Whether you celebrate with a family picnic, a new dress, a day of religious reflection, an elaborate egg hunt, a lamb roasted over an open spit or a confetti egg battle, there are about as many ways to celebrate Easter as there are neighborhoods in Houston.
Whatever your Easter (or Passover) plans are, there are plenty of places around town to make this beautiful spring weekend extra special.
—Hotel ZaZa will serve an Easter brunch ($65/person) in the Phantom Ballroom at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., with live jazz for the grown-ups and a petting zoo, Easter egg hunt, a visit from the Easter Bunny for kids.
—Forget Peeps. At the Highland Village Farmers' Market on Saturday, Queen Bee Marshmallows will be selling cute, all-natural marshmellow treats in flavors of vanilla bean, toasted coconut, raspberry, and cayenne pepper, blood orange, meyer lemon and key lime, all made by Houstonian Sharon Erisman.
—Every year, D'Amico's Italian Market & Café imports traditional Columba cakes (like panettone) and Uova di Pasqua (rich chocolate eggs with a toy surprise inside) for the holiday, only to sell out weeks before the Easter Bunny arrives. This year the shipment was delayed, so procrastinators with a sweet tooth can grab some of the divine desserts before or on the big day.
—Sushi Raku has Good Friday covered. For Catholics and anyone else with a seafood bent, chef Taka Sekiguchi's Friday shipment of exotic fish from Japan will include butter fish, black fish, flying fish, golden eye snapper, grunt fish, and half beak.
—Danton's Gulf Coast Seafood Kitchen will offer a special Sunday brunch buffet ($30/person) with seatings at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., both featuring jazz performances by Milton Hopkins and Annette Metoyer. Or go for the buffet at Hugo's (10 a.m.-3 p.m., $39/person) which will also have an Easter egg hunt for kids and live music by house band Viento. The Remington at the St. Regis will have an all-day brunch ($70/person) with champagne and live entertainment.
—Other eateries around town are offering prix fixe specials. Our top picks include Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steakhouse (4-course, 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m., $43/person); *17 (3-course, 11 a.m.-10 p.m., $45/person); Bistro Don Camillo (3-course, 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m., $30/person); Bistro Provence (3-course, 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m., $38/person); Bistro Des Amis (4-course, 11 a.m.-3 p.m., $29/person); III Forks (3-course, 11 a.m.-3 p.m., $43); Mockingbird Bistro Wine Bar (3-course, 11 a.m.-3 p.m., $59); Prego (3-course, 10:30 a.m.-3 p.m., $40/person, features live jazz); Benjy's-Rice Village (3-course, 11 a.m.-5 p.m., $35); Brasserie Max & Julie (3-course, 11 a.m.- 3 p.m., $35); Le Mistral (3-course, 11 a.m.-9 p.m., $55); and t'afia (4-course, 11 a.m.-3 p.m., $35/person).