'Best Cellars' Returns with Fine Wine, Fab Food — and Big Names

Dave Rossman
'Best Cellars' Returns with Fine Wine, Fab Food — and Big Names

Nick and Jennifer Altman and Leah and Blake Nommensen

AFTER A TWO-YEAR hiatus, the Best Cellars wine dinner, benefiting the Martell Foundation, returned to the Hotel ZaZa in the Museum District.


Nearly 200 guests raised a glass (or several) to cancer research, and also enjoyed a delicious meal prepared by some of the city's finest chefs. Chef Chairman Mark Cox rounded up talent including BCN's Luis Roger, Le Jardinier's Alain Verzeroli and Felipe Botero, and Musaafer's Mayank Istwal to create plates that paired beautifully with rare fine wines from the cellars of local collectors.

The event, chaired by Franelle Rogers, included an exciting live auction as well as an afterparty with a performance by Texas-country singer-songwriter George Birge.

Tracy and Valerie Dieterich

Amalia and Brian Stanton

T.J. and Margaret Farnsworth

Anthony Zogheib and LeTricia Wilbanks

Cathy and David Herr

Mark Cox, Franelle Rogers and Robert Sakowitz

Chef Alain Verzeroli and Franelle Rogers

Lesha Elsenbrook, Caroline Kenney and Denise Monteleone

Dean Putterman, John Obsta and Ed Finger

Kimberly and James Bell

Fady Armanious and Bill Baldwin

Julia Gonzalez and Thor Egeli

George Birge

Jim and Jane Brann and Laura and Jerry Kent

Jan and Robin Lindley

Jill and Christian Varas

Parties
‘Embrace Changes,’ Says Valobra, Whose Namesake Jewelry Store Has Become a Houston Institution
How did you get to where you are today? I had little choice in the matter; I grew up being trained to become the fourth-generation jewelry designer behind my great grandfather, grandfather, and father. It was my duty to carry on the family business and continue the hard work and success they built from nothing, beginning in Torino, Italy in 1905. I was surrounded by jewelry and its craftmanship as a young child and was taught the business from a very young age.
Keep Reading Show less

'The Swan' at Sophie (photo by Shawn Chippendale)

JUST IN TIME for the Paris games, Sophie Cocktail & Terrace Bar has bowed in the Montrose Collective joining neighbors Marmo and nearby Uchi.

Keep Reading Show less
Food
HOUSTON WAS DEALING with crisis levels of pet homelessness before Hurricane Beryl wreaked havoc on the city. But this week, Houston PetSet coordinated with The Babinski Foundation, an animal shelter in Minnesota, to provide relief across multiple channels.
Keep Reading Show less
People + Places