The arts and culinary industries are no doubt a point of pride for this sprawling megalopolis. That a coterie of locals thought to emulsify them together, well, that's like paint on a canvas or bacon on a cheeseburger — predestined and inseparable.
As Lawndale Art Center prepared to pay tribute to five years of nurturing Gulf Coast area talent through the Artist Studio Program, chairs Nicole Laurent Romano and Barbara McKnight cooked up "Tasteful Art" Thursday evening at the Hofheinz House on Milam. McKnight restored the 1912 Colonial Revival-influenced Arts and Crafts two-story — the former home of Houston's mayor and notorious Judge Roy Hofheinz, aka "The Judge" — as an event space and hub for her business, Catering by Culinaire.
In lieu of traditional wine and food pairings, chefs commingled with Lawndale artists past and present to fuse their skills to craft a culinary canvass, from palate to palette. Chef German Mosquera of Roots Bistro, represented by Miles Fraser and Rebecca O'Brien, was mused by Patrick Turk's whimsical fowl collage and offered a Texas quail egg served with eatable clay, pheasant olive oil dust, smoked sea salt and wild porcini cream. Alongside multimedia artist Teresa O'Connor, hints of Randy Rucker's next restaurant venture, Briar and Bramble, were present in his mushrooms with foraged wild greens.
A flowing supply of Laetitia Vineyard & Winery vintages and Saint Arnold Brewing Co. suds enlivened the ambiance, where 100 supporters learned about success stories from this forward-thinking institution initiative.
Octopus? That was a risky choice that paid off for Plonk! Beer and Wine Bistro's Erin Smith. The tentacles were braised in dashi broth and lightly embraced with Limoncello coulis.
With film artist and sculptor Seth Mittag, Jody Stevens of Jodycakes delighted taste buds with her cardamom spice pumpkin pana cotta kissed with soy Bourbon anglaise. That it was vegan — a trompe le tongue triumph. David Buehrer of Greenway Coffee poured brews from around the world while performing artist Nancy Douthey hammed it up as a vintage flight attendant.
A flowing supply of Laetitia Vineyard & Winery vintages and Saint Arnold Brewing Co. suds enlivened the ambiance, where 100 supporters learned about success stories from this forward-thinking institution initiative.
Nibbling and mingling were Lawndale executive director Christine West, David Politzer, Anthony Shumate, Stephanie Saint Sanchez, Domokos Benczédi, Cynthia Parra, Joey Romano, Anne and Joe Romano, Nathan Hawthorne, Monitrice Malone, Carey Kirkpatrick, El Franco Lee II, Natalie Beaudion, Susan Lindberg, Jeryn and Walter Mayer, Cindy Clifford, Jason Fuller and Alex Griffin.
