Healthful Hot Spot!

8.22

Any Houstonian who’s driven around Montrose in recent months has probably wondered what is becoming of the McGowen Cleaners building at 1931 Fairview?


Next week, there’s finally an answer: Mom and newly minted restaurateur Kelly Barnhart opens Vibrant, blending, as she says, health with pleasure. She teamed up with consulting chef Alison Wu to develop a menu of breakfast (all-day!) and lunch dishes made with ingredients that are free of gluten, dairy, refined sugar and non-GMO products.

Expect sustainably harvested meats and pasture-raised eggs, as in the Breakfast socca — chickpea flour flatbread, arugula-hemp pesto, oven-roasted tomato and watermelon radish. Plenty of housemade pastries and yogurt are also available. Lunch brings inventive, layered salads and power bowls.

In addition to creating food that’s delicious and interesting, Barnhart — a former art curator who’s also responsible for the interior design of the light-filled, wood-wrapped space — simply wants folks to feel comfortable knowing that everything at Vibrant is truly good for you.

Here’s a bonus: The wine program adopts the same theory, with all-natural and biodynamic wines.

Food+Travel
As Escape Spa Expands in 2025, Owner Has Advice on Personal Growth: ‘Focus on Intention Setting’

CHANGE IS A good thing, and with the start of a new year, I always like to reflect on how far I've come and start fresh by setting self-care goals for the coming months. Personal growth is a passion for me, and also something I enjoy. Guiding a business through growth and change is also one of my passions, so I am very pleased to announce that Escape Spa is going to be expanding in 2025! We’re honored that we’ve built such a loyal following since opening in Cypress in July of 2022, and we’re thrilled to be in a position to grow our wellness and recovery sanctuary just outside of Houston.

Keep Reading Show less

Nadia Hafeez, Shireen Hadi, Sara Perry (photo by Daniel Ortiz)

A ROSTER OF women you might usually see in scrubs and white coats flipped the script and went high-fashion for the Arts of Healing Foundation’s fourth annual Fashion Show at the Post Oak Hotel, celebrating Houston’s Women in Medicine.

Keep Reading Show less

Amy Pierce, Sippi Khurana, Dr Namrata Sharma Goel and Ruchi Muchejee (photo by Daniel Ortiz)

A BIG CROWD turned up at the Post Oak Hotel for the Children at Risk gala, raising some $360,000 focused on “understanding and addressing the root causes of child poverty and inequality,” per its mission statement.

Keep Reading Show less