while dining is highly recommended. Go for the affectionately named I-10 platter, a shareable selection of oysters, crab claws, smoked fish dip, and oh-so-much more.

1801-B N. Shepherd Dr., 713.864.2565, treadsack.com/ bernadines Bernie’s Burger Bus This food-truckturned-brick-andmortar takes you back to your high school days with its themed menu and dining space — complete with a yellow school bus and a school bell.

Juicy burgers like the Cheerleader and the Homeroom are served with housemade condiments, and the sky-high Detention burger is more of a delicious photo-op than a punishment. 5407 Bellaire Blvd., 713.349.9400, berniesburgerbus.com Bistro Menil Tucked quietly in a corner of Menil Park, this light-filled restaurant plates contemporary European-inspired fare along with a thoughtfully curated wine list. Afternoon tea service is offered Wednesdays – Saturdays by reservation, with the park serving as an ideal backdrop.

1513 W. Alabama St., 713.904.3537, bistromenil.com Blacksmith Doors open bright and early at this Montrose coffee house, where locals can depend on a bold cup of joe and a hearty breakfast.

Regulars sip on a flat white or nosh on Vietnamese steak-and-eggs while relaxing with a book or board game. The coffee bar is often lined with laptops, while the patio attracts a handsome K-9 clientele.

1018 Westheimer, 832.360.7470, blacksmith houston.com Brasil This Montrose mainstay is part coffee shop, part wine bar, part bistro and part art gallery.

Customers with pups are welcome to post up on the front patio overlooking bustling Westheimer, while the shaded back patio is often packed well into the night. 2604 Dunlavy St., 713.528.1993, brasilcafe houston.com Brasserie 19 Wine with lunch and bubbles with brunch is the norm at this sceney River Oaks spot. Situated in the center of a busy shopping strip, Brasserie 19 is reminiscent of a Parisian sidewalk café, with its front patio spilling into the parking lot and its inspired French cuisine. Try the steak frites with red wine-shallot butter, or the oven-roasted duck — and add bone marrow or foie gras to any dish for an even more flavorful meal. 1962 W. Gray St., 713.524.1919, brasserie19.com The Breakfast Klub Hungry Houstonians drive from all over the city to enjoy a feast of home-style classics — wings and

waffles, catfish and grits — at this diner in Midtown. The line starts forming bright and early, but being part of the “klub” is worth the wait. 3711 Travis St., 713.528.8561, thebreakfastklub.com Brennan’s of Houston You can count on this decades-old Houston staple for an exquisite dining experience full of Southern-Creole flavors. The posh restaurant offers seating across two levels and houses a courtyard bar where live music is enjoyed during Sunday brunch. Grab a praline on your way out! Whether for a business or a special occasion, reservations are highly recommended.

3300 Smith St., 713.522.9711, brennanshouston.com Brenner’s on the Bayou Enjoy dinner with a view at this upscale steakhouse nestled on the lush banks of Buffalo Bayou.

Classic steaks, sides and decadent desserts are all good bets, and the restaurant’s hip Blue Bar offers a less formal — yet still sophisticated — vibe with a menu of craft cocktails and bar bites. One Birdsall St., 713.868.4444, brennersonthe bayou.com Brooklyn Athletic Club Pair chicken wings with giant Jenga at this patio bar where playing with your food is highly recommended. The largely outdoor space is dog-friendly and open until the wee hours on weekends.

Guidebook

601 Richmond Ave., 713.527.4440, thebrooklynathletic club.com The Burger Joint Find burgers, dogs and boozy milkshakes at this Montrose patio bar. Latenight craving? The restaurant serves its full menu — including the flavorful kimchi burger — until midnight on weekdays and 4am on weekends.

1003 California St., 281.974.2889, burgerjointhtx.com Café Annie James Beard-winning chef Robert Del Grande continues to entice diners at his upscale restaurant on Post Oak Blvd.

Inspired by the city itself, dishes like the rabbit enchilada and branzino with grits combine finedining with the best of Southwestern cuisine. In BLVD Place, 713.840.1111, cafeannie houston.com Cane Rosso With a cult following from its original location in Dallas, this Neapolitan-style pizzeria opened its first Houston location in the Heights with a second outpost opening soon in Montrose. Pizzas are cooked in wood-fired ovens in under 90 seconds, and desserts like the made-to-order zeppole or supersized s’mores calzone are hard to resist.

1835 N. Shepherd Dr., 713.868.0071, canerosso.com Canopy Sister restaurant to Shade in the Heights, Canopy offers a

seasonally rotating menu of food and drink along with an unbeatable list of desserts (think coconut cream pie in a hazelnut tart shell). Check out the attached Woodbar next door for gourmet coffee, wine, small bites — and free Wi-Fi. 3939 Montrose Blvd., 713.528.6848, shadeandcanopy.com Caracol Hugo Ortega’s seafood-savvy concept serves Mexican coastal cuisine in a swanky, mod space on Post Oak. Order the grouper tamales or coal-roasted peppered tuna, and spring for the signature El Coco dessert — guests use a wooden mallet to crack open its chocolate shell.

2200 Post Oak Blvd., 713.622.9996, caracol.net Carrabba’s One of two locations which are still familyowned by Houston’s famed Carrabba family, the original Carrabba’s on Kirby offers a menu of made-from-scratch dishes prepared in-house daily. The open-air kitchen allows diners to enjoy the sights and smells of authentic Italian cuisine – from pizzas fresh out of the wood-fired oven to housemade cheeses and pastas. 3115 Kirby Dr., 713.522.3131, carrabbasoriginal. com Churrascos Savor the flavors of South American cuisine at Churrascos, where a menu of flavorful dishes

includes plantaincrusted shrimp with chorizo rice, and corn-smoked pork spareribs with a tamarind-guajillo glaze. Opt for the restaurant’s very popular namesake dish The Churrasco, and enjoy your choice of an 8, 10, or 12 oz. center-cut beef tenderloin. 947 N. Gessner Rd., 713.231.1352; and other locations, cordua.com Ciao Bello A more casual outpost from celebrated restaurateur Tony Vallone, Ciao Bello still serves robust and authentic flavors of Italy. Housemade pastas are saucy and rich, while pizzas are prepared Roman-style with a thin, flaky crust. 5161 San Felipe St., 713.960.0333, ciaobellohouston.com Cinq at La Colombe d’Or Located within boutique hotel La Colombe d’Or, Cinq offers a touch of understated elegance with a number of hidden-gem dining spaces and a menu of contemporary European cuisine.

Opt for high tea on the terrace or a bottle of rose with Petrossian Ossetra caviar in the library.

3410 Montrose Blvd., 713.524.7999, lacolombedor.com Coltivare This Heights hot spot gives new meaning to the phrase “farm-totable.” With its strict “no-reservation” policy, the restaurant’s onsite garden — where many of the herbs and produce for the Italian dishes are

grown — doubles as a charming waiting area. Find a seat at the bar and enjoy one of the dynamic craft cocktails by beverage director Morgan Weber.

3320 White Oak Dr., 713.637.4095, coltivarehouston.com Common Bond Stop by this Montrose bakery-plus for gourmet coffee and pastries as big as your face. If you’re ordering a sandwich for breakfast or lunch — the kitchen closes at 3pm — expect a line out the door.

1706 Westheimer Rd., 713.529.3535, wearecommon bond.com Conservatory Steps below the busy streets of Downtown, this multi-vendor food hall and beer garden is popular with the powerlunch crowd by day and Main Street partygoers by night.

Be it a savory crepe crafted by Buffalo Sean of Melange Creperie, or a craft beer paired with spicy ramen from Samurai Noodle, this basement-style dining space is a watering hole for foodies with varying taste buds. 1010 Prairie St., 832.919.8382, conservatoryhtx.com Cooking Girl The new kid on the block at Fairview and Taft in Montrose, this casual café draws in the crowds for its authentic Szechuan menu of fiery-hot dishes and cool drinks. Try the pepper twins chicken with nine-leaf peppercorn, but don’t forget to wash it down with fresh corn’s milk

or a wild snow chrysanthemum tea. You’ll need it.

315 Fairview St., 832.649.7175, thecookinggirls.com Coppa Osteria All of the Neapolitanstyle pizzas and handmade pastas are popular at this Italian outpost in Rice Village. While the restaurant and wrap-around patio are often bustling with activity, it is the walk-up window that serves pizzas by the slice that is truly a hit in the largely pedestrianfriendly area. 5210 Morningside Dr., 713.522.3535, coppaosteriahouston. com Corner Table Partake in a guilt-free dining experience with Corner Table’s unique menu featuring paleo and gluten-free dishes.

Although healthful, the multi-venue River Oaks restaurant — with a scenic courtyard and an attached cocktail lounge — does not skimp on flavor, with dishes like the raw vegan pad Thai or paleo paella. But if you feel like adding a couple calories to your meal, try the Shipley Do-Nut bread pudding.

2736 Virginia St., 713.568.9196, cornertablehouston. com Cuchara Not quite the traditional Tex-Mex fare Houstonians are used to, Cuchara brings the flavors of Mexico City to the popular corner of Fairview and Taft. With a menu of dishes

like the Veracruzstyle red snapper and a beverage program curated

by Chris Frankel, guests can kick back and savor the adventurous flavors of true Mexican food. 214 Fairview St., 713.942.0000, cuchararestaurant. com Da Marco High-end Da Marco puts a luxurious spin on Tuscan cuisine with dishes like spaghetti-and-seaurchin, and sweetcorn ravioli with lobster. The elegant space serves as a beautiful backdrop for formal dining and is one often considered for special occasions.

1520 Westheimer Rd., 713.807.8857, damarcohouston.com Damian’s Cucina Italiana A trusted part of the Houston dining scene for over 30 years, this charming bistro owned and operated by the Mandola family spotlights Italian faves like Veal Marsala and Eggplant Parmigiana with a classic wine list to match. With its proximity to Downtown, weekday diners can take advantage of the twocourse express lunch for $25, while dinner is reserved for relaxed dining. 3011 Smith St., 713.522.0439, damians.com The Del A warm and inviting neighborhood joint in the Memorial area, The Del boasts a family-friendly space with a focus on casual comfort food.

Go for the gnocchi tots, and stay for

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Guidebook

games on the patio.

6565 Del Monte Dr., 713.750.9259, thedelhtx.com Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steakhouse Don your fancy pants when dining at this posh steakhouse spread out over two levels in the Galleria.

The menu favors traditional steakhouse fare like jumbo lump crab cakes, oysters on the half shell, lobster bisque and much more. Hungry?

Go for the 32 oz.

Wagyu Tomahawk chop. In the Galleria, 713.355.2600, delfriscos.com Del Frisco’s Grille This lively West Ave restaurant is known for its sceney crowd and vibrant atmosphere. Enjoy a complete meal — that is, ahi tacos and a Ketel One martini — at the bar or on the front patio. In West Ave, 832.623.6168, delfriscosgrille.com Dish Society Open all day, this family-friendly farm-to-table spot is known for fostering strong relationships with local purveyors, ensuring the highest quality produce used every day. From fresh-squeezed juices and elixirs to the customizable farmer’s plate, guests love the ever-changing menu of clean eats.

5740 San Felipe St., 832.538.1060, dishsociety.com Dolce Vita With an imported, custom wood-burning oven, Dolce Vita serves up authentic Neapolitan pizzas alongside hearty Italian classics like gnocchi al ragu.

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Located inside a two-story Montrose house, it’s a cozy space for wining and dining. Primo private party room, too! 500 Westheimer Rd., 713.520.8222, dolcevitahouston.com Down House Come ready to indulge at this hip Heights go-to, where hearty dishes are served all day. Opt for a kimchi burger for dinner, or buttermilk fried chicken and whole grain waffles for brunch. 1801 Yale St., 713.864.3696, downhouse houston.com The Dunlavy A charming, chandelier-bedecked space overlooking scenic Buffalo Bayou Park, the Dunlavy offers diners gorgeous views at every turn.

The main dining room is packed with guests enjoying the So-Cal-inspired menu during breakfast, lunch and happy hour. Keep an ear out for the Dunlavy’s pop-up happy hours. Great space for special events!

3422 Allen Pkwy., 713.360.6477, thedunlavy.com Eight Row Flint This open-air patio bar was formerly an early-1900s gas station. It focuses on three things Houstonians can’t live without: whisky, beer and tacos. A food truck keeps the menu simple with beef, chicken, pork, and veggie tacos — but selecting a beverage from the bar can prove to be more complicated.

1039 Yale St., 832.767.4002, eightrowflint.com

El Big Bad Experience margarita madness at this Downtown watering hole known for the variety of infused tequila. Pair a build-your-own ‘rita with 44 Farms beef fajitas or oyster nachos. 419 Travis St., 713.229.8181, elbigbad.com El Real Tex-Mex For a no-fuss Tex-Mex feast, head to El Real, housed in a former theater on Westheimer. The usual suspects — cheese enchiladas, beef fajitas, shrimp tacos — are perfectly simple, plus locals can dine in on Montrose Mondays for half-off.

1201 Westheimer Rd., 713.524.1201, elrealtexmex.com El Tiempo Cantina Houston is known for nothing if not sensational Tex Mex, and El Tiempo delivers just that in a big way — with mouthwatering platters like the ancho-glazed grilled quail with cheese enchiladas and spicy shrimp chalupas.

Pair with a melon or peach margarita.

5602 Washington Ave., 713.681.3645; 1308 Montrose Blvd., 713.807.8996; and other locations, eltiempocantina.com Empire Café Find much more than coffee and pastries at this relaxed Montrose café: breakfast offerings include fluffy frittatas, lunch brings a delicious stacked club sandwich, and dinner may be savory pan-seared salmon.

Stop in on Mondays and score one of Empire’s famous

oversized layer cakes at half-price.

1732 Westheimer Rd., 713.528.5282, empirecafe.com Escalante’s Mexican Grille Score quality Tex-Mex and topshelf tequila in an upscale space at Escalante’s. Start your meal off right with made-to-order guac, prepared tableside, and sizzling tenderloin fajitas with all the fixins are a house favorite.

4053 Westheimer Rd., 713.623.4200; 6582 Woodway Dr., 713.461.5400; and other locations, escalantes.net Etoile Cuisine Et Bar Enjoy a touch of French elegance at this quaint hideaway in Uptown Park.

Highlights of the menu include coq au vin and sole meuniere. Chef Philippe Verpiand plans to open a second French spot Downtown, just in time for the Super Bowl. 1101-11 Uptown Park Blvd., 832.668.5808, etoilecuisine.com Fat Bao Score steamed buns loaded with fried soft shell crab or braised pork belly at this casual café.

The fat-fries topped with fried chicken and sweet buns filled with Nutella are hard to resist. 3419 Kirby Dr., 713.677.0341, fatbaohouston.com Fielding’s Get your burger fix at this Woodlands bar and grill where burgers are crafted with 44 Farms all-natural Texas beef, and local

beers are served ice cold. Stop by during happy hour from 3-7p.m. on weekdays and enjoy half-off cocktails and discounted sliders.

1699 Research Forest Dr., 832.616.3275, fieldings.com The Fish Enjoy sushi and inspired Japanese dishes at this Midtown restaurant where happy hour is offered daily.

The locale is an ideal destination before hitting the nearby bars. 309 Gray St., Ste. 107, 713.526.5294, fishhouston.net Fleming’s Originally out of Newport Beach, this elegant steakhouse offers a traditional menu and first-class service. Expect such menu staples as French onion soup, Alaskan king crab legs, and Chilean sea bass. Get the 21-day-aged Wagyu and add on the Fleming’s potatoes with jalapenos and cheddar. 788 W. Sam Houston Pkwy., 713.827.1120; 2405 W. Alabama St., 713.520.5959; 1201 Lake Woodlands Dr., The Woodlands, 281.362.0103, flemings steakhouse.com Foreign Correspondents Chef PJ Stoops delivers the spicy flavors of Northern Thai cuisine to this whimsical Heights spot by the Treadsack group.

An adventurous menu of familystyle dishes more commonly found in the Northern region of Thailand

— like khao soi and fried shrimp laap — impresses.

4721 N. Main St., 713.864.8424, treadsack.com/ foreigncorrespondents Glass Wall You could make a meal out of the starters here, with favorites like housemade potato chips, lamb lollipops and Texas brie en crute.

Mimosas flow during Sunday brunch, where the pecanblueberry waffle with Vermont maple syrup is a must.

933A Studewood St., 713.868.7930, glasswallthe restaurant.com Gatlin’s Find good oldfashioned backyard barbecue at Gaitlin’s with a menu of combination meat plates, rib platters and loaded baked potatoes. Adding on sides like the baked beans, smoked kernel corn, or macaroni and cheese is highly recommended, as is saving room for the ooey-gooey banana pudding.

1221 W. 19th St., 713.869.4227, gatlinsbbq.com Ginger & Fork For modern Chinese cuisine, check out new Heights concept Ginger & Fork. The regular menu lists dishes like Cantonese curry chicken, but for a solid sampling, try the eight-course dim sum brunch on Sundays. 4705 Inker St., 713.861.8883, gingerandfork restaurant.com Goode Co. Barbeque Family-owned for more than 35 years, Goode Co. boasts a

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very loyal clientele.

Guests are welcome to dine in and order a la carte, or place bulk orders by the pound. The Brazos Bottom pecan pie, a highly soughtafter holiday dish, is a hot commodity during the fall season. 5109 Kirby Dr., 713.522.2530; 8911 Katy Fwy., 713.464.1901; 20102 Northwest Fwy., 832.678.3562, goodecompany.com Grace’s Named after Johnny Carabba’s grandmother, Grace’s infuses Italian dishes with flavors of the Gulf coast — think South Texas fried quail and oxtail ravioli. If you happen to save room for dessert, the bread pudding with brandy-soaked cranberries is a must. 3111 Kirby Dr., 713.728.6410, gracesonkirby.com Grotto Ristorante This vibrant Uptown restaurant offers sophisticated takes on Italian classics like Shrimp Scampi and Veal San Pietro. Dine in during Grotto’s festive Sunday brunch and enjoy Italianstyle French toast with Grand Marnier butter paired with a frozen peach Bellini.

4715 Westheimer Rd., 713.622.3663; 9595 Six Pines, in the Woodlands, 281.419.4252, grottohouston.com La Guadalupana Café & Bakery Satisfy your cravings at this tiny Montrose cafe proffering authentic Mexican fare: breakfast tortas, enchiladas de mole, and a case full of

tempting sweets like fresh-baked churros filled with dulce de leche. 2109 Dunlavy St., 713.522.2301 The Halal Guys What began as a food cart pushing chicken and rice in New York has since expanded to Houston with a brick-andmortar location and a still-simple menu of gyro sandwiches and chicken and rice bowls. Don’t skip the secret white sauce — and proceed with caution when adding the oh-sospicy red sauce. Open late! 3821 Farnham St., 713.681.5465, thehalalguys.com Harold’s Tap Room Chef Antoine Ware brings a New Orleans flair to this two-story restaurant and bar on West 19th in the Heights. In the main dining room, order the glazed quail with cornbread or the Creole-style gumbo. And in the Tap Room, kick back with a craft cocktail and equally tempting bar bites. 350 W. 19th St., 713.360.6204, haroldsheights.com Hay Merchant Beer aficionados love this casual concept

by Chris Shepherd, who runs the adjoining Underbelly restaurant. The Hay Merchant’s menu boasts ample beer and beer-friendly food. The chickenfried steak and the Cease & Desist burger are Texassized, but for a truly humongous hunk of meat, order the tacos and be prepared for the head turns. The star chef puts his spin on the signature Mexican dish by

serving a half a pig head with tortillas and all the fixins.

1100 Westheimer Rd., 713.528.9805, haymerchant.com Helen Greek Food & Wine Tucked away among boutiques and bars in Rice Village, Helen Greek Food & Wine is proof that good things come in small packages. The quaint cafe serves up an impressive all-Greek wine list with dishes that combine Grecian flavors with locally sourced ingredients.

Reservations recommended.

2429 Rice Blvd., 832.831.7133, helengreekfood andwine.com Himalaya Located in an unassuming retail plaza in the Mahatma Gandhi district, this ultra-casual cafe is BYOB and serves up spicy Indo-Pak classics like chicken tikka masala and lamb biryani. If you’ve been-thereeaten-that, try the smoked-brisket masala or the topsecret fried chicken.

6652 Southwest Fwy., 713.532.2837, himalayarestaurant houston.com Holley’s Start with a glass of bubbly in the oyster bar before settling in for a feast of bold Southern dishes at Mark Holley’s swanky Midtown restaurant.

Highlights include crispy redfish with sweet corn succotash, and the Down South coconut cake with salted-caramel sauce.

3201 Louisiana St., 713.491.2222, holleyshouston.com

The Honeymoon Situated on the corner of Main Street in Downtown, The Honeymoon welcomes guests to pick their poison: coffee, cocktails or wine. The food menu packs a punch of Creole flavor, and desserts like lemon icebox pie and snickerdoodle ice-cream sandwich are excellent too.

300 Main St., 281.846.6995, thehoneymoon htx.com

for brunch are life changing, and other choices from the all-day menu include such delights as craband-truffle pasta and cauliflower steak. For an elevated dining experience, reserve a seat at Cureight, Chef Austin Simmons’ one-of-a-kind multicourse tasting-menu dinner on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings. 24 Waterway Ave., Ste. 125, 281.203.5641, hubbelland hudson.com

Hopdoddy This wildly obsessedover burger and beer bar originated in Austin and recently opened its doors in the River Oaks District to a line wrapped around the building. Guests wait hours for a taste of the juicy burgers piled high with toppings like seared poblanos, apple-smoked bacon and truffle aioli. Save room for a milkshake! In River Oaks District, 713.227.2337, hopdoddy.com

Hugo’s Chef Hugo Ortega’s namesake restaurant is a Houston staple, serving up authentic Mexican cuisine with margaritas to match. Guests love the festive weekend brunch buffet where indulging in seconds — even thirds! — is a must.

1600 Westheimer Rd., 713.524.7744, hugosrestaurant.net

H.S. Green Fast food meets clean eats at this cafeteriastyle restaurant near the Galleria. Wash down a customized wrap or salad with a cold-pressed juice, or opt for the perfectly paired pizza special: a full pizza and bottle of vino for only $22.

5092 Richmond Ave., 713.904.3547, hsgreen restaurant.com Hubbell and Hudson Worth the trek to The Woodlands, Hubbell and Hudson boasts fresh, seasonal American fare.

The pancakes with whipped maple butter

Hunky Dory Chef Richard Knight’s British-American elevated-pub-fare includes shepherd’s pie, fish and chips and chicken tikka masala in addition to exciting sides like oxtail poutine and snapper tartare.

1801 N. Shepherd Dr., 713.864.2450, treadsack.com Ibiza Don’t be fooled by the sceney vibe at this Midtown hot spot by Clark Cooper Concepts. The whitetablecloth restaurant, open for both lunch and dinner, offers a diverse menu of European-inspired cuisine, tapas, and cocktails. Customers love the 22-monthaged Jamon Iberico

pork shoulder and Portuguese octopus a la plancha. And the boozy chocolate martini is a perfect precursor to a night on the town.

2450 Louisiana St., 713.524.0004, ibizafoodand winebar.com Indika The enticing aroma of authentic Indian cuisine greets you at this serene patio restaurant and bar in Montrose. The menu features an array of colorful options including red-beet soup with saffron yogurt, and duck Rangoon with coconut-andlentil curry. For adventurous diners looking for a little extra spice, the Masala Mary packs a punch with ghost pepper infused vodka, tomato juice, cumin and mint.

516 Westheimer Rd., 713.524.2170, indikausa.com Izakaya This Japanese gastropub located on the busy corner of Gray and Bagby in Midtown boasts a menu of fast-casual food and drinks.

Guests love the house-made gyoza and spicy tonkatsu ramen, along with the latest addition of Hawaiian poke to the restaurant’s very popular raw bar. 318 Gray St. 713.527.8988 houstonizakaya.com Just Dinner Started by a husband and wife who wanted a place to cook and serve their friends dinner, this cozy Montrose restaurant has evolved into a go-to spot for the

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whole neighborhood.

While the place may provide “just dinner,” guests are welcome to bring their own bottles of wine. 1915 Dunlavy St., 713.807.0077, justdinner houston.com Ka Sushi The first sushi concept to hit the Heights, Ka features an extensive menu of hot and cold dishes, classic and signature rolls, and a seasonal selection of mochi.

Putting a creative spin on seafood selections with dishes like the lobster ramen and chocolate shrimp, Ka holds its own among other Heights newbies. 1901 N. Shepherd Dr., Ste. 1, 832.879.2118, kasushi.com Kata Robata This trendy sushi bar situated in an Upper Kirby retail center serves up fresh, innovative Japanese dishes daily. Dine in during the day and score chef Manabu Horiuchi’s famous ramen — available only at lunch, and only until it runs out. 3600 Kirby Dr., 713.526.8858, katarobata.com Kenny & Ziggy’s Save a trip to the Big Apple and dine in at this famed local deli where specialties include the skyhigh, triple-smoked pastrami sandwich and the Lox, Stock, and Bagel with fish flown in daily from New York. Breakfast is served all day, so feel free to spend more than a New York minute here.

2327 Post Oak Blvd., 713.871.8883, kennyandziggys.com

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L’Olivier Quietly nestled amidst other Montrose hot spots, this quaint bistro features a tasty menu of contemporary French cuisine.

Executive Chef Olivier Ciesielski, formerly of Tony’s, puts a modern spin on classics like steak frites and duck leg confit. Don’t know your French food? Leave it to Chef Olivier and go with the three-, five- or eight-course tastings menus.

240 Westheimer Rd., 713.360.6313, lolivierhouston.com La Fisheria Visit the new Downtown location of La Fisheria and escape to a Mexican coastal town. Its vibrant décor is happy, and the menu of seafood selections including the ceviche trio and grilled octopus is equally delightful. 213 Milam St., 713.802.1712

scenic River Oaks views. 2002 W. Gray St., 713.526.4700, lagrigliarestaurant. com La Table Enjoy attractive French plates during lunch and dinner, but make time to visit the pastry and coffee counter on the first floor at La Table. Reminiscent of boulangeries in France, the cases are stocked with cakes, tarts, and hand painted macarons.

In BLVD Place, 1800 Post Oak Blvd. 713.439.1000 latablehouston.com Latin Bites Café Sample a variety of South American tapas at this familyowned Uptown café where empanadas, sweet plantains, and pan-grilled Mahi Mahi are best enjoyed with friends.

5709 Woodway Dr., 713.229.8369, latinbitescafe.com

La Grange You’ll thank god for the holy queso at this lively Montrose restaurant and bar.

The open-air space is bustling with activity on weekdays and weekends alike when groups gather for margaritas and Mexican food.

2517 Ralph St., 832.962.4745, lagrangehouston.com

Le Mistral A West Houston gem, Le Mistral embodies the spirit and essence of fine French cuisine.

Foie gras with panseared pears is the perfect precursor to veal osso bucco, and save room for the Grand Marnier dessert soufflé with spicy orange sauce.

1400 Eldridge Pkwy., 832.379.8322, lemistralhouston.com

La Griglia From caprese salad to wild mushroom lasagna, the menu at La Griglia is simple with an understated elegance. When Houston weather permits, enjoy the restaurant’s patio seating complete with fire pits and

Liberty Kitchen & Oyster Bar Needless to say, the oyster bar is the main attraction at this casual-chic seafood kitchen where you can score selections from the East Coast and Gulf Coast — raw, fried or grilled with butter.

The remainder of the menu reads like a seafood bible.

1050 Studewood Dr., 713.802.0533; 4224 San Felipe St., 713.622.1010; and other locations, libertykitchen oysterbar.com Little Bigs Expect a simple menu of little burgers — sliders, that is — with big flavor. The menu at Little Bigs offers up trios of patties with add-ons like sweet potato fries, milkshakes, margaritas, and local craft beer. 2703 Montrose Blvd., 713.521.2447, littlebigshouston.com Local Foods It’s local all the way at this fast-casual diner with counter service and a largely guilt-free menu.

Sandwiches, salads, soups and house sides are made fresh daily using locally sourced ingredients.

The sprawling patio lined with palm trees and a full bar at the Upper Kirby location make it a hip dinner destination.

2424 Dunstan Rd., 713.521.7800; 2555 Kirby Dr., 713.255.4440; 5740 San Felipe St., 713.789.0642; houstonlocal foods.com Lucille’s Named after their great-grandmother, brothers Ben and Chris Williams bring the comforts of down home Southern cooking to the table at Lucille’s. Go for the crab cake beignets or oxtails and grits, and adding on the piping-hot pan of corn bread is a must.

5512 La Branch

St., 713.568.2505, lucilleshouston.com Main Kitchen Located within the upscale JW Marriott in Downtown, Main Kitchen prepares an extensive menu of inspired entrees include jumbo Gulf shrimp and pork chops with BBQ mustard. Partnering with vendors like Plant It Forward, Houston Dairy Maids and 44 Farms, the restaurant raises the bar in hotel dining. 806 Main St., 713.400.1293 Mala Sichuan Longtime Chinatown favorite is equally popular inside the Loop, where its corner location in a Montrose shopping strip is reminiscent of a trendy New York resto. Not for the faint of heart, Mala’s menu packs a punch with dishes like the dry-pot beef and three-pepper duck. The restaurant’s beer-and-wine-only policy keeps the focus on the food. 1201 Westheimer Rd., 832.767.0911 Mascalzone Chef Albert Baffoni and the all-Italian staff at Mascalzone make dining at either location of this relaxed Italian joint an authentic experience. Mr. Ray, the pizza chef from Naples, has perfected the margherita pizza — and is known to put on a show by hand-tossing pizzas in the air before dressing them with cheese and fresh basil. 1500 Shepherd Dr., 713.862.9700; 12126 Westheimer Rd., 832.328.5151, ilmascalzone.com/usa

Masraff’s For decades, Masraff’s has ranked as one of Houston’s leading dining destinations for its dreamy ambiance, top-notch service and unsurpassed menu. The sommelier guides guests through the extensive wine list. Caviar and chicken-fried quail are ideal starters.

1753 Post Oak Blvd., 713.355.1975, masraffs.com Max’s Wine Dive Here, keeping it classy means pairing fried chicken with a glass of champagne — and doing so is highly encouraged. With a serious wine list from around the globe, Max’s is hardly a dive at all. 214 Fairview St., 713.528.9200; 4720 Washington Ave., 713.880.8737, maxswinedive.com Mockingbird Bistro Escape to this River Oaks hideaway for French-bistro fare in a warm, cozy setting.

Drop in during social hour and enjoy $5 wines by-the-glass with discounted small plates, like housemade pork sausage and beef meatballs.

1985 Welch St., 713.533.0200, mockingbird bistro.com Monarch This spot in the Hotel Zaza is as popular among locals as it is with those passing through. The weatherproof patio with plush chairs and couches is the obvious choice of seating and is often abuzz with cocktails and conversation. Don your dancing shoes on Friday or Saturday nights, as a DJ is on

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the turntables until 2am. 5701 Main St., 713.527.1800, hotelzaza houston.com Niko Niko’s Often with a line out the door at the Montrose location, this casual Greek diner is famed for its fast-casual gyros, kebabs, tzatziki and hummus. The kiosk in Downtown’s Market Square serves the full menu and boasts a dog-friendly dining area. 2520 Montrose Blvd., 713.528.4976; 301 Milam St., 713.224.4976; 1040 W. Sam Houston Tollway, 832.981.4976, nikonikos.com Ninfa’s On Navigation Despite the clutter and dust from recent renovations, Ninfa’s on Navigation hasn’t skipped a beat. The origin of Tex-Mex as we know it, Ninfa’s is always packed no matter when you dine. Guests love the sizzling fajitas and loaded quesadillas made with housemade tortillas. 2704 Navigation Blvd., 713.228.1175, mamaninfas.com North Italia Pizza and pasta are the main attractions at this hip Italian restaurant in BLVD Place. Stop in for happy hour on weekday evenings and all day Sunday to enjoy the popular $20 bottle and board special: a choice of a pizza, bruschetta, or the meat-and-cheese board, paired with a bottle of wine.

In BLVD Place, 281.605.4030, northitalia restaurant.com

Oporto Fooding House This Midtown restaurant is packed on weekend nights.

The regular menu lists hard-to-resist options like the seafood pizette and spicy lamb vindaloo, but for a real treat, try a sampling of the chef’s daily specials — seasonal dishes like tomato and melon gazpacho, and peach cobbler made with Fredericksburg peaches. 125 W. Gray St., 713.528.0115, oportomidtown.us Ouisie’s Table This charming River Oaks restaurant offers a stunning backdrop for special occasions. The restaurant’s spacious private room and scenic garden make it highly soughtafter for events, and the menu of upscale, country fare is available to the public for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

3939 San Felipe St., 713.528.2264, ouisiestable.com Oxheart This unique culinary experience pairs local ingredients with the flavors of the season to provide guests with a six-course tasting menu — meaty and vegetarian options both available — with optional wine pairings. 1302 Nance St., 832.830.8592, oxhearthouston.com The Palm Celebrated East Coast chain The Palm is consistent with its hearty menu of steakhouse staples and classic Italian plates. The dining room is playfully decorated with caricatures of those

who have dined there.

6100 Westheimer Rd., 713.977.2544, thepalm.com Pappas Bros.

Steakhouse With its expansive wine list and in-house dry-aging process, diners can expect nothing short of perfection when dining at the original Westheimer location of familyowned Pappas Bros.

Steakhouse, or at its newest location Downtown. 5839 Westheimer Rd., 713.780.7352; 1200 McKinney St., 713.780.7352, pappasbros.com The Pass and Provisions This dual-concept restaurant has, on the one side, Provisions: A fast-paced, trendy restaurant highlighting fresh meats, cheeses, pastas and pizzas. On the other, through a door hardly noticeable by most, The Pass is a multicourse tasting menu experience, featuring expertly prepared dishes paired with wines and cocktails.

Significantly steeper in price than Provisions, The Pass is worth the extra loot. 807 Taft St., 713.628.9020, passand provisions.com Paulie’s Choose from a number of salads, panini and pastas at this Montrose neighborhood cafe.

Die-hard Seinfeld fans will note “The Big Salad” as one of the house favorites, and leaving without a treat from the pastry case is a big mistake.

1834 Westheimer

Rd., 713.807.7271, pauliesrestaurant.com Pax Americana You can expect a top-notch meal at Montrose hot spot Pax Americana, where an inspired menu of contemporary American dishes are presented with careful attention.

Consistently changing based on what produce and meats are available, the menu is divided in three: From the Garden, From the Field and From the Water. 4319 Montrose Blvd., 713.239.0228, paxamericana htx.com

named “Omarkase.”

In BLVD Place, 713.961.9229, peska.us Phoenicia Specialty Foods Peruse aisles of specialty foods from around the globe at this market with locations in West Houston and Downtown. Cases filled with fresh seafood, artisan breads and cheeses, and pastries will make your mouth water, so opt to dine in-store before or after your grocery shopping. 12141 Westheimer Rd., 281.558.8225; 1001 Austin St., 832.360.2222, phoeniciafoods.com

Peli Peli Take a break from shopping and give your taste buds a treat at this popular South African restaurant located inside the Galleria.

The dining space, lit up and designed after the illuminated African sky, is as noteworthy as the extensive menu.

Starting off with the bobotie is a must, and be sure to check out the inventive desserts.

In the Galleria, 281.257.9500, pelipeli.com

Pizaro’s Score your pizza in a jiffy at this BYOB joint where authentic, Napoletana-style pizzas cook in an Italian brick oven in under 90 seconds.

Go for the traditional margherita, or think outside the pizza box with the delicious potatoand-mushroom pie drizzled with truffle oil. 14028 Memorial Dr., 281.589.7277; 1000 W. Gray St., 832.742.5200; pizarospizza.com

Peska Seafood Culture Just barely old enough to drink the wine he pairs with his food, chef Omar Pereney consistently wows diners with a menu of adventurous seafood-savvy dishes combining unusual ingredients with fresh fish flown in from around the globe.

Leave it up to the chef during multi-course dinners on Thursdays, affectionately

Pondicheri Enjoy inspired Indian cuisine at the restaurant, then explore the secondfloor Bake Lab, where relaxing with a cup of masala chai is highly recommended.

The sights and smells of Pondicheri are as vibrant as the dishes themselves, and pastries like the one-of-a-kind gulab jamun doughnut are worth every last calorie. In West

Ave, 713.522.2022, pondichericafe.com Prohibition Supperclub Travel back in time to this 1920s-style restaurant and bar where the lights are low and the liquor flows. Dishes have a heavy Southern influence — think Gulf Coast oysters, smoked fried chicken, and BBQ shrimp.

Reserve a seat for The Moonlight Dolls’ burlesque show in the restaurant’s theater. 1008 Prairie St., 281.940.4636, prohibitionhouston. com Punk’s Simple Southern Food At this casual Rice Village outpost, it’s hard to go wrong with plates such as the buttermilk fried chicken and sweet corn hushpuppies served with spicy remoulade. If you’re really hungry, order the whole bird and get 10 crispy pieces with horseradish mash and buttery biscuits — but save room for dessert. The “’nana pudding” is hard to resist. 5212 Morningside Dr., 713.524.7865, punks simplesouthern food.com Quattro Housed in the Four Seasons Downtown, Quattro is as popular a dining destination for locals as it is with visitors. The Sunday brunch is great for special occasions.

1300 Lamar St., 713.276.4700, quattrorestaurant houston.com The Queen Vic Pub & Kitchen Skip the overseas flight and enjoy

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authentic British pub favorites like shepherd’s pie and fish ’n’ chips at this Upper Kirby restaurant. Feeling adventurous? Pick a spicy selection from the London Curry House menu.

2712 Richmond Ave., 713.533.0022, thequeenvicpub.com

713.636.3033, simoneonsunset.com Soma Sushi Expect solid sushi and great happy hour specials at this trendy spot on Washington by the Azuma Group.

The bar is casual, and the upstairs private room is decidedly less casual. 4820 Washington Ave., Ste. A, 713.861.2726, somasushi.com

Reef With a menu full of dishes like grilled yellowfish tuna with pickled shimeji mushrooms and Brussels sprouts, Bryan Caswell draws influence from Asian, Mediterranean and Gulf Coast cuisine.

2600 Travis St., 713.526.8282, reefhouston.com

Uchi

butter biscuit, and stock up on meat and charcuterie for the week. 550 Heights Blvd., 713.880.8463

Relish This Upper Kirby restaurant, run by a cute husband-andwife team, offer quick counter-service for lunch and brunch, while evenings offer a full-service dining experience with the addition of cocktails, wine, and beer.

2810 Westheimer Rd., 713.599.1960, relishhouston.com

Revolve Kitchen Freshly revamped and boasting a newly appointed executive chef, Revolve Kitchen at Hotel Derek pays a great deal of attention to local vendors, but the menu does not take itself too seriously. Expect brisket sandwiches and fried apples with homemade ice cream. 2525 W. Loop S., 713.850.9200, hotelderek.com

Revival Market Part grocery store, part coffee shop, part sidewalk café, Revival Market is literally your one-stop shop for all things delicious. Stop in for a cup of coffee and a hot chicken honey

Ristorante Cavour When a European vacation is not in the immediate future, make a reservation at the Ristorante Cavour inside the rustic Hotel Granduca. Private and romantic, the

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restaurant offers an elegant menu of Northern Italian cuisine and a wine list for days. If you don’t want to leave, stay overnight in one of the hotel’s poolside villas. 1080 Uptown Park Blvd., 713.418.1104, granduca houston.com Ritual Situated on Studewood at White Oak — the most happening intersection in the Heights — Ritual serves dishes inspired

by Texas. Find Tex-Mex flavors, Gulf Coast influences, and farm-fresh Hill Country vibes on the menu, as in the smoked kielbasa red beans and rice with grilled carrots and cornbread.

602 Studewood St., 832.203.5180, ritualhouston.com

Roost Chef Kevin Naderi prepares the small plates that make up Roost’s menu with ingredients from local purveyors like Cloud 10 Creamery, 44 Farms, Slow Dough Bread and others. Gotta get the doughnut holes for dessert!

1972 Fairview St., 713.523.7667, iloveroost.com SaltAir Seafood Kitchen The Clark-Cooper Group’s seafoodsavvy restaurant on Kirby can be a scene — but the scallop ceviche with coconut makes any wait worthwhile.

3029 Kirby Dr., 713.521.3333, saltairhouston.com Sammy’s Wild Game Grill For a locale in a nondescript

shopping center on Washington, Sammy’s offers surprisingly adventurous eats: Sandwiches, tacos and burgers made with exotic meats like kangaroo, ostrich, boar and more. 3715 Washington Ave., ste.

A, 713.868.1345, sammyswildgame grill.com Shade Located on busy West 19th, Shade is a neighborhood fave for its no-fuss focus on good food served in a bright, eclectic space. Open bright and early at 7am! 250 W. 19th St., 713.863.7500, shadeandcanopy.com Simone on Sunset Tucked away near Rice, this is a place where girls go to gab over wine — but the Man Pizza is not to be missed. 2418 Sunset Blvd., ste. A,

Songkran Thai Kitchen At locations in Uptown Park and Sugar Land, chef Junnajet “Jett” Hurapan — a native of Bangkok — cooks storied family recipes with fresh, authentic ingredients. 1101-08 Uptown Park Blvd., 713.993.9096; 2258 Texas Dr., 281.670.8525, songkranthai kitchen.com Southern Goods The frequently changing menu here is an excuse to stop in often and check out their Southernfried plates like the Texas Hot Quail or Deviled Crab Soufflé. 623 W. 19th St., 346.980.8152, southerngoods houston.com The Springbok This laid-back South African restaurant, an L.A. import, spans two stories in the heart of Downtown, serving inventive fare like the wild boar sloppy joe sandwich, or the rabbit stew with potatoes. 711 Main St., 832.767.5574, springbok houston.com State Fare Lee Ellis brings his brand of

photo by debora smail

Rainbow Lodge True to its name, Rainbow Lodge provides steakhouse and wild game fare in a rustic lodge setting. Don’t miss live music on the wine deck on Friday nights! 2011 Ella Blvd., 713.861.8666, rainbow-lodge.com

Guidebook

comfort-food-chic to Memorial with family-friendly and fun State Fare.

Definitely start with the dill pickle dip, served with housemade barbecue potato chips. 947 Gessner Rd., 832.831.0950, statefaretx.com State of Grace The crowds of pretty people have been pouring in ever since Houston-reared, ATL-based celeb chef Ford Fry opened this restaurant across from his alma mater, Lamar High, last year. Grab a seat at the oyster bar! 3258 Westheimer Rd., 832.942.5080, stateofgracetx.com Steak 48 A standout among the city’s already crowded steakhouse scene, Steak 48 delivers in its rich side dishes — the Hasselback potatoes are excellent — and desserts. In River Oaks District, 713.322.7448, steak48.com Straits Asian Bistro Perch on the patio of this Singaporean restaurant with a cocktail — perhaps the boozy hibiscus lemonade? — and watch the passersby in the middle of stillbuzzy CityCentre.

In CityCentre, 713.365.9922, straitsrestaurants. com Sweet Paris Creperie Sweet or savory? The choice is yours at Sweet Paris, where crepes are served crispy and stuffed with gooey goodness.

Get a dessert crepe a la mode for $1.95.

2420 Rice Blvd., 713.360.6266;

in CityCentre, 832.770.9086, sweetparis.com

3636 Rice Blvd., 713.664.0141, tinyboxwoods.com

The Tasting Room Famously serving a wine-only beverage menu for years, the Tasting Room’s recent addition of a full bar has upped its popularity factor across the board.

All three locations of the popular wine bar — now full bar — are currently offering vodka, rum, whiskey, and a menu of classic cocktails.

Bottoms up.

Multiple locations, tastingroomwines. com

Tony’s A cherished part of the Houston dining scene, Tony Vallone’s namesake restaurant is an exquisite treat from start to finish.

Get the center-cut filet Tony’s way, and be sure to order one of the fluffy dessert soufflés at the start of your meal — good things take time.

3755 Richmond Ave., 713.622.6778, tonyshouston.com

Taverna Nestled in the new River Oaks District, Taverna is a nice spot for a simple — but tasty — Italian feast. The cioppino is piping hot and oh-so-flavorful. In River Oaks District, 713.871.0902, tavernabylombardi. com Tiger Den Savory ramen — the broth sizzles for 20 hours! — and charcoal-grilled Japanese kabobs are on the menu at this Chinatown spot. For dinner only! 9889 Bellaire Blvd., Ste. D-230, 832.804.7755, tigerdentx.com Tiny Boxwood’s Expect a line at this very popular bistro where the chocolatechip cookies have earned as much of a reputation as the restaurant itself.

Weekend brunch is busiest, with customers rushing in early for tables in the scenic garden.

3614 W. Alabama St., 713.622.4224;

Tony Mandola’s It’s happy hour more often than not at Tony Mandola’s.

Seven days a week (and well into the evening), score happy-hour specials on all your favorite Gulf seafood and frozen cocktails — and more. Peel-andeat shrimp, shrimp empanadas, and more are all priced under $10. You might want to wear stretchy pants. 1212 Waugh Dr., 713.528.3474, tonymandolas.com Torchy’s Expect a line out the door and around the corner at lunchtime. The perennial question, “Guac or queso?” is answered here: Order the guacamoletopped queso.

Multiple locations, torchystacos.com Toulouse Join the see-and-be scene in River Oaks District at this bistro proffering seasonal French fare in a stylishly casual setting. In River Oaks District, 713.871.0768, toulousecafe andbar.com

Tout Suite Stop by this allday-bakery for a macaron, or post up for a while at one of the community tables and enjoy brunch bites like avocado toast and fresh-squeezed juice.

2001 Commerce St., 713.227.8688, toutsuite.co True Food Kitchen Known for nutritious food that is in line with Dr. Andrew Weil’s antiinflammatory diet, this casual-cool spot on Post Oak has delicious, healthy takes on salads, sandwiches and even cocktails. Order the edamame dumplings to start! In BLVD Place, 281.605.2505, truefoodkitchen.com Triniti Named for the trio of sweet, savory and spirits, Triniti promises all that and much more with its modernAmerican menu and dramatic Sanctuari Bar. Chef Ryan Hildebrand layers flavors in a unique way with plates like the watermelon and Mangalitsa ham and the corn risotto with scallop and pork belly.

2815 S. Shepherd Dr., 713.527.9090, trinitirestaurant.com Truluck’s The famous half-price happy hour is one reason to post up at Truluck’s in Uptown from 4pm-6pm on weekdays. 5350 Westheimer Rd., 713.783.7270, trulucks.com Uchi It’s hard to beat Uchi for fresh, interesting sushi and

sashimi — and the Brussels sprouts are can’t-miss. Seasonal options may include the sasami yaki: coconut-marinated chicken with jasmine rice. 904 Westheimer Rd., 713.522.4808, uchirestaurants.com Underbelly On a mission to tell the “story of Houston food,” James Beardwinning chef Chris Shepherd created one of the buzziest and best restaurants in the nation. The best-selling Korean braised goat and dumplings has been on the menu for years, but other dishes come and go routinely. 1100 Westheimer Rd., 713.528.9800, underbellyhouston. com The Union Kitchen This suburban standout — in Bellaire, Memorial and Kingwood, and expanding soon to Garden Oaks — is family-friendly and boasts a wide-ranging menu: brick-oven pizzas, crab-stuffed jumbo shrimp.

4057 Bellaire Blvd., 713.661.0025; 12538 Memorial Dr., 713.360.2000, theunionkitchen.com Up Restaurant Perched atop a strip in the Highland Village shopping center, Up offers views of the Galleria and Downtown during lunch, dinner and afternoon tea.

3995 Westheimer Rd., 713.640.5416, uprestaurant.com Urban Eats Part gourmet market and part bistro, this two-story spot on Washington is known

for its monkey bread (grab some to-go!) and extensive menu of sliders. 3414 Washington Ave., 832.834.4417, feasturbaneats.com Vallone’s Restaurant veteran Tony Vallone’s modern steakhouse in Memorial is beautiful — nice date spot — and slightly more casual than his stalwart on Richmond. Tip: The Express menu is a great business-lunch option, with choices like a chopped chicken cobb salad and daily rotating specials. 947 Gessner Rd., 713.395.6100, valloneshouston.com Vieng Thai A true hole-in-thewall, this BYOB Thai restaurant serves heaping portions of curries, noodles and satays family-style.

6929 Long Point Rd., 713.688.9910 Vinoteca Poscol With dozens of small plates and expert servers on hand to help with wine pairings, this Italian joint is great for a date night or big family dinner alike. The baked cod mantecato is surprisingly savory.

1609 Westheimer Rd., 713.529.2797, poscolhouston.com Weights + Measures Located in Midtown, this industrial-chic bakery-by-day — by the same owners of 13 Celsius and Mongoose Versus Cobra — turns into a vivacious restaurant and bar at night.

2808 Caroline St., 713.654.1970, weightsmeasures.com

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OIL RIGGED? CONTINUED FROM PAGE 76

Co-starring Kate Hudson, Kurt Russell and John Malkovich, the film opens nationally on September 30, six and a half years after the original events.

“It’s just a great story, and from the start, I knew deserved to be a big movie — the kind of thing that Hollywood doesn’t do anymore,” Sand says. “I always saw Peter Berg as the one to direct this. He’s a tough guy who can wear his heart on his sleeve, and when Mark read the script he just loved it. Mike Williams was on the set every day, and I was really impressed. We are all so proud of this in so many ways.”

Still, many Hollywood critics — in particular those with environmental leanings — have their knives sharpened for the upcoming release. There’s fear that too much attention on the heroism of the central characters might undercut the parallel story of the larger disaster, and let Big Oil off too lightly. “If the finished film is anything like the trailer, I suspect it will be one giant (and perhaps unintentional) crisismanagement advertisement for the BP oil company,” wrote one wag on the tech-oriented website Gizmodo earlier this year. And The Cheat Sheet, an online lifestyle magazine, offered: “It’s hard to shake the feeling that this is less about honoring the men who lost their lives on that oil rig, and more about glorifying one of the worst ecological disasters in our nation’s history.”

“That’s not a story I would feel comfortable telling,” Sand responds simply. “I mean, this is about a disaster, but certainly if not for the courage of a few men, and one woman named Andrea Fleytas, it could have been a lot worse.” Rather than Erin Brockovich as a model, Sand pointed to inspired-byreal-events features such as Captain Phillips, starring Tom Hanks as a pirate-besieged ship’s captain, and Zero Dark

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Thirty about the secret mission to kill Osama bin Laden. BP is not depicted as evil. “Of course, people made mistakes, but I would not say there’s a villain in the movie.”

For its part, BP ignored a request for interviews about Deepwater Horizon.

Beside charges of dodging an opportunity to indict the energy corporation, filmmakers can expect additional criticism — namely that Hollywood won’t get the technical nuances of living and working offshore.

Houston energy-industry veteran and author Bob Cavnar, whose book Disaster on the Horizon: High Stakes, High Risks and the Story Behind the Deepwater Well Blowout was published in October 2010, two months before the Times article, is not shy about raising the issue. “I think The Perfect Storm is a good analogy,” says Cavnar, referring to another true-life tragedy turned Hollywood blockbuster (which also starred Wahlberg). “[Rig workers] really live a bifurcated life, dividing their time between land and sea. They speak their own language, and anybody who has ever been near a blowout already knows it’s a traumatic event.

“So when it comes to getting the story right, the laymen might not know it,” adds Cavnar, “but [it’s a story] we in Houston are going to be able to tell.”

In any case, Sand said he and the filmmakers were dedicated to telling an honest story, and telling it well. Not content to rely on digital special effects, the team constructed an enormous model of the Deepwater rig at an abandoned Six Flags near New Orleans.

And nearby in the “video village” set up to screen daily footage, they installed 11 chairs with the names of those who lost their lives. “We did our very best,” Sand says, “so we would never forget who should have been sitting there with us.” 

‘BUY’ AND LARGE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 92

INTO THE JUNGLE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 129

entrepreneurs — this is what I’ve picked up from just sitting around with guys like myself — you have to multi-task. You can’t just sit there and do one thing. That’s what drives an entrepreneur crazy.

there for a few weeks looking for this place, kind of wandering through the jungle, I think, somewhat aimlessly,” Elkins says. “We had some guides that said they knew where we were going. Obviously, we didn’t find the city. But we found some enigmatic artifacts and some art that sort of gave me an epiphany. And I said, ‘I think there’s something to this legend.

Must be more here than meets the eye.’ From that moment, I got hooked.”

In 2009, Elkins called up the center to see if they might help him with his quest. For NACLM, Shrestha says, the project would prove unprecedented.

“Belize was really the first archeological job that we did strictly for archeological purposes, but in Belize the archeologists had been going in there for three decades and they knew pretty much what was there,” Shrestha recalls.

Eventually Elkins would raise and spend close to $1 million to help fund the LiDAR mapping and follow-up expeditions. Fernandez, who had first come to the States to pursue his master’s and Ph.D., was gung-ho to bring what he’d learned back to his native country and help coordinate efforts to discover what had the potential to be a national treasure. But when Shrestha asked Elkins precisely where he wanted to look for the city, he was amazed at his answer.

“He said he didn’t know,” Shrestha recalls.

Shrestha suggested he take his best guess, based on what he knew. So it was then that Elkins, the reality-TV lensman and producer, chose four postage-stamp-sized spots — all valleys — on the map.

And, amazingly, when Fernandez flew over them in 2012 with LiDAR, he found exciting shapes in three of them. (The fourth had been

Is Houston a good city for entrepreneurs? Anytime you have land, there’s possibility. I think it’s still harder in a city like New York or L.A. Our land is still cheaper than the other major markets. I look at it as a land of opportunity.

Do I think that I would have been successful anywhere, and any good entrepreneurs can be successful anywhere? Yes, I do.

But it was easier here.

So I’ve started my own magazine.

I’m an entrepreneur now. Any advice for me? You can take a lot more than you think you can. Times are really going to get tough, and you’re going to want to throw in the towel. You might think, “How am I going to make payroll this week?”

Then, all of the sudden, that one check comes in. Remember that. You don’t have to throw it in until they come and take it from you.

So there’s a multimillionaire running against a multibillionaire for president. Would a billionaire be better qualified than a millionaire? Not in this case.

When will you retire? People like me don’t ever retire. It’s not in our DNA. Number one, you couldn’t retire, just because you have to manage the assets that you have. Could you slow down one day? Yeah, but I’m beginning to think now that I’ll never slow down. I think I will die going 90 miles an hour.

I look at as many deals today as I did 20 years ago. I have 60,000 employees; I’d like to have 100,000. It’s kind of fun now. The next 20 years should be even more fun. There’s a lot to accomplish out there. 

deforested by loggers, and when the team spotted the devastation by satellite, they figured if anything had been there previously, it would have been destroyed.) There was, however, only one way to confirm there was really something there: Someone needed to travel to one of the sites and survey the situation from the ground.

Which brings us back to that harrowing night in 2015.

THERE WERE FOUR civilians standing in front of the snake that first night deep in the Honduran jungle: Fernandez, Preston, a photographer and the archeologist named Chris Fisher. (The rest of the crew was slated to arrive later in the week.)

The civilians left the dangerous work of managing the viper to the professionals, watching in awe as one of the SAS soldiers hunted down a seven-foot-long stick, forked at the end, pinned the snake’s head to the ground and attempted to pick it up. The soldier had agreed to try to move the snake away from Fernandez’s hammock with his bare hands, rather than kill it.

After the beast spewed venom, bared deadly oneinch fangs and tried to sink them into the soldier’s hand, however, he took out a knife and cut off the snake’s head.

Not that this finished it: As the team watched in shock, the severed head continued to spit venom, and the headless snake began to slither away. Finally, the solder punctured the brain, nailing the head of the serpent to the ground with his blade, grabbed the writhing carcass and held it up like a trophy.

“We could eat it — it would make for good eating,” the soldier suggested. “But we need to show this to the rest of the group when they arrive, so they know what we’re getting into.

Where there’s one snake, there are usually others.”

The group set out in search

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of the ruins the next morning, marching uneasily through vegetation more than thick enough to conceal another ferde-lance. Fisher the archeologist had loaded the LiDAR images Fernandez had taken from the plane into a GPS machine, which was essential given the vegetation and limited visibility around them. The camp was on a riverbank, and to get to the site of the photos, the team had to cross a small stream, wade through a swamp and ascend a slippery, 30-foothigh escarpment. Standing at the bottom, the hillside seemed impossibly steep.

“We knew we had the escarpment that we would have to climb because we had the LiDAR images,” Fernandez says. “But it’s one thing to see the thing from the computer.

Once you’re actually there and look at it, you say, ‘Wow, yeah, this is going to be more challenging.’” The team had to grip branches and roots sticking out of the ground to keep from sliding down the slick, muddy slope.

It was worth the effort. At the top, Fernandez looked around and quickly noticed the terrain had changed dramatically. The light was eerily dim, almost gray, blocked out by the towering trees. The lower level of vegetation, so thick down at the riverbank, was gone.

Fernandez was standing on the wide, somewhat open space, which he could see almost entirely across in the ghostly light — this was the remains of a sizeable open plaza, as much as half a football field across. This, he quickly realized, was just the beginning of a sprawling complex revealed by LiDAR to stretch some three football fields across.

And there were mounds.

And as Fernandez and the rest of the team began to walk across the site, there were other discoveries, like flat stone slab sitting on top of round rocks, clearly manmade. The most exciting find came several

days in. By then more than 20 people had arrived to comb the plaza and search for more evidence of civilization.

As the team headed back to the campsite, a call came from the northeast corner of the plaza. “Hey guys, I see some very interesting rocks over there,” announced one of the cameramen filming. The “rocks” were stone vessels and carved stone artifacts, decorated to depict animals.

In all, the team would find 52 artifacts half-buried in the earth, including a number of ceremonial stone seats; vessels adorned with snakes, vultures and other animals; and a spectacular giant stone head, half jaguar, half man. The cache appeared to be at the base of the pyramid Fernandez had discovered, opening onto the plaza, suggesting the head might be an offering of some sort. Fernandez had carried in a ground-based LiDAR unit that he could mount on a tripod, capable of mapping the area at a far greater resolution than from the air. And with each new finding he took careful measurements, and collected reams of data for further analysis.

Upon emerging from the jungle, local experts and anthropologists on the site suggested the artifacts likely dated to between 1000 and 1400 A.D. And they emphasized how rare it was to find such a large cache undisturbed and unlooted, and declared that, though it was impossible to know whether the team had found the mythical White City, they had certainly discovered evidence of a lost culture.

The trip was an unqualified success, the first of many. At the time the team did not have permission from the Honduran government to remove any artifacts. It would have to wait.

Thus Fernandez returned for a second on-the-ground trip in February this year to document some of the excavation.

This time, the team returned

with a permit to excavate, and a larger group of archeologists, funded by the Honduran government and a small grant from National Geographic, with donated time from individuals like Fernandez.

The digging revealed that, around the site of the 52 partially buried artifacts, there were actually 80 stone artifacts and a large number of ceramic fragments. Nothing so far has been discovered that might allow the team to perform accurate dating, or verify that they have indeed found the site of the White City. Fernandez documented the excavation, using LiDAR both on a tripod and a handheld device.

But the work has just begun. Fernandez and the archeologists plan to return for further excavation. And there are still two other sites spotted from the air — located in extremely hard-to-reach valleys — that they mapped, at Elkins’ behest, that seem worthy of exploration. Overall they collected 10 days’ worth of data over the three sites.).

Elkins, meanwhile, plans to release a documentary on the expedition and the search for the White City this winter, which will coincide with the Jan. 3 publication of Douglas Preston’s book, The Lost City of the Monkey God. And for his part, Fernandez — with his personal ties to Honduras and the significance of what the expeditions have found so far — now considers the project one of the most satisfying of his young career.

“There’s definitely evidence of a society that still needs to be named and studied a lot,” he says. “But there are many, many more questions to be answered than what we were able to answer. It does show artisans with significant skill.

They were an organized society.

My hope is that there will be more research going into the area and, over a decade or two, we’ll be able to learn a lot more.” 

H-Town I.Q.

Welcome to Beytown Houston’s ultimate homecoming queen returns for another concert Sept. 22 after having played a sold-out show here in May. How well do you know Beyoncé?

By Caroline Starry LeBlanc  Pick the correct answer below.

Beyoncé attended HSPVA: the High School for the Performing & Visual Arts and which other Houston high school?

A. Westbury High School B. Memorial High School C. Lamar High School D. Alief Elsik High School

Which supermodel’s first name is the same as Beyoncé’s middle name, but spelled differently?

A. Naomi Campbell B. Gisele Bündchen C. Adriana Lima D. Coco Rocha Beyonce’s newest clothing venture with TopShop is called Ivy Park. Which Houston park is she referring to?

A. Hermann Park B. Emancipation Park C. Parkwood Park D. Memorial Park

 Match Beyoncé and the other famous people to the Houston neighborhoods they grew up in.

1. BEYONCÉ 2. WIN BUTLER OF ARCADE FIRE 3. RENEE ZELLWEGER 4. LYLE LOVETT 5. WES ANDERSON 6. CHAMILLIONAIRE 7. ROBERT EARL KEEN 8. KENNY ROGERS 9. JIM PARSONS 10. DENNIS QUAID

A. THE WOODLANDS B. RIVER OAKS C. SHARPSTOWN D. KATY E. SPRING F. ACRES HOMES G. THIRD WARD H. LINDALE I. BELLAIRE J. KLEIN

 True or False?

Beyoncé is the second Grammy-winningest Texan ever, just behind the Dixie Chicks.

 True or False?

HSPVA broke ground on a new Downtown location in late 2014. What’s its budget?

A. $25 million B. $80 million C. $150 million D. $200 million As of August, Beyoncé’s current Formation world tour had grossed how much?

A. $90 million B. $150 million C. $210 million D. $295 million

At the 2005 Academy Awards, Beyoncé sang three of the five nominated songs, including one completely in French.

 True or False?

Beyoncé sang Etta James’ “At Last” for the first couple’s dance at a ball for Barack Obama’s first inaugural in 2009.

 True or False?

One of her favorite restaurants is Houston fast-food joint Frenchy’s Chicken, which she even calls out in her controversial 2013 track, “Bow Down/I Been On.” child and solo, beyoncé is the winningest artist, and the chicks are second. the other three true. in spring and quaid in bellaire. true or false answers: with a total of

20 grammy’s, both with destiny’s

klein, anderson in river oaks, chamillionaire in acres homes, keen in sharpstown, rogers in lindale, parsons matching answers: beyoncé grew up in third ward, butler in the woodlands, zellweger in katy, lovett in grossed at least

$80 million, the tour has $210 million, the singer’s middle name is giselle, ivy park is inspired by parkwood park.

mulitiple choice answers: beyoncé also attended alief elsik, the hspva budget is

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