This week is all about haute corn, modern goods, lots of wine, culture outdoors, wondering dance and underground music.
Click on the "deets" links below each event. There, you will find helpful features, like the ability to download the details to your calendar, and intel like where to eat, drink and shop around your final destination.
Young Texans Against Cancer's "Kiss My Grits Gulf Coast Throwdown"
Don't judge me for loving My Cousin Vinny. Amid Marisa Tomei's memorable quotes and Joe Pesci Yankee-isms, one of the arguments that shifts the plot of the trial-by-jury film is about grits. Because no self-respecting southern gent would ever be caught stirring the instant, ready-made version.
Young Texans Against Cancer owe much to the porridge, the food du jour for this young professionals fundraiser where the upper echelon of Houston chefs will vie for the title of corn overlord. Event chairs Katy Mayell, Meredith Staggers and Stephanie Weaver will try to surpass last years' numbers, and surely the competitive chefs will try to dethrone last year's winners, the Uchi team led by Philip Speer.
The deets: Thursday, 7 p.m.; 5226 Elm St.; tickets start at $80.
Houston Modern Market 2013
Add a touch of mod sass to your abode by visiting the three-day Houston Modern Market. Winter Street Studios will be seized by a flock of mid-century hipness with vendors offering one-of-a-kind finds, including fine art, furniture, jewelry and personal objects. For best selection, begin your shopping spree at the preview party on Friday, 6 p.m. (tickets start at $50). The design bacchanal continues through the weekend.
Many more events await mid-century modern junkies through Houston Modern Market Week.
The deets: Friday through Sunday; Winter Street Studios; admission starts at $10.
2013 Menil Community Arts Festival & Houston Indie Book Fair
The Menil Collection and neighborhood friends will come to play to host a lively festival that showcases the cultural jewels that reside in the community. Gallivant around to partake in live music, film screenings, readings, workshops, yoga and children's activities. Look for literary treasures at the Houston Indie Book Fair, stroll through the museum galleries and purchase art at the Houston Center for Photography's Collaborations X Print Sale. Much more is on tap.
The deets: Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Menil Campus; free event.
Brenner's on the Bayou's 2013 Wine Fest
An ode to the grape orgy that Dionysius would be proud of, Brenner's on the Bayou's 2013 Wine Fest is a wine binge where more than 25 varietals will blitz your palate alongside chef-inspired cuisine and music by Midstream. Plus the restaurant's bucolic setting can't be beat, particularly with the forecast calling for sunny temperatures in the mid 70s.
The deets: Saturday, 3 p.m.; Brenner's Steakhouse on the Bayou; tickets start at $65.
43rd Annual Houston International Festival (iFest) "Brazil"
If you missed last week's iFest kick off musicale, it's not too late to get a taste of Brazil without boarding on a plane. The tropical destination was chosen by popular vote, so expect higher attendance numbers this year. With live music, dance and cultural offerings on 10 stages, the Houston Festival Foundation brings a slice of Carnaval to downtown Houston.
Arts smarty pants and in-the-loop dance maven Nancy Wozny's pick: Hope Stone Dance Company presents one-step promenade, please
Nancy says: "Shopping and Modern Dance. Why not? Hope Stone Dance Company takes to the streets with one-step promenade, please, a site specific work set in and around the eclectic Heights 19th Street shops, galleries and eateries.
"Choreographer Jane Weiner is known for her wit, athletic moves and adventurous use of venues, so this event feels like the next step. This 'dance/art crawl' will gathers at 19th Street and Ashland and progress through area shops, making stops inside some shops before culminating just before Yale and 19th Street. Guest artists include Greg Harbar, Kristen Jensen, Kirk Suddreath and Ana Trevino-Godfrey and the Hope Stone Kids Ensemble."
Staff writer and totally awesome guy Tyler Rudick's pick: Crystal Castles in concert
Tyler says: "The dark and dancey Crystal Castles returns to the House of Blues to show off its new third album. Since signing to Robert Smith's Fiction label, the Toronto duo's music has veered closer and closer to witch house — a genre that started largely in Houston by marrying the city's homegrown chopped-and-screwed scene with goth and industrial sounds. Think DJ Screw meets Joy Division."
The deets: Saturday, 8 p.m.; House of Blues; tickets start at $25.
Shohei Iwahama, Brit Wallis, Catalina Molinari and Nick Nesmith of Hope Stone Dance in Jane Weiner's one-step promenade.
