#TeamMilo

Houston 5-year-old in Down syndrome restaurant flap makes a national impact, draws Anderson Cooper

Kim Castillo, her husband Eric and their 5-year-old son Milo are regulars at Laurenzo's Prime Rib on Washington Avenue . . . but there was something off about their meal on Jan. 16.

"Dinner at Laurenzo's and a family of four asked to be moved from the booth next to us," Castillo wrote on Facebook later in the evening. "I didn't think that much about it. Shortly after, they left the restaurant entirely, glancing at our table as they left. (Thought I was being paranoid.)"

"We always knew [Milo] would impact more people than just us. He is a pretty special dude and has opened a lot of people's ideas about Down syndrome."

Milo, who was born with Down syndrome, was having a great time that night, telling the wait staff about his birthday and sharing some new words he learned.

Apparently irritated by the noise, a nearby family asked to be moved to another table, telling their waiter Michael Garcia that "special needs kids should be kept in special places." Offended by the comment, Garcia refused to serve them.

Soon Garcia and Milo found themselves launched into the national news circuit with outlets from Anderson Cooper to Today featuring their story.

CultureMap caught up with Castillo to talk about her family's jump into the limelight.

"It feels oddly natural — at least where Milo is concerned," she explained in a recent email.

"We always knew he would impact more people than just us. He is a pretty special dude and has opened a lot of people's ideas about Down syndrome, use of the R-word and tolerance for people who are different."

The Castillos are in the process of designing #TeamMilo shirts to raise funds for the Rise School of Houston — the unique school that Milo attends and the city's only institution devoted to the early education of infants, toddlers and pre-school children born with Down syndrome.

Milo Castillo, playing with his parent's DJ setup

Milo Castillo, special needs child, spinning, DJ, January 2013

Photo courtesy of Kim Castillo

Milo Castillo, playing with his parent's DJ setup

unspecified

Houston's smallest restaurant?

Michelin-recognized Houston sushi chef fires up 4-seat Japanese skewer spot

Courtesy of Sip & Skewer

Diners sit in front of chefs cooking on a grill.

The team behind one of Houston’s Michelin-recognized sushi restaurants is opening an intimate new izakaya. Sip & Skewer is the newest concept from Hidden Omakase owner Tuan Tran and chef Marcos Juarez.

Opening Friday, February 13, Sip & Skewer is a four-seat restaurant devoted to skewered meats that’s located within Sushi by Hidden, the group’s affordable omakase restaurant in Rice Village. At Sip & Skewer, diners sit across from the chefs as they cook a 10-course, $90 meal on a Japanese binchotan grill.

“Sip & Skewer is small, loud, and intentional. The kind of hidden experience you’d find in Tokyo,” Tran said. “And with Chef Marcos guiding the team at Sushi by Hidden, this space is getting new energy from every angle.”

A four-seat restaurant within a 10-seat restaurant might seem kind of superfluous, but Tran explains that it’s part of a larger plan for his group of restaurants, which also includes West U. hand roll restaurant Norigami. It also builds on the success of Hidden Omakase, the Galleria-area sushi counter that earned a Recommended designation in the Michelin Guide.

“Sip & Skewer is part of a larger vision. It’s designed as a stepping stone toward our next concept, Kōri, a new hand roll and craft cocktail bar opening in the Heights. Our plan is to open Sip & Skewer directly next to our hand roll spot, creating a small alley of Japanese concepts that feed into one another,” Tran explains.

“This allows us to build awareness, train our team in a new format, and introduce guests to Japanese charcoal grilling in a very personal way before we scale the idea into a larger setting with Kōri. The four-seat format keeps overhead extremely low while serving as a live test kitchen and brand builder for what’s coming next,” he adds.

On a related note, Juarez and the other chefs at Hidden Omakase are dividing their time between all three restaurants. Tuam explains that it’s a deliberate strategy to ensure a consistent customer experience.

“The same team that works Michelin-recognized omakase service also runs the grill here, which keeps quality and execution consistent while allowing the chefs a creative outlet in a very different format,” Tran said. “Because Sip & Skewer is only four seats and reservations only, it does not require a dedicated full-time staff. It’s an extension of the team rather than a separate operation.”