Happy-Hour Hot Spot The Nash Bows Downtown

Kirsten Gilliam
Happy-Hour Hot Spot The Nash Bows Downtown

Pan-seared snapper

AT THE ONSET of the pandemic, tons of cool new projects were slated for Downtown. And while some were delayed or canceled, others are braving the Covid climate and finally opening — to the excitement of many.


One of those resolute restaurants is The Nash, which is now open daily from 4pm-9pm inside the historic Star, formerly known as the Texaco Building. There's a large, dog-friendly patio, and spacious interior that boasts a floor-to-ceiling bar and open kitchen.

Catering to Downtown residents and a hopefully increasing number of visitors, the globally inspired menu — developed by culinary prodigy Omar Pereney, whom Houstonians may remember from his teenage days helming the kitchen at Peska — is full of shareable, seasonal items, plus plenty of hearty steaks and chops. Tater tots here are made with aged smoked cheddar, roasted corn, jalapeno and herbed crema fresca, while the Korean bacon comes with a gochujang barbecue sauce. And Pereney's take on the Green Goddess salad has roasted asparagus and a perfectly thin and crunchy parmesan crisp.

There's a large, hard-to-miss pizza oven in the middle of the open kitchen, and guests can expect to be enticed by pies like the Pizza Bianco with truffled honey, or the house special: pepperoni, bacon, corn and jalapeno. (There's even a dessert pizza, with caramel apples and vanilla gelato!) But other large plates, like a cauliflower paneer curry, shouldn't be overlooked, nor should the simply grilled filet mignon served with creamed spinach or "chef's fries."

Happy hour at The Nash, on weekdays from 4pm-6pm, will include deals on snacks and signature cocktails; lunch and brunch menus will be rolled out soon.

Food

Helen Winchell, Marti Grizzle, Brittany Franklin, Jensen Wessendorff

HUNDREDS OF TREE-LOVING Houstonians savored and celebrated the good life at the La Dolce Vita-themed, 30th-annual Root Ball benefiting Trees for Houston.

Keep Reading Show less
Parties

Leah Lax

A PANICKED MOTHER traveling by foot from El Salvador to reach the U.S.-Mexico border rubs crushed garlic cloves on her skin to ward off the cottonmouth snakes crawling over her legs. A group of half-starved teenage Vietnamese refugees on a boat they hoped would ferry them to safety huddle together as pirates board and steal all their possessions. At a UN Refugee Office, a father of six and a member of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (a minority ethnic group based in southern Nigeria) whose leadership had been executed by a corrupt Nigerian government, is granted emergency refugee status. The interviewer reaches into her pocket and hands him money to smuggle his family out of Nigeria.

Keep Reading Show less
Art + Entertainment