At Marigold Club, Amid Martinis and Oysters, VIPs Alight to Toast CityBook’s Leaders & Legends

MANY OF THE city’s who’s-who gathered at the city’s buzziest venue to toast Houston CityBook’s 2024 “Leaders & Legends,” presented by The Village of River Oaks.

About 100 guests filtered past fabulous autos from event sponsor Bentley Houston into Chef Austin Waiter’s red-hot Marigold Club in Montrose on a balmy pre-holiday evening. They came to sip gin “Marigold Martinis” and other signature cocktails, and to nibble beautiful classics such as tartare of beef filet with whole grain mustard and thyme and freshly shucked Mere Point oysters in shallot mignonette. But mostly guests, along with reps of event sponsor Valobra Master Jewelers, were there to gladhand and celebrate this year’s class of honorees.

This 2024 group included Community Artists Collective co-founder Michelle Barnes, Recipe for Success and Hope Farms founder Gracie Cavnar, “Enchilada Queen” and cookbook author Sylvia Casares, hot Hamsa and Doris Metropolitan restaurateur Itai Ben Eli, and Raz Halili, whose Texas fishery is the first fully certified-sustainable fishery in North America.

Other 2024 leaders and legends included University of Houston Chancellor Renu Khator, former Rice University president David Leebron, playwright ShaWanna Renee Rivon, jeweler and philanthropist Franco Valobra, and energy exec Bobby Tudor, who’s leading the effort to keep Houston the world’s energy capital — even as the industry pivots to sustainability and a greener future.

CityBook editor and CEO Jeff Gremillion made brief remarks and toasted each honoree. Jim Gray, founder and CEO of The Village parent company The Aspenwood Company, also welcomed the crowd.

“Leaders & Legends, our beautiful annual portrait collection, is the most revered and prestigious content we produce all year,” says Gremillion. “And the Leaders & Legends party — a lovely, lowkey affair at which honorees past and present can hobnob with other VIPs in a posh but relaxed setting — has become a highlight of the Houston social calendar.

“Everyone is talking about the Marigold Club, and we were delighted to partner with Chef Waiter and his amazing team for this year’s party. The attention to detail was extraordinary, and the food was elegant and delicious. Everyone had a wonderful time.”

Waiter’s complete menu also included chicken liver mousse gougères with preserved citrus jam and Argentinian shrimp cocktail with lemon and chives — all passed on silver trays by bow-tied and white-jacketed servers. For dessert, Marigold proffered chocolate friandswith chocolate cremeux, brûléed treacle tarts with citron crème and Earl Grey tarlets.

This year’s iteration of Leaders & Legends, created by Gremillion and Executive Publisher Lisa Holthouse, is the seventh for CityBook. Past honorees include Nobel laureate Jim Allison, billionaire mogul Tilman Fertitta, boundary-breaking prima ballerina Lauren Anderson, Astros owner Jim Crane, lifesaving medical researchers, civil rights leaders, artists, activists, fashion designers, members of congress, Olympic medalists, Tony- and Grammy-winning musicians, and top-tier philanthropists like Margaret Alkek Williams, Cynthia Petrello, Becca Cason Thrash and Lynn Wyatt.

The fall “Leaders & Legends” issue of CityBook is available on newsstands all over the city. The holiday issue hits at Thanksgiving.

Rubens Franz, Katia Lessa and Bernie Cantu

Phoebe Tudor and Connor Walsh

Bob and Gracie Cavnar and David Leebron

ShaWanna Renee Rivon

The Marigold Martini

Raz Halili

Jacquie Baly and James Craig

Brandon Weinbrenner and Todd Ramos

Tom and Robin Segesta

Austin Waiter

Shane Dante, Vanessa Iturbe, and Lin and Itai Ben Eli

Outside the Marigold Club

Felipe Riccio and Carrie Brandsberg Dahl

Dana Ely, Meredith Clark, Caimen Schneider and Shannon Waiter

Shawn Lynch, Jentry Kelley, Thy Mitchell and Kyle Denton

Leila Perrin and Beth Wolf

Tartare of beef filet with whole grain mustard and thyme

Jim Gray

Bill Stubbs, Lisa Holthouse and Kurt Grether

Jason Fuller

Samantha and Raz Halili