Intown

MILLER OUTDOOR turns 100•ART Festival

The French Cowboy Rides Again

New Astros Book Shines A Light

Big Oil Chevron Rakes Fraud Protection

The Village of Southampton LOCATION MATTERS

Imagine living in a safe and convenient community, with everything you need just steps outside your door. A place to relax, a place to explore, a place for all ages. The Village of Southampton luxury senior living community is the new centerpiece to the long successful, highly awarded Rice Village shopping district, restaurants, and entertainment.

This pedestrian-friendly area consists of over 300 shops and is located just a few blocks from Rice University, Hermann Park, the Museum District, and world-renowned Texas Medical Center. You will enjoy shopping the boutiques, concerts in the park and the fine arts. Stay connected to the energy of the performing arts, continued learning, and a rich and varied social scene that only Houston can deliver.

The Village of Southampton offers programs that keep you engaged with always something new to learn or do. It is a great place to meet new-found friends with likeminded interests who are just as eager as you to continue to broaden their horizons. Take off as a group on one of our many adventurous outings and leave the driving to us. Wake up to a dip in the heated pool or try integrating a new innovative exercise program into your daily routine in our state-of-the-art fitness center. No matter what exercise you choose, your health and wellness are our primary focus. Our community areas are designed with you in mind. Relax in the outdoor oasis with lounge seating, flower boxes and view of the Houston skyline. Prepare your palate for an exquisite dining experience as you retreat for lunch or dinner in our beautiful dining room. If you are on the go with no time for formal dining, grab a quick snack or sandwich in the Morningside Cafe. Enjoy conversation with friends and family while you unwind from a busy day of adventure with a glass of wine in the Owl’s Nest, our 18th floor lounge with unforgettable views of the city of Houston.

Once you settle into your new home at The Village of Southampton, the sounds of the city and hustle of the world seem to fade away. It is where you love the possibilities that each day offers. Sophisticated independent living, with assisted living and memory care services —The Village of Southampton is where you Live Life Well®. We invite you to come explore Houston’s best kept secret. If you would like to learn more about how The Village of Southampton can be your new home, call today to schedule a personal visit – 281-886-8891 – or visit villagesouthampton.com.

Spring Returns In All Its Glory

As I’ve written, this is my favorite time of the year for many reasons. This year particularly has me buzzing after three years of wondering when the next shoe would drop on a pandemic that wouldn’t quit. However, the 2023 spring season is underway and ready to flourish with festivals, concerts, and the annual Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. Houston will host the final four again, as we did in 2011 and 2016.

With the first crack of the bat and Opening Day against the White Sox, the Astros will defend their World Series Championship.

The famed Miller Outdoor Theatre, which has long been one of Houston’s best assets, is preparing for its 100th birthday party to kick off on St Paddy’s Day.

The season bursts with azaleas and is far too short, but the spectacular rainbow colors dotting the landscape throughout Houston are synonymous with the beginning of our springtime. Enjoy it while you can because the heat is coming.

Recently Houston came in as the Number 11 best place to live according to America’s Best Cities reports in 2022. It came in at number four in the areas such as economic might and attraction. Contributing to the livability is the 100-year-old always, free Miller Outdoor Theatre. Originally it was designed as a Corinthian-style limestone building built by Tom Tellepsen (see page 10). The new building was built in 1968, designed by Eugene Werlin and Associates, and won many awards.

The Houston Livestock and Rodeo will likely break records coming off of the pandemic, and with the lineup of the current and former star, it is no wonder. Brooks and Dunn, a longtime rodeo favorite, returns with new country stars Zac Brown, Chris Stapleton, and others, including New Kids on The Block.

The Astros will defend for the second time in six years since the 2017 title and cheating scandal. Former local Astros beat writer Evan Drellich has penned his first book about the Astros with Winning Fixes Everything. The book review is inside these pages and offers a glimpse into the somewhat chaotic and win-at-all-costs philosophy, which eventually led to the suspensions of their manager and GM, Jeff Luhnow. Mr. Luhnow has denied knowing about the sign-stealing scheme that occurred, but there is some evidence presented that does implicate him in a way the league thought detrimental. If he didn’t know, he seems to have taken the brunt of the blame and punishment despite others who willfully cheated without much consequence.

HOUSTON METHODIST MORE THAN A HOSPITAL

One-Stop Access for All Your Health Care Needs

Houston Methodist in the Texas Medical Center is more than just a hospital. We offer a full spectrum of care, including:

• Specialty physician offices, imaging and labs

• Teams of experts using the newest technologies

• Personalized care tailored to your unique needs

• Six centers of excellence in cancer, cardiology, gastroenterology, neurology, orthopedics and sports medicine, and transplant

To find a doctor, visit houstonmethodist.org/more or call 713.790.3333.

Arts +

EVENTS

SPECIAL EVENTS

Artupdate houston published every two weeks by houstonintown. Go to website and sign up for newsletter to receive free update.

Houston Museum Of Natural Science Special Exhibits

MUSEUMS

Asia Society Texas Center

Lain Singh Bangdel: Moon Over Kathmandu

Ongoing through April 30 2023

Museum Of Fine Arts, Houston

None Whatsoever: Zen Paintings from the Gitter-Yelen Collection

Through May 14

Portrait of Courage: Gentileschi, Wiley, and the Story of Judith

Through April 16

Golden Worlds: The Portable Universe of Indigenous Columbia

Through April 16

New Galleries for Art of Islamic Worlds Opens

March 5

Contemporary Arts

Museum Houston

Jordan Strafer: Trilogy

On View thru July 28 -

November 2023

Amoako Boafo: Soul of Black Folks

Holocaust Museum Houston

Woman, the Spirit of the Universe

Ongoing through April 2

The Life and Art of Alice Lok Cahana

Ongoing through April 9

NCAA Men’s Final Four Tournament

NRG Stadium

April 1-3

Memorial Villages Farmers Market

Bayou City Art Festival

10840 Beinhorn

9 am -1 pm

Rain or Shine

Neighbors 1938. We were all Ladenburgers

Ongoing through June 18

Menil

Robert Motherwell Drawing: As Fast as the Mind Itself

Ongoing through Mar 12

Walter De Maria: Boxes for Meaningless Work

Through Apr 23

Wall Drawing Series: Mel Bochner

Ongoing through Sept

Art of the Cameroon Grassfields, A Living Heritage in Houston

Ongoing through July 9

The Curatorial Imagination of Walter Hopp

Mar 24-Aug 13

Transcending Audubon

Dreher Materworks1

Body Worlds & The Cycle of Life

King Tut’s Tomb

MUSIC & DANCE

Classical update by Philip Berquist

Let me continue to hear from you at classicalmusicberquist@gmail.com. For updates go to www.houstonintown.com

THEATER

ALLEY THEATRE

Cowboy Bob

March 3 - 26

Sherlock Holmes And The Case Of Jersey Lily

April 14 - May 7

The Odyssey

March 24 -April 23

Broadway Across America

Hobby Center

Moulin Rouge! The Musical

Through March 12

To Kill a Mockingbird

April 25 - 30

STAGES REPERTORY THEATER

Roe

Through March 5

Cullad Wattah

Through March 31

Moulin Rouge! The Musical

Feb 22 through March 12

Denise Fennell’S The Bride, Or: Does This Dress Make Me Look Married?

March 10 through May 14

SPORTS

Baseball - Houston Astros

Minute Maid Park

March

30-31 Chicago White Sox

April

1st and 3rd Sundays 11am - 3pm Uptown Park Blvd

■ 300 Nat. & Int. Artists

■ 19 Disciplines of Art

■ 2 Entertainment Stages

■ Active Imagination Zone

■ Craft Beer & Wine Garden

■ Art Installations & Exhibits

■ Food Truck Park

■ VIP Hospitality Lounge

Saturdays 8am - noon 2752 Buffalo Speedway

1-2 Chicago White Sox

3-5 Detroit 14-16 Texas 17-19 Toronto

Philadelphia Basketball - Houston Rockets

URBAN HARVEST FARMERS MARKET

UPTOWN PARK FARMERS MARKET

Edward Kienholz, Walter Hopps Hopps Hopps, 1959

Dewey James, Nature Dreams

Struggling to hear each day, even when using powerful hearing aids?

Feeling frustrated and sometimes even exhausted from listening? Being unable to hear impacts your ability to communicate with your loved ones, hear in noisy environments and talk on the phone. It may force you to rely on others to help you communicate.

Cochlear implants work di erently than hearing aids. Instead of making sounds louder, they use state-of-the-art electronic components and software to help provide access to the sounds you’ve been missing. Houston area audiologist, Dr. Arun Joshi, answers the top 5 questions about cochlear implants.

Q How are cochlear implants di erent than hearing aids?

Hearing aids help many people by making the sounds they hear louder. Unfortunately, as hearing loss gets worse, sounds not only need to be made louder, they need to be made clearer. Cochlear implants can help give you that clarity, especially in noisy environments.1

Q How do I know a cochlear implant will work for me? Cochlear hearing implant technology is very reliable. 2 In fact, it has been around for 40 years and Cochlear has provided more than 650,000 implantable hearing devices.

Q Is it major surgery? No, not at all. The procedure is often done on an outpatient basis and typically takes just a couple of hours.

Q Am I too old to get a cochlear implant? No, it’s never too late to regain access to the sounds you’re missing.

Q Are cochlear implants covered by Medicare? Yes, Medicare and most private insurance plans typically cover cochlear implants.*

Are your hearing aids not enough? Do you:

□ Have di culty hearing conversations with your hearing aids?

□ Have trouble hearing on the telephone?

□ Feel people often mumble when they talk?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, consider speaking with local audiologist Dr. Joshi or a member of our team.

I worked very hard to speak and hear with hearing aids for so long, but I nally learned that with my profound hearing loss, the best hearing aid in the world was not going to give me the clarity in speech I needed at my level of loss. My cochlear implant has, so quickly, taken me to a new level of hearing. It’s like I’m reliving my life again.”

1. The Nucleus Freedom Cochlear Implant System: Adult Post-Market Surveillance Trial Results. 2008 June.

2. Cochlear Limited. D1932780 V1 2021-03. Cochlear™ Nucleus® Reliability Report Volume 20, December 2021.

Cochlear Hearing Center is owned and operated by Cochlear Clinical Services, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Cochlear Americas.

Please seek advice from your health professional about treatments for hearing loss. Outcomes may vary, and your health professional will advise you about the factors which could a ect your outcome. Always read the instructions for use. Not all products are available in all countries. Please contact your local Cochlear representative for product information. The Incredible Hulk is a trademark of Marvel Characters, Inc. Lou Ferrigno is a paid brand advocate for Cochlear; however, medical treatment and health decisions were made independently by him and his hearing health provider. ©2023 Cochlear Limited. All rights reserved. Trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of Cochlear Limited.

CAM-MK-PR-626 ISS1 FEB23

Dr. Arun Joshi, Cochlear Hearing Center Audiologist

Lou Ferrigno Cochlear implant recipient and “The Incredible Hulk ™”

Se habla español

MILLER OUTDOOR THEATRE Celebrates 100 YEARS

As the curtain rises on the 100th Anniversary performance season at Miller Outdoor Theatre (MOT), Houstonians and visitors alike can expect eight months of exceptional cultural arts programming plus four stellar 100th celebratory events, and as always, all free of charge to the public. Managing Director Cissy Segall Davis and a dedicated Board, spent years planning for this 100th “We think everyone in Houston will feel the Miller love and how grateful we are to have this jewel of an entertainment venue called Miller Outdoor Theatre to share with the world, says Davis. The 100th season kicks off March 17 when Irish eyes will smile when The Trinity Irish Dance Company brings their progressive Irish Dance to Houston for St. Patrick’s Day. The following evening transports all to 1923, the “birth” of Miller Outdoor Theatre, complete with a celebratory roaring 20s-themed extravaganza with Vaudeville performers, swing dance lessons, photo opportunities, and more. Additionally, the Board has launched a $12.5 million dollar capital campaign to raise the necessary funds to improve the visitor experience. From rock to Bach, Miller offers the best in live music, dance, theatre, and film. A few signature performances on the calendar include Juneteenth, the Houston Symphony Patriotic Fourth of July Also, there is the Houston Shakespeare Festival, Cinco de Mayo, and the Michael Jackson Experience, among many others.

ART Returns to MEMORIAL PARK

Bayou City Art Festival, produced by Art Colony Association, Inc. (ACA) returns to Memorial Park for the annual Bayou City Art Festival Memorial Park on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, March 24-26, 2023 from 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.

Six nonprofits will benefit from a portion of the proceeds from the event, provide volunteers, and has the option to host a crafting station in the Active Imagination Zone. The six nonprofit partners benefiting from the Bayou City Art Festival Memorial Park 2023 include, Art Reach, Fresh Arts, National Alliance on Mental Health Greater Houston, Orange Show For Visionary Art, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, The Women’s Fund for Health Education and Resiliency.

“With a long history of supporting art education and providing unique art experiences in Houston, we are pleased to again give back directly to the Houston nonprofit community through our partnerships,” said Kelly Batterson, Executive Director of ACA.

Patrons have the opportunity to meet artists, view original works, and purchase one-of-a-kind art, world-class paintings, prints, jewelry, sculptures, functional art, and more. This year’s featured artist is Dewey James, a mixed media artist from Minneapolis, Minnesota.

HOUSTON Livestock Show & RODEO

Tuesday, Feb.28

Opening Day, presented by Texas Capital Bank Parker McCollum

Wednesday, March 1

Armed Forces Appreciation Day, presented by Crown Royal, Brooks & Dunn

Thursday, March 2: Lauren Daigle

Friday, March 3

Black Heritage Day, presented by Kroger Bun B’s Southern Takeover

Saturday, March 4: Walker Hayes

Sunday, March 5: Zac Brown Band

Monday, March 6

First Responders Day, presented by BP America Jason Aldean

Tuesday, March 7: New Kids on The Block

Wednesday, March 8

Community Day, presented by TC Energy Jon Pardi

Thursday, March 9: Ashley McBryde

Friday, March 10: The Chainsmokers

Saturday, March 11: Turnpike Troubadours

Sunday, March 12

Go Tejano Day, presented by Fiesta MartLa Fiera de Ojinaga

Monday, March 13: Cody Jinks

Tuesday, March 14: Machine Gun Kelly

Wednesday, March 15: Kenny Chesney

Thursday, March 16: Chris Stapleton

Friday, March 17: Cody Johnson

Saturday, March 18: Brad Paisley

Sunday, March 19: Luke Bryan

RODEOHOUSTON Finals

Dewey James, Free Bird Freda

Recently I had a very, very good weekend. On Friday evening, 10 February I attended the opening night performance of Wagner’s “Das Rheingold” by the Dallas Opera. More on that at the conclusion of this article.

Houston Symphony Orchestra

On Sunday, 12 February, I was in Jones Hall as the Houston Symphony performed part of its “Song of the Earth Festival” with performances of “Itinerary of an Illusion” by Q. Chen and “Das Lied von der Erde” (the Song of the Earth) by Gustav Mahler.

“Itinerary of an Illusion” opened quietly with a trumpet solo and the music slowly grew in tonal intensity to a glorious atonal scream. Then followed a haunting five note theme that various soloists and sections of the orchestra played variations on the five notes until the work slowly unwinded to its quite conclusion. Music Director Juraj Valčuha conducted with his own sweeping intensity.

“Das Lied von der Erde” (The Song of the Earth) is a symphony composed by Gustav Mahler between 1908 and 1909. It is considered one of Mahler’s most important works and is notable for its incorporation of Chinese poetry into the text of the vocal movements. The work is scored for two vocal soloists (a tenor and an alto / mezzo-soprano), a large orchestra, and a contralto solo in the final movement although, as is the current norm, the final movement is sung by the mezzo.

The soloists were Sasha Cooke, mezzo-soprano, and Clay Holley, tenor.

The symphony is divided into six movements, each of which sets a different Chinese poem to music. The poems are all translations, and were chosen by Mahler himself. The first movement, “Das Trinklied vom Jammer der Erde” (The Drinking Song of Earth’s Sorrow), sets a poem about the fleeting nature of life and the solace that can be found in wine. The second movement, “Der Einsame im Herbst” (The Lonely One in Autumn), is a melancholic meditation on the passing of time. The third movement, “Von der Jugend” (Of Youth), is a joyful celebration of youth and the beauty of nature. The fourth movement, “Von der Schönheit” (Of Beauty), is a contemplative reflection on the fleeting nature of beauty. The fifth movement, “Der Trunkene im Frühling” (The Drunkard in Spring), is a lively and humorous portrayal of a drunken man stumbling through the springtime. The final movement, “Der Abschied” (The Farewell), is a poignant and emotional farewell to life, as the soloist sings of saying goodbye to the earth and all its beauty.

Mr. Hilly sang three of the six movements with gusto and with mild humorous swaggering gestures that represented the lighter aspects of his three movements. Ms. Cooke, however, had

Intown’s Classical Music Editor and Critic, the Hon. Philip Berquist, Honorary Consul for the Republic of Croatia for Texas

Review

much more serious responsibilities for her three movements. She sang with elegant vocal effects, especially in the long sixth movement, depicting the sad farewell to life, quietly singing, “ewig,” (farewell) seven times as the work concludes slowly, becoming quieter and quieter, which perfectly depicts, at least to me, a peaceful, yet sad, death and finality. Valčuha conducted with beautiful phrasing and attention to Mahler’s sometimes dense, sometimes sparse orchestrations. One gets the feeling that the orchestra is really enjoying playing under his leadership.

“Das Lied von der Erde” is considered a masterpiece of Mahler’s late period and is widely admired for its powerful emotional impact and its unique blending of Western classical music and Chinese poetry. The work has been interpreted as a reflection of Mahler’s own feelings of isolation and longing, and it is often considered a reflection of the composer’s own feelings of isolation and longing. Mahler himself men-

tioned that this may have been his greatest work, although he never lived to hear it. Leonard Bernstein also has been quoted as saying that Das Lied was Mahler’s finest symphony. Das Lied was written after his Eighth Symphony and, being superstitious, Mahler did not call the work his Ninth Symphony, knowing that the number 9 had been the final symphonies of Beethoven, Bruckner, Schubert, Dvorak and others. Ironically, his final work was his very last completed symphony, “9” so it seems that fate intervened after all.

The first performance was on 20 November 1911 in Munich, conducted by Bruno Walter, some six months after Mahler’s death at age 51.

Dallas Opera

This was my first experience with Dallas Opera, and it was very satisfying. It was also the first time to see Wagner’s “Das Rheingold” (the opening opera of his four opera, “The Ring of the Nibelungen) with the singers wearing helmets as the production returned to more traditional settings. Once, in London, I saw a version of Das Rheingold that had Wotan stepping out of a bathtub and Houston Grand Opera had Loge riding around the stage on a Segway so perhaps you see how much happier I was with the Dallas staging. Also the singing and the playing of the orchestra was exceptional however some severe technical lighting glitches were particularly annoying. The Winspear Opera house was stunning as were its acoustics. Unfortunately, apparently there are no announced plans on a complete “Ring of the Nibelung” cycle as was recently done in Houston. The Dallas Symphony, however, has announced two complete Ring Cycles from the stage in 2024.

That’s it for this issue of Intown. Let me continue to hear from you at classicalmusicberquist@ gmail.com.

“Song of the Earth Festival” and “Das Rheingold” Review

HSO Music Director Juraj Valčuha

Scene from Das Rheingold, Dallas Opera

Photo by Luciano Romano

“Song of the Earth Festival” and “Das Rheingold”

Keller Williams Realty Metropolitan (832) 338-4040

www.uptownrealestategroup.com

David

CLHMS, CNE, GREEN Compass RE Texas (713) 320-6453

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Beverly Smith CLHMS

Lake Conroe Specialist Coldwell Banker Realty (713) 569-2113

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Carrie Ousley CIC, CISR

Luxury Home Insurance (281) 224-0762

www.carrieousley.com

Michael Young Broker Associate,

Mariana Saldana Broker Associate

Genevieve Rowland

REALTOR, MCNE, CLHMS

Multimillion Dollar Producer, ILHM Keller Williams Memorial (281) 904-7014

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Marilyn Arendt Broker - Owner Marilyn Arendt Properties (281) 433-9113

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Annie & Kenney Dillard

SRS,CNE,PSA,CLHMS,CSE Dillard Realty Team 832-564-5694

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Sharon Yeary Broker, ABR, CNHS, CRNH CRB, CRS, ePRO, GRI, RENE, SRES, SRS, TACS Sharcom Realty (832) 388-9945

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Debra Osborn Camino CLHMS, CIPS, ABR, CNE eXp Realty (713) 397-3867

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Herma Hayes

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Luxury lake living in this beautiful custom home on the #5 hole of the Miller Golf Course. Wall of windows for fabulous views of Lake Conroe in gated community. Primary bedrooms connected by an elevator and all have private balconies and breathtaking views and gorgeous sunrises.

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Amazing recent construction modern traditional home by Winfrey Design Build in Avalon Place. Impeccable design and craftsmanship. Expansive open living areas with the finest finishes and collapsing doors at rear to bring the outside in on nice days. Contemporary wine storage and entertainer’s bar in main living area. Outdoor playground includes pool and spa, outdoor kitchen, covered patio. David M. Young | Compass RE Texas | 713-320-6453

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Foodies Rejoice!

The French Cowboy Rides Again FOOD

by Marene Gustin

Philippe Schmit, aka The French Cowboy — “French born, but Texas proud!” — has spent the last couple of years as a caterer and private chef to the rich and famous in Houston. But that’s all about to change, as once again he rides into town to open his own restaurant.

Schmit, born on Christmas Day in Roanne, France, who worked at Michelin-starred restaurants in his native country, came to America in 1990 to work as a chef at Le Bernardin and later as chef de cuisine at Park Bistro. Later, he became executive chef at La Goulue and then Orsay in New York City. In 2004, he was lured to Houston to open bistro moderne inside Hotel Derek to much acclaim. He later opened his eponymous eatery Philippe Restaurant + Lounge, which Texas Monthly called one of Texas’ “Best New Restaurants.” He last cooked at Toulouse Café and Bar in the swanky River Oaks District in 2016, but quickly left.

Then Schmit, who holds the designation of Master Chef of France, started his own company to cater and host private dinners for his legion of devoted and drooling fans. But now he’s opening a new restaurant in Upper Kirby in mid-March.

“I always wanted to go back to cooking in a restaurant,” chef Schmit says. “For the past four or five years I’ve just been saving up my money.” Schmit says he’s put all of his savings into the new venture — PS-21 — with partner and fellow Frenchman Sébastien Laval, a restaurant consultant. “The PS obviously stands for Philippe Schmit. Or it could be Philippe and Sébastien,” he says. “And 21 was last year when we started it. I don’t gamble, but I’ve heard that 21 is a lucky number.”

Another thing the chef doesn’t do is drink. “But I’ve tasted all the cocktails on the menu, and they are wonderful.” PS21 will also serve a selection of French wines. As for the food, chef Schmit says it will obviously have a French background.

“There’s no French onion soup on the menu,” he says. “Even though I make the best. But my clients aren’t very French, so I have to cater to Houston tastes. I have always tried to cook more internationally. I don’t do a lot of cream sauce; I try to cook healthy.”

He has been playing around with a Bouillabaisse, a traditional French fish soup, with grilled fish. And there’s a steak tartare with a truffle vinaigrette he’s working on. Schmit says it will be a chef-driven menu, but also with a very neighborhood feel. A small, causal spot to eat and drink well. But he doesn’t have a favorite dish.

Schmit says, “if a customer asks, I say ‘everything is good on the menu!’’

PS-21 will be open for dinner initially, and then expand to lunch and

brunch. It will be closed on Mondays. The partners have leased 2712 Richmond Ave. near Kirby Dr. It is in the old The Queen Vic pub spot that shuttered in 2018. It seats a little over 100, with a long bar, private dining room, and a tree-lined patio for 25.

“I’ve worked very hard to make a name for myself,” the chef says. “And I don’t take anything for granted.”

Speaking of working hard, while getting ready to open PS-21, chef Schmit has had to turn down catering jobs and private dinners. But he’s hopeful that once the restaurant gets up and running he’ll be able to take on some private clients again. In the meantime, he’s hoping fans of his food will enjoy the neighborhood feel and French-based menu at his latest creation.

“As a Frenchman, I love to charm people,” he says. And PS-21 will hopefully do just that.

Philippe Schmit’s PS-21 2712 Richmond Ave. ps21htx.com

BINGEWORTHY SHOWS FROM A RED STATE STAR

by Craig D. Lindsey Observer

“This article was originally published by the Texas Observer, a nonprofit investigative news outlet. Sign up for their weekly newsletter, or follow them on Facebook and Twitter.”

Once upon a time, Taylor Sheridan was just a working actor with chiseled good looks.

Born in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and raised in Texas (where he hung with the fam on a ranch in Cranfills Gap), Sheridan spent the ’90s and the aughts doing guest shots on various primetime dramas, landing steady gigs on Veronica Mars and Sons of Anarchy. He later turned his talents to screenwriting, scripting such bullet-riddled, testosterone-fueled crime yarns as the Sicario movies and Hell or High Water (which got him an Oscar nod for best original screenplay).

Now, Sheridan has become television’s latest superstar auteur, churning out hourlong neo-Westerns one after another. High atop the list is Yellowstone, also known as the most popular drama on television. Set in the wide-open spaces of Montana, the show is about a powerful family of ranchers, led by a raspy-voiced Kevin Costner, who recently won a Golden Globe for his role as the ornery-but-wise patriarch.

Now five seasons deep, it’s the crown jewel of the Paramount Network. The season five premiere last November brought in 16 million viewers. It’s also a hit with the conservative crowd—at least, that’s what some media outlets have alleged. New York Times columnist Ross Douthat called Yellowstone “the most red-state show on television,” even suggesting that it’s a far supe-

rior story of a powerful dad and his battling siblings than that other Sunday-night cable drama: HBO’s Succession. Countless thinkpieces have pitted the shows against each other, with the acclaimed, award-winning Succession being for the coastal elites and the critically dismissed Yellowstone repping for the Trumpers and right-wingers. (Both shows also feature an actress from another country—Yellowstone has Kelly Reilly, a Brit, while Succession has Aussie Sarah Snook—playing a vengeful, cunning daughter.)

Even though he keeps his political leanings under wraps (Yellowstone co-star/ activist Piper Perabo recently admitted she and her boss “don’t always agree politically”), he’s downplayed talk of him being a right-wing propagandist in the press. “People perceive all my stuff as red state, and it’s the most ridiculous thing,” he told the New York Times. When The Atlantic did a recent profile on him, he set the record

straight on his prized creation. “The show’s talking about the displacement of Native Americans and the way Native American women were treated and about corporate greed and the gentrification of the West, and land-grabbing. That’s a red-state show?”

Yellowstone has also spawned limited-series prequels over at streaming service Paramount+. In 1883, country music power couple Tim McGraw and Faith Hill play the great-grandparents who start up the family ranch, while Helen Mirren and Harrison Ford are the great-grandaunt and uncle who keep the ranch going in the recently premiered 1923. More Yellowstone spinoffs are in the works, including Bass Reeves, starring David Oyelowo as the titular, real-life lawman, and 6666, a modern-day cowboy story that’ll be set on the Texas-based Four Sixes Ranch (which Sheridan now owns). He’s also working on another Texas-set show: Land Man, based on the Texas Monthly podcast Boomtown about the West Texas oil boom, starring Billy Bob Thornton.

Houston writer and critic Pete Vonder Haar is a fan of Yellowstone and its spinoffs, and he believes that people who say Sheridan is a red-state dramatist aren’t watching the shows. “I know Sheridan gets a lot of flak for being some kind of MAGA champion,” says Vonder Haar. “But honestly, his depiction of Native American characters, like in 1923 —with the depiction of the religious education camps—that’s not really a cowboys-and-Indians kind of perspective.”

Sheridan doesn’t just stick to rustic settings. He also has shows on Paramount+ that are both urban and contemporary. In Mayor of Kingstown, which just began its second season earlier this month, Jeremy Renner (who starred in Sheridan’s directorial debut Wind River) plays a power broker trying to keep cops and criminals from killing each other in a decaying Michigan town. There’s also Tulsa King, with Sylvester Stallone as an ex-con mobster who gets sent to Oklahoma’s second-largest city to strike up some business. And, coming

Taylor Sheridan’s macho streaming universe may get “repetitive” at times but it’s not as obviously conservative as some suggest.

soon, he’ll have Oscar winners Nicole Kidman and Morgan Freeman starring in the spy thriller Lioness.

Yes, Sheridan has created his own streaming universe, filled with serialized stories of men, mostly amped up on machismo, a moral code, and a strong belief in family, presiding over a region they either inherited or seized from somebody. As for the women, they’re either there for support or conflict—and that’s usually it. (Female writers have already discussed Sheridan’s failure to create multi-dimensional female characters in both movies and TV.) Usually benevolent, even vulnerable creatures, these kings still rule with unwavering intimidation, ready to put their feet to the asses of anybody who dares to step out of line.

You could also say that’s how Sheridan runs his empire. With the exception of Tulsa King, which has a writers’ room overseen by Sopranos vet and Boardwalk Empire creator Terence Winter, Sheridan usually writes every episode of every show, demanding full creative control and that studio execs not bother him with notes. According to that Atlantic profile, when Paramount supplied him with a writers’ room for Yellowstone’s second season, he rarely used them, eventually firing them all before the third season rolled along. Apparently, he can’t stomach the thought of other pesky scribes writing his characters.

THAT’S NOT REALLY A COWBOYS-AND-INDIANS KIND OF PERSPECTIVE

It is making fans wonder if dude is spreading himself too thin, as some shows appear to be lacking in the consistency department while others are thriving. Although I’m not a diehard Sheridan stan, I personally find the dust-covered Yellowstone prequels far more intriguing than the original, a salacious soap opera that Sheridan unfortunately treats with the utmost seriousness. At least Succession gives viewers the freedom to laugh at its spoiled, amoral assholes, as their pitiful attempts at backstabbing and double-crossing often border on the farcical. And Tulsa King is a snarky, more entertaining ride than Mayor of Kingstown, which is basically The Wire without clever writing and a whole lotta F-bombs.

I’m not the only one who feels Sheridan might need some help keeping the drama flowing. “Right now, I think Yellowstone is probably my least favorite of the Sheri-

dan properties, because I think it’s kind of grinding itself to the ground,” says Vonder Haar. “It’s getting repetitive with the interfamily conflicts. Honestly, I’m liking the other properties, like Tulsa King and 1923, better at this point.”

As much as Sheridan wants to be Louis L’Amour for the streaming era, he’s more like Ryan Murphy for guys who drink beer, chew tobacco, ride horses, and get into fights just cuz at the local honky-tonk. In fact, if you take away the cuss words, occasional boob shots, and intense moments

of violence, these shows could easily fill the prime-time schedule on CBS, aka “America’s Most-Watched Network.” Since CBS, the Paramount Network, and Paramount+ are all owned by Paramount Global, there’s a strong possibility this bronco-riding bard may gallop over to the Tiffany Network in the near future. But whether you live on the coasts or smack dab in the middle of this country, his manly, meat-and-potatoes melodramas are just the kind of middlebrow, populist, appointment television people can easily binge.

The story began as a quest to create the perfect boxer short. We viewed it as locating the perfect home for the family jewels. It needed to be a custom home, handmade, including a spacious ballroom with full seating and a sturdy front entrance so that no one slips out unexpectedly. This home should be built with the finest 400 thread count Pima cotton with virtually no shrinkage (on our part).

These boxers have been personally tried and tested for over 5 years on family, friends, acquaintances and a few rock stars. enjoy your First

So behold, we present to you the “royal highnies”, the only place that deserves to house the family jewels.

Big Oil: Chevron’s Soaring Earnings and Deepwater Jack St./Malo

By Virginia Billeaud Anderson

In June 2022, Chevron’s CEO Mike Wirth sent a letter to President Biden saying there wasn’t a quick fix to post-invasion global supply and demand imbalances. His company’s response to the recent market instability was to produce more oil and gas than it ever had, and invest in clean energy. Wirth said the administration must work closely with his industry to meet the nation’s energy, economic, and environmental objectives, and it wasn’t beneficial for Biden to “vilify” the industry. The president had been blasting the oil companies’ soaring profits while there was pain at the pump. He became apoplectic when they used profits to strengthen balance sheets, increase share holder dividends and purchase back stock. Biden called Big Oil “wartime profiteers,” and dissed Exxon Mobil for making “more money than God.” President Biden threatened windfall profit taxes and other

“restrictions” if the oil companies didn’t increase American production and refining capacity. When earnings reports came out, Chevron had profited a whopping $35.5 billion in 2022. To put this in perspective, Exxon Mobil raked in $55.9 billion, but it must be kept in mind that other companies, Apple for instance which banked $117.1 billion, left Big Oil in the dust. Chevron will use some of its stash to increase share holder dividends, and overtime will spend $75 billion buying back stock. Why do I give a damn? I own a few measly shares of Chevron, and argue Chevron matters to Houstonians, beyond charitable initiatives and sponsoring our marathon. About 8,000 of its approximately 37,000 employees live in the Houston area. Further, the company awards contracts to an unimaginably diverse gaggle of servicers and suppliers -construction, pipe, valves, IT, barges,

whatever, engineering firms like KBR, translate “peoples’ livelihood.” Equally significant, Chevron is a prized institutional stock, which means managers slap it into union pension funds and ordinary Americans’ retirement accounts everywhere.

I won’t jabber about Chevron’s global operations, except to highlight its Australian mega-project producing

natural gas and LNG for Asian markets, and cite Tengiz in Kazakhstan, ranked as an oil producing “supergiant.” Hydrocarbon and LNG production in Angola gave that country its first LNG project, and marked the first time associated gas, a byproduct of offshore crude oil production, supplied the LNG plant. It’s worth mentioning that after Biden eased sanctions on Venezuela, with the world’s

Chevron in Permian Basin

Chevron Jack St. Malo Production Unit Deepwater GOM

largest oil reserves, Chevron hightailed it back into production. Also noteworthy are Chevron’s exploits in the Permian (grinding it), and a significant new gas discovery offshore Egypt. Downstream, the integrated energy company refines gasoline and jet fuel, and manufactures chemicals. Its portfolio includes renew-

ables and newfangled carbon capture and storage, and clean hydrogen. But these aren’t my topic.

My topic is deepwater Gulf of Mexico. It blows my mind that some wells reach five miles below the Gulf’s seafloor. That’s an insane depth. In 2005, Chevron’s Knotty Head well penetrated

We are committed to meeting our customer’s needs in an honest, reliable and personal manner. Your high standard is our commitment.

to 34,000 feet. Others go this deep. In 2009, BP’s Tiber well poked 35,055 feet. Why ungodly depths? Subsea GOM, miles down, is a place to find elephants. An elephant is a whopper size deposit. BP’s Thunder Horse discovery with the equivalent of over 1 billion barrels of oil was an elephant. I recall Don Briggs of

Tombua-Landana platform in Angola

Tengiz operations Kazakhstan

the Louisiana Oil & Gas Association telling a Houston Chronicle journalist that Jim Bob Moffett’s GOM gas discovery was a “Godzilla elephant.” The location was technically shelf ultradeep not deepwater, nevertheless it illustrates that oil patch good ole boys pursue worldclass hydrocarbon deposits deep below the GOM.

Less than twenty years ago, working this deep was more of a crapshoot, to say the least. The extreme temperatures and pressures encountered could potentially cause equipment to malfunction or worse. Industry remembers back in 2006 when high pressure scared the crap out of Exxon Mobil and partners. It so freaked them out, they abandoned a shelf ultradeep well just before reaching its 32,000 feet target, an estimated $200 million down the toilet. Today, working in high temperature, high pressure environments is a lot less dicey. Equipment is more advanced. One wonders if the Macondo tragedy and the government’s temporary deepwater moratorium accelerated innovation.

Chevron overcame technical challenges. A 2004 milestone was to successfully test its deepwater Tahiti well at record depths. Soon after, southwest of Tahiti, the Jack-2 well broke a record for the deepest successful production test in the GOM at 28,175 feet. Chevron’s press release spins multiple “world records” connected to Jack-2. Here’s one:

Tengiz operations Kazakhstan

“the perforating gun fired at world record depths and pressure.” Throughout, the company parlayed experience. By 2019, its GOM deepwater development Anchor withstood pressure of 20,000 psi. Anchor, Chevron crowed, is “one of the first ultra high-pressure projects in the world.”

All the record breaking and parlaying congealed into the supercharged deep-

water project Chevron and its partners call Jack/St. Malo. Located 280 miles south of New Orleans, the Jack and St. Malo fields are two of Chevron’s largest discoveries in the GOM. They barreled through 7,000 feet of water, over a mile of water, then miles past the seabed, totaling five miles, to hit the reservoirs.

Chevron labels Jack/St. Malo its “signature” GOM deepwater project for

more reasons than size. The fields, 25 miles apart, are being codeveloped with the largest semisubmersible floating production unit Chevron has in the GOM placed between them. Crude oil flows through the largest high pressure-design pipeline ever installed at this water depth. A barrage of technology never before used at this water depth in the GOM encodes Jack/St. Malo. My favorite is ocean bottom node technology. Nodes placed in rows on the seafloor record seismic data that describes subsurface layers nearly 30,000 feet below the ocean floor. “Seeing” into the reservoirs helps strategize well placement and predict reservoir performance. I personally think it’s cool that remotely operated vehicles position the nodes. I’m not saying machines with robot arms scurrying seismic equipment across the ocean floor in over a mile of water controlled by someone above water are unique to Chevron. They’re not. I’m saying it’s cool.

https://www.chevron.com/

Former Astros Beat Writer Pens First Book

Since Moneyball, have we seen a book so dedicated to the inner workings of a major league baseball organization? Winning Fixes Everything is not about Billy Bean and the Oakland A’s game-changing strategies. Still, it does compare with the theory of using metrics to examine nearly all facets of the game. The shift in this baseball’s management thinking involves a general manager who hired and allowed McKinsey consulting to do research and development into almost every facet of the game.

Mostly Winning is about the dysfunctional rags-to-riches story of one of baseball history’s least proficient teams

losing over 100 games three consecutive seasons than a turnaround amidst scandal no less of a win-at-all-costs strategy that involved the two-time World Champion Houston Astros. Who had previously never won a pennant until Jeff Luhnow arrived.

Evan Drellich, who has penned many sports articles and even a few books, is a Houston native who seems slightly betrayed.

While Drellich spent three years as the beat writer for the Houston Chronicle, he now resides in New York and works as a writer for The Athletic. Drellich has a real problem with how the Astros owner and his GM rebuilt the

Astros to win over the long haul. There is a deep dive into the initial hiring of General Manager Luhnow and team President George

Postolos. The former Rocket boss and the man who spearheaded and later secured Crane’s efforts to assemble a team of investors to buy the Astros. Postolos and Crane exhibited “truthfulness” in letting people go that had been there for years. The author speaks glowingly about former owner Drayton McClane and how he treated Astros employees as a family business. Also, he implies how his loyalty led to the mammoth payday of a nearly 500 million dollar profit upon selling to Crane and Company.

Crane is written about at length and very little positive without the winning, which is the reason for the tile itself. Luhnow is the main character among the cast of many who had a hand in all the good, the bad, and the ugly. To give you an idea of why is to know about the initial meeting with Luhnow and Crane, where Luhnow had prepared a 25-page report on the overall strategy of building the team and organization from the bottom up. Before the report, he had asked Crane what my restraints are, and Crane handed him a blank sheet of paper. Crane is criticized heavily for his money penchant ways. One idea Crane had that backfired was when he filled an enormous part of the outfield with large signs involving a partnership to provide money to build youth facilities. Still, actually, most went into the Astros’ coffers as adverting. The signs were repositioned after much backlash. The author alludes to the premise that Crane’s earlier business discrimination lawsuits predated social media, therefore, skating sharp criticism that may have precluded him from an ownership position among MLB owners. His previous episodes of employee discrimination suits by blacks, Hispanics, and women and by the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission, according to Drellich, had “predated the ubiquity of the internet and did not dissuade MLB from letting Crane into the fraternity.”

During the first few years of cost-cutting and implementing the changes, it was Luhnow who was working with his people a crazy amount of hours and replacing others and encouraging all others to be held accountable and to get rid of the worst performers in the scouting and player development. It was three painful years, but five years in, the writing was on the wall. The Astros were good, and the farm system was great, and all was going according to the plan Luhnow had laid out with the help of his old employee Mckinsey and company consulting. To build from the bottom with the draft and focus on players that could develop based on their advanced

Mckinseyan system of evaluating talent. While the book describes in fascinating detail many of the staff and players and sometimes reads like a soap opera, the cheating scandal is covered more briefly than one would expect but does offer some highlights. It reiterates the denial by Luhnow that he knew about the elaborate sign-stealing camera/trash banging and offers scant evidence to the contrary. The players were scared to be

whistleblowers. Alex Cora and ring leader Carlos Beltran forged ahead despite some pushback by some older players, most notably Brian McGann.

While it may not make a movie script, aka Moneyball, Winning Fixes Everything is a must-read for Astros lovers and haters.

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Evade the Evolving Threat of Financial Fraud

For years, the public has been warned about the dangers of identity theft and financial fraud. By now, you probably know to be wary of opening unsolicited email attachments or sharing account details with strangers. But make no mistake – the fight against fraud is never over. Criminals are always inventing new scams to steal money and today’s fraudsters are more organized, technologically advanced and convincing than ever. Safeguarding your finances requires constant vigilance.

While scams come in many forms, here are four increasingly common cons to keep on your radar:

Spear phishing

With phishing, perpetrators send an attempted scam to the masses through email, phone or text, hoping someone will bite. Spear phishing is more sophisticated and may target you specifically, using personal details (often found online) to impersonate a trusted party like your banker or broker. Think twice before complying with any urgent requests to supply your account information or move money around.

By Evans Attwell Senior Vice President Frost Bank

Electronic payment scams

As more people use services such as Zelle, PayPal or Venmo to transfer money, scammers have devised countless tricks to get you to pay them. As a rule of thumb, only send money to people/businesses you know and trust to be legitimate.

Package delivery fraud

If you shop online often, you’re used to seeing emails/texts about your pending delivery. But if the message asks you to verify information such

as your address or credit card number, it’s likely a scam. When in doubt, ignore the request and visit the merchant’s or shipping company’s website to contact customer service.

Mobile malware

Many phone users unwittingly install malicious apps that can capture data from their screen or skim information from other programs (including banking apps). Only download

apps from your phone’s official app store, and close all other apps before using your banking app.

What else can you do?

While it’s not always possible to prevent fraud all together, catching it early and acting quickly can minimize the damage. Get in the habit of monitoring your credit card and bank accounts for any suspicious transactions. You can also set up fraud alerts

to have your bank contact you regarding abnormal activity. Finally, make sure to bank at an FDIC-insured institution, which limits your liability to just $50 if you’re a victim of fraud.

Would you like to talk to a financial professional?

Contact Evans at 713.388.1367 or evans.attwell@frostbank.com.

Investment and insurance products are not FDIC insured, are not bank guaranteed, and may lose value.

Brokerage services offered through Frost Brokerage Services, Inc., Member FINRA/SIPC, and investment advisory services offered through Frost Investment Services, LLC, a registered investment adviser. Both companies are subsidiaries of Frost Bank.

Investment management services, financial planning and trust services are offered through Frost Wealth Advisors of Frost Bank.

Additionally, insurance products are offered through Frost Insurance.

Deposit and loan products are offered through Frost Bank, Member FDIC.

Frost does not provide legal or tax advice. Please seek legal or tax advice from legal and/or tax professionals.

AHA DOESN’T SKIP A BEAT HONORS 39TH ANNIVERSARY OF HOUSTON’S HEART BALL

The American Heart Association (AHA) hosted its annual 2023 Houston Heart Ball on Saturday, at the Post Oak Hotel, raising $1.2 million. This year’s theme, The funds raised will allow AHA to continue investing in innovative research, medical discoveries, and educational programming to help eradicate heart disease and stroke.

The festive fête kicked off as partygoers arrived and enjoyed wine and cocktails alongside live entertainment from hip-hop violinist Demola. KPRC’s Khambrel Marshall served as emcee for the evening, followed by American Heart Association Board President and CEO Dr. Doug Lawson and SLB’s Olivier Le Peuch.

Marshall introduced the Open Your Heart moment, brought by the Children’s Heart Institute at Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital and UTHealth Houston, with a video honoring an 11-year-old heart disease survivor.

American Heart Association (AHA), the leading voluntary organization devoted to a world of longer, healthier lives, and to saving people from heart disease and stroke – America’s number one and number five killers.

American Heart Association Board

Members Suzie Kupiec & James Dyer

KPRC’s Khambrel Marshall and Sabirah Rayford

HCA Healthcare’s Kim Williams and Chuck Pyle

Wine auction chairs Russ and Judy Labrasca

Dr. Daniel Penny and wife Yuliya Veretennikova

Dr. Doug Lawson and Carla Guzman

Debbie and Jack Moore

Pam and Jim Wells

Photos: Wilson Parish & Daniel Ortiz

Casey Brand

Dr. Jorge and April Salazar