More than 500 supporters of the Children’s Museum of Houston donned scary-chic gowns, makeup and accessories for the elaborate Día de los Muertos gala. Bergner & Johnson Design adorned the walls, ceilings, tables and more with images of sugar skulls and marigolds, while Jackson & Company served an inspired spread of stuffed jalapenos, spicy steak and Mexican wedding cookies. An exciting live auction and raffle included a nearly $16,000 pair of his-and-hers Rolex watches, courtesy of Deutsch Houston. The night’s total till topped $1 million. Meanwhile, the Ronald McDonald House also raised nearly a mil at its annual Boo Ball, held at the Hilton-Americas. Costume-clad revelers enjoyed Halloween-inspired fare like the Witches Brew dessert. Spooktacular!
HOW DID YOUR team form? After ten years as a realtor for a top firm in Houston, Kim Perdomo established a boutique brokerage in 2011. The team grew organically and joined forces with Compass in 2019.
What is the relationship within the team? We have a very special relationship as a team. A lot of us have been friends for many years prior to working together in real estate. With that brings a camaraderie and loyalty to one another that is truly remarkable. We all work together to help everyone succeed, and that is a huge benefit to our clients.
What makes you unique? Our Brand Promise:
Maintaining Lifelong Relationships With Our Clients
Personal Service
Distinctive Marketing
Helping Our Clients Make the Right Move
How do you bring this promise to life? We specialize in presenting our listings to the market to achieve the best results. Our personalized, hands-on service includes coordinating staging services, repairs, inspections and through distinctive marketing we attract the largest group of buyers. A few metrics we use to define best results include sales price, contract terms offered, days on market and list price to sales price ratios. Since we are with our clients throughout the entire process, our business relationships typically evolve into true friendships. We have done this successfully in a seller’s market and buyer’s market. As a team, we have 140 years of experience. We have seen it all.
What’s the secret to your success? Integrity. Doing what we say we are going to do and putting our clients’ needs above ours.
What’s next for the end of the year and 2023? We just returned from our top producer awards trip in Alys Beach, Fla., and we are beginning to set goals and prioritize on how we can continue to raise the bar as individuals and as a team. We are currently working with clients to help them evaluate their real estate needs and monitoring the luxury market while communicating exclusive listing opportunities to our buyer clients and fellow agents. Our team expertise and the Compass advantage provides the ultimate results for our clients.
IT’S ONLY THE first week of December and H-Town is already bubbling over with culinary news. Here’s the latest taste of what’s new and coming soon!
Sushi by Hidden
Sushi by Hidden chef Jimmy Kieu (photo by Jenn Duncan)
From the creators of speakeasy sushi restaurant Hidden Omakase, Sushi by Hidden just swung open its doors in Rice Village. Expect limited seating (only 10 guests at a time!) and a menu of 12 sushi pieces chosen and delivered per course by the chef ($60). Leading the chef-driven experience is Jimmy Kieu along with a rotating roster of sushi professionals. Prepare for a bring-your-own-liquor policy in opening days, with a $20 corkage fee for bottles 720ml or larger. The restaurant will begin with dinner service and add lunch in the future.
CAPS Supper Club and Bar
Grilled octopus at CAPS (photo by Gondola Picon)
CAPS Piano Bar is being completely transformed into a supper club — with live music, a private room and a new chef! Chef Omar Pereney, former owner of Peska in Houston, is now at the helm. He plans on an ever-evolving menu with a focus on seafood. The proposed opening menu highlights crudos, tartare and oysters, while shareable plates include grilled octopus, a short rib grilled cheese, and chorizo and mango croquettes. Whole branzino, herb-roasted chicken, cacio e pepe, and a CAPS signature burger, as well as steaks and chops, round out the main plates. CAPS, owned by Venkata Diddi, is scheduled for a January opening.
MaKiin
Lukkaew Srasrisuwan
Co-owner of Kin Dee, Lukkaew Srasrisuwan, is bringing a new concept to Houston’s booming Upper Kirby neighborhood. MaKiin will debut this spring on the ground level of luxury high-rise Hanover River Oaks, and its sold-out pop-up is this week, offering a sneak preview of the menu. Pronounced “Ma-kin,” which translate “come to eat,” the upscale restaurant will feature a broad range of Thai delicacies. “With Kin Dee, we showed Houstonians Thai food can be fun and vibrant,” says Srasrisuwan. She adds, “MaKiin will deliver a more elevated experience to celebrate the artistry of my homeland’s authentic flavors, ingredients and techniques.”
Vibrant
Sprouted pecan amaranth granola
Montrose’s Vibrant is back after being on hiatus for the past year. Guests can anticipate a new food menu of similarly nourishing and beautiful dishes, as well as a small-batch retail line designed to take home. The beloved restaurant has been busy planning a redesigned kitchen, a new from-scratch menu, and intimate, design-driven interiors. “We want people to leave feeling inspired, stimulated, and satisfied by their meal and environment,” says founder Kelly Barnhart.
Executive chef Patti Delgado worked with a nutritionist to maximize the nutritional value of every dish with a focus on anti-inflammatory benefits. Menu items include sorghum waffles with coconut yogurt probiotic cream and elderberry syrup; braised beef tacos on a housemade sweet potato cassava tortilla; and activated pecan amaranth granola with blue spirulina milk. Vibrant has added a new tortilla press and expanded its coffee program beyond organic espresso. Its retail grab-and-go section offers a new line of vegan and gluten-free breads, coconut yogurt, cookie and pizza dough, pastries, bone broth, poblano mole, and more. Handy!Vinny's
Nutcracker pizzas at Vinny's
The Houston Ballet and Agricole Hospitality’s Vinny’s pizzeria have teamed up on a charitable pizza collab to celebrate The Nutcracker season. Vinny’s is baking up two dreamy limited-time themed pizzas designed by four Houston Ballet dancers through Dec. 31 — think Lucid Dreamz with sweet onion sauce, spinach and smoked pork loin, and Seven Gold Crowns, a cheesy vegetarian delight with a walnut pesto drizzle. Guests can vote on their favorite, which will be announced in the New Year. A portion of proceeds goes to the Lauren Anderson Young Dancer Scholarship Fund.
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THERE'S SOMETHING SPECIAL about an old-school Southern city, with its subtropical landscaping, old bricks, older trees and rib-sticking food everywhere, especially at the holidays. But, then again, a waterfront resort with a huge pool and potent cocktails served under cabanas is hard to beat. Can’t decide? May we suggest The Beach Club at Charleston Harbor Resort & Marina? Located across the harbor from downtown Charleston, it offers both.
It’s serious about its coastal Southerness, from the Colonial-era baby blue paint and chunky millwork that pervades the gracious and sprawling space — the whole thing feels a bit like an excellent country club at which you sip sweet tea with purpose and feel important — to the seersucker robes in the guestrooms. There’s maritime-inspired art by local artists in every vividly colorful room, and balconies overlooking the large pool. And, beyond that, the marina and a network of piers and boardwalks, and grassy, bird-beloved marshland that meets Charleston Harbor like a scene from a nature painting.
The grilled salmon at the hotel’s Fish House comes with ratatouille and watercress puree, and the suggested pairing for the Lowcountry classic Shrimp and Grits, which here adds in andouille and sweet peppers, is an Argentine Malbec. Golden sunlight bounces off the harbor and floods in at the magic hour. Above the restaurant is the open-air Bridge Bar with expansive views.
The hotel also offers sailing lessons, taught by faculty from the champion College of Charleston sailing team. Unique holiday-time happenings include Oysters on the Point, at which buckets of steamed oysters go for $13 on some Saturdays and come with a side of live music. The resort also sets up a large ice-skating rink, open till February.
Of course, there’s tons to do off property in the hip and historic Charleston area, including the USS Yorktown, a huge WWII aircraft carrier docked right next door to the hotel and open for tours — and Fort Sumter, where the Civil War began, on a tiny island you can see from The Beach Club. And then there’s simply tooling around Charleston, which is easy to get to by water taxi. The ride alone is an adventure: You’ve never seen so many dolphins putting on a show.
A stroll through the city is enchanting, with its leafy cobblestone streets lined with palmettos — not palms, thankyouverymuch — and French colonial-era homes with long piazza porches on the side. It feels like the best of NOLA’s French Quarter and antebellum Natchez combined, with a fresh coat of paint, lots of shade from Live Oaks and curiously not infrequent sightings of hunky hipsters with tat sleeves and man buns. If you’re hungry after a morning walkabout, Miller’s All Day has biscuit sandwiches with fried chicken, pepper jam and the city’s favorite spread, pimento cheese; at most restaurants, the stuff seems to show up on pretty much everything except the peanut butter pie.
And we’re definitely not complaining.
A glimpse of old Charleston at Christmas
Seersucker robes at The Beach Club
A Christmas tree at The Beach Club