Two restaurant newbies celebrated summer openings, beginning with Bosscat Kitchen & Libation’s bars inside The James and The Ivy apartment buildings in River Oaks. Residents and guests can enjoy signature cocktails from Bosscat’s bar director Matt Sharp, plus an exclusive menu of light bites. More foodie fun awaited at Poitín, Sawyer Yards’ newest arrival. The restaurant’s grand-opening bash benefited the Orange Show Center for Visionary Art, and was full of funky touches like undercover comedians from The Secret Group and a drag show by Blackberri and friends. There was no shortage of beverages or bites — the pork belly apps were nicely washed down with colorful cocktails and beer from neighboring Holler Brewery and Green Flash Brewing Co.
After their wildly successful Black Tie Boxing charity event last year, restaurateur Ben Berg and former boxing champ Lou Savarese debuted a spinoff tournament called Knock Out Child Abuse. The event, chaired by Ursaline Hamilton and Jordan Seff and benefiting the Children’s Assessment Center, was hosted at The Revaire. Two-dozen amateur boxers, all of whom trained for months under Savarese himself, faced off in 12 three-round fights as fans enjoyed a three-course dinner by B&B Butchers & Restaurant (not to mention caramel-bacon popcorn) ringside. A check for $932K was presented to CAC at the end of the night — and an anonymous guest donated $68,000 to make it a cool $1 mil. Talk about a champion!
Always a highly anticipated event, this year’s Symphony Opening Night marked the start of a social season celebrating the recovery of Houston’s art scene post-Harvey. The evening began with a concert featuring renowned pianist Yuja Wang, who mesmerized the crowd with her surprisingly powerful performance.
The petite and stylish musician threw her whole body into works by Rachmaninoff, and into a long piece, accompanied by the full symphony, the latter played with only her left hand. After the concert, 400 partygoers made their way to The Corinthian for dinner and dancing. The décor recalled black-and-white keys, and even the desserts were in the shape of tiny chocolate pianos, filled with delicious mousse.
The Royal Dukes Band got the black-tie-clad crowd on their feet, but only after a lucrative auction, which contributed to the evening’s till of $750,000, and included a Model M player piano signed by Wang herself. Jo Dee and Cliff Wright were the lucky recipients. Bravo, bravo!