Drawing inspiration from across continents, cultures and generations, and from the chic style of Palm Beach and the Amalfi Coast, Concetto Limone is the quintessential footwear choice for the discerning individual's resort attire. Concetto Limone is a Miami-based luxury house that specializes in the micro-production of artisan footwear and designer goods. With world-class craftsmanship, advanced production methods, and an array of rich materials, Limone creates proffers impeccable design that elegantly infuses historical motifs with a modern sensibility.
In February of 2020, Concetto Limone, led by Houstonian Marcus Spagnoletti and Matthew Chevallard, launched its first line of unisex products, the Limone Loafer, in the Miami Design District.
The hand-woven natural raffia loafer loafers and mules are meticulously sewn together by hand by master craftsmen and craftswomen with a distinct design language. Raffia is made from the segments of the leaves on the Palmyra palm, a tree native to Madagascar that offers breathable textile. Each pair is adorned with calf leather lining, a cushioned insole, and natural rubber outsole — inspected and touched by over 12 sets of hands through a production process that ensures that attention to detail and technical innovation is paramount for these statement pieces.
Valobra Master Jewelers has been creating jewelry for 115 years, beginning in 1905 in Torino, Italy as the official master jeweler to the Italian Royal family. Being the fourth-generation master jeweler, Franco Valobra continues this legacy by creating the most exquisite one-of-a-kind pieces of jewelry made in the Houston showroom and offering luxury timepieces to clients and the community. Valobra Master Jewelers, situated in the heart of River Oaks in Houston, also has locations in New Orleans and Lugano, Switzerland.
Midtown's Starck Room
Comin' 2gether cocktail at Space Cowboy (photo by Dylan Scardino)
SPACE COWBOY In the Heights, the first concept from Night Moves Hospitality, helmed by industry vets Greg Perez and Lyle Bento, opens this weekend. Space Cowboy bows inside the renovated Heights House Hotel at 100 W. Cavalcade on Friday, an eclectic indoor-outdoor space including a 4,000-square-foot covered area providing access to the hotel's pool and cabanas.
A cocktail menu by Monkey's Tail alums Samantha Ruiz and Karen Cervantes features "lighthearted" concoctions like the refreshing Comin' 2gether, with banana rum, whiskey and a papaya popsicle. Large-format, shareable cocktails and adult Capri-Sun-style pouches will also be on offer.
And in the way of food, expect equally innovative "island comfort food," inspired by Bento's Hawaiian upbringing — a la Tako Sunomono with grilled octopus, or Army Rice with spam, kimchi, miso corn and egg.
The Night Moves group will open three other concepts in 2021, including Trash Panda Drinking Club on Edison.
Starck Room (photo by Al Torres)
STARCK ROOM Midtown's latest lounge is the Starck Room, currently in a soft-opening stage and planning a grand opening bash for May. The upscale space is inspired by the work of French designer Philippe Starck; a palette of black, gold and white gives a vibe of sophistication, and whimsical accents like a graffiti mural add dimension.
To drink, there are unique spins on classic cocktails, plus plenty of high-end champagnes and wines. Artisan flatbreads and an assortment of desserts are also available. Mezcal tastings will be part of the concept's offerings, and a menu of late-night bites will soon follow.
CHERRY Meanwhile, a new haunt promises to glam up Downtown, which has been eerily quiet for the past year. The '80s-and-'90s-inspired "micro club" Cherry will open May 7 underneath Captain Foxheart's Bad News Bar on historic Main. Inside, expect vibes that channel Alice in Wonderland and nostalgic rock 'n' roll — and a playlist promising an "all-night dance party."
The bar is decorated with vintage TVs showcasing old MTV hits, and VIPs can post up next to the DJ booth on the mezzanine and watch the action on the dance floor. Speaking of the dance floor, you can't miss it: Just look for the disco ball in the shape of a life-size unicorn.
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"Ten days later, right after I had moved to Austin, the whole city shut down," she recalls of the whiplash-inducing early days of the pandemic. "They told me to come back to Houston to run the Houston store instead."
After packing up all of her things again and moving back to Houston, Truesdell kept herself busy keeping Manready's Houston store running amid the backdrop of the increasingly worsening pandemic. When not at the store, she passed her time making dried-flower arrangements while being safely cocooned in her Height's apartment.
"People eventually started asking me if they could buy them from me," says Truesdell, who initially donated all of the proceeds of her arrangements to charities, soon turning her carefully dried and arranged blooms into a budding new business called Posey. "People were really enjoying it, and it grew exponentially overnight."
Blair Truesdell
Posey's delicate, eco-minded arrangements can now be found in Montrose at Refinement House, a cozy, zero-waste home and shop focused on the eco-conscious lifestyle, and at her booth at Plant Market Sunday, a new plant-based market founded in November by local all-natural hairdresser Erin Ramirez that happens once a month — the next one is this Sunday, April 25 — at 535 W. 20th in the Heights.
With Posey, Truesdell is part of a growing scene of sustainability-minded plant lovers in Houston. It's a scene that has been around for a while, but it was really kicked into high gear when the pandemic started and homebound Houstonians all over the city became obsessed with having more vegetation — both fresh and dried — in their home-turn-cloisters.
"We're witnessing this sustainable, plant-based society starting to grow in Houston," says Truesdell. "And I think it's really beautiful to watch grow. We're an oil and gas city. People like house plants, sure, but no one was really doing the sustainable thing — and now it's everywhere."
Truesdell naturally dries all of the flowers in her arrangements, which include foraged items and flowers like globe amaranth, statice, roses, carnations and eucalyptus sourced at Heights wholesale flower shop Southern Floral, by stringing them up all over her apartment so they can air dry.
"I've turned my apartment into a flower studio," she says, noting that she very much enjoys being in the space since it provides her with near-constant aromatherapy.
In addition to selling her beautiful arrangements, which she is known to deliver to Heights-area customers by bicycle, Truesdell also sells "shower bundles" composed of dried eucalyptus, baby's breath and lavender.
"They're all some of my favorite flowers and they last forever," she says of the aromatherapy trifecta, which is her most popular seller.
Truesdell says she is inspired by other dried-flower businesses, like botanical apothecary The Quiet Botanist in Hudson, New York, and she wants to grow Posey in that direction.
"I want to bring something like that into Houston," she says of her brick-and-mortar dreams. "There isn't a huge dried-flower scene in Houston yet, but I think it's obviously something that Houston really wants."
