Super Bowl Blast!
Want to party with Michael Phelps, James Brolin and Common? Here’s your VIP ticket inside one of Super Bowl 51’s best bashes, the CityBook-sponsored Big Game Big Give blowout!
Feb. 6, 2017
These CityBook partners are among the best eateries in the most deliciously diverse city.
Infused with the charm of a bustling Parisian café, Berg Hospitality’s newest concept is in Autry Park on Buffalo Bayou. Anticipate modern French cuisine — brunch, lunch and dinner — served in a very pretty space with picturesque views of the park. 811 Buffalo Park Dr.
Venture in for the deep-fried A5 Wagyu katsu sando, or similarly stacked deli sandwich in the adjoining butcher shop, at this boutique steakhouse. A rooftop terrace makes B&B a premiere Sunday brunch destination. 1814 Washington Ave.
Find classic Italian-American food with modern twists in a lively setting, in the heart of Sugar Land’s Town Square. 16250 City Walk
The old-fashioned-yet-upscale bar setting, complete with green-checkered tablecloths and tufted leather banquettes, serves starters like blue-crab beignets, chili and New England clam chowder. 1809 Washington Ave.
Bringing to mind Chinese restaurants in Ben Berg’s native New York, from the menu to the decor, Benny Chows is a delight. With Chinese-born exec chef Shirong Mei at the helm, it serves dishes both familiar — dim sum, Peking Duck — and uniquely Texan, a la the Smoked Brisket Egg Roll starring Truth BBQ. 1818 Washington Ave.
Wine with lunch and bubbles with brunch is the norm at this sceney River Oaks spot. Situated in the center of a busy shopping strip, it’s reminiscent of a Parisian sidewalk café. 1962 W. Gray St.
At this speakeasy lounge reminiscent of a 1950s Cuban club, guests can enjoy cocktails designed by Alba Huerta, chef-driven small plates, as well as nightly live “bossa nova style” music and tunes by local DJs on weekend nights. 1800 Post Oak Blvd.
Jonathan’s the Rub has two locations in the Memorial area and is open for brunch, lunch, dinner and special occasions, touting steaks, meatballs, gumbo and hearty American cuisine. The eatery is also known for its catering services, private events and putting on amazing wine dinners at the Memorial Green location. Multiple locations
An all-day café from Ben Berg, NoPo offers a menu of classics like a piled-high club sandwich, pizzas and more. In the front, find unique local provisions, premade meals and freshly baked pastries to-go. New happy-hour specials and cocktail list! 1244 N. Post Oak Rd.
Chef Danny Trace’s handmade pastas come with the option of tableside truffle service, and baguettes and pastries are made in house by pastry chef David Berg. A supremely sexy cocktail lounge serves as a festive gathering area with a happy hour to boot. 1515 Texas Ave.
Under new ownership, the upscale spot on the Westheimer Curve is an elegant space touting a richly classic menu — lobster tortellini, stuffed lambchops — that now includes killer pizzas and dessert staples like cannoli. One of the best bread baskets in town. Brunch is lovely. 415 Westheimer Rd.
A steakhouse standout delivers in its rich side dishes — the Hasselback potatoes are excellent — and desserts. Crowds of pretty people pour in early and stay late, so reservations are recommended. In River Oaks District
Polished and glamorous, Tavola on Post Oak aims to be the next see-and-be scene in a neighborhood known for them. Chef Luca Di Benedetto’s wild-boar ragu is a must-try. 1800 Post Oak Blvd.
A fine-dining stalwart for decades, The Annie Café & Bar has ample private-event spaces and impeccably executed white-tablecloth service. 1800 Post Oak Blvd.
The restaurant inside storied Montrose hotel La Colombe d’Or boasts eclectic but sophisticated European dishes with Southern touches. Be sure to check out the cocktail lounge, Bar No. 3. 3410 Montrose Blvd.
An Italian-American spot from Berg Hospitality looks like a trattoria you might stumble upon in rural Italy, with enchanting and spacious indoor and garden seating. 911 W. 11th St.
At hidden-gem Turner’s, the food is as decadent as the environment (which is kicked up a notch further with live vocalists accompanying the pianist on weekends). 1800 Post Oak Blvd.
WITH A GOAL of ensuring access to quality healthcare for underserved families in Houston’s East End, El Centro de Corazón has been making a difference for 30 years. Its annual Making a Difference luncheon, this year chaired by Vicky Dominguez with honorary chairs Leisa Holland Nelson Bowman and Leila Perrin, raised more than $150,000.
Emceed by Cyndy Garza Roberts, the River Oaks Country Club affair honored Michele Leal Farrah for her commitment to El Centro and similar causes all over Houston. The organization’s CEO, Marcie Mir, thanked supporters and shared why El Centro must still expand its services to reach more Houston residents. Notably, 74 percent of El Centro’s 12,000-plus patients live at or below federal poverty level ($31K annually for a family of four) and more than half are uninsured.
Then Stephanie Ramos gave the keynote address; the ABC News correspondent and Army Reserve Major spoke about channeling inner strength to make a bigger impact.
Andrea Godea, Larry Savala, Amalia Savala
Sippi Khurana and Donae Chramosta
Blanca Lopez, Julie Garza, Hoda Sana
Shelley Ludwick and Elvia Taylor
Elizabeth Ramos, Marcie Mir and Michele Leal
Esmeralda De la Cruz, Lorena Gomez, Vicky Dominguez
Neena Arora, Diana Grair, Kavon Young
Maria Smith, Diana Ospina
Mari Trevino Glass and Cinthya Reade
Evelyn Leightman, George Connelly, Helen Perry
George and Michele Farah
Lisa Wilmore, George Connelly
German Ibañez, Melanie Rodriguez
Linda Flores Olson, Vicki Luna, Graciana Garces, Jorge Gonzalez
Jan Mendenhall, Xochitl Ljuboja, Miriam Zatarain
Jolene Trevino and Vicki Luna
John Cisneros, Marco Perez
Lisa Wilmore, Ed Emmett and Leisa Holland Nelson Bowman
ONE CANNOT ACCUSE Houston’s Axiom Quartet of playing it safe. When it comes to exploring the outer limits of string quartet repertoire, engaging audiences who don’t normally attend classical music concerts, and putting in the collective time necessary to nail the gnarly idiosyncrasies of 20th- and 21st-century composers, Axiom continues to walk the walk as they talk the talk.
They’re a dapper bunch; relatively conservative in appearance. You’ll never see founding member cellist Patrick Moore, violist Katie Carrington, or violinists Timothy Peters and Matt Lammers rocking a rainbow mohawk or dressed in studded leather jackets onstage.
Instead, the quartet, who have weathered some recent changes in personnel, embraces an unpretentious, hip-to-be-square attitude, engaging their audiences in down-to-earth language while bringing great classical music to unexpected places, be it a pizza parlor, George Bush Intercontinental Airport, or literally underground at Cave Without a Name in the Texas Hill Country.
On Sunday, Oct. 6, Axiom opens its '24-'25 season above ground at Lambert Hall in the Heights with Risky(er) Business, an intense, historically informed concert that explores the sounds of dissent. The program includes Dimitri Shostakovich’s String Quartet No. 2 and the American premiere of Ukrainian-born composer Nikolai Roslavets’ recently discovered and unrecorded String Quartet No. 5.
Roslavets, a cantankerous modernist who nevertheless wholly embraced the experimental innovations of his time, composed this his final string quartet in the early 1940s, toward the end of his life, and in a decade when his music was officially repressed. Thanks to the efforts of dedicated musicologists and ensembles like Axiom, the extent of Roslavets’ repertoire and contributions to contemporary music are finally coming to light. (On Sunday, Axiom will unpack Roslavets’ biography and life under totalitarianism for the Lambert audience.)
Axiom describes Shostakovich’s second string quartet as “a now-celebrated masterpiece written with feverish frustration … giving voice to the Russian people through a transformed folks song.” Musicologists believe Shostakovich used the string quartet as a platform to communicate, albeit in cryptic, even contradictory language, his true feelings regarding Soviet censorship, oppression, and violence.
The second movement of his String Quartet No. 2 is quintessential Shostakovich, with its impassioned recitatives and romantic folk melodies ascending over inverted dominant seventh chords that sit undisturbed like pools of black water.
By the time the movement’s haunting and dissonant chorale appears, you can almost imagine what it must have been like to compose music under Stalin, a time when art was politicized to the point of absurdity, and Shostakovich found himself living a life of relative safety under totalitarian scrutiny.