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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Ready. Set. Go.

Exclusive: New cocktail bar from Houston hospitality stars coming to the Heights

Courtesy of Thorough Fare

Bobby Heugel and Jacki Schromm are opening a new bar in the former Ready Room space.

The Heights’ growing bar scene will soon welcome a new addition with serious cocktail cred. Anvil owner Bobby Heugel has partnered with bartender Jacki Schromm to open a new cocktail bar in the former Ready Room space (2626 White Oak Drive) in the Heights, the duo tell CultureMap.

Slated to open in the fall, the still-unnamed cocktail bar will be the latest project from Thorough Fare, the hospitality company Heugel operates in partnership with James Beard Award-winning chef Justin Yu. The group’s portfolio also includes Heights restaurants Squable and Better Luck Tomorrow; cocktail bars Anvil and Refuge; neighborhood bars Catbirds and Blue Lagoon Club; and Theodore Rex, Yu’s fine dining restaurant in downtown that earned a Bib Gourmand designation in the Michelin Guide.

The new bar will also be Heugel’s first new concept since opening Refuge in 2022. However, since Refuge evolved out of Tongue-cut Sparrow, Heugel’s Japanese-inspired cocktail bar, it retained certain elements from its predecessor. The new project aims to bring a fresh perspective to Houston’s cocktail scene.

Bobby Heugel Jacki Schromm Ready Room The new bar is expected to open this fall.Courtesy of Thorough Fare

“While I love Refuge and still think it’s one of the best bars we’ve ever done, it was a continuation of some disjointed history,” Heugel says. “It’s exciting to do a cocktail bar where we get to talk about a fresh concept, fresh ideas — really update those ideas for where the scene is at today.”

Partnering with Schromm is a key source of those new ideas, Heugel explains. Since moving to Houston from Boston in 2019, she worked with Heugel at both Better Luck Tomorrow and Anvil. Currently, she’s the general manager of Reserve 101, the downtown cocktail bar known for its extensive whiskey selection, knowledgeable staff, and extensive inventory of vintage spirits. Schromm describes Heugel’s invitation to partner with him as “a shock in the most delightful way.”

“I think it’s every bartender’s dream — when you’ve worked in X amount of spaces with X amount of owners — you start to think, I could do this,” she says. “I thought that was still five-plus years away. We’re jumping into it maybe a little sooner than what my goals were, but it’s incredibly exciting.”

First opened by restaurateur Ken Bridge in 2018, the Ready Room distinguished itself with its intimate atmosphere, vintage decor, and live music. Permission Whiskey owner Peter Nolan took over operating the bar in 2023. The bar closed last year when Bridge shuttered his Korean restaurant Mapojeong, ending his lease on the property that also includes Ready Room. Neither Heugel nor Schromm are ready to share specifics about the bar’s concept, but Schromm promises it will be a welcome addition to the Heights.

“What this cocktail bar will become is something that we don’t have in the Heights yet,” she says. “I think it will be a really fun and exciting addition to the Heights community.”

Schromm has about a month left at Reserve 101 before she devotes her full attention to the new bar. She’s eager to make a splash in a neighborhood that’s recently welcomed new additions like Starduster Lounge and The Kid — and she recognizes how meaningful it is to work with a partner who has a track record as solid as Heugel’s.

“It does not sit lightly with me. This is an incredible opportunity,” Schromm says. “I don’t think I’ve stopped smiling from the moment that we talked about it. It’s a really rewarding feeling to be recognized like that. Just feeling really blessed and grateful.”

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