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In Vino Veritas: National Wine Day May 25 [Update]

By Lorretta Ruggiero

May 19, 2021

We don't need excuses to drink wine but National Wine Day is May 25 and that's as good a reason as any to imbibe some juice de Bacchus. For even more incentive, Houston restaurants and wine bars are offering wine specials from great deals to wallet-emptying wine dinners. We have...

Openings and Closings: Chris Shepherd Fires Up Another Concept, MARCH Madness Arrives

By Lorretta Ruggiero

Mar 26, 2021

Underbelly Hospitality will open a 5,000 square foot restaurant from James Beard Award-winning chef and restaurateur Chris Shepherd in late 2021. Regent Square, an urban infill development near Buffalo Bayou Park and Allen Parkway, led with the announcement of Shepherd as a tenant promising more surprises to come. The Phase...

Openings and Closings: Local Foods Market Opens Next Week, Messina Hof Lands in Richmond

By Lorretta Ruggiero

Feb 12, 2021

Local Foods Market, 2424 Dunstan, opens February 16 in the former benjy's restaurant. Benjy's closed in March 2020 to make way for the new concept. It was the last remaining location for owner Benjy Levit's namesake restaurant. Now, Levit's focus has turned to his Local Foods empire which currently has...

Chefs Dawn Burrell and Chris Williams team up.

Openings and Closings: Lucille's Hospitality Launches, Kanpai Club Opens

By Lorretta Ruggiero

Feb 5, 2021

Lucille's Hospitality Group, the new endeavor from Houston chef Chris Williams, is on track to produce four new restaurant and lifestyle concepts by 2022. Williams, known for his restaurant Lucille's in the Museum District, has launched the venture as a tribute to his grandmother, Lucille B. Smith, who not only...

Exceptional wines from Piemonte are poured and ready at home in anticipation of the start of Roma's Pertinace dinner.

12 Days of Favorite Houston Food & Drink Experiences in 2020, Part 3: Wine

By Houston Press and Houston Food Finder

Dec 11, 2020

Welcome to the third part of a series where we showcase the noteworthy food and drink experiences of a very weird year. In the spirit of the holidays, it's also a very special collaboration between the food writers of the Houston Press and Houston Food Finder, the online publication founded...

Central Market's wine wall has some high end bottles.

National Wine and Cheese Day is July 25

By Lorretta Ruggiero

Jul 21, 2020

National Wine and Cheese Day is July 25. Yes, there is such a thing and we have a list of places to help you celebrate the special day whether you are braving the outdoor patios of reopened restaurants and wine bars or cuddling at home with your cat watching the...

5 Old World Wine Regions and the First Dates To Serve Them On [UPDATED]

By Kate McLean

May 13, 2020

First dates are deliciously awkward and best served with wine—but as all wines are not created equal, neither are first dates. A little more goes into securing a tasty bottle than just picking a region. While mandated requirements aid in keeping quality ship shape, also vintage, producer, and varietal come into...

Doris Metropolitan wine director Lexey Davis Johnson

Wine Time: Houston Sommeliers On Keeping Staff and Guests Safe as Dine-in Service Resumes

By Jeremy Parzen

May 12, 2020

Governor Greg Abbott has provided little guidance to Texas restaurateurs who began reopening their businesses for dine-in service beginning last week. As a result, many are looking to Georgia governor Brian Kemp’s restaurant guidelines as they resume operations. But even the Georgia order makes no mention of wine service and...

Wine Time: Master Sommelier Steven McDonald

By Jeremy Parzen

Apr 23, 2020

Until late March, Master Sommelier and Pappas Bros. Steakhouse wine director Steven McDonald managed what many consider to be one of the best wine lists in the United States. Last year, his program, which includes thousands of rare and high-priced wines, was one of just eight in the world to...

"Absolutely, yes," said One/Fifth wine director Matthew Pridgen when asked if his team's non-profit Southern Smoke is still accepting applications for financial assistance.

Wine Time: Matthew Pridgen, Wine Director at Southern Smoke and One/Fifth

By Jeremy Parzen

Apr 22, 2020

Sommelier Matthew Pridgen is the Beverage Director at the Underbelly Hospitality restaurant group and the Wine Director at its flagship concept One/Fifth. He’s also the “Special Events, Wine, and Silent Auction Director” at Southern Smoke, a non-profit association that provides assistance to Houston-area restaurant workers in times of need. Last...

Wine Time: Goodnight Hospitality Partner and Master Sommelier June Rodil

By Jeremy Parzen

Apr 16, 2020

In April 2019, Master Sommelier June Rodil moved to Houston from Austin to become a partner in the Goodnight Hospitality restaurant group, which includes Goodnight Charlie’s, Montrose Cheese and Wine, and Rosie Cannonball. The Houston Press spoke late last week with the former TexSom “best sommelier in Texas” about what...

Wine Time: Kroger Beverage Director and Sommelier Jaime De Leon

By Jeremy Parzen

Apr 15, 2020

After the city of Houston ordered restaurants and bars to close a few weeks ago, nearly all of the city’s wine professionals have been either furloughed or laid off. Jaime De Leon, the Adult Beverage Sales Manager for Kroger’s Houston Division is also an Advanced Sommelier and a leading member...

Rodeo Uncorked Best Bites 2020: Scenes and Winners

By Lorretta Ruggiero

Feb 24, 2020

And thus, it begins. The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo 2020 got kicked off last evening with the Rodeo Uncorked! Best Bites Competition which featured 113 Houston restaurants serving delicious bites along with pours of 450 wines from the 2020 Rodeo Uncorked! International Wine Competition to accompany them. Officially Rodeo...

Chicken Mousse on Texas Toast cubes marry well with wine.

Openings and Closings: Mutiny Wine Room Opens Soon, Andes Cafe Closes

By Lorretta Ruggiero

Jan 10, 2020

Mutiny Wine Room, 1124 Usener, will open January 18. The Napa Valley-inspired wine tasting venue and restaurant comes from longtime Heights residents, Marke Ellenberger and Emily Trout. Husband Mark hails from California while wife Emily is a native Houstonian. The couple have been involved for years in the wine country...

The Butcher pizza from Sixty Vines in Rice Village.

Upper Crust: Sixty Vines

By Carlos Brandon

Dec 11, 2019

It's not exactly a pizzeria. But it's not exactly not one, either. You catch our drift? Sixty Vines, the Dallas-based wine-on-tap concept, just opened the brand's first Houston store in Rice Village. A fitting home for the out-of-town upscale bar, as Rice Village has slowly been invaded by out-of-town chains...

Landry's Iron Chef 2019 Features Hugo Ortega, Ariel Fox and Junior Chefs

By Lorretta Ruggiero

Nov 6, 2019

The 14th Annual Landry's Iron Chef was held at the Galveston Island Convention Center with a number of local and national Landry's chefs competing in a two-day event to take home awards in a variety of categories. There was also the chance to win a spot on a menu in...

Wine, cheese and charcuterie will transport you to Napa.

Openings and Closings: Sixty Vines Debuts, Mala Sichuan at Finn Hall Closes

By Lorretta Ruggiero

Oct 11, 2019

Sixty Vines, 2540 University Boulevard, opens October 14. The Napa Valley-inspired restaurant has two other locations in Plano and Uptown Dallas. The Rice Village restaurant and wine bar will feature some of the same elements that distinguish the brand such as raw woods, white walls, a live greenery area, modern...

Visit advanced sommelier Lindsay Thomas at Pappas Bros. Steakhouse on Westheimer.

Inside The Glass: Lindsay Thomas

By Kate McLean

Aug 21, 2019

Correction and clarification: Several changes have been made to this story since it originally appeared. The Houston Press apologizes for all errors and misunderstandings in its original account. Lindsay Thomas was at a lunch presented by a Napa Valley winery when Matt Stamp, a master sommelier leading the wine tour,...

Alex Abreu, general manager of CRÚ Food & Wine Bar in Upper Kirby.

Inside The Glass: Alex Abreu

By Kate McLean

Aug 15, 2019

With the majority of his family already entrenched in the restaurant industry, all it took was a mention from his cousin Leo to pull Alex Abreu up into the club. The now 28-year-old general manager of the Upper Kirby location of CRÚ Food & Wine Bar, remembers his first job...

Julie Dalton is ready to defend her title as Iron Sommelier Champion.

Inside The Glass: Julie Dalton

By Kate McLean

Aug 8, 2019

One hundred and fifteen pages of wine containing 3,500 labels is what Julie Dalton, an Advanced Sommelier who’s two thirds finished with her master’s certification, is working with at Mastro’s Steakhouse. To store the $3.5 million dollar catalog known as The Cellar of the Post Oak Hotel property, wine is...

Wine Time

Openings and Closings: Get Ready For a Barrel of Monkeys

Openings and Closings: NoPo Opens & More

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