HGO Yo-Pros Party With Compass and CityBook at C. Baldwin!

10.30


Downtown’s C. Baldwin hotel is cementing its place as the season’s see-and-be scene. Just a few days after hosting a raucous grand-opening bash — complete with performances by Gloria Gaynor and Houston’s own The Suffers — the party place threw open its doors once more for Houston Grand Opera.

HGO’s young professionals group, Opening Nights, presented by Houston Methodist, toasted the company’s new season at a cocktail soiree sponsored by CityBook with event partner Compass. More than 100 culturally engaged and chatty partygoers, dressed to thrill per the organization’s fashion-forward rep, mingled about the first-floor lobby area, gathering under a showstopping chandelier hanging near the bar to take in the urbane patio views offered by a wall of floor-to-ceiling windows. The baritone voice of opera star and HGO Studio alumnus Federico De Michelis, accompanied by pianist Patrick Harvey, floated through the open room during a moving performance.

Celeb chef Chris Cosentino and company had fun dreaming up a fab menu — including the already-famous wood-fired pizza — and a specialty cocktail called The Magic Flute, inspired by HGO’s Spring 2020 production of the same name. Other highlights included a first glimpse of Cosentino’s brand-new Italian restaurant Rosalie on the C. Baldwin premises, and a sneak peek of the hotel's forthcoming Sloan/Hall boutique.
Dispatches

Saba Syed, Founder of Oasis Moroccan Bath

How did you get to where you are today? My journey began with a need to be financially independent and an even a deeper drive to create a lasting legacy. The centuries-old Hammam tradition has always fascinated me—not just for its relaxation benefits, but for its holistic approach to cleansing the body, mind, and soul. So, combining my passion with a vision to bring an authentic yet luxurious Hammam spa experience to Houston, I took the leap less than two years ago to open my own spa.

Keep Reading Show less

Jacob Hilton, a.k.a. Travid Halton, at home in his kitchen, where he enjoys cooking as a form of therapy.

PINK FLOYD'S THE Wall. Sinatra’s In the Wee Small Hours. Beyonce’s Lemonade. Three divergent examples of the album as a cathartic, psychological, conceptual work, meant to be experienced in a single sitting. Houston singer-songwriter Jacob Hilton, 37, who records as Travid Halton, a portmanteau of his mother and father’s names, might balk at being mentioned in such company. (This is a thoroughly unpretentious man, who describes himself as an “archaeologist turned singer-songwriter.”)

Keep Reading Show less
Art + Entertainment