Opt for Optimism

Cheerful mural pops up in EaDo to inspire optimism and photo ops

The completed mural.

Courtesy photo

You might notice a new mural at 2011 Leeland St., and hopefully it will lift your spirits.

Frost Bank commissioned self-taught urban artist Anat Ronen to depict what optimism means to her, and the result is a colorful image that's more than just writing on a wall. Ronen describes her art as "for the people," and her latest installation is meant to make people stop and think.

Come check out the mural for yourself on November 15 from 11 am-2 pm, when Frost Bank and CultureMap will be hosting a pop-up event. Snap and share a photo in front of the new wall art, use the hashtag #OptForOptimism, and you could win $500 cash plus another $500 for your favorite nonprofit.

Expect other fun surprises and giveaways throughout the day, thanks to community partners Alamo Drafthouse, High Brew, and the Houston Ballet, to name a few.

Check out the video above by @WingedSunProductions to see the mural take shape, then stop by to see it in person.

James Beard Finalists 2023

3 Houston chefs and restaurants named James Beard Award finalists

Tatemo Emmanuel Chavez Megan Maul

Photo by Emily Jaschke

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Three Houston chefs and restaurants are in the running for one of the food world’s most prestigious prizes. The James Beard Foundation has selected them as finalists for their annual Restaurant and Chef Awards.

Considered the Oscars of the food world, the awards recognize chefs and other culinary professionals in a wide range of categories ranging from Outstanding Chef to Best New Restaurant. Texas is considered its own region and one person will earn Best Chef: Texas.

The Houstonians in the running for national awards are:

Best New Restaurant: Tatemó
Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program: Nancy’s Hustle

Six other Texan restaurants and chefs are in the running for national awards:

Outstanding Bar: Las Ramblas, Brownsville
Outstanding Bakery: Kuluntu Bakery, Dallas
Outstanding Bakery: La Casita Bakeshop, Dallas
Best New Restaurant: Restaurant Beatrice, Dallas
Best New Restaurant: Don Artemio Mexican Heritage, Fort Worth
Outstanding Restaurant: Lucia, Dallas

The finalists for Best Chef: Texas are:

Reyna Duong, Sandwich Hag, Dallas
Benchawan Jabthong Painter, Street to Kitchen, Houston
Emiliano Marentes, ELEMI, El Paso
John Russ, Clementine, San Antonio, TX
Ernest Servantes and David Kirkland, Burnt Bean Co., Seguin, TX

Notably, all of this year’s finalists for both the national categories and Best Chef: Texas are new. None of them received nominations in 2022.

The finalists are drawn from a pool of semifinalists that included 10 nominations each for Houston and Dallas, seven for San Antonio, six for Austin, and two for Fort Worth.

Last year, Texans did well in the awards, with Houston cocktail bar Julep winning Outstanding Bar Program, Austin chef Edgar Rico (Nixta Taqueria) winning Emerging Chef, and Austin chef Iliana de la Vega (El Naranjo) winning the first ever Best Chef: Texas. In addition, two Texans won media awards — Austin chef Jesse Griffiths (Dai Due) for his cookbook, The Hog Book: A Chef’s Guide to Hunting, Butchering and Cooking Wild Pigs and Texas Monthly taco editor Jose Ralat for his Tex-Mexplainer columns.

The Foundation will reveal its Restaurant and Chef Award winners at an awards ceremony on Monday, June 5, 2023, at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. Media Award winners will be announced on June 3.

Benchawan Painter

Courtesy of Street to Kitchen

Benchawan Jabthong Painter, Street to Kitchen.

awards James Beard Award chefs news-you-can-eat

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