At Breezy Four Seasons Affair, CityBook Goes Poolside with ‘Coolest’ People in Houston

At Breezy Four Seasons Affair, CityBook Goes Poolside with ‘Coolest’ People in Houston

Ryan Barbles, Casey Barbles, Kate McCarthy, Sasha Grumman (photo by Sarah De La Rosa)

A FABULOUSLY DIVERSE and accomplished crowd of influencers, VIPs, culture vultures and society swells gathered on the pool deck of Four Seasons Hotel Houston to celebrate Houston CityBook’s first ever “Cool 100” list.


Sponsors and cohosts included The Post Collection, which brought a two-toned orange and black Bentley to show off at valet as guests arrived, and Insólito Tequila, which provided spirits for the breezy summer evening’s featured Paloma cocktails. Château d'Esclans poured delicious rosés, including its Whispering Angel and The Beach.

Many in the bubbly crowd of about 200 were among the magazine’s “Cool 100” — the coolest people in Houston as arranged by the editors of CityBook in the publication’s late spring edition. Aspiring Olympic skateboard star Jordan Santana, ranked number one on the roster, was on hand, and presented Editor Jeff Gremillion an autographed skateboard.

“The ‘Cool 100’ issue was a lot of fun to make,” says Gremillion, who made brief remarks at the function. “Seeing the concept come to life at such a wonderfully sophisticated and sexy party was very rewarding. The team at the Four Seasons were extraordinary partners and made sure everything was perfect.”

DJ Kent Duplantis of LG Entertainment was a hit, spinning sexy laidback West Coast tunes as guests tippled and schmoozed and tasted beautiful bites from the hotel kitchen. The unique menu included toasted brioche bites with whipped mascarpone and caviar; tiny salads of watermelon, feta and mint; cucumber-gin slushies; chipotle hummus and quinoa shots with delicate baby heirloom carrots; and smoked salmon “pastrami” with avocado crema.

The ”Cool 100” is among CityBook’s most successful features ever, garnering vast interest in both its print and online iterations.

Gin Braverman, Chris Goins, Josh Pazda (photo by Sarah De La Rosa)

Liz Siah, Marxli Mettauer, Diane Caplan (photo by Henry Clark)

Harper Watters and Natalie Varnum (photo by Sarah De La Rosa)

Terrell Flanagan and Julie Friedman (photo by Henry Clark)

Carrie Brandsberg Dahl and Chef Tom Cunanan (photo by Henry Clark)

Adam Krueger and Amanda Krueger (photo by Sarah De La Rosa)

DJ YANNA, Christopher Paul and Billion Tekleab

Cabe Nowlen & Gus Barbera (photo by Sarah De La Rosa)

Rama Walker (photo by Sarah De La Rosa)

Ceron, Tarek Bjeirmi, Tanner Doggett (photo by Sarah De La Rosa)

Christopher Paul (photo by Henry Clark)

Margue Ngyuen, Israel Rodriguez , Christina Truong (photo by Sarah De La Rosa)

Jose Ocque and Stewart Rosenberg (photo by Sarah De La Rosa)

Brian Hodge & Charlene Flash (photo by Sarah De La Rosa)

Eric Tretter & John Michael Race (photo by Henry Clark)

Tyler Treadwell & Elias Madrid (photo by Henry Clark)

Christopher Dodd, Nicholas Glenn, Kevin Ngyuen (photo by Sarah De La Rosa)

Erin Coqling, Brittany Meisner, Marianna Corcoran, Diane Kaplan (photo by Sarah De La Rosa)

Nick Sanford and Matthew Massey (photo by Henry Clark)

Jacob Yochim and Israel Cruz (photo by Sarah De La Rosa)

Kate McCarthy, Benchawan Jabthong, GrahamJabthong, Gin Braverman and Sasha Grumman (photo by Henry Clark)

Blanca Silva-Solis and Andrew Solis (photo by Sarah De La Rosa)

Jared VanderMeyden, Jason Clayden, Chad Scott, Josh Wright

Joseph Geiskopf, Mae Louise, Chris Doyle, Brennan Harmeier (photo by Sarah De La Rosa)

Israel Rodriguez with his painting of Jeremy Peña (photo by Sarah De La Rosa)

Demola and Bianca Buckram (photo by Sarah De La Rosa)

John Kuykendall and Kathy Silkworth (photo by Sarah De La Rosa)

Jenna Maxim, Kimberlyn Clarkson, Andrea Dickerson (photo by Sarah De La Rosa)

Bobby Craine & Brandon McClendon (photo by Henry Clark)

Jason Mallard, Austin Abernathy and AJ Mistretta

Eboni Bell Darcy & Katie Maltias (photo by Henry Clark)

Bill Baldwin and Fady Armanious (photo by Henry Clark)

Holly Hall Deam, Jess Rogers, Kerry Dunham (photo by Sarah De La Rosa)

Leslie Malts & Jenifer Pinkerton (photo by Henry Clark)

Brad Packer & Grace Ryan (photo by Henry Clark)

Steven Matthews, Aaron Matthews, Jack Vielhauer (photo by Sarah De La Rosa)

Light bites from The Four Seasons

Jhane Hoang, Youth Soul Love and Carrie Brandsberg-Dahl

JP Gill & Tony McClelland (photo by Henry Clark)

Nicky Sohn and Julian Hernandez (photo by Sarah De La Rosa)

Michael Broderick, Carlo Flores, Shane Alderman and Todd Ramos (photo by Sarah De La Rosa)

Kim Padgett, Patti Murphy, Cheryl Byington (photo by Sarah De La Rosa)

Cucumber and gin shots from The Four Seasons

Tom Hanks and Maggie Magee

Jason Clayden and Diane Caplan

Erika Nino and Souk Dasgupta (photo by Sarah De La Rosa)

Giovanna Boyd & James Kessner (photo by Henry Clark)

Casey Ubarra, Bibianna Ramerez, Cynthia Lean (photo by Henry Clark)

A Bentley provided by Post Oak Motors

Isabel and Fhehzad Khan (photo by Sarah De La Rosa)

Katelyn De Leon, Jillian Grisko, Greta Connolly, Shelby Connolly (photo by Sarah De La Rosa)

Clare & Leigh Leppert (photo by Henry Clark)

Matthew Dirst (photo by Jacob Power)

FOR FANS OF early music — an often scholarly lot who aren’t afraid to wear their hearts on their sleeves — bad-boy Baroque-era painter Caravaggio certainly nailed something in his dramatic 1595 painting, “The Musicians.” (Simon Schama talks about this in his TV series The Power of Art.) One look at his masterpiece, and you feel as if you’ve stumbled upon and surprised a roomful of dewy-eyed musicians, their youthful faces swollen with melancholy, with the lutist looking like he’s about ready to burst into tears before he’s even tuned his instrument. So no, you certainly don’t need a Ph.D. to enjoy and be moved by the music of Handel, G.P. Telemann, or J.S. Bach, but a little bit of scholarship never hurt anyone. Knowing the history of this music may even deepen your appreciation of it.

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