PRIME Living 2011 July/August "Food & Wine" issue

Texas

j u ly / a u g u s t 2 0 1 1

The Luxury of Choice

food food glorious

Blades of Glory rising chefs battle it out in a unique culinary competition

Queen of Tarts Life is sweet for confectioner Gesine Bullock-Prado

Road Sipping Cruisin’ through California wine country

From top toques to divine desserts, sink your teeth into PL’s annual food issue

Magical Setting

Exceptional

Experiences

U

niquely situated on the banks of Oak Creek in Sedona’s magnificent Red Rock country, L’Auberge de Sedona is a place where magical moments happen. Dine on our creekside patio under the cool canopy of sycamore trees. Take a private outdoor shower under the starry night sky. Our staff will take every opportunity to delight you. Quite simply, this is a hotel experience unlike any other.

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july/august 2011

sweet

How

It Is

Inside the sweet life of confectioner Gesine Bullock-Prado

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a cut above

4 chefs + 4 mystery ingredients = culinary genius

59

29

california dreamin’

From Yountville to Healdsburg, hit the road for a wine country adventure

59 3 july/august • 2011

alsoinside

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Publisher & Editor-in-Chief Karyn Dean

kdean@prime-living.com

9 • cocktails & conversation • Where to Go, What to Do Tune In • Theater al Fresco • Buzz • Keep on Truckin’ • {Not} Just Desserts • Embracing Her Craft • My Life • What’s Cooking

Publisher Terry Dean

tdean@prime-living.com

Managing Editor Michelle Jacoby

37 • connoisseur • PL’s Guide to Discerning Taste Simply Sublime • Good Eats • Table Talk • Rum on a Roll • White Haute

mjacoby@prime-living.com

Editorial Assistant Samantha Edmondson

49 • the gentlemen’s room • For the man who commands the very best Raising the Bar • Trick Trike • Grill of My Dreams • Bone Appétit 64 • pL’s Passport • Greetings from destinations near and far Enlightened Explorer • Fredricksburg

sam@prime-living.com

Art Direction & Design SW!TCH s t u d i o Jim Nissen, Erin Loukili Carla Rogers

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www.switchstudio.com

Sales Manager David Spector

dspector@prime-living.com

71 • live well • Feel Good, Look Good Skin Outlook: Sunny • Fashionably Faux • Fit Tips for on the Road 76 • prime list • Events, Galas and Fundraisers Prime Living’s Women’s Health Symposium • Grand Food & Wine Affair • Mad Hatter Spring Luncheon

Account Executives Marie Brashears

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mbrashears@prime-living.com

Darren Markle

dmarkle@prime-living.com

Marketing/Events Executive Jennifer Dean jend@prime-living.com

the

list

Circulation/ Distribution Brian Stavert

bstavert@prime-living.com

Contact 311 Julie Rivers Drive Sugar Land, Texas 77498 281.277.2333

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Texas

j u ly / a u

011 gust 2

e The Luxury of Choic

food food glorious

to divine From top toques your teeth desserts, sink food issue into PL’s annual

of Glory Blades battle it out in a rising chefs competition unique culinary

Tartsner Queen of for confectio Life is sweet rado Gesine Bullock-P

Road Sipping Cruisin’ through California wine country

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prime-living.com

on the cover Heirloom Tomato and Watermelon Salad created by Chef Jeramie Robison, executive chef of Restaurant CINQ at La Colombe d’Or. Photographed by Mark Lipczynski.

Editorial Inquiries editor@prime-living.com Advertising Information advertise@prime-living.com www.prime-living.com Prime Living Magazine is a publication of SRG Services, Inc., published bi-monthly.

Copies are mailed and hand-delivered to households and businesses throughout the greater Houston area. This publication may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, without the express prior written permission of the publisher. The publisher assumes no responsibility to any party for the content of any advertisement in this publication. The opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the position of the publication.

publisher’s note

Although this is our

annual Food &Wine issue,it really

coming up The Texas Issue Saddle up for our annual celebration of all things Texas, filled with everything we love about the Lone Star State!

empty nesting Scan this code to see what the housing experts are saying!

should be called our

“get inspired”

karyn dean Publisher & Editor-in-Chief

issue!

A

local event planner recently shared that outdoor entertaining is the fashionable thing to do this summer. Thankfully in Houston (in spite of record heat), humidity, refreshing breezes and a pleasantly surprising absence of mosquitoes has turned many a backyard into a veritable “garden of Eden” for the perfect soiree.

If you’re looking to throw your own summer bash, Prime Living can help you be the talk of the neighborhood with a few fun summer drink inspirations—recipes and all! Looking to impress your guests with interesting tidbits about the drinks you’re preparing? Check out “Rum on a Roll” on page 44. And don’t forget to scan the QR code for a bit of history worth repeating! We also have more recipes, photos and videos on how to make the perfect summer cocktail at prime-living.com.

Managing editor Michelle Jacoby and I had such a great time with “A Cut Above,” our homage to the Food Network’s popular show “Chopped” on page 33, that we’re seriously thinking about making it an annual event. Watching each chef perform in his own kitchen (here I am giving Jason Chaney, executive chef at the Barbed Rose Steakhouse, an encouraging hug) and witnessing the moment when that creative spark of inspiration hit was, well, amazing. And through this culinary adventure, Michelle and I found out that we’re not ashamed to ask if we can lick the plate!

Speaking of artistic inspiration, creating sugary goodness with Gesine Bullock-Prado was every bit as magical as it appears in “How Sweet it Is” on page 33. Gesine was charming, beautiful and authentic, and kept us captivated as we listened to her stories of delicious inspiration. If you love recipes, then you’ll love her blog, confectionsofamasterbaker.blogspot. com, where she shares some of her favorites.

I was also so inspired by our feature “California Dreamin’” on page 59. So much so that my family and I decided to take a road trip along Highway 29 in northern California’s gorgeous wine country. Whether you’re a regular to the Napa and Sonoma valleys or have never been, we share the top things to see and do.

Although this is our annual Food & Wine issue, it really should be called our “get inspired” issue!

kdean@prime-living.com P.S. I hope you’ll join me in helping Gesine reach her goal of raising $64,000 for the American Cancer Society. Her personal ACS page is accessible from her blog. Thank you!

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cocktails & conversation.

cocktails & the prime living guide to what's happening now

inside:

Titian (Tiziano Vecellio).

Diana and Actaeon, 1556 – 1559

10 11 12 14 15 16 18 19

• • • • • • • •

Prime Ten | Tune In Night Out | Theater al Fresco The Buzz | What's New Hot List | Keep on Truckin' Nostalgia | (Not) Just Desserts Arts | Embracing Her Craft My Life | Ken Palmer Design | What's Cooking

july/august • 2011

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cocktails & conversation.

prime ten

10

tune in:

New Cooking Show Concepts

Story | sally j. clasen Illustration | John S. Dykes

It’s almost fall, which means a smorgasbord of TV viewing options are cooking. What’s on the burner? Here are 10 shows simmering in food and beverage development.

“Get Buzzed Now.” The world’s most notorious drunks teach viewers how to brew cheap and effective cocktails using simple household ingredients.

“Bottom Chefs.” Reality cooking show cast-offs are featured in their new careers, which include everything from cafeteria dishwasher to supermarket stocker.

“Beef: It’s What’s for Dinner.” Hunky men with questionable culinary skills work the grill sans aprons and shirts—and no one really cares what’s cooking.

“Cooking with the Has-Beens.” You won’t recognize anyone from this so-called list of stars as they compete, recipe-to-recipe, in a desperate attempt to revive a baked entertainment career.

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“Cake Assistant.” A low-level pastry chef decorates his way out of the frosting shadows to create his own award-winning fondant in this revealing documentary series.

“Hellcat’s Kitchen.”

Co-hosts Rachael Ray and Paula Deen scratch the homemade “yummos” and “y’alls” in a messy bake-off that promises to be TV’s biggest cooking catfight of the season.

“Tongue vs.

Cheek.” Dinner dates Anthony Bourdain and Gordon Ramsay toss bitter barbs in a beastly battle of food cynicism.

“Recipes from Rehab.” Filmed at recovery facilities across the country, celebrities take advantage of the self-improvement spotlight to showcase their favorite dysfunctional family recipes.

“No, You Can’t Cook.” Master chefs make it really clear to culinary wannabes they’ll never chop or sauté anything in this hour-long lesson in kitchen domination.

“100 Percent Processed.” No one on this show visits a farmer’s market because everything needed for a tasty—and sustainable— American diet is in the canned or frozen food section.

night out

cocktails & conversation.

While you’re in the neighborhood, check out these other great spots:

Hermann Park

theater al fresco H

leroy gibbins

Story | jean ciampi

oustonians have been drawn to the Miller Outdoor Theatre like moths to the stage lights since it began as a permanent bandstand in Hermann Park in 1928.

While there is fixed seating for more than 1,700 ticket holders, it’s often the theater’s grassy hillside that is the best seat—or blanket—in the house.

The landmark hill, created from dirt excavated from Fannin Street as the Houston Medical Center expanded, comfortably accommodates 4,500 audience members stretched out with their baskets of delicacies, from crudités and pinot noir, to pizza and beer.

A longtime center for entertainment and culture, Houstonians gathered here to listen to KPRC Radio’s broadcast of the 1925 World Series. They crowded in again in 1941 for the

first Houston Symphony concert (the Summer Symphony Series has been an annual fixture ever since). In 1968, Theatre Under the Stars brought the lights up on their first production “Bells are Ringing” and has continued to entertain thousands each year with Broadway-quality performances. Then-presidentialcandidate Richard Nixon even chose the venue for a major campaign speech during a stop in 1968.

Miller Outdoor Theatre proudly claims the title of the largest always-free program of its kind. The schedule includes the Houston Ballet, opera, children’s performances, movies, the Houston Shakespeare Festival and a wide variety of others.

Beginning with this year’s season, ticketed, assigned seating is available in the covered area for

evening events, except for movies and children’s theater shows.

While the assigned seating is still free, tickets are only available at the box office from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the day of the performance while supplies last with a limit of four. Remaining tickets are then given out one hour before curtain.

Certainly a seat close to the stage and its 110-ton air conditioning units can be attractive, especially on a muggy, summer night. But it’s hard to top the toes-in-the-grass, blanketon-the-hill spots when the moon is out and the stars are bright.

miller outdoor theatre 6000 hermann park dr.

281-373-3386 milleroutdoortheatre.com

Covering 7.5 wooded acres, Hermann Park is home to the Houston Zoo, the Museum of Natural Science and the Houston Garden Center.

Sports enthusiasts come for the popular exercise loop or to hit a round at the golf course. And who doesn’t treasure their memories of riding the park’s train?

6001 Fannin St. 713-524-5876 hermannpark.org

Hotel ZaZa

If a hillside picnic doesn’t quite fit the bill, jump to the other end of the spectrum with Hotel ZaZa’s Ultimate Ransom Room, the premier private dining room in downtown Houston.

Spectacular cuisine in an intimate setting is the flourish of fine living and defines the room’s air of luxury.

5701 Main St. 713-526-1991 hotelzazahouston.com

Houston Center for Photography

In the heart of the Museum District, the Houston Center for Photography offers yearround exhibits, workshops, lectures and classes for those who believe a picture really is worth a thousand words.

It’s also home to a 2,500-plus photography book library and a state-of-the-art digital darkroom.

1441 W. Alabama 713-529-4755 hcponline.org

july/august • 2011

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I

buzz

hair Today…

n L.A. they’re all the rage, and now Houston has a salon for the busy social bee looking for a little pick-me-up for her coif. Located on the corner of Westheimer and River Oaks Blvd., the Blow Dry Bar specializes in a “menu” of blowout styles. The idea is to pick the blow dry according to the occasion. Blow Dry Bar has customers looking their best in around 30 to 45 minutes with a shampoo and blow dry. 3264 Westheimer.

713-522-2068, blowdrybarhouston.com While on the subject of hairdos, Artemis Hair Studio specializes in custom wigs made with the best human hair available, detailed

made With Love S cap construction and precise color blending.

Customers also can take advantage of comfortable and private fitting rooms, and the expertise of stylist Kitsa Strait to help style their wig. 4950 Bissonnet, Bellaire. 713-667-1283, artemishair.com

Backyard Bartender

Ever heard of a sweet Watermelon-tini? Or how about a Watermelon Keg? Scan this code using your smartphone for unique summer drink recipes perfect for entertaining or just cooling off on a hot summer night.

et to be released in September, “Green Beans and Guacamole” is a new book featuring 50 Houston restaurants, including Sorrento’s, Tony’s and Mockingbird Bistro that will share delicious recipes inspired by the book’s title.

Austin Hanson, who has intellectual disabilities, wanted to throw a party for his mother, Belinda Hillhouse, and insisted green beans and guacamole, her two favorite foods, be on the menu.

Inspired by her son’s thoughtfulness, Hillhouse created the book, which will benefit the ARC, a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating opportunities for children and adults with intellectual disabilities. greenbeansandguacamole.com

fashion forward A

trium is the newest couture boutique to open its doors in the posh River Oaks area.

The boutique specializes in designer cocktail and evening gowns, including styles by renowned celebrity designer Prabal Gurung, who’s responsible for dressing everyone from First Lady Michelle Obama to Hollywood hottie Demi Moore. Created by Luvi Wheelock, owner of Case de Novia wedding boutique, each gown is close to couture as possible with only one size in each design. Atrium is located at 3331 D’Amico, between Waugh and Shepherd.

In other fashion news, famed designer and native Houstonian David Peck recently stopped at Tootsie’s to showcase his 2011 spring/summer and fall/winter collections. Peck is the creator of the CrOp Collection, which specializes in sustainable and eco-friendly materials. He’s also become a favorite of singer/songwriter Taylor Swift. Going green never looked so good!

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Laura Hollander Photography | David Peck | Brad Carr

cocktails & conversation.

cocktails & conversation.

buzz

PL’s app list Our favorite foodie apps

IPHONE Yelp

room With a Vue C

lub veteran Woody Gould of Guava Lamp has teamed up with Chelsea Grill’s hospitality honcho Tony Gutierrez to open Vue, Houston’s new dance club located in the River Oaks/ Montrose area. This sleek, chic club and lounge offers expansive views of treetops and grassy hills surrounding Buffalo Bayou at Waugh.

Gould and Gutierrez picked 526 Waugh, formerly occupied

by The Laff-Stop, because of its 7,000-square-foot spacious interior

that offers a range of areas for customers seeking a variety of experiences, including the “Room with a Vue” for private events of all sizes.

Houston- and New York-based interior designer Michael Stribling of HGTV’s “Design Star” helped create the “sexy meets urban fabulous” interiors, including 180 artistically placed mirrors and custom seating.

Vue is open from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m., Thursday through Sunday. vuehouston.com

Venetian Renaissance

emily Plumbean

T

he Museum of Fine Arts, Houston has collaborated with the National Galleries of Scotland, the High Museum of Art, Atlanta and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts to bring amazing works that showcase the grand splendor of Renaissance Venice.

“Titian and the Golden Age of Venetian Painting: Masterpieces from the National Galleries of Scotland” features 25 masterworks, and includes two of the greatest paintings of the Italian Renaissance: Titian’s “Diana and Actaeon” and “Diana and Callisto” (1556-1559). This is the first time the two paintings have traveled to the United States.

In addition to the “Diana” paintings, the exhibit features 10 other paintings—including Titian’s “Venus Rising from the Sea,” Lorenzo Lotto’s “Virgin and Child with Saints,” Jacopo Tintoretto’s “Christ Carried to the Tomb,” and Jacopo Bassano’s

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Share what you’re drinking with your friends with this easy-to-use wine journal.

Food on the Table

What’s for dinner? Plan your menu with this stress-free weekly meal planning app using specials from your local grocery store.

Titian (Tiziano Vecellio). Diana and Callisto, 1556 – 1559.

“Adoration of the Magi”—as Admission requires a timedwell as 13 drawings by Titian, entry ticket that includes general Tintoretto and Veronese, and admission to the museum. 713other Venetian Renaissance artists. 639-7300, mfah.org

Roseann Rogers Known as Houston’s “Buzz Lady,” Roseann Rogers has been on top of the Houston’s social, fashion and entertainment scene for nearly 15 years. A regular contributor to Prime Living, she is also a TV personality, spokesperson and active philanthropist.

july/august • 2011

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cocktails & conversation.

hot list

Keep On Story | jean ciampi

truckin’

Photography | mark lipczynski

Ever since the chuck wagon brought grub around to feed hungry cowboys and field hands, the moveable feast has been a way of life for busy Texans on the move. Around Houston, you only have to track the trucks to find top-notch gourmet to go.

Houston hasn’t been the same since husbandand-wife team Michelle Mazoch and Justin Febbo established MMM Cupcake truck.

There’s nothing quite like a truck armed with delicious, fresh cupcakes on the go. Choose your cake and frosting for instant yumminess!

832-398-8086 mmmcupcake.net

Eatsie Boys

Founders and friends Chef Matt Marcus, Ryan Soroka and Alex Vassilakidis roll in for corporate functions, house parties or just to provide lunch to the man on the street. Their gourmet sandwiches or homemade chicken poblano sausage, made from locally sourced ingredients, deserve white table cloths, but thrive on the black top.

845-430-8479 eatsieboys.com

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prime-living.com

Oh My! Pocket Pies

Oh My! Pocket Pies remembers what a homecooked, farm fresh meal tastes like. They’re packing tasty comfort food with a side of love into flaky dough for the perfect pocketsized lunch. Find them Wednesday through Saturday in the Heights.

281-902-9820 ohmypocketpies.com

Green 2 Go

Committed to the smallest carbon footprint while providing the biggest value in healthy meals, Green Cuisine 2 Go serves their pastas, sandwiches, crepes, salads and signature hibiscus juice in biodegradable, corn-based containers. Even the truck is made from recycled materials and is partially solar powered. You can eat healthy and be green!

713-204-0407 greencuisine2go.com

Bernie’s Burger Bus

It’s logical that gourmet chef Justin Turner is doing burgers the old-school way, especially since he’s taken up residence in a refurbished yellow school bus. His homemade ketchup, mayo and pickles top off a selection of grassfed, Black Angus burgers that are easily the top of the class.

281-336-2447 berniesburgerbus.com

Justin Turner

MMM Cupcake

nostalgia

cocktails & conversation.

Dairy Queen in 1942.

(not)

Just Desserts

Dairy Queen today.

Story | Bruce Farr

American Dairy Queen Corp.

C

an anyone out there imagine Warren Buffett pulling up to the takeout window at Dairy Queen and ordering a couple of Blizzards for the road? The notion of the world-renowned billionaire businessman giving himself brain freeze becomes eminently more plausible when you learn that he actually owns the venerable, 60-year-old DQ chain.

Well, at least his company Berkshire Hathaway does.

If indeed Buffett has a taste for DQ’s iconic frozen treats, he’s not alone. In 1985, the first year the popular Blizzard was introduced, DQ sold a cool 175 million of the creamy frappes. But that number pales in comparison to the ice cream franchises’ overall reach. With 5,700 independently owned and operated stores now operating in 22 countries all over the world, it’s safe to say that millions—if not billions—make a regular trek to the familiar redroofed franchises for a frothy fix.

It all began in 1938 in Kankakee, Ill., when, on a hot summer day, a father and son who ran

the local mixing plant decided to tinker with an ice cream recipe that essentially was the granddaddy of what we now call “soft-serve.” They convinced a buddy of theirs who owned a local ice cream parlor to sell the creamy concoction “all you can eat” for a whopping 10 cents.

In what unwittingly might have been the world’s first large-scale focus group, the good people of Kankakee came out in droves for a sample, ultimately offering a rousing “thumbs up” for the sweet, smooth-as-silk dessert that has since become a staple of American culture.

The chain showed modest growth through the early 1940s, but

Dairy Queen really began to hit its stride after the end of World War II, when returning soldiers and their families were eager to seek out and enjoy the homely comforts they’d left behind. At one point, the chain was just behind McDonald’s in sales figures.

One of the keys to the franchise’s longstanding success has been its deft touch

Shooting the (DQ) Curl What makes a Dairy Queen soft-serve cone official? Why, it’s the signature Dairy Queen “curl,” that’s what. And it’s not as simple as it might seem. With the cone under the dispenser nozzle, a DQ server learns that after he or she fills the cone, they must shut down the dispenser, count for two or three seconds and then pull it down and count again. Then by turning off the machine and executing an adroit twist of the wrist, a perfect DQ curl is born. And, by the way, just how cold is that ice cream? When DQ soft-serve leaves the machine, it’s supposed to be 19 degrees. Icy!

at introducing new products that become instantly beloved.

Decades before the Blizzard took America by storm, the company’s products expanded from simple soft-serve to include malts and milkshakes in 1949, banana splits in 1951, lime-infused “Dilly Bars” in 1955, “Mr. Misty” slush treats in 1961 (they eventually were renamed “Arctic Rush”), and a range of cooked foods, including burgers that were broiled under the trademarked DQ “Brazier” banner in 1958.

Despite its Midwestern genesis, through the years, DQ has established some significant roots in the Lone Star State.

With, at last count, nearly 250 locations within its boundaries, Texas can lay rightful claim to being the most Dairy Queencrazed state in the U.S. Texans everywhere flock to DQ for their exclusive brand of DQ favorites, such as Hung-R Busters, the Dude Chicken Fried Steak Sandwich, and T-Brand Tacos.

At the heart of DQ’s success, though, is the fact that even after 60 years, no American can seem to get enough of what Dairy Queen has always done best: a cool and creamy-smooth cone on a balmy summer night. Now that’s “chill.” july/august • 2011

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cocktails & conversation.

arts

embracing

craft

her

A

decade ago, Houston decided to gaze beyond its well-established fascination with fine arts to explore an equally, if not even more, ancient method of self-expression: craft.

At the organization born of that commitment, executive director Julie Farr is working overtime to celebrate a milestone birthday while clarifying what awaits and what happens at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft.

The HCCC is now presenting a show called “Crafting Live(s),” the first alumni exhibition of its Artist Residency Program. Spotlighting a relatively short, yet rich history, the exhibit also speaks of the motivating force behind the institution’s founding in 2001. More than 70 artists have graced the halls and studios of these facilities since then, bringing a dynamic energy to the field of craft and the art of producing it here in Houston.

“Craft is an integral part of countless cultures and in many of them, is still a way of life,” says Farr, who joined HCCC in 2007 after serving as executive director of the Society for Contemporary Craft in Pittsburgh. “We grow up with craft all around us, but Americans don’t necessarily celebrate it. Or else it’s compartmentalized as something apart from daily living.”

A Pennsylvania native, Farr owned a fine art photography business for a dozen years and has

more than seven years experience leading nonprofit arts organizations. Her education ranges from a BA in photography from Penn State to an MA in advertising design from Marywood University.

During her years in Pittsburgh, she not only ran that city’s version of HCCC, but also spent years as executive director of the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Alliance. As such, she did the two things the arts probably need most in Texas: raising awareness about their overall societal impact and advocating art programs in the schools. Her job may have changed from those days with the Arts Alliance; her geography certainly has. But the mission of spreading the arts gospel—and specifically at HCCC the crafts gospel—remains something Farr is inspired by every day.

No fewer than 35 former artists-in-residence have chosen to participate in the current exhibition. They were encouraged to create new work reflecting both their present practices and their overall body of work. “Crafting Live(s)” features a wide variety of media and forms, including installation, sculpture, video, and functional and nonfunctional objects.

“Craft is very accessible art,” says Farr.

“Essentially, what we present is processed-based art that is defined by its materials. Everyone can relate in some way to the form or function of the object.”

Spotlight: La Colombe d’Or Art Gallery

Established in 2003, La Colombe d’Or Art Gallery has quickly risen to become a must-see for art enthusiasts “hungry” for unique works. Located on the third floor of the historic inn and upscale restaurant, the collection features artists whose works are displayed in museums around the world, including Francesco Carracio and Guy Toubon to name a few. Open daily.

3410 montrose blvd. • 713-469-4750 • lacolombedorhouston.com

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prime-living.com

review Port Mortuary Patricia Cornwell

T

here are many excellent reasons to embrace “Port Mortuary” (Putnam, $27.95), Patricia Cornwell’s 18th adventure built around medical examiner Kay Scarpetta, but none more elemental than her return to Kay as first-person narrator.

The story begins with Kay working with fallen Americans shipped from Iraq and Afghanistan to a real-life military forensic facility in Dover, Md. What’s important, though, is not that we’re intellectually challenged to figure out a series of grisly domestic who-dunnits, but that we’re forced, living inside Kay Scarpetta’s first-person voice, to feel a noose that’s tightening with cruelties from the present, the future and especially from her own past.

Yes, in Scarpetta terms, the gang’s all here. But as they do so often in Cornwell’s books, they’re running from their own demons and/or chasing their own pipe dreams. Kay sees what she sees during those long, detailed autopsies of the seemingly unrelated victims. And it’s pointing her in a direction that puts her at odds with everything and, at times, everybody she knows and loves. – JD

Debra Gingrich

Story | John DeMers Photography | Mark Lipczynski

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cocktails & conversation.

my life

palmer ken

master roaster

H

ouston-based Texas Java Company really got percolating in 2007 after master coffee roaster Ken Palmer joined the crew. Founded in 1992 by Richard Colt, the business morphed from a coffee catering outfit to a high-quality specialty coffee roasting company with a new identity: Java Pura. He gained an in-house master roaster, a new partner, and placed his beans in Central Market and restaurants Indika and Pondicheri.

Colt’s first Java Pura store-front is next.

“I was working at a coffee roasting plant in Hawaii when I met Alfred Peet of famed Peets Coffee during a coffee cupping festival,” says Palmer. Peet, who was considered the best in the business, inspired Palmer to become a master roaster.

“It took three years for Alfred to teach me roasting techniques and finessing. Soon after, I opened my own coffee shop in Oregon, which I sold, and worked in commercial fishing in Alaska for a while. Then I moved to Houston and met Richard. The rest is coffee history,” says Palmer, a Portland native.

A master roaster is similar to a vintner. “It takes years to learn how to buy the best quality coffee beans. Also roasting is complex—a few seconds give or take makes a difference in the flavor. And then there’s the art of cupping, conducted daily with myriad samples to determine which beans to order,” says Palmer, who is training the staff at Java Pura’s Gulfton facility for his eventual retirement.

(For the uninitiated, cupping is roasting and meticulously sampling the final coffee.)

“Just like fine cheese or wine, not all coffees are created equally. Our goal is to elevate the bar on quality and offer the best you can buy,” explains Palmer, who travels extensively to Panama, Costa Rica and Columbia to source top green beans directly from farmers. Purist Palmer convinced Colt to invest in a drum roaster instead of the more common air roaster. “You have more control coaxing flavor from each bean with a drum roaster,” he says.

Speaking of flavor, Java Pura does not sell hazelnut, vanilla or pecan. “No flavored coffee. Real coffee should not taste like Snickerdoodles,” Palmer quips.

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Story | robin barr sussman

Photography | mark lipczynski

design

Nadine Hanselmann, marketing manager for Miele, whose Clean Touch Steel brand is, get this, fingerprint proof.

When it comes to counter surfaces, Bacci says it’s all about quartz. “Granite is natural and so porous. Quartz looks like stone, and you can cut on it and it won’t scratch.”

Current design is as much about function as it is about aesthetics. German-made Poggenpohl cabinets, for instance, are ergonomically designed so they go only as high as you can reach (and there’s a built-in, toe-kick ladder, just in case).

Wolf ’s induction cooking surfaces are energy efficient, stylish and fast (you can boil water in 90 seconds), while Miele offers sleek CombiSet cooking systems that combine different heat sources Story | Michael Hammett Today’s high-end appliances can stand center stage or be disguised and cooking surfaces, such as merican kitchens have behind cabinet systems, as well as an electric boiler and fryer, a cast iron griddle and induction evolved from simple other design elements. surfaces, among others. utilitarian rooms hidden “When a refrigerator goes Glass-front refrigerators are from view, to intentional out, it goes out naked, allowing also gaining popularity in the gathering spaces that demand designers to affix anything the high-end market because they attention. Of course, there client would like,” says Paul make a cool statement and are have been missteps along the Leuthe, marketing manager for energy efficient, while insisting way (think mauve Formica Sub-Zero and Wolf, adding that you keep the fridge tidy. Subcounter tops and avocado green refrigerators have been hidden appliances). Thankfully, today’s behind old sanctuary doors from Zero offers four different glass-front models. And for the designers have learned from the New Orleans, Chinese cabinet ultimate finishing touch, Bacci past and are now creating timeless doors and French pantry doors. suggests putting some money in looks that blend seamlessly with But for homeowners who want adjoining living spaces. And it all their appliances to stand out, they your faucets.

“Dornbracht faucets are a starts with the cabinets. often select the “little black dress” high-end German brand and very, “Kitchen cabinets are more of appliance design. like furniture pieces today, “Stainless is still a standard for very expensive,” she says. “They’re worth the investment.” because the kitchen is part of the appliances. It’s still No. 1,” says living space,” says Tatiana Bacci, interior designer for Poggenpohl Houston. Bacci advises mixing dark woods with high-gloss lacquered finishes that shine a spotlight on select sections of the cabinet system.

“We use white high-gloss and a silver high-gloss called Cubanit that is very popular,” she says.

Neutral-colored walls, such as a clean white, create a backdrop for the cabinets. Dark wood flooring, like walnut or Brazilian teak, adds warmth, while recessed lighting in all the right places is key to creating a dramatic effect.

What’s

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Poggenpohl | Miele

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cocktails & conversation.

everything but the kitchen sink Bring your kitchen into the 21st century with these ingenious appliance features.

Miele’s RemoteVision connects your appliances to a communication hub to alert you if your appliance needs attention. Imagine never having to worry if your refrigerator door is ajar.

For those who miss the dinner bell, a warming drawer keeps your gourmet meal tasting like it just came out of the oven.

Miele’s newest espresso machines have everything you need to whip up a cappuccino, including a dispenser that keeps milk fresh for up to eight hours.

A steam oven replaces that extra oven of years past, and makes it easy to prepare healthy meals.

In addition, a downdraft ventilation system does its job and then disappears into the counter.

Sub-Zero offers modular refrigeration units for around the house. Imagine cool beer and wine tucked away in a cabinet arms reach from the TV.

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sweet g

How

It Is

esine Bullock-Prado rings up the house phone, sounding more-than-alittle like her movie star sister Sandra. But that’s not the thing that jumps out at you.

Story | Jessica M

ebane

Photography | Sara

h Wilson

Styling | Lisa Gl

eeson

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taffy, salting caramels, icing cakes and perhaps even making whoopie pies. And because Bullock-Prado is ultimately as good a storyteller as she is confectioner, “Sugar Baby” is more entertaining to read and daydream over than any cookbook has a right to be.

act one The princess discovers magical lands

From her earliest, sugar-laden memories of traipsing across ’70s-era Germany, behind her glamorous opera diva mother Helga, Bullock-Prado makes a strong case for herself as a future master of pastry arts.

In her first book, a cracking ue Prolog memoir entitled “Confessions In the beginning of a Master Baker,” she writes Our story begins in a small in stomach-rumbling detail town about an hour’s drive how she, a huge-eyed brunette from the state capital of slip of a girl in dark braids, fell Vermont, where Bullock-Prado’s under the trance of gleaming home base for everything pastry counters and patisseries confectionary is run under that populate German towns the watchful gaze of a fierce, in much the same way golden hollow-eyed owl drawn by her arches leapfrog across America husband Ray, a respected film today. She recalls how a simple illustrator, that hangs on the hike through the German sign out front. Its gimlet stare Alps was elevated to gustatory almost dares you to enter. And, celebration, with strategically like Hansel and Gretel, the located pastry huts stationed at intrepid souls who have sampled the halfway mark, replete with Bullock-Prado’s wares are Prado’s rich and famous sibling, he first thing you realize gingerbread trim, fresh pastry it’s only a momentary distraction helpless to resist, ordering box is that you’re dealing and deliciously cold beer. after box of rustic macaroons, before the all-ages crowd who with a whip-smart, exBack home in Virginia, Starry Starry Nights cookies, has come to watch her cooking Hollywood whiz kid, who could Bullock-Prado’s mother always and other delicacies sold on her maintained a svelte figure demonstration leans in to really eat you for lunch…if only she website (gesine.com). listen and learn something. weren’t so gracious and witty. and dietary restrictions in her But this bittersweet journey Bullock-Prado begins, waxing It’s with this smart and sassy Bullock-Prado now finds herself poetic about the alchemy of manner, Bullock-Prado brings combining sugar, heat and a little on actually began in a faraway candy making to the masses in place (Germany), with a stopover luck to make candy, cakes and her delectable new cookbook, in lands fraught with peril confections like a pro, and her “Sugar Baby: Confections, (Hollywood), where the heroine audience wriggles in their seats Candies, Cakes & Other like excited children, sensing they meets a handsome, supportive Delicious Recipes for Cooking are being simultaneously charmed prince (Ray) among spray-tanned with Sugar.” But how did fops and ultimately ends on a and instructed by a bonafide, Bullock-Prado get to the sweet Jedi-master level, self-proclaimed happy, hopeful note. Bullockdestination she’s at now? With Prado has made a new life that sugar freak. sheer determination driving is as sweet and authentically This lovely, soft-spoken her along a sugar-caked road, sound as rock candy, spinning expert of the flour arts is apparently, and all the while childhood travels and grownup currently on her book tour and hearing her mother’s Germanloss into a tale that is sometimes inflected mantra resonating in her goodwill mission to raise world as gothic and twisty as anything consciousness about the lifehead, “Don’t be normal.” the Brothers Grimm ever affirming benefits of making While the greater buying Gesine (left) and her candy. Or, for that matter, pulling dreamed up. public may be aware of Bullockcousin in the early years.

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Gesine Bullock-Prado

T

Shot on location at the Whole Foods Culinary Center in Austin, Texas.

july/august • 2011

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act two Hollywood mogul morphs into a beautiful Sugar Fairy Queen (plums optional)

own household, but Helga also believed in “everything in moderation,” combined with a keen European sense of occasion.

Bullock-Prado is proud to say her mother ascribed to a dayto-day family diet filled with wheatgrass and tofu cereal, but also broke all her own rules on holidays, using the most decadent Christmas recipes culled from “The Washington Post” (the family grew up near D.C.), as well as secret family recipes and premium ingredients imported from her German relatives.

Which makes it heartbreaking to realize that this larger-thanlife woman, who instilled in

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her daughter both the joyful appreciation of fine food and sense of individuality, is gone. In 2000, after a lifetime of healthy diet and vigorous exercise, Helga Bullock was diagnosed with colon cancer. She died four years later.

In the wake of her mother’s death, Bullock-Prado consoled herself by baking and in the process, found a new strength of purpose. She decided to “chuck a fabulous career and start over,” taking her baking chops out of the closet to become a fulltime baker and pastry master.

It didn’t hurt either that Ray always believed in her as someone besides the “movie star’s sister”

and encouraged her to get out of La-La Land and pursue her true passion, even if it meant ultimately moving cross-country to Vermont and starting a new career from scratch.

Because while her sister was living her dream of stardom and fame in Hollywood, Bullock-Prado stood beside her, running their film and TV production company, Fortis Films, and “hating every minute of it.” Or, if not hating it, allowing herself to become “numbed out” from the fake smiles and tans, and bored senseless during lunches and pitch meetings where the sound of everyone tooting their own horn didn’t drown out the voice inside her. That same little voice seemed to keep asking, “What was the point again?” Until finally one morning around 2 a.m., some time after her mother had died, the voice woke her, chanting, “Goodness and kindness, together as one. Goodness and kindness, together as one.”

In her words, she suddenly realized she didn’t want “more stuff” that Hollywood success brought, but rather to “stop hating people and start understanding. And the only way I knew how to feel like a good and kind person was through baking.”

At this point, Bullock-Prado wasn’t sure where to begin: enroll in culinary school, start a bakery or ramp up an online business. So in true Bullock family, “don’t be normal” fashion, she designed her own recipe for success, self-training as a premier pastry chef through countless hours of practice on

it’s all about the sugar, baby!

Scan this code using your smartphone to see Gesine in action and to learn more about her book, “Sugar Baby.”

centuries-old, meticulous French pastry recipes that regularly make even the sternest male chefs weep. Once confident in her abilities, she and Ray opened a wildly successful bakery in Montpelier, Vt., in 2004, aptly named Gesine’s Bakery.

Why Vermont? Because the verdant, dense forests remind her of her childhood in Germany and, during a trip back to nearby New Hampshire where they revisited Ray’s alma mater for a football game, she says they crossed the western border, also known as the Connecticut River, into the Green Mountain State, where she felt she’d found “home.”

act three Sugar Fairy Queen waves her magic candy thermometer over blighted and singed cooks everywhere By 2009, Bullock-Prado and her husband had transformed the confectionary into an onlineonly business model and now split their time between Vermont and Texas. This allows her the freedom to do something she never thought she’d love as a self-described “shy misanthrope:” teach. Bullock-Prado is enthusiastically partnering with King Arthur Flour in two-day classes designed to help aspiring confectioners overcome their fear of the boiling lava that sugar can sometimes resemble during candy making, to turn out sweet, sophisticated bits of magic.

“Sugar Baby” is the culmination of all her hard work in and out of the confectionary classroom, dispelling even the most timid baker’s innate fear of scalding ribbons of sugar and ruined cookware. Even sugar itself plays a supporting role, proclaiming in the book’s introduction, “Will playing with hot sugar be fun? Hell, yes!”

So when all the baked goods are finished, shipped

to customers or eaten, how does a confectioner keep the homemade donuts and fudgy popsicles off her slender frame?

Again, Bullock-Prado’s mother’s voice comes back to her, reminding her that exercise will keep her in good stead when the calorie count escalates too far north.

“My mom was a marathon runner for years and after she died at 64, I decided to raise money for American Cancer Society Research through my own marathon efforts,” she says.

“I want to raise $1,000 for every year she lived and it makes me unbelievably happy when I’m able to get those $10 and $20 donations toward the cause. You can follow a link on my website to help me reach my goal for American Cancer Society fundraising.”

epilogue Sweet Ending So whether she’s whipping up a batch of pies in the name of research for her next book “Pie it Forward,” or posting pictures of her “Sugar Baby” disciples’ sweet offerings on her blog, BullockPrado seems to have carved a singular niche for herself and found great success along the way. Maybe it’s not the path she thought she’d be on when she joined her sister in Hollywood all those years ago, but it seems to be solidly mapped out and true to the confident and successful woman she’s become.

All fairy tale clichés aside, Bullock-Prado is a confectioner and pastry artist, who emerged from tragedy to do what she was truly meant to do.

“You know, I’m pretty sure I could’ve handled the witch that tried to snag Hansel and Gretel with that house made of candy,” she says. “Who can be afraid of someone that builds with gingerbread and icing?”

Who, indeed.

The Sugary Truth

Gesine answers our most burning questions Q. What five things do you always have in your fridge?

Butter, heavy cream, eggs, sugar and sea salt! I’m a proponent of seasoning sweets. You’ve got to have a little salty with your sweet.

Q. What’s the most outrageous mistake/baking failure, a la Lucy-in-the-candy-factory moment, you’ve had working with sugar? What did it teach you?

I poked hot caramel. I was trying to get hardened caramel from a sauce pan I needed. I put it over gentle heat and kept poking it to check to see if it had loosened up. Poke, poke, poke. The last poke had my hand going straight into a vat of molten caramel and, in my idiot instant reflex to get the hot candy glove off my hand, I tried to wipe the stuff off on the back of my shirt. I hit skin instead, so now I have a caramel burn scar on my back. Not very sexy. Hence, one of the mottos in the “Sugar Baby” flyleaf states clearly: Never Poke Hot Caramel.

Q. What's on the writing and baking horizon?

“Pie It Forward” is my take on…wait for it…pie. There’s no reason that pie can’t be all things good, from rustic and homey, to elegant and wedding-perfect. As long as you have the right elements—the yummy, flaky, buttery crust, fantastic fillings—there’s no reason you can’t make it a showpiece. The book is due out April 2012.

I have another work in progress, entitled “Running in Circles.” It‘s an ongoing effort that coincides with my fundraising. The faster I can raise the $64,000, the sooner I can finish the book (and rest my legs).

Q. Would she describe “Running in Circles” as a runner’s memoir, how-to treatise or a Zen document?

It’s a daughter’s memoir and a pilgrimage story—a daughter who runs in honor of her mother. That includes not just me, but all the men and women who have lost mothers, fathers, husbands, wives, children, siblings and friends, and find solace through running (and jumping and swimming and cycling) their hearts out for charity.

Q. What are you reading right now?

“Bossypants” by Tina Fey. It makes me deliriously happy how funny and smart she is, especially since we’re both University of Virginia alumni from the same class. I’m hoping some of her talent rubbed off on the rest of us.

july/august • 2011

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t u c a e v o Ab s= t n e i d e r g n i y r e t s 4 chefs + 4 my genius culinary

Photography | Mark Lipczynski

og tle h t a W Red bone k nec ns gree d r ta Mus ale k or m an amo d r a exic C M ( o arind dy) Pulp rind can tama

B

ecause imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Prime Living took cues from the Food Network’s popular hit show “Chopped” and created our very own cooking competition.

With the help of guest chef Monica Pope, owner of T’afia and a “Top Chef Masters” alum, and Morgan Weber, owner of Revival Market, we rounded up four mystery ingredients and asked four of Houston’s rising chefs to create an original dish using all of the items in just 45 minutes. Here’s what happened...

july/august • 2011

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jeramie robison What’s the name of your dish?

Wild boar medallions. Tender wild boar, braised kale, cipolin onions, cardamom foam and crunchy candy.

What was your initial reaction to the ingredients?

I’m a big fan of kale, so I was excited to see that ingredient. The cardamom is something that I’ve used in a ketchup, but not much else. The boar collar is a protein that I haven’t worked with in the past at all. The candy totally threw me for a loop! I don’t have much of a sweet tooth and, on top of that, the brand and type was the last thing I expected to see.

Which one was the biggest challenge to work with?

The candy. Trick or treat!

What was your plan or inspiration for the dish? Did it come out the way you wanted?

The flavors seem to have come together nicely. Everything was well seasoned, the boar was tender as could be, and the cardamom foam added a nice dimension to the dish.

If there was one thing you could have had that you didn’t, what would it have been and why?

I would’ve used the candy in a totally different way. It added a texture that I liked to the medallions, but in hindsight, it could’ve been incorporated better into the dish as a whole.

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Restaurant CINQ Wild Boar Medallions

Branch Water Tavern Tamarind Braised Pork Neck

david grossman What’s the name of your dish?

Tamarind braised pork neck with crispy mustard greens and cardamom crème fraiche.

What was your initial reaction to the ingredients?

I was happy to see the tamarind candies. I’m also familiar with the pork neck and mustard greens. I knew cardamom would definitely fit well with those ingredients.

Which one was the biggest challenge to work with?

The pork neck.

What was your plan or inspiration for the dish? Did it come out the way you wanted?

I attempted to make a sorbet from the cardamom, but it didn’t work out. I also underestimated the time that the pork neck would take in the pressure cooker. In short, it didn’t come out the way I had envisioned. I wouldn’t have chosen to braise the pork neck, too risky of a decision in a short amount of time.

If there was one thing you could have had that you didn’t, what would it have been and why?

I was actually very pleased with the ingredients. I think that I was overly ambitious with my preparations and it hurt me.

july/august • 2011

31

jason chaney What’s the name of your dish?

Pulparindo braised Red Wattle neck with cardamomscented sweet potatoes, local mustard green purée and melted local tomato salsa.

What was your initial reaction to the ingredients?

I was shocked that I had been given a pork neck to cook in 45 minutes!

All the ingredients were groovy, including the Red Wattle neck. The tricky part was combining the neck with a 45-minute cook time.

Which one was the biggest challenge to work with?

The Red Wattle neck. Every time I’ve worked with neck in the past, it’s involved a long braise. The slow cooking method breaks down the abundant connective tissue and makes for a piece of fork-tender meat.

Obviously, this was not an option in the allotted time frame.

What was your plan or inspiration for the dish? Did it come out the way you wanted?

Pork and mustard are a typical match, and sweet potatoes are a common companion. It made sense to me to add the cardamom to the potatoes and the pulmarindo to the braising liquid. I also made a quick salsa with local grape tomatoes and chopped cilantro as an homage to the Mexican cooks who would bring the candy to work in their knife rolls and share throughout service. I’m pleased with how the dish came out; so much, in fact, that I can see it making the menu in the not too distant future.

If there was one thing you could have had that you didn’t, what would it have been and why?

More time. I prefer a braised piece of meet that is fork-tender, but not falling apart. It’s the way a pork neck should be served. Obviously this is my own opinion, of course.

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Barbed Rose Steakhouse Pulparindo Braised Red Wattle Neck

Bootsie’s Heritage Café Pork Neck with Mustard Flowers

randy rucker What’s the name of your dish?

Pork neck with mustard flowers, tamarind and black cardamom.

What was your initial reaction to the ingredients?

“Shit! Pork neck in 45 minutes?”

Which one was the biggest challenge to work with?

The candy, since I’ve never had it before.

What was your plan or inspiration for the dish? Did it come out the way you wanted?

I knew I had to break down the neck and cook the muscles separately.

I wanted to use every inch of the protein and showcase the power of so-called economy cuts.

If there was one thing you could have had that you didn’t, what would it have been and why?

Nah, we basically cook that way here everyday.

july/august • 2011

33

and the winner is…

Cheers!

A special thanks to all the players in our special competition. We raise our forks to this great group of people who helped make it all happen.

randy rucker Bootsie’s Heritage Café

P

rime Living publisher Karyn Dean and managing editor Michelle Jacoby had the enviable task of choosing the winner of this unique culinary competition.

After carefully tasting each dish, the decision came down to the last piece. Literally.

“As amazing as all the chefs did, our choice fell to Randy.

We knew he was the winner after we found ourselves fighting for the last piece,” Dean says. “Congratulations and thanks to all our chefs for their culinary genius and and for being such great sports!”

Monica Pope T’afia

3701 Travis St. 713-524-6922 tafia.com

Morgan Weber Revival Market

550 Heights Blvd.

713-880-8463 revivalmarket.com

Jason Chaney

Barbed Rose Steakhouse 113 E. Sealy St., Alvin 281-585-2272 barbedrose.com

David Grossman Branch Water Tavern

510 Shepherd 713-863-7777 branchwatertavern.com

Jeramie Robison Restaurant CINQ La Colombe d’Or

3410 Montrose Blvd.

713-569-4750 lacolombedorhouston.com

Randy Rucker

Bootsie’s Heritage Café 112 Commerce St., Tomball 281-516-9699 bootsiescafe.wordpress.com

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inside: Fontina, bacon and onion dip with flatbread, Benjy’s

38 40 42 44 46

• • • • •

Main Dish | Simply Sublime Small Bites | Good Eats Table Talk | Dining News Uncorked | Rum on a Roll Entertain | White Haute

july/august • 2011

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connoisseur main dish

simply

sublime Story | Holly Beretto Photography | Mark Lipczynski

When La Colombe d’Or proprietor Steve Zimmerman gently handed over the operational reigns of his restaurant-cumauberge last year to his sons Dan and Mark, he told them they could do whatever they liked with the place…as long as they left his rack of lamb alone.

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The sons abided by their dad’s wishes, but the rest of La Colombe d’Or, the venerable Montrose address that was, in a former life, the mansion home of the Fondren oil family, got something of a facelift. New fixtures light up the mansion’s half-dozen guest suites, and the restaurant was reimagined as CINQ. If you want to see how old school and new blood can sit comfortably side by side, complementing each other’s strengths, look no further than CINQ, where wunderkind executive chef Jeramie Robison revamped the menu, adding imaginative contemporary touches, even as he had the solid common sense to keep La Colombe d’Or’s most enduring dishes. The menu is divided into “New Ideas” and “Classics,” each offering ample rewards.

A hot summer evening’s repast should start with Robison’s watermelon salad, a cooling first course combining the zingy acidity of yellow heirloom tomatoes with sweet, refreshing vine-ripened watermelon. Topped with tangy feta and an Asian-inspired rice vinaigrette, this summer salad is a blissful beginning.

For something more old school, the escargots Bourguignon offer up a garlicky, buttery delight. Speaking of classics, the Hudson Valley foie gras is rich and rewarding, served with a grenadine rhubarb and dusted lightly with a balsamic reduction. Another appetizer proving popular with newcomers and old fans alike is Robison’s stuffed calamari, which can only be described as a delight.

He stuffs the body of the squid with mushroom and shrimp, then serves it with a huge prawn

and crisped tentacles, alongside kimchi and yuzu sauce.

“It’s my way of combining flavors of the earth and the sea,” he says. “There’s the earthy mushroom and the cabbage of the kimchi, sitting against the ocean flavors of the squid.”

As a main course, you can sample Zimmerman’s beloved baby Colorado rack of lamb, roasted to perfection and topped with a satisfying red wine demi-glace, served with spring vegetables. It’s hard to find a more wonderfully done classic on the menu.

For something new, sample the pan-seared grouper. The simple salt and pepper crust belies the explosion of flavor in this light summer fare.

It’s prepared atop a jalapeno polenta, offering a bright, cheesy complement to the fish, and accompanied by a chunky avocado relish that’s a perfect exclamation point on the entrée.

At press time, Robison was still tinkering with the dessert menu, although he insists the Chocolate Marquise will remain.

The classically French preparation manifests like a chilled brownie, all dense, rich, creamy chocolate.

If it’s true that the only constant is change, the changes at La Colombe d’Or are the kinds that demonstrate that while there may be something of a generation gap in play, it’s clear that those generations are learning from each other, and having a great time, too.

restaurant cinq la colombe d’or 3410 montrose blvd.

713-469-4750

lacolombedorhouston.com

connoisseur main dish

Heirloom Tomato & Watermelon Salad

Chocolate Marquise

1 vine ripened, seedless watermelon 4 vine ripened heirloom tomatoes 6 oz. feta cheese 1 cup extra virgin olive oil 6 tbsp. rice wine vinegar 1 shallot (minced) 1 bunch tarragon 1 bunch chervil 1 bunch parsley Salt and pepper Take the minced shallot and place into a bain-marie. Add the rice wine vinegar and slowly whisk in the olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Put mixture in a small container and refrigerate.

Pick the leaves from the tarragon, parsley and chervil. Place the herbs in a damp cloth and refrigerate. Slice the tomatoes 1/4inch thick and place on a chilled plate around 8 inches in diameter (three slices per serving). Cut the watermelon into 3-by-3-inch rectangles. Lay two pieces of melon on the tomatoes and stack two more slices on top of those. Salt the melon and tomatoes. Add the herbs over the entire salad, about five leaves of each herb. Crumble the feta over the salad and finish with a drizzle of the rice wine vinaigrette. Serves 4.

Baby Colorado rack of lamb

Hudson Valley foie gras

Stuffed calamari

Pan-seared grouper

july/august • 2011

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connoisseur

small bites

summer refresher

Seawall Boulevard, Olivette

good eats Story | Holly Beretto Photography | Mark Lipczynski

For a new take on the well-rounded meal, table-hop these Houston eateries for some of the best tastes in town.

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“This is my take on my father’s recipe,” Bistro Alex executive chef Juan Carlos Gonzalez explains, gesturing to the rich, orange-red, slightly textured concoction on the table, its redness in stark contrast to the bright white of the serving bowl. “There are a million ways to do gazpacho. This was my choice for summer.”

Gonzalez’s dad, who he describes as a “home cook,” shared with his son the secrets of the popular cold soup descended from Spain’s Andalusia, a wide area in that country’s south, where the terrain ranges from high, alpine mountains to hot, stark deserts.

The version the younger Gonzalez has cooked up for Bistro Alex’s summer menu keeps the usual ingredients of tomatoes, bell peppers and garlic, among others, but adds to it a melon trio of watermelon, honeydew and cantaloupe, along with a blend of 15 spices.

The result is something at once familiar and surprising. Here are the roasted tomato and heat from red pepper and jalapenos, sitting side-by-side the cooling, sweet melon tones.

Then, there’s the creamy blend of basil crème fraiche, adding texture and depth, making the dish a refreshing start to a meal, even as its bold flavors are easily a repast in its own right.

Gonzalez’s natural instinct to combine hot, spicy sensations with crisp undertones makes for a sunny, fun take on a classic. bistro alex at hotel sorella 800 w. sam houston pkwy.

713-827-3545 bistroalex.com

c connoisseur

Les Poissons

small bites

When Olivette executive chef Neal Cox was about 10 years old, his aunt and uncle took him out for his first dinner at a French restaurant. He ordered bouillabaisse and was delighted when it arrived at the table, a hearty bowl of shrimp, clams and mussels.

“I mean, there was so much for a kid to look at in that dish,” he remembers fondly.

Since then, the traditional Provencal seafood stew has become a favorite—something the chef confesses to ordering whenever he sees it on a menu. It stood to reason then, that he’d add it to his own.

“It took us about two or three months to perfect the recipe,” he says. “And now, people just love it.”

It’s not hard to understand why. The lengthy, two-day preparation that goes into making it is worth every minute, because Cox’s creation is one that’s hearty enough for chilly Houston winters, but easy enough to stand up to the summer’s heat and humidity. Using as much local fish as he can collect, augmented with clams and crab and all presented in a light tomatosaffron broth, this bouillabaisse sings with little shots of lemon and fennel, garlic and wine. It’s a dish that manages to evoke pastoral images of home cooking, even as Cox has elevated it to high art. This is a dish where you beg for extra bread to lop up the remaining broth, where you don’t mind using both a soup spoon and a seafood fork to eat it.

Rich with flavor and tradition, this bouillabaisse will quickly become your new favorite. olivette at the houstonian 111 n. post oak lane • 713-680-2626 • houstonian.com

Classic Revamped You expect an old-school style at Perry’s Steakhouse & Grille, known for their huge slabs of well-flavored steak. And that translates to old-school desserts, like bananas foster flambéed tableside. While those favorites will never fade away, Perry’s decided it was time for something different.

Enter a dessert menu with three twists on classics. There’s a Candy Bar that looks like a high-end Snickers bar, and a bread pudding that will change your life. But the star of the new trio is the Deconstructed Lemon Meringue Pie, a dessert so appropriately summer, you should definitely save room for it. It begins with a sweet and creamy Meyer lemon curd, gently topped with house-made shortbread crumbles, gingered, candied blueberries and a slightly toasted meringue.

Perry’s was interested in offering diners an alternative to their steakhouse dessert standbys, and succeeds admirably here.

“I wanted desserts with a down-home feel,” says Chris Perry, who took his father Bob’s butcher shop business and expanded it into the restaurant chain it is today, and who is very much involved in the restaurant’s day-today operations, including menu development.

The deconstructed lemon meringue is a little like revisiting that neighborhood lemonade stand you set up as a kid, decked out with grown-up garnishes. Light and airy, it’s a perfect exclamation point on an already superlative dining experience. perry’s steakhouse & grille six houston locations perryssteakhouse.com

july/august • 2011

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new noshing

table talk

“Better than sex Tex-Mex.” That’s the slogan for Austin-born Vivo, opening any day now in the Big H. Owner Richard Diaz has chosen high-profile chef Paul Petersen to run the kitchen of his chic, casual spot with arty decor. Think bright walls, fun chandelier lighting, flickering candles and whimsical modern art saluting the female form.

Petersen, a San Antonio native, is a CIA Hyde Park grad who worked in acclaimed New York City restaurants such as Union Square Café before moving to West Texas to chef at the Gage Hotel. His signature touches will be marked at Vivo along with traditional Tex-Mex faves. Also expect healthier twists like California nachos topped with zesty alfalfa sprouts, vegetarian enchiladas, Fiesta salad with chile-lime vinaigrette, and steak Jalisco served with brown rice. 4200 San Felipe. vivo-austin.com

Are we still in Houston?

The chic ambiance and menu channel a Saint-Germain bistro at the newly-opened Brasserie 19. Opened by business partners Charles Clark and Grant Cooper, the bistro is located in the former home of Tony Mandola’s Gulf Coast Kitchen in the River Oaks shopping center.

“I’m very excited because there’s nothing quite like this in Houston as far as design and cuisine,” says partner-executive chef Michael Gaspard, formerly with Chicago’s The Pump Room and Houston’s Pappas Brothers Steakhouse. Although Gaspard’s culinary training was based in French techniques, he says that Houstonians identify with local flavors like Gulf Coast seafood, so the menu also smacks with Americana. Relish it in the cool new glass-enclosed seafood raw bar tucked away in the brasserie featuring lobsters, oysters, poached shrimp, crab claws and other chilled seafood dishes.

Substantial classics like Brasserie 19 cassoulet with house made sausage and dryaged rib eye intermix with graceful fare, such as handmade chevre-stuffed ravioli with beets and hazelnuts; ricotta crepes with Swiss chard; and charred asparagus with poached egg and Texas cheddar. Expect the affordable, well-crafted wine list Clark and Cooper are known for at Ibiza and Catalan, but with a heavy French accent. 1962 W. Gray. 713-524-1919, brasserie19.com

Summer Lovin’

Benjy’s upper Washington unveiled its new summer menu by executive chef Mike Potowski who creates inventive, playful and delicious dishes. Scoop up the cheese, bacon and onion dip with house-made flatbread; purple potato pizza with blue cheese and truffle oil; cumin-scented Canadian salmon with Gunderman farms tomatoes and avocado puree; or seared ahi tuna with kimchi fried rice. Scrumptious new desserts include white chocolate crème brulee with black raspberry mini doughnuts or raspberry cream pie with basil raspberry sorbet and Italian meringue. 5922 Washington Ave. 713-868-1131, benjys.com.

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Side Sips Wine events you don’t want to miss

Jet to California wine country and support worthy non-profits by attending the Sonoma Wine Country Weekend. Held Sept. 2-4, it’s the state’s epicurean event of the year.

Enjoy various vintner lunches and dinners throughout Sonoma, the Sonoma Valley wine auction, and the sophisticated Taste of Sonoma at MacMurray Ranch, home of Kate MacMurry, daughter of the late Fred MacMurray. The Taste lets you sample cuisine from top restaurants and chefs in the area like John Ash, and showcases hundreds of medalwinning Sonoma wines. 800-939-7666, sonomawinecountryweekend.com

On the Patio

Grappino di Nino, a sophisticated favorite for its enchanting covered patio with gurgling fountains and beautifully landscaped gardens, has a new summer menu and new Italian wine list.

The “spuntini,” or small plates, include enticing Tuscan dishes like stuffed pasta with roasted squash and sage; filet mignon with arugula, hearts of palm and garlic aggresto; and littleneck clams steamed with fresh herbs and Pinot Grigio. 2817 W. Dallas. 713-528-7002, ninos-vincents.com

Hello & Goodbye

The latest restaurants to join and leave the Houston dining scene

Openings Greatful Taco Up Restaurant Keeper’s Japanese Restaurant, Sugar Land

Closings Sabine River Café Mingalone Caffe Bello Phil’s Texas BBQ

robin barr sussman Robin Barr Sussman is a Houston-based freelance writer who specializes in food, wine and travel. Her work has appeared in Texas Monthly, My Table, and Private Clubs magazine.

Paul Peterson | Jack Thompson

connoisseur

Houston Restaurant Weeks are Coming!

AUGUST 1— 31, 2011

Benefiting Houston Food Bank Sign up for the HRW Newsletter at: www.HoustonRestaurantWeeks.com

Follow HRW on Twitter (HouRestaurantWk) and Facebook Information: Cleverley@HoustonRestaurantWeeks.com

Event includes a three course dinner for $35 per person. Some restaurants may also offer lunch for $20 per person. See Web site for details.

Prime LuxuryEstates

Sherrie Fontenot 281.468.2233 Arthur Confait 832.226.8671 Info@PrimeLuxuryEstates.com RE/MAX Fine Properties | 4500 Hwy 6, Sugar Land, Texas 77478 | 281.265.5533

(Each Office Independently Owned & Operated)

connoisseur uncorked

Delicious Daiquiri Scan this code using your smartphone to watch drink expert Jeffrey Morganthaler make the cocktail made famous by legendary author Ernest Hemingway.

Rum

on a roll Story | John DeMers

R

Photography | Mark Lipczynski

um is pretty much the Coca-Cola of the islands—as I can attest after recently returning from lecturing on an 11-night Caribbean cruise. At each stop you make, from Key West on the safe side, to wild, exotic adventures as far away at St. Lucia, Dominica, Haiti and Grenada, somebody will offer you a generous taste and tell you theirs is the finest in the world.

Rum is a byproduct of sugar—or of molasses, to be precise, which itself is a byproduct of sugar and the refining process.

And that means that every sip, when we

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think about it, draws us back into that bubbling cauldron of great plantation homes.

Hundred-plus years of Captain Jack Sparrow and the rest of his maritime miscreants signed a pirate X across the label of every rum bottle on earth. Here are my thumbnail sketches (maybe love poems is more like it) of my four favorite classic rum cocktails for the long, hot summer.

Daiquiri – Less a single drink than a family of cocktails, this mix of rum, lime juice and sugar hails mainly from Cuba in its golden age as a jetsetter destination, lasting from

Prohibition until Castro. Ernest Hemingway put the original drink on the map, swilling too many Papa Dobles at the Floridita Bar in Havana. Daiquiris now tend to be both flavored and frozen. For a thrill, find a real recipe and whip up the original.

Cuba Libre – Yes, this is that “rum and Coke” the Andrews Sisters sang about. It’s a highball made with the two namesake ingredients plus a quick squeeze of lime. The Cuba Libre’s origins are found back at the beginning of the 20th century, when Cuba was fighting for its independence from Spain and Teddy Roosevelt was busy riding rough. The name, obviously, is a shout of political support.

Pina Colada – I drank these all day years ago on a lovely beach in Puerto Rico…until I realized that each drink has approximately the same amount of calories as a Burger King Whopper. But, oh-so good it is! It’s made with rum, pineapple juice and that old caloric offender, cream of coconut (often known by its main brand name, Coco Lopez). The pina colada has been the official beverage of Puerto Rico since 1978, which means they made me drink them all that glorious, fattening day.

Mojito – Another welcome escapee from Cuba, this drink mixes white rum, sugar (originally sugar cane juice, in case you have any of that around your house), lime juice, sparkling water and mint leaves, making it a kind of Caribbean mint julep. The trick here is mashing—or officially, muddling—the sugar with the lime juice and mint. If you don’t know how to “muddle,” knock back a few of these and you’ll discover you’re a natural.

John DeMers Covering food and wine for more than 25 years, John DeMers hosts “Delicious Mischief” on NewsRadio 740 KTRH. He recently released Follow the Smoke: 14,783 Miles of Great Texas Barbecue.

Rare and Well Done Rare•and•Well•Done: Phrase 1: Award-winning menu set in comfortable, casual elegance. 2: Hand-selected, USDA prime beef dry aged in-house for 28 days and mouth-wateringly perfect. 3: An incredible dining experience featuring Perry’s famous pork chop, chateaubriand and flaming desserts – each with a tableside presentation.

4: Amazing soups, salads, fresh seafood and more. 5: A spectacular selection of world-class wines. 6: The perfect venue for your most important business and personal moments with private dining rooms accommodating six to one hundred guests.

Defining a great dining experience!

Champions • Clear Lake • Katy • Memorial City • Sugar Land • The Woodlands

PerrysSteakhouse.com

connoisseur

entertain

w is for welcome

Greet your guests to the table with these elegant, die-cut menu cards placed at each place setting.

White haute Styling | syma levy Photography | Mark Lipczynski

Channel your inner East Coast socialite and celebrate summer Hamptons style with an oh-so stylish “white� party. From fabulous florals to fanciful parting gifts, this unique event will be the highlight of the season.

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sweet & sour

Spice up the party with a delicious and refreshing Pisco Sour, a South American cocktail made with pisco, lemon or lime juice, egg whites, sugar and bitters.

connoisseur

entertain

in bloom

Make this towering floral arrangement complete with hanging crystal votives the center of attention at your white-themed event.

squeaky clean

For a unique yet simple takeaway gift, send guests home with fragrant European soaps all wrapped up in a pretty package.

The Goods event planning & styling

Theme development and execution, sterling and soap party favors by Oulala! What an Event. 713-855-8755, oulalaevents.com

venue

sparkle & light

Make your table glow with these stunning pearl chargers accented by a crystal candelabra-style centerpiece.

Terms of Endearment room at Brennan’s of Houston, 3300 Smith St. 713-522-9711, brennanshouston.com

food & beverage

White truffle and asparagus soup, Chardonnay-basted blue crab and king oyster mushroom risotto, white chocolate bread pudding, Ramos Gin Fizz and Pisco Sour provided by Brennan’s.

event collateral

Invitations, menus and napkin rings by ph Design Shop. 713522-8861, phdesignshop.com

flowers

Candelabra floral centerpiece and linens by Plants ‘n Petals. 713-840-9191, plantsnpetalsweddings.com

tableware

Chiavari chairs and silver pearl chargers by A Finer Event. 713699-9911, afinerevent.com

chocolates

proof is in the pudding

Give your Hamptons-style party a taste of the South with this rich and decadent white chocolate bread pudding.

stick to it

White chocolate candy sticks make for a special remembrance of your sophisticated summer soiree.

Assorted chocolates by Mostly Chocolate. 713-446-5826, mostlychocolate.net

models & wardrobe

Angie Prejean, Angie Prejean Designs; Cody Sever, M Penner.

Men’s jacket and pants by M Penner, 1180-06 Uptown Park Blvd. 713-527-8200, mpenner.com

july/august • 2011

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gentlemen’s room

For the man who commands the very best

inside: Can-Am Spyder Roadster

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• • • •

Man Cave | Raising the Bar Driver's Seat | Trick Trike High Tech | Grill of My Dreams Great Outdoors | Bone Appetit

july/august • 2011

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gentlemen’s room man cave

raising

the bar

Story & Photography Don Armstrong

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W

hen entertaining friends and family becomes a pastime, there’s no better way to do it than with your own in-home pub, so we set out to find the ultimate.

About 20 years ago, Craig and Doreen Bierman purchased an early ’70s-style, two-story home in southwest Houston. It was your typical four-bedroom, twoand-a-half-bath with a substantial back yard in a nice neighborhood.

But because of the couple’s newfound penchant of gathering antique collectables, space quickly became an issue.

After getting his new, Houstonbased Speed and Sport Chrome Plating business off the ground, Bierman took on the challenge of becoming the designer/contractor for a 500-square-foot showplace pub addition. Demolition to portions of the existing house was minimal. By knocking out a couple of windows and a door on

either side of the fireplace, two walkthrough passages were created from the original living area.

The 10-foot ceiling height of the pub addition was determined by the existing home’s roof line, a utility room (that included a small powder room) and a few other structural considerations.

An oversized door was designed into the side of the pub to allow larger items to be moved in and out with minimal restrictions.

“Those larger items, like the back bar and large glass showcase, helped establish the size of the room,” Bierman says.

Once the back bar was stripped of decades of repaints, its beautiful oak structure was revealed. That, in turn, dictated the finish of the custom-made front bar, flooring and wall paneling. Keeping with the early 20th-century finishes, a bare tin ceiling was installed as were two antique fans.

Several, narrow glass block windows were included in the design near the top of the room for natural light and enhanced security. Plumbing and electrical service played major roles in the design, as well. Since many of the collectables are electrically

1900s cash register

gentlemen’s room man cave

Vintage guitar bar stools

Hidden pub access

John Lennon’s boot

Customized money table from the 1920s

powered, the original 125-amp service had to be increased to 200 amps. And because the bar area was furthest from the original house, new water and sewer lines had to be run, so placement in the foundation was critical.

So were there any regrets?

“You bet,” says Bierman. “I should have used the extra 250 square feet that was available at the back of the house to create an even larger room. I would have also equipped the pub with independent heat and air conditioning instead of tying into the existing unit.”

Entertainment Room Designers, Bierman’s consulting and contracting service, has helped magician David Copperfield, Sterling McCall’s car museum and others bring their ideas to reality and they can help you, too.

Paul McCartney’s signed guitar

the essentials

Outfit your personal pub with these unique design elements

Back bar

Refrigerator

The Biermans found their 1920s-era back bar through an antique ad in a local paper.

Professional refinishing cost more than the bar itself, but it set the stage for the rest of the room.

The professional grade bar unit features two front doors, one sliding top door and two keg taps.

Front bar To match the oak finish of the back bar, this custom piece was built on-site. The service side accommodates a professional grade refrigerator, ice maker, plumbed sink with instant-on hot water and a dry storage area.

On the customer side, clear epoxy lets the beauty of the inlaid oak top to show through.

The bar-length foot rail adds to the comfort while sitting on the guitar-shaped bar stools.

Ice maker This is a must-have for any home pub. Sizes, capacities and dependability vary widely so do your homework.

Décor Themed pubs are the rage. Old-school British, sports, racing, rock ’n roll, and collectible antiques are just a few ideas. It’s gentleman’s choice when it comes to décor.

july/august • 2011

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gentlemen’s room driver's seat

trick

trike T

he popularity of twowheeled motoring has skyrocketed in the last couple of decades as more and more novices have been mastering the weekend “ride.” Whether it’s riding by yourself, with a couple of friends, your spouse or with a motorcycle club, it’s about the wind in your face and the special camaraderie that sets this type of weekend recreation apart from other forms of entertainment.

If you’ve watched TV at all in the last six months, you’ve probably seen an ad or two about the Can-Am Spyder Roadster, a three-wheeled motorcycle that is quite different from those that have come before it.

In development for 10 years, Can-Am is the newest twist in recreational motorsports.

A recent test drive of the upscale RT Roadster model

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proved what district sales manager Bob Ballard touted as “a fun, exhilarating, safe-feeling, car-like ride with the stability of a four-wheeler.”

Built on what parent company BRP calls “Y-architecture” (two-wheels in front, one in back), this three-wheeler incorporates a computer-controlled vehicle stability system (VSS) that integrates antilock brakes, traction control and stability control. The Can-Am handles very much like an ATV, until pre-programmed parameters put the VSS in charge of stabilizing the Can-Am when things go awry.

Powering both the RS and RT models of the Can-Am is a proven and reliable Rotax V-Twin engine that whirrs out an impressive 100 horsepower and 80 lb.-ft. of torque. Both come with either a 5-speed manual or semi-automatic transmission with a reverse gear.

Acceleration is phenomenal, beating most cars on the freeway on-ramp, as well as many two-wheelers.

Just ahead of the handlebars, sandwiched between the

large analog speedometer and tachometer, is a large LCD screen that shows various functions like gear selection, turn indicators and audio source. Fingertip audio and intercom controls make communication between the two riders a piece of cake. Heated handle grips benefit both driver and passenger on chilly days.

The upscale RT model offers an adjustable windshield that raises or lowers with just the touch of a button.

For 2011, BRP is adding a top‐of‐the‐line Spyder RT Limited package, including an integrated GPS, semi-rigid travel bags for each storage compartment, a dramatic Pearl White color and custom travel cover on top of the already fully‐loaded Spyder RT‐S package. The four available feature packages are: Spyder RT, Spyder RT Audio & Convenience, Spyder RT‐S and Spyder RT Limited.

If the Can-Am’s built-in front and rear storage isn’t enough, perhaps a matching trailer will do the trick. BRP claims it can tote two golf bags and more. Sounds like a road trip to us.

Pricing on the entry-level CanAm RS starts at $16,500 and the full tilt RT begins at $21,399.

If you think parent company BRP and/or Can-Am is some flash in the pan, think again.

BRP stands for Bombardier Recreational Products, the same company that manufactures wellknown names such as the topselling Sea-Doo jet-ski, Ski-Doo snowmobile, and Evinrude and Johnson outboard boat motors.

Looks like the Can-Am is here to stay and Mancuso PowerSports has them. don armstrong Don’s passion for all things automotive is no secret.

His popular What’s Don Driving? TV series garnered rave reviews and made him the new car go-to guy. He is also a member of the Texas Auto Writers Association.

Bombardier Recreational Products Inc.

Story | Don Armstrong

ENJOY TOGETHER RESPONSIBLY. Bacardi.com ©2011 BACARDI AND THE BAT DEVICE ARE REGISTERED TRADEMARKS AND THE ARCTIC GRAPE DEVICE IS A TRADEMARK OF BACARDI & COMPANY LIMITED. BACARDI U.S.A., INC., CORAL GABLES, FL. RUM SPECIALTY – 35% ALC. BY VOL. ALL OTHER MARKS ARE TRADEMARKS OR REGISTERED TRADEMARKS OF THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS.

gentlemen’s room high tech

grill of my

dreams Story | Michael Garfield

I

Motorized Grilling Brush

Probably the least favorite thing about grilling is cleaning up.

It can get tough scraping off Char-Broil Infrared charred pieces of food if you Stainless Grill don’t have the correct utensils.

Fortunately, for easy cleanup, Infrared signals can be found pop in a few batteries in this in remote controls, but many motorized grilling brush and a high-tech grills utilize a version powerful motor with two brassof the technology. Char-Broil bristle rotary brushes quickly has a large line of infrared grills, strips away cooked-on food but their top-of-line is the Red Series Stainless Four-Burner with residue. A built-in stainless steel scraper lets you work on extraOutdoor Stovetop. It puts out tough buildup, while a push 42,000 BTUs on 620 square button located on top of the inches of porcelain-coated cast iron grates. Underneath the grates handle makes for no scrubbing and no elbow grease. Plus, no are infrared surfaces. Fed by chemicals are needed for a clean flames, these surfaces get super grill every time. At $20, this also hot quickly, creating an intense makes a great gift when visiting heat that sears your food. A others who plan to grill for you. rotisserie kit and digital display make this grill the perfect center point of every backyard barbecue. Weber’s On The Grill App It retails for $999.99 and can be Need to grill? There’s an app for found at larger hardware stores that, of course. and online.

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After you light your grill, there are still many decisions that need to be made like recipes, cooking time and grilling techniques. First download the On the Grill app from Weber at iTunes.com.

This $4.99 digital assistant allows iPhones and iPads to be your virtual cooking helper. Browse through 250 recipes and create a shopping list on your device, or watch one of the many instructional videos that make it a snap to learn how to prep the food and grill.

LCD receiver unit with a belt clip shows target and current cooking temperatures, while a bar graph tracks cooking progress.

A wireless transmitter sends the Talking Remote Meat information from the grill to the Thermometer receiver up to 300 feet away. And just like a personal butler, a voice My one “beef ” with grilling is prompt will alert you when your that I have to constantly stand entree is “Almost Ready” and over the grill to monitor the food. “Ready.” Happy grilling!

If I step away, I’m afraid the meat will go up in flames. But now that I have the handy Grill Alert Remote Thermometer, I can Michael Garfield enjoy my guests while ensuring Known as “The High-Tech the food will be perfect. Just Texan®” to audiences nationwide, Michael hosts insert the stainless steel probes technology and issuein the center of the meat and oriented talk radio shows select the type of meat and how six days a week on The 9-5-0. See what he’s up to at HighTechTexan.com. you’d like it done. A wireless

Char-Broil | Brookstone

n a man’s world, summertime means outdoor grilling. One debate about this pastime used to be charcoal vs. gas grilling. Today, that question includes infrared grills and other technological advances to make cooking time more relaxing and fun while still getting that perfect flavor. Here are some advancements in grilling accessories to make your summer a bit easier and hopefully prevent overdone steaks and chicken.

gentlemen’s room outdoors

bone

appétit

Story | Doug Pike

but access to prime, Bahamian bonefish water isn’t free. Then again, neither are most of the island nation’s finer pleasures.

The Bahamas offer bonefishing experiences to suit any level of expertise, enthusiasm and expectation, says Andy Packmore of Travelin’ Angler, an in-house outfitting service at Fishing Tackle Unlimited in Houston.

H2O Bonefishing on Grand Bahama is strictly upscale, based in a boutique hotel and within walking distance of shopping, fine dining and other traditional

gearingup If you tote your own, make it an 8- or 9-wt with a bonefish-taper floating line and at least 150 yards of 20-pound backing on the reel. A second rod should be heavier and rigged for bigger fish. Carry ample terminal tackle, but don’t overdo it; fishing lodges have fishing tackle. In addition to bones, the flats are also home to tarpon, permit, barracuda, mutton snapper, two species of jacks and a variety of sharks. Other fish can fill gaps between prime tides and, on occasion, save a trip. Ask your outfitter what’s “hot” when you book, and ask your guide the same question dockside.

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island attractions. Andros South is an outpost seldom visited other than by anglers and delivery boats. From any reputable Bahamian bonefish lodge, fishing will be extraordinary.

“I’ve caught some huge bonefish around Grand Bahama,” Packmore says, “and once you leave the dock at H2O, you’d never know you were near a luxury resort.”

Andros South is already (and deliberately) distanced from spas and linen tablecloths. It is remote by design. In addition to unpressured fish, Packmore says, Andros South’s rates include all gear, individual guest rooms and emergency medical evacuation, which, interestingly, is what keeps a bonefish alive day to day. Their sole defense from big predators is speed, and they’ll hit the gas at the drop of a hat (or sunglasses or cell phone) onto the deck of a flats boat.

I missed a toad of a bonefish off Walker’s Cay years ago when a horsefly bit so viciously into my foot that blood rolled onto the deck. I slapped fly and foot and deck with my cap. The

bonefish turned inside out and may still be swimming.

Newcomers should know that a good lodge can teach basic skills in a few hours and that there are plenty of willing fish to chase across clear water, sometimes barely deep enough to cover a wading bootie. Beginners should opt for quantity over quality.

Schools of 2-pound bonefish are less finicky and willing to overlook rookie mistakes. Once you become addicted—and you will after a few 100-yard, sizzling runs and point-blank encounters with marine life on the flats—you can set loftier angling goals.

Expect disappointments, but call them lessons. If you miss a fish, utter whatever words roll comfortably off your tongue, then set about finding another.

Bahamian bonefish are as spooky as bones anywhere. They have to be. But there will always be another.

doug pike Doug has traveled the world to satisfy his passion for the outdoors.

During his career, he has won 100-plus state and national awards for writing, broadcast and photography.

Greg Vincent | H2O Bonefishing

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ny trip to the Bahamas can be made better by a day—or week—chasing bonefish. Most days, being hooked by a fly fisherman is the best thing that can happen for a bonefish and for the angler who made the accurate cast.

Bonefish are torpedo-shaped, chrome-plated bottle rockets that developed their speed over centuries of running from sharks and barracudas. Per pound (average weight in the Bahamas is three and change), no fish accelerates faster or sprints across a flat with more style. These super-charged fish are plentiful,

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escape

California

dreamin’ Story | Robin Barr Sussman

We’re taking the top down for a weekend whirl through California wine country.

From Highway 29 in the Napa Valley for world-class wines, scrumptious noshing and chic shopping, north to the Alexander Valley via Highway 128 and Healdsburg for olive oil tasting, antiques, bucolic vineyard vistas and more gold-medal wine tasting.

The crisp summer weather couldn’t be more wondrous. Won’t you join us?

Yountville

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Bardessono, Yountville

you seek something more classic, like first-class, New England-style cottages and a croquet field on a sprawling estate.

Hungry? Don’t count on a table at the storied French Laundry Restaurant unless you booked six months in advance.

Try Bouchon (bouchonbistro. com), a charming French-

Bottega, Yountville

style bistro, sister to the highly recommended Bouchon bakery in downtown Yountville, part of the Keller restaurant group.

At lunch, set out on foot for Food Network celebrity chef Michael Chiarello’s newest, always-bustling restaurant, Bottega (botteganapavalley.com) featuring irresistible California

Bill Reitzel

tart your long weekend in the walk-able hamlet of Yountville. Foodies have every reason to visit this town boasting more Michelin stars per capita than anywhere on the planet.

Located within walking distance of the town’s small luxury inns and hotels, premium wineries, arts and shopping, indulge in a romantic dinner, a leisurely lunch overlooking a vineyard, or a cappuccino and French croissant curbside…all within a 4-square mile radius.

Consider lodging at the new, contemporary Bardessono (bardessono.com), the most ecologically green luxury hotel in the area. Vibrant gardens and sculptures dot the walking path around the property, while guest rooms are naturally posh with heavenly beds and huge bathrooms with dreamy sunken tubs overlooking each private patio. The cool rooftop pool deck with cabanas and snappy drink service overlooking the valley is a prime hidden oasis.

Renowned Meadowood Resort (meadowood.com) is just down the road north on Highway 29 if

twists on Italian cuisine. Shop his NapaStyle store next door for all things epicurean including the Chiarello label wine.

To visit wineries, start the exploration down Highway 29, the justly congested main artery of the Napa Valley. The pretty, Spanish-style Robert Mondavi Winery (robertmondavi.com), the grandfather of tasting rooms, is usually the first to spot on the wine trail.

A pit stop at the original Oakville Grocery (oakvillegrocery. com) is a must for wine-tasting road warriors—it’s a fabled landmark paved in hardwood floors and fine gourmet provisions. Or, grab breakfast, a latte, scone, mouth-watering cookie or lunch at the Model Bakery (themodelbakery.com) in St. Helena, which is known for the best artisan bread in the region and transcending homemade English muffins.

Make a beeline to the Silverado Trail, the path of least

NapaStyle, Yountville

welcome to

Yountville

oakville grocery robert mondavi

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Model Bakery

escape

Kuleto Estate, St. Helena

Cesar Rubio

resistance (traffic), for more wineries with breathtaking views.

Restaurateur Pat Kuleto knows good food so it’s no wonder that Kuleto (kuletoestate.com), his extraordinary mountain-top

wine estate overlooking Lake Hennessey, is also a working farm. Tours and tastings with artisan cheeses are by appointment. Historic Joseph Phelps Vineyards, recognized

for Bordeaux varietals including Insignia, also offers expertly run tastings by appointment on the terrace overlooking the valley. Pop in Cliff Lede (cliffledevineyards. com) known for big beautiful reds from the Stags Leap district and its notable art gallery, or nearby PlumpJack winery (plumpjack.com).

Love art, design and wine? Clos Pegase (clospegase.com) is famous for its Michael Graves-designed winery buildings and sculptures incorporated into the gardens; the most remarkable is the oversize bronze thumb, which appears painted into the landscape. Ogle as you drive by the majestic Culinary Institute of America at Greystone (ciachef.edu) or stop

Joseph Phelps Vineyards, St. Helena

PlumpJack Winery, Oakville

for a look-see of the amazing property with edible gardens and perhaps a bite at the restaurant.

Other notable dinner options in the area include Martini House (martinihouse.com), Mustards’s Grill (mustardsgrill.com), and Terra (terrarestaurant.com), in a romantic limestone building.

Zip by the cowboy town of Calistoga off Highway 29 (save it for next time) to the legendary Chateau Montelana (montelena.com), an elegant stone castle built in 1882 with calming Chinese gardens and a lake with swans and ducks.

The winery is known for its

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Joseph ps el Phyar ds

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Chateau Montelena Winery, Calistoga

complex Chardonnay, which beat the French in the famous Paris Tasting of 1976.

When you’re ready to head out of Napa Valley, stay on Highway 29, which merges to 128 to the Alexander Valley. You are now in Sonoma country outside the quaint town of Healdsburg, heralded as the epicenter of wine country’s three major wine making AVAs (American viticultural areas): Alexander

chateau montelana

Valley, Russian River and Dry Creek Valley. Climb to the small, but lofty Hanna Winery tasting room (hannawinery.com) at the top of a knoll overlooking Alexander Valley with stunning views. It’s an ideal first stop in the region, where medalwinning Sauvignon Blanc, Rosé and other red varietals can be casually sampled at a long copper-topped bar.

Pause for lunch, a snack, or a picnic at the nearby Jimtown Store (jimtown.com), a darling country throw-back with

alexand er valley

jordan

winery

nna ha winery prime-living.com

and wood-fired pizza from the outdoor oven. Special canned relishes and jams brighten the architecturally striking tasting room shelves.

While still in Alexander Valley, book a tour and tasting at the spectacular Jordan Winery (jordanwinery.com), a hidden gem resembling an authentic European manor sans the Disneyland bells or whistles you’ll

medlock ames winery

castle

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quirky gifts, antiques and iconic California wine country grub.

Expect more beautiful scenery with vegetable and flower gardens at the new earthy Medlock Ames tasting room (medlockames.com) next door to Jimtown. Enjoy the creative small-batch wine and food pairings, or stop by on the weekend for live music in the gorgeous patio gardens

jimtown store

experience at some wineries. (Just don’t drive by too fast or you’ll miss the subtle entrance sign.)

Enjoy the cheese and wine pairing and even an olive oil tasting of estate-bottled nectar. Jordan only produces Chardonnay and Cabernet: both sublime.

Check into chic Hotel Healdsburg (hotelhealdsburg. com) on the tiny town plaza, home of celebrity chef Charlie Palmer’s Dry Creek Kitchen, and

escape Hotel Healdsburg

take a dip in the inviting pool or visit the luxurious spa. Its sister location next door, the new hip H2 Hotel, is another terrific lodging option. Palmer’s wife owns the adjacent Lime Stone,

which enchants with stylish wine country décor, gifts and accessories.

Plan lunch or dinner at sophisticated Bistro Ralph (bistroralph.com) for French-meets-Cali cuisine, or newer Willi’s Seafood (starkrestaurants.com) featuring a raw bar and inventive small plates. Expect dinneronly at cramped and casual Scopa (scopahealdsburg. com) for fragrant Italian fare par excellence, or the more formal Cyrus Restaurant, sometimes referred to as “other French Laundry,” housed in the grand European-style Les Mars (hotellesmars.com), the fanciest hotel in the area. Stroll around the charming town plaza with its myriad cheese shops, wine tasting rooms and clothing boutiques. Start or end at hip Barndiva (barndiva.com), a mod towering architectural wonder— think high-end barn—for witty cocktails and artsy interiors.

Anticipate a colorful bar scene

Hotel Les Mars, Healdsburg

Chalk Hill, Healdsburg

and exquisite garden patio with contemporary water fountains and lounging couches.

Thirsty for more? Don’t miss nearby Chalk Hill Estate Vineyards (chalkhill.com) for an unforgettable off-the-beatenpath wine experience. The hilly culinary tour of extensive organic gardens culminates in a tasting of wines and small plates prepared

by Chef Didier, which is served in the Pavilion overlooking the Chalk Hill Equestrian Center with panoramic views of Chalk Hill valley. Chalk Hill’s guided trail rides or equestrian tastings are a horseback thrill.

Heading out of Healdsburg on Highway 101 toward San Francisco, sparkling wine lovers will be tempted by the inviting J Tasting Room (jwine.com) with its Bubble Room and impressive Russian River valley wine and food pairings. It’s a bubbly way to say “so long, wine country.”

Jordan Vineyard & Winery, Healdsburg

chalk llvineyards hiate est

welcome to

healdsburg

hotel healdsburg lime stone

bistro ralph

Jtasting room

barndiva july/august • 2011

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escape enlightened explorer

he waves belong only to you…or so it would seem at the Anantara Kihavah Villas, a new five-star, Green Globecertified resort in the Maldives. Above-water and beachfront villas—complete with their own private infinity pools, sun decks, indoor and outdoor baths, and a personal butler—offer stunning views of the Indian Ocean and Baa Atoll.

To catch a glimpse beneath the turquoise waters, venture no further than your villa’s glassbottom bathtub. Or dine “under the sea” at Sea. Fire.Salt.Sky, the resort’s underwater wine cellar

Wine, Dine, Bike ou don’t have to travel by car to get

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a taste of the unique varietals that the celebrated Napa Valley region of California has to offer. With Napa Valley Bike Tours, you can set off at a casual pace to explore wine country under your own steam.

The Ride, Wine & Dine Bike Tour visits three to four boutique wineries, while the Cycling “IN” the Vineyards Tour offers a unique off-road tour through a private vineyard that borders bird-filled marshlands of the San Francisco Bay. These full-day, guided options include a catered lunch overlooking the vineyards and all equipment is provided. Halfday and self-guided options are also available. napavalleybiketours.com

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and restaurant featuring a gourmet menu that includes more than 6,500 bottles of wine from 14 countries.

The resort also offers an Anantara spa, as well as a plethora of opportunities to snorkel, scuba dive and sail; take part in cultural activities like Maldivian cooking or dance lessons; or simply drink in the sun on a white sandy beach. Once you arrive at this atoll paradise located only 35 minutes by sea plane from Malé, you decide the pace of your day...or the rhythm of your wave, so to speak. kihavah-maldives.anantara.com

Fresh Water, Anywhere Want great-tasting water on the go? Pack a CamelBak Groove Filter Bottle. This durable, spill-proof bottle includes a plant-based carbon filter, which can be used up to three months before replacing. Though not designed to filter water from unsafe sources, it reduces the chlorine taste and odors found in tap water. Available in stainless steel or BPA-free plastic. camelbak.com

Anantara Hotels, Resorts & Spas | Napa Valley Bike Tours | CamelBak

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Texas Fests July 9 Parker County Peach Festival (Weatherford) peachfestivaltx.com

Cruise

with Character

June 30 to July 31 Texas Shakespeare Fest (Kilgore) Texasshakespeare.com

Aug. 3-7 71st Texas International Fishing Tournament (South Padre Island) tift.org

Aug. 5-7 Hunters Extravaganza (Houston) ttha.com

Art, History and a View, Too From a late 1800s tent town, to booming city,

to all but deserted in the 1950s when its copper mines shut down, Jerome, Ariz., is a town rich in legend and lore. Recognized as a National Historic Landmark in 1976, this “ghost town” is now populated by writers, artists, artisans and musicians, and its picturesque streets are lined with more than 30 galleries and studios.

Stop by for a stay at the haunted Jerome Grand Hotel, catch a glass blowing demonstration at Raku Gallery, shop and dine, or just take in the views, since this singular getaway is perched atop a hillside 1-mile high. jeromechamber.com

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one crew member for every two guests. On the seven-day journey between Sitka and Juneau, there are opportunities to venture off the boat to hike, fish, canoe and kayak in the company of trained naturalist guides. All meals are prepared fresh by the on-board chef, who will even cook up your catch for a true taste of the wilderness. theboatcompany.org

Aug. 5-7, 12-14 Harvest Wine Trail (Texas Hill Country) texaswinetrail.com

Aug. 13 Austin Ice Cream Festival icecreamfestival.org

Aug. 13 Chappell Hill Lavender and Wine Fest (Brenham) chappellhilllavender.com

Aug. 19-26 North Texas State Fair & Rodeo (Denton) northtexasstatefair.com

Aug. 27 Hotter’N Hell Hundred (Wichita Falls) hh100.org kathryn hunter Kathryn Hunter is an Austin-based freelance writer whose work has appeared in “Texas Parks and Wildlife Magazine.”

Erica A de Flamand

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here can you go to spot a sea lion, fish for halibut and trout, and get up close and personal with Sitka spruce and giant glaciers?

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Elegant Jewelers and The Wedemeier family have been purveyors of fine jewelry for 30 years, making them one of the oldest jewelers in Sugar Land.

The family’s jeweled archives provide a glimpse into the history of these iconic designers.

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Nature's Spa

Fredericksburg Herb Farm

see & do PRIME Living 311 Julie Rivers Sugar Land, TX 77498

fredricksburg I f you’ve experienced Fredericksburg before, you’ll definitely want to experience it again. Nestled in the heart of the Texas Hill Country, this quaint German town is known for its peaches and a huge pink granite structure known as Enchanted Rock.

New offerings, however, have invigorated the town like never before, including Nature’s Spa at the Fredericksburg Herb Farm (830-997-8615, fredericksburgherbfarm.com). The perfect place to relax and escape, this destination spa offers body therapies, hand and foot rituals, and signature treatments such as the Blissful Wellness, a threepart holistic treatment that uses herbs to treat physical and emotional wellness.

In addition to the spa, the Farm also features Rock House Bistro and 14 additional cottages.

After you’ve had your ultra-deluxe spa treatment, stroll over to the restaurant and dine on seasonal and fresh offerings created by executive chef Asa Thornton. Inside and outside dining areas are available with beautiful garden views.

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National Museum of the Pacific War

If you’re looking to venture out, the Farm is conveniently located close to the hustle and bustle of Main Street. With more than 200 shops and boutiques to choose from, there is definitely something to peak everyone’s interest. From books, collectibles and art, to furniture, antiques and one-of-a-kind finds, the list goes on and on.

When the excitement of shopping has come and gone, and the car is packed tightly with your new treasures, it’s time for a drink…or two. Head to Fredericksburg Wine Road 290 (wineroad290.com), an association of nine Texas wineries along US Highway 290. In addition to ongoing activities, the wineries often team up with local restaurants for food and wine pairings. Each winery has something different to offer its visitors, from cellar tours and picnics in the vineyards, to tastings and events.

A weekend getaway to Fredericksburg provides more than enough time to experience vines and vistas of this beautiful Hill Country destination.

Happy trails!

Rockbox Theater This live music theater in downtown Fredericksburg always has something to offer.

With a different show every weekend, it’s the perfect way enjoy everything from live music to family-friendly comedy.

109 N. Llano St. 866-349-6688 rockboxtheater.com The Olive Oil Shop If you love to cook, this is a must-stop for you. With more than 40 types of extra virgin olive oil imported from Italy, Spain, Argentina, Australia, Greece and Tunisia, and balsamic vinegars from Italy, you’ll be in heaven.

224 W. Main St. 830-992-3747 theoliveoilshops.com Lyndon B. Johnson State Park In honor of the 37th president of the United States, this beautiful historic site is the perfect place to enjoy history and nature studies, picnicking, fishing and swimming. You might even get a glimpse of the majestic Texas longhorn cattle.

Hwy. 290 East at Park Road 52, Stonewall 830-644-2252 tpwd.state.tx.us

Kelly Ayers | Fredericksburg Convention & Visitor Bureau

Dear Prime Living, fect weekend Looking for the per rg, sbu ick der Fre getaway? as German an authentic Tex d in the heart community locate l Country, is Hil as Tex the of ink dramatic just the place! Th brightly of lds fie landscapes, ers, unique colored wildflow Oh, and did I shops and more.

Also check e? win the n mentio est spa at new n’s out the tow Herb Farm. It’s the Frederiksberg there’s a little chic and cozy, and ne. If that ryo eve for ing someth fection, I per like nd doesn’t sou does. See y’all don’t know what there! – Samantha

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live well

skin outlook: sunny Story | Sally J. Clasen

t

he temperature is rising and, unfortunately, so is your risk for exposure to the elements. During the summer months, your skin becomes an unhealthy target for all the fun in the sun.

A major concern is sun damage, the leading cause of cancer in the United States.

More than 90 percent of non-melanoma skin cancers occur from regular exposure to ultraviolet radiation from the sun or tanning lights. Boomers are automatically at risk for skin cancer due to being unprotected in the sun as children. Plus, with age, your skin cancer risk increases.

According to Medical News Today, those in their 60s and 70s are five times more likely to be diagnosed with malignant melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer.

Skin cancer can appear as a mole, spot, sore, lesion or any other abnormality, so it’s important to monitor changes. Wrinkles, fine lines, dryness and other skin conditions commonly attributed to aging are actually signs of sun damage that might predict skin cancer.

If you notice significant changes in your skin, see your dermatologist for an evaluation.

The worst sun damage occurs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., when ultraviolet rays are strongest. If you must venture out, sunscreen manufacturers keep you protected with diverse options, particularly in the natural product category. Several offer broad-based UVA and UVB coverage with chemical-free titanium dioxide and zinc oxide rather than synthetic ingredients, such as parabens,

oxybenzone, PABA and retinyl palmitate.

Some studies indicate these artificial substances are harmful because they may increase the risk for cancer and estrogen accumulation in the body.

Sunscreen makers are also adding organic and plant-based ingredients, including cocoa, shea butter, green tea, soybean and sweet almond oil, as well as blends of nature and science, such as hydrolyzed soy protein, to help soothe and moisturize the skin. In addition, several sunscreens boast antiaging benefits with antioxidant and enzyme properties like vitamin A, C, E, beta carotene and grape seed oil to assist in skin repair and strengthening blood vessels.

Besides sunscreen, an exfoliant is an essential skin tool to combat the effects of summer weather. Exfoliants attack dull and lifeless complexions by dissolving and removing dead skin cells, unblocking pores and stimulating cell turnover, and can help dissolve early abnormal cells that contribute to pre-cancerous and skin cancers.

Fruit-based alpha hydroxy acids (AHAs) continue to be the most popular type of exfoliant on the market, with new “buffered” options that deliver increased results with less irritation. The beauty is that they work well on dry and oily skin and, according to dermatologists and skin care experts, have long-term benefits when used regularly.

Regardless of skin type, healthy summer skin is a matter of taking care, even when you’re not covered.

rx for summer It’s impossible to avoid minor scrapes and injuries during the summer months. Here are some first-aid tips to take the sting out of the season: • Insect bites and stings – Treat minor swelling and itching from stings with cool compresses, over the-counteroral antihistamines or hydrocortisone creams. Remove the stinger by scraping (the edge of a credit card works well). Don’t use tweezers or fingernails.

• Burns – Treat minor burns with cool compresses. After cleansing, apply a mild antibiotic ointment and bandage. Do not break blisters. Take anti-inflammatory medication as directed, until redness and soreness subside. Seek medical attention for sunburns with extensive blistering or general symptoms of nausea, vomiting, weakness or chills.

july/august • 2011

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fashionably faux m

Story | Lisa Kasanicky

ost trend spotters point a manicured finger at Coco Chanel’s fateful French Riviera trip for the fashionably tan craze.

I, however, blame Malibu Barbie, circa 1971.

Role playing with a deeply tanned, platinum blond bombshell made a lasting impression on my moldable mind, and I was among the early adopters to sport my orange QT tan with pride. We’ve come a long way since then (hallelujah!) and today’s faux glow treatments and self-tanners would make even Malibu Barbie slather on the SPF.

Faux Glow Treatments

Airbrush tanning – Each custom session includes a face-to-toe spray of DHA, a plant-derived ingredient that creates a brown color on the surface of skin 2 to 6 hours after application. Tans are manually misted on through an airbrush device that at the hands of an spray tanning expert, imparts a natural, sun-kissed hue.

Get it at: Throwing Copper at the Blue Mambo Salon, 8 Chelsea Blvd.

713-859-1085, throwingcoppertanning.com Mobile airbrush tanning – Tan in the comfy privacy of your own digs? Oh, yes. Mobile airbrush professionals show up with a tanning tent and all the gear for a flawless at-home application. Plus, the more people who tan, the lower the price. Tanning and martinis, anyone?

Get it from: Mobile Tan Houston. 713-499-9032, mobiletanhouston.com VersaSpa sunless tanning – Step in the high-tech tanning booth and step out coated in bronzed glory. The system starts with the press of a green button prompting precise, automated instructions and a few odorless sprays of a moisturizing treatment, tanning solution and super drying blasts of air—all in about 5 minutes.

Get it at: Glo Sun Spa, 3273 Southwest Freeway, 713-662-9200; 9595 Six Pines Dr., The Woodlands, 281-292-1300, glosunspa.com

fit tips for on the road Story | Margie Connolly

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bronze in a bottle St. Tropez Self Tan Bronzing Mousse Infused with aloe vera and a trademarked fragrance technology, this velvety mouse gives you subtle color without a hint of self-tanner aroma. $30 at sttropeztan.com.

Anthony Logistics For Men Self Tanner with Anti-Aging Complex This unisex, fool-proof formula nourishes skin with antioxidants and fruit acids while building a handsome glow. $30 at sephora.com.

Hampton Sun Sunless Tanning Gel For the discriminating sunless worshiper, this rich gel develops into a golden glow while leaving skin smooth and delightfully sniff-able. $32 at hamptonsuncare.com.

Jane Iredale Tantasia Self Tanner Apply this naturally tinted bronzer on face and body for a surge of hydration and touch of color that illuminates gradually with daily use. $36 at spalook.com.

GlowFusion Micro-Nutrient Face and Body Natural Protein Tan, Sunless Self-Tanner No streaks, no stains, no odor and no greasy residue, just a rich subtle color that lasts up to two weeks without fading. $58 at glowfusion.net.

e all know how difficult it is to fit in a workout while we’re traveling.

We also know how difficult it is to get back to our fitness routine when we return. If you’re struggling with the homeaway-from-home workout, exercise tubing is a great idea for a “no excuses” travel workout that can be done right in your hotel room or on the pool deck. Elastic or latex bands with plastic soft-grip handles

make a great workout partner while you’re on the road. All it takes is about 15 minutes a day to help you keep those hard-earned buff biceps and triceps.

Almost any exercise you can do in a fitness center can be modified with the tubing. Legs, arms, back, chest and even abs can be worked with this versatile device. Tubing comes in various resistance levels and can be purchased at most sporting goods stores or online.

Margie Connolly is a certified personal trainer and owner of My Personal Fitness, a personal training service. She also produces exercise DVDs for all fitness levels. For more information, visit mypersonalfitness.biz or visit her on Facebook.

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RESERVE YOUR PLACE IN HISTORY I N H O U S T O N ’ S M O S T B E AU T I F U L C E M E T E RY

Houston’s premier cemetery, Memorial Oaks, is proud to offer a limited number of spaces in its impressive new development, Reflection Lake Estates. When you purchase an exclusive property within Reflection Lake Estates for yourself or a loved one, you will have chosen the perfect place for future generations to celebrate your family’s legacy.

Perhaps the most breathtaking area within the new development is Waterfall Estates.

These private, gated estates surround the grand Texas Liberty Mausoleum and overlook Reflection Lake and its waterfall. Because of the peaceful waters and striking beauty of the grounds, Waterfall Estates are some of the most sought after properties in any Houston cemetery.

Availability is extremely limited in Waterfall Estates, so advance planning is crucial to securing a private estate for your family. Please call today to schedule a tour.

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live well

3 ways to improve immunity Story | Walter Gaman, MD

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n any average day, you may spend several hours at the office, pick your kids up from school, stop by the grocery store, go out to dinner, and much more. Our hands touch a number of surfaces, and each place we go has its own set of unique challenges. Germs seem to be everywhere, and influenza and other infections are easy to catch.

Even if you avoid the flu, a strong immune system is essential to preventing cancer and other diseases. The best way to ensure a healthy future is to take steps now to protect your body’s natural defenses. No matter your age, being proactive instead of reactive will make a world of difference in your health. Here are a few things that you can do to make your immune system stronger.

Shopping List Foods that feed your immune system

Avocados Broccoli Chicken soup Fish Garlic Green tea Greek yogurt Shrimp

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Eat foods that boost immunity

Avocados are filled with vitamins E and C, which help rid your body of free radicals.

Broccoli, also rich in antioxidants, is high in glucosinolates, which boost the body’s immune system, and sulforaphanes, which keep cells from turning cancerous.

Fish is high in Omega 3 fatty acids— just two servings per week will help ward off upper respiratory infections. And while garlic might not leave your breath fresh, it does wonders for your immune system thanks to allicin, which helps fight off viruses and bacteria, and has been shown to prevent colorectal and stomach cancers.

Finally, yogurt with lactobacillus reuteri actually stimulates white blood cells. It’s like a shot of super immunity, without the painful needle.

Get in a good workout

Working out three times a week has been proven to increase the body’s natural defenses.

When we increase our heart rate through physical exercise, chemicals are released in the body that actually reduces the number of mutations. Mutations can turn into cancer, so the fewer the better.

Research proves this theory. Women who exercise more are at a lower risk of developing breast cancer. Studies have shown that athletic women and women who work out regularly are less likely to develop the disease than those that have a sedentary lifestyle. Also, a study at the University of California found that men who have labor-intensive jobs are at a lower risk of developing colon cancer. For those men and women with desk jobs, a gym membership is defiantly in order.

Go to the spa

No more guilt over that massage! Going to the spa can actually help increase your immunity.

Our bodies have more than 5 million touch receptors that need to be activated for well-being. Modern research, as well as ancient observations, proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that massage and other treatments are a necessity, not just a luxury.

A good massage will increase blood flow, release endorphins and serotonin, increase the number of T-cells (important for immunity) and increase the function of the lymphatic system. All of these things are important to maintaining good health. Many countries outside of the United States include massage as part of their healing remedies within the hospital.

Staying healthy isn’t that hard, but it does take a conscious effort. Pay attention to any changes in your body and be sure to stay in charge of your health by getting a good yearly physical exam. The best defense is a strong offense when it comes to staying young and living long.

Walter Gaman, MD is the managing a partner of Executive Medicine of Texas and co-author of “Stay Young” 10 Proven Steps to Ultimate Health.”

Dr. Gaman is also a co-host of the popular Staying Young Radio Show. To learn more about him and his practice, visit emtexas.com

Looking for more food suggestions?

Scan this QR code to download the “Grocery Store Must-Haves” episode of the Staying Young Radio Show.

Houston CityCenter 12848 Queensbury Lane | 832.200.2380 Houston WestAve 2800 Kirby Drive | 713.874.1800 Happy Hour Nightly 4:00-7:00 Dinner Sunday-Thursday 5:00-10:00, Friday-Saturday 5:00-11:00

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Prime Living Women’s Health Symposium

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University of Houston Sugar Land • 5.14.11

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On May 14, Prime Living and Memorial Hermann welcomed 300 women to the 2nd Annual Prime Living Women’s Health Symposium.

It was a fun-filled day complete with mimosas, shopping, door prizes, swag bags and speaker sessions on topics ranging from detoxification and anti-aging, to improving memory and building relationships.

In between sessions, attendees visited an array of vendors offering everything from complimentary chair massages to a fun photo booth. In addition, the Belage Center for Facial Plastic Surgery, and the Sienna and Sugar Land locations of Modern Dentistry hosted a special luncheon featuring a fabulous fashion show and keynote speaker Mary Jo Rapini, who shared insight on how to improve your health and intimate relationships.

Photography | Allen V Roberson Photography

See More photos at Prime-Living.com

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get on the list at primelist@prime-living.com

july/august • 2011

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Grand Wine & Food Affair

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Sugar Land • 4.27 to 5.1.11

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Local foodies and wine lovers celebrated five days of fantastic events at the 8th Annual Grand Wine & Food Affair. More than 100 wineries and chefs showcased their talents at winemaker lunches, vintner dinners and wine seminars, as well as the Grand Tasting, Sienna Sip & Stroll and Bistro Brunch. This year, the Grand Auction & Raffle raised more than $23,000 for a scholarship endowment for students at the University of Houston’s Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management, one of the leading hospitality education programs in the world.

Photography | Frank Casimiro

See More photos at Prime-Living.com

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www.Prime-Living.com

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Mad Hatter Spring Luncheon & Fashion Show Stafford Centre • 4.29.11

The 4th Annual Mad Hatter Spring Luncheon & Fashion show held on April 29 was indeed a royal engagement. Houston icon Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale gave an exciting introduction to the event’s keynote speaker Bill Stubbs, celebrity host of “A Moment of Luxury,” published author and one of Architectural Digest’s Top 100 Designers & Architects. Year after year, this event continues to generate buzz with its must-see elaborate table decorating contest and a sea of beautiful and ornate hats. The event is an annual fundraiser for Fort Bend Seniors Meals on Wheels and was proudly sponsored by Prime Living luxury media.

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list

Photography | Roswitha Vogler

get on the list at primelist@prime-living.com

july/august • 2011

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parting

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lastbite

The judges battled it out for the last scrumptious bite of chef Randy Rucker's winning entree in our "Chopped"-style competition. The question is, who licked the plate clean?

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Photographed by Mark Lipczynski on May 11, 2011.

POWER COUPLE $99

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fOR tWO

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Del’s salaD • Caesar salaD

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For each guest

8 oz. filet mignon signature CraB Cake

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Chateau Potatoes • sPinaCh suPreme BakeD Potato • sautéeD mushrooms VegetaBle of the Day

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flora sPrings CharDonnay, naPa $40 Benziger CaBernet, sonoma County $60

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Menu available through September 5, 2011. Price does not include tax or gratuity. Please, no substitutions. Not available for private functions.