laval for all

High-end hospitality veteran launches firm for budding Houston restaurateurs

Sébastien Laval.

Courtesy of Laval Hospitality

A new consulting firm aims to assist would-be restaurateurs in bringing their new projects to light. Laval Hospitality is the latest project for Sébastien Laval, a sommelier and manager who has worked at some of Houston's best restaurants.

A native of southwest France, Laval moved to Houston in 2008 to pursue a relationship with his wife, who is a native Houstonian. Along the way, he's worked at establishments including La Table, BCN, MAD, and Musaafer. With Laval Hospitality, he can leverage those experiences to help other build their businesses.

Laval Hospitality offers its clients a range of services that can be purchased on a comprehensive or a la carte basis. They include brand development, competitive analysis, and project management. In addition, Laval's training programs are designed to assist owners in finding and keeping staff.

Joining Laval in the project are a number of other prominent Houston restaurant veterans, including chef German Mosquera (La Colombe D'or, Verdine), nightlife/customer service specialist Eddie Massa (MAD, Chapman & Kirby), and Nicolas Nguyen, a former general manager at Riel whose most recent project is Da Gama Canteen.

“The food and beverage sector in Houston is poised for an incredible rebound following the shutdown last year,” Laval said in a statement. “With our team of industry veterans whose deep relationships in Houston and more than a century of combined experience in both signature culinary operations, financial growth, and employee development, we hope to bring a unique expertise to the marketplace that will improve customer service with customizable training programs and operational efficiencies that will elevate the guest experience.”

The company joins a competitive marketplace of successful restaurant veterans who are offering their expertise to clients. Other companies in the field include A La Carte Consulting Group (Traveler's Table, Homestead), Jonathan Horowitz (Treebeards, Palace Social), and chef Omar Pereney, who recently left A La Carte to start his firm Culinary Matters.

news-you-can-eat

Nobel Prize-winning Houston scientist awarded $5 million to fight cancer

Photo courtesy of MD Anderson Cancer Center

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The James P. Allison Institute at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center scored a $5 million gift at its second annual symposium.

On behalf of Mayor John Whitmire, Oct. 10, 2024 was named “James P. Allison Institute Day,” and it was also the day that the TMC3 Collaborative Building in the Texas Medical Center’s Helix Park greeted 900 attendees for the scientific symposium, entitled “Immunotherapy in Space and Time: The Tumor Microenvironment.”

Allison, who won the Nobel Prize in 2018, leads his namesake institute that was founded in 2022 to advance translational and clinical within cancer to create new, synergetic therapies. In addition to his role as director of the institute, he is regental professor and chair of Immunology at MD Anderson.

At the symposium, Jack and Judi Johnson presented a $5 million gift to the Allison Institute on behalf of the David and Eula Wintermann Foundation, a private organization dedicated to funding the advancement of medical education and research. A longtime supporter of MD Anderson, the foundation’s donation will go towards recruitment and technology for the institute, as well help fund clinical trials.

The money will help support several researchers, who will be known as Wintermann Scholars. The chosen great minds run the gamut from early career scientists to world-renowned experts in fields including immunotherapy, genetics, cancer biology, data science, bioinformatics, spatial profiling or the microbiome.

“It was clear to us that the work happening within the Allison Institute has the potential to transform the lives of so many patients,” said Johnson, president of the Wintermann Foundation. “Our hope is that, with our support, we can help close the distance from the lab to the clinic so the incredible advancements underway can sooner help more cancer patients and their families.”

But the attendees on Oct. 10 learned far more than that. They were treated to a conversation between Allison and Carolyn Bertozzi, also a Nobel laureate, moderated by Alice Park, a senior health correspondent at Time. Park also took part in a fireside chat with Allison institute leaders, joined by MD Anderson President Peter WT Pisters and Chief Scientific Officer Giulio Draetta. Additional sessions also included presentations from big names like Mark Dawson, Elizabeth Jaffee, and Philip Greenberg.

“Spatial biology is a rapidly expanding field that offers tremendous new insights into immunobiology that were not possible just a few short years ago. Understanding how immune cells interact with their neighbors and with tumor cells in space and time will enable us to bring forward new strategies to improve immunotherapy outcomes,” said Allison. “We are proud to host this annual symposium to advance the field, and we are extremely grateful for the support of the Wintermann Foundation to make new breakthroughs possible.”

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This story first appeared on our sister site InnovationMap.

james allison md anderson awards science