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Hip new runway looks mix with sexy streetwear and vintage finds for a fresh take on cowboy cool — just in time for Rodeo.
Feb. 12, 2018
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.
ONE OF THE year’s most anticipated restaurants, modern American seafood concept Navy Blue, has dropped anchor in Rice Village, taking the space formerly occupied by Politan Row. Everything points to success — from its buzzy vibe to the big New York chef Jerrod Zifchak, and the quality seafood, of course. Catch our first bite!
The name pays homage to chef-owner Aaron Bludorn’s naval-aviator father, whose call sign was “Blue.” Expect a completely reimagined space by Austin-based Föda Studios, who worked in tandem with Courtney Hill Interiors and Gensler to create a design inspired by the idea of an ocean untouched by humanity.
Guests are greeted by an oversize, oyster-shaped wall built with sandy concrete breeze blocks, and a hostess stand conceived as a proverbial pearl. Awash in organic elements in tune with nature, the 110-seat dining room has a clean and crisp aesthetic. But the most striking feature is the huge, gleaming open kitchen where chefs Bludorn and Zifchak orchestrate the magic with a team who occasionally exclaim in unison, “Yes, Chef!”
Chocolate Coulant (photo by Caroline Fontenot)
The two chefs curated a menu of oceanic delicacies: think thick and exotically-seasoned swordfish au poivre; blackened red snapper with ahi amarillo; and whole Dover sole prepared Almondine, Oscar or Provencal.
Pasta fans should try the clean-tasting linguini Vongole with Manilla clams, addictive seafood risotto, or rich lobster ravioli. Whet your appetite with the cool tuna crudo with fennel and apple, or charred octopus salad with sweet potato and preserved lemon. Or warm it up with the jumbo lump crab cake anointed with celeriac remoulade and tomato chutney. Mouth-watering desserts by executive pastry chef Marie Riddle are a highlight — don’t leave without trying the amazing carrot cake with ginger ice cream.
Although most menu items sound like classics, always expect a twist. “We wanted to create a menu with plenty of options and the same kind of approachability that guests love at Bludorn,” said Bludorn, adding, “What oysters are to Bludorn, which are done 3 ways — fried, baked, and raw — clams, shrimp and Dover sole are to Navy Blue. We have a running rotation of fresh fish with preparation suggestions, but guests can swap it out however they want. We are flexible when it comes to putting our guests’ tastes first — that’s why we are here, and we love what we do.”
Guests enter through a covered sidewalk patio with manicured planters and a few tables. Slender, black-ribbed pendants and plush banquettes soften concrete columns, providing both a chic sense of style and a natural transition to the white-grey Japanese ceramic tile.
A unique steel-and-driftwood light installation brings the softly-lit bar to life. Tucked away to the back of the space, the bar became a hopping scene the first week of opening.
Speaking of scenes, a flexible private dining room ensconced behind the bar can accommodate up to 40 guests for a reserved event, complete with A/V bells-and-whistles and an intriguing mural by Austin artist Emily Eisenhart.
Jerrod Zifchak, Aaron Bludorn and Cherif Mbodji (photo by Michael Anthony)
Expect exemplary service at every turn, including a sophisticated number-tab system for holding to-go items in a “coat closet.” Working with his wife Victoria and their partner Cherif Mbodji, Bludorn has enlisted a dream team of veteran hospitality professionals to uphold the same standards of excellence that made his first Houston restaurant a runaway success.
Mbodji oversees the front-of-house operations led by GM Elizabeth Acosta. In the kitchen, executive chef Zifchak earned his culinary chops at the Michelin 3-starred restaurant Le Bernardin before working under Bludorn at Café Boulud New York.
“At Bludorn, we found that the ultimate luxury was the ability to choose your own dining experience and we plan to emphasize that even more at Navy Blue,” said Bludorn. He added, “The ability to come in and enjoy the restaurant without feeling the need to dress up or to feel pressure to adhere to traditional standards of a fine dining restaurant is what we strived to achieve.” Expect to see diamonds, denim and everything in between.
Swordfish au Poivre (photo by Julie Soefer)
Navy Blue
2445 Times Blvd.
713.347.7727
Dinner Mon.-Sat., 5pm-10pm (10:30 on Fri-Sat.). Sunday dinner begins Dec. 4, from 5pm-9pm. Lunch and Sunday brunch will follow in 2023. Valet or self-park in Rice Village. Reservations available on Resy, or visit navybluerestaurant.com.
NEARLY 500 BLACK-tie-clad Houstonians turned out to toast the late billionaire-philanthropist Fayez Sarofim, who notably contributed tens of millions to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, at the MFAH’s annual Grand Gala Ball. This year, the event honored Sarofim’s legacy and that of his eponymous foundation, and celebrated the continuance of the family’s generosity, as several of the Sarofims were in attendance.
Guests entered through a clear, chandelier-bedecked tent into the museum’s Cullinan Hall, whose walls were covered in dozens of masterworks from Fayez’s personal collection. At the event, it was announced that 125 of the pieces will be placed on an extended loan to the MFAH beginning early next year.
The decorative floral walls and accents of navy- and peach-colored linens throughout, executed by The Events Company, were reflective of Fayez’s personal taste. His favorite dishes — from lobster salad to risotto Milanese — were whipped up by City Kitchen and beautifully served to galagoers during the seated-dinner portion of the evening. Another one of his faves? Whataburger, which inspired the late-night bites at the conclusion of the event.
DJ Chris Szenberg and Revel Arcade provided the soundtrack for the night, which raised nearly $2.4 million.
Will Denton and Sara Dodd-Denton
Albert and Anne Chao, with Lily and Hamid Kooros
Veronika and Marc Adler
Anne Duncan and Gary Tinterow
Bobbie Nau and Marc Grossberg
Thad and Sarah Smith
Stephanie and Frank Tsuru
Chris and Kristy Bradshaw
Christy Cham and Phillip Sarofim
Sheridan and John Eddie Williams, with Laura and Mike Sweeney
David Anders, Liz Anders and Hunter Bell
Robert Sakowitz
Isla and Tommy Reckling
Rich and Nancy Kinder
Elyse Lanier and Eva Robins
Evan and Nicole Katz
Herman and Aliyya Stude
Reggie Smith, Terry Wayne Jones, Bill Baldwin and Jay Jones
Joan Schnitzer and Susan Sarofim
Payson and Susie Tucker
Patrick Seabase and Allison Sarofim
Nicole Rose
Mona and Andrew Sarofim
Jim and Whitney Crane
Max and Lauren Barrett
Margaret Alkek Williams;
Lily and Johnathan Schnitzer
Keefer Lehner, Alex and Ali Weaver, and Laura Lehner