HOUSTON HAS A few favorite playgrounds — the Texas Hill Country, Aspen, Cabo. But none are more beloved than the sultry, always just a bit scandalous Big Easy, whose towering new Four Seasons has been described as a must-hit by H-Town’s travel-savviest. It’s the perfect place to stage CityBook’s annual Sexy Issue fashion shoot highlighting swimwear, lingerie and other racy little numbers right off the runway from Gucci, Versace and much more, oui?

AFTER YEARS OF visiting Europe for international oil and gas biz roles and discovering wine through different cultures, Houstonian Matthew Massey was inspired. He explored many of the 319 villages in Champagne, France, to learn more about different terroir styles of wine. It’s “the one region that is driven by style as opposed to a wine of place,” says Massey, who, incidentally, was introduced to the drink as a teen while working at Gaido’s in Galveston.