Name This Restaurant

Bellaire park holds contest to find the perfect name for new restaurant

Help name the upcoming restaurant at Evelyn's Park.

Courtesy image

Naming a restaurant is a tricky thing. When done well, a good restaurant name both stands out from its competition and helps diners understand what it's all about. When done poorly, they get mocked on the Internet by snarky writers or triggers a lawsuit.

The Evelyn's Park Conservancy definitely wants to land in the former category and firmly avoid the latter for the restaurant its hired chef Jamie Zelko (Zelko Bistro) to open in the Bellaire park. Towards that end, it's announced a contest that will allow members of the public to submit name suggestions via the park's website.

Proposed names should meet the following guidelines: "The name should reflect the core values of Evelyn’s Park, including community, nature and family. When considering your submission, embrace names that evoke comfort, the hearth, and the history of this great property, all representing the goals of Evelyn’s Park." It should also reflect the contest's theme of "We want to be a part of your every day."

The prize isn't bad: Dinner for four with Jamie and Dalia Zelko at the restaurant, as well as a one year membership to Evelyn's Park Conservancy.

While it's possible that the selection committee, which includes Zelko and her business partner, Bellaire mayor Andrew Friedberg, members of the Evelyn’s Park Conservancy Board, and others, will cop out and settle on something fairly obvious like Bistro Menil did at the end of its contest, the contest appears designed to generate ideas that are a little more creative.

"Community, nature, and family are the park’s core values, and name submissions will be judged based on their ability to evoke feelings of comfort, the hearth, and the significant history of the park,” said Patricia King-Ritter, president of Evelyn’s Park Conservancy, in a statement. “It’s so important to the Conservancy and to the Zelkos to embrace the voice of the customer and engage the community, which ultimately is how this contest came about.”

In keeping with the spirit of family and together, may we humbly suggest: The Kumbaya Cafe at Evelyn's Park? You're welcome, Conservancy Board.

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the more things change

Houston's essential Jewish diner looks better than ever after refresh

Photo by Sergio Trevino

The dining room has more light than ever.

It’s tricky to renovate a restaurant that’s as essential to its community as New York Deli. A staple of Houston’s Jewish community for almost 50 years, the tiny restaurant near Meyerland will serve as many as 400 people during a busy Sunday brunch.

Still, the time had come, as the tape on the deteriorating banquettes and peeling wallpaper illustrated. With the restaurant’s lease up for renewal, co-owner Michael Saghian saw an opportunity for some updates.

“I couldn’t be the new guy who ruined the place by moving it,” he tells CultureMap. “We worked out a deal with the landlord [to stay] and did a big refresh.”

The most noticeable change is the removal of the restaurant’s front door and vestibule. Instead, diners enter through the restaurant’s companion bagel shop. Separate entrances made sense when the bagel shop was certified kosher by local religious authorities, but now that designation only applies to the Bellaire location that opened in 2020. Not only is the new setup easier for people with mobility issues to navigate, it allows more light into the dining room, brightening the place considerably..

Saghian and co-owner Riana Sherman worked with interior designer Erin Hicks on the refresh. Tables, chairs, and banquettes are all new, but the color scheme remains the same. The process yielded 10 more seats, and the furniture is a little more durable, too.

“People have flipped chairs because they’re so lightweight,” Sherman says. “We got a sturdier chair.”

Behind the scenes, an expanded kitchen allows for the restaurant’s cooks to work faster and more efficiently. An additional egg cooker should cut down the amount of time people wait for their food to arrive.

“The kitchen had one of everything. Now we have two of everything. We can pump out a lot more food,” Saghian says.

Photographs on the walls honor longtime customers such as the “bagel girls,” a group of woman who’ve eaten breakfast at the restaurant since the ‘80s. A piece of old wallpaper has been framed and hung on the wall, too, as a nod to the space’s history.

New York Deli interior changes Photographs on the walls honor longtime customers.Photo by Sergio Trevino

Photo by Sergio Trevino

The dining room has more light than ever.

Saghian says he suffered from sleepless nights as he worried about people’s reactions to the changes, but so far his customers have been effusive.

“It still feels like an old school diner,” Saghian says. “It has pieces you remember. Even the new stuff is old school.”

While the physical environment is new, the staff remains the same. To ensure he kept the same team of cooks and servers, Saghian paid their wages for the two weeks the restaurant was closed for renovations.

Even more importantly, the prices are the same. That’s something that will make even the oldest regulars happy.

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