Citrus semifreddo at March
Armandos
The Bloody Mary at Armandos
Armando and Cinda Palacios’ longtime eatery, fashioned after 1920s Mexico City, is consistently packed with regulars who love their famous fresh-lime juice margaritas, delicious Tex-Mex fare and the legendary late-night dance party every Thursday night. And now, after 45 amazing years, Armandos is serving brunch for the first time. Guests can look forward to huevos rancheros, huevos revueltos, papas con huevo y chorizo, chilaquiles, and a sinful waffle selection including savory and sweet options. Wake up to a stack of Belgian waffles topped with whipped cream, cinnamon, cajeta sauce and a churro, or three Belgian waffles crowned with bacon and two eggs, and so much more. Brunch is available every Sunday from 10am-3pm.
Gaspachos Mexican Bites
Gaspachos
Just in time for (hopefully!) cooler weather, Gaspachos Mexican Bites is rolling into beloved Upper Kirby green space, Levy Park. Located in the park’s kiosk next to its dog park, Gaspachos replaces Love Shack, Tim Love’s shuttered burger joint. From the familiar team behind fresh-squeezed concept Gaspachos Fruits & Cravings food truck, comes this counter-service pitstop with food to be enjoyed out of hand at the park. On the menu, look for crispy flautas, hot dogs and tacos, as well as other street snacks. Pair those with beverage options including margaritas, micheladas, and agua frescas. Expect a mid-September debut.
March
La Norma pasta at March
With the fine-dining establishment’s commitment to a new journey throughout the Mediterranean twice yearly, comes this season’s menu theme: Italy! The new Sicily menu by chef-partner Felipe Riccio launched August 16 and will continue through December 2023. Luxe courses to anticipate during the six or nine-course tasting menu include Peperunata, a roasted pepper stuffed with king crab alongside Sicilian pistachio cream; La Norma, an elegant play on the classic pasta with eggplant, tomato, basil, and ricotta salata stuffed gettoni; and Buccularu Arrustutu featuring slow braised and grilled guanciale with mulberry, foie gras torchon and pickled onion petals. Each season, March's world-class wine and beverage team tastes through the menu to craft Classic and Premier pairings. This season, guests can expect the best of Sicilian wines along with well-chosen global options. Stay tuned for a blow-by-blow account of the new menu soon.
Rumi's Kitchen
Rumi's Kitchen owners Stephen Kaplan and Ali Mesghali (photo by Alex Montoy)
Rumi’s, a Persian restaurant, snatched up space in posh Post Oak Place joining Zadok Jewelers about a year ago. Now it is readying for an opening in October. Chef-owner Ali Mesghali and co-owner Stephen Kaplan created Rumi’s to offer a sophisticated take on Persian cuisine with Middle Eastern influences unlike anything here. The 5,200-square-foot Houston restaurant will be the fifth to join other U.S. outposts. Rumi’s is known for its elevated takes on shareable plates, kebabs, pickled and grilled vegetables, and steamed jeweled rice dishes. Expect an alluring ambiance with an elegant dining room, a stylish bar, and a cocktail program with Persian-themed cocktails.
State of Grace
Oysters at State of Grace
Oyster season has arrived, and State of Grace is celebrating the season with a new weekday lunch oyster happy hour. The happy hour special offers a selection of fresh oysters on the half shell with tangy accoutrements for $1.99 each. It’s only available Wed.-Fri., 11am-6pm, so get cracking!
Tin Drum Asian Kitchen
Tin Drum (photo by Becca Wright)
The Washington Corridor welcomes a healthy addition with this new Hong Kong-inspired eatery offering a slew of veg-centric stir-fries, wok-tossed noodles, street snacks and ramen. The dishes are a mix of Sichuan, Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese, Indian and Korean cuisines and are made to order in an open kitchen. Tin Drum’s new 2,200-square foot space seats 50 and includes a patio. Restaurant officials said they were looking to create a dining experience like a curbside café in Asia with colorful interior featuring neon lights, art and graffiti. Hit the boba bar for fruit teas, milk teas and slushies in dreamy flavor combos.
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Judy Resnik and Christa McAuliffe before the fated Challenger flight (NASA photo scanned by J.L. Pickering)
Grush, a self-described “space journalist” who grew up in Friendswood right next to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Clear Lake and whose parents were both engineers who worked on the space shuttle program, is the ideal person to tell the story of the first women to fly in space. On Wednesday, Sept. 13 at the Federal Reserve Bank, Grush will speak about The Six as a guest of the World Affairs Council of Greater Houston.
“I grew up in a community that was very close to space,” says Grush, who at the time, didn’t think what her parents did for a living was “cool,” and was more interested in storytelling, using a camcorder to create narrative videos. But as Grush began to craft a career in journalism, and friends and colleagues expressed curiosity about her unique childhood, she gained a new appreciation for the science of space travel and decided to dedicate herself to writing about space. “It’s been a fulfilling and full circle experience,” says Grush.
Throughout The Six, whether describing the intricacies of steering a high-powered T-38 jet in high altitudes, or how record-low temperatures contributed to the cause of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, Grush makes the science and technology of space exploration accessible to the lay reader, without the need of footnotes or a glossary of terms. “I’ve always likened myself to a translator,” says Grush regarding how engineers often speak in “code” and with an abundance of acronyms. “Sometimes it’s difficult when you’ve been in a beat for so long because you start to talk that way too. But it’s my job to explain things in a way that people will understand if they’re coming to space for the first time.”
In the years after the Apollo 11 landing, it was commonly accepted that only male military test pilots had the right stuff for space travel. But that changed in 1977 when NASA rolled out plans for a new type of space vehicle, a “space shuttle” that would make regular trips into space and back, with crews made up of people from a range of disciplines, including scientists, engineers, and doctors. After years of avoiding the issue of discrimination based on gender and race, the agency campaigned for women and people of color to apply to the program, regardless of their experience with piloting. NASA was catching up with the times. Before that, half of the women among “the six” were not focused on becoming astronauts but on careers they believed were attainable.
One reason why Grush wanted to shine a light on all six astronauts is that the first woman in space could have easily been any one of them.
“I’m fascinated by the ‘what ifs?’” says Grush. “Throughout the book, you see the lineup changes pretty drastically. We could have easily had a different first American woman in space.” (Before Ride, Soviet Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkov was the first woman to fly in space.) The seemingly random nature behind deciding who gets to fly and when will hit home for readers with knowledge of the Challenger disaster, a doomed flight that included Resnik among the crew. “With hindsight, those decisions seem much more fateful,” says Grush.
Author Loren Grush (photo by Christopher White)
Sally Ride and Anna Fisher (NASA photo scanned by J.L. Pickering)
Coinciding with the publication of The Six is NASA’s ambitious Artemis moon exploration program which, after a lunar flyby scheduled for 2024, will put the first woman (Christina Koch) and person of color (Victor Glover) on the moon in 2025. Meanwhile, back on Earth, the scourge of gender and racial discrimination continues to rear its head, making the history Grush tells in The Six more timely than ever. But NASA’s better-late-than-never commitment to inclusivity and diversity has had a positive and profound impact beyond the space program. “Opening up these programs means you’ll find some really special people that you would have missed otherwise,” says Grush. “Once one wall comes down in a profession, you start to wonder, well, why is there a wall for others?”