Pizza, Pizza! Magdalena’s Is Latest in Long Line of New ‘Za Spots Popping Up All Over Houston

Alex Montoya
Pizza, Pizza! Magdalena’s Is Latest in Long Line of New ‘Za Spots Popping Up All Over Houston

Prosciutto E Rucola Pizza

CAN HOUSTON HAVE enough piping-hot pizza places? It appears not, as ones like Nonno’s garner national acclaim and celeb-backed ones like Pizzana open on prime corners.


What’s one to try next? Magdalena’s, a new neighborhood Italian resto in West U with homemade pasta and hand-tossed pizza. It’s all scratch-made using the recipes of the restaurant’s namesake, chef/owner Nicolas Nikic’s mom.

The kitchen uses select ingredients sourced in Italy including cheeses, olive oils and prosciutto. Everything is ultra-fresh, like the flash-fried artichoke and the shaved brussel sprouts — and those are just the antipastos! The burrata salad is a baseball-size helping of burrata (need we say more?) served with roasted cauliflower on a bed of arugula.

Nikic’s inventive pasta selections include sweet-corn ravioli with lobster and the oh-so-cheesy tortellinis topped with fresh herbs. Hand tossed and baked to a crispy perfection, the pizzas aren’t to be missed. The Siciliana features mozzarella, olives and capers — what could be more Italian than that!? There’s also pizza topped with clams or preserved tuna for the more adventurous. Buon appetito!

Cheese Tortellini

Panna Cotta with Berry Compote

Sweet Corn Ravioli with Lobster

Tiramisu

Food

A detail of 'Cycle' (Photos courtesy Barbara Davis Gallery)

NEWS OF RECENT commissions by Houston artist Paul Fleming led us to several photos of his eye-catching, large-scale wall installations, many of which are installed in the sunlit interiors of some of the city’s most beautiful homes and apartment communities, including the resident lounge of The Southmore, located just a few blocks from the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

Keep Reading Show less
Art + Entertainment

Installation view of 'THIS WAY: A Houston Group Show' at Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, 2023. (Photo by Sean Fleming)

IN THE SUMMER of 1865, less than two months after the end of the Civil War, thousands of former slaves, or “freedpeople,” from the Texas countryside and every state in the former Confederacy made the pilgrimage via the San Felipe Trail to Houston’s Fourth Ward and established Freedman’s Town — a neighborhood for families determined to build and establish a thriving community as the country entered the Reconstruction era. Nearby cypress trees provided wood to construct family homes and handcrafted bricks were used to create the neighborhood’s streets. In June 2021, the Houston City Council voted to make Freedmen’s Town the city’s first official Heritage District, which allows nonprofits to help fund the restoration and care of the community’s historic structures, including those brick streets.

Keep Reading Show less