This Week in Dining

These are the 9 best food and drink events in Houston this week

Beer events spotlight this week's top events, with 8th Wonder, Real Ale, and Saint Arnold taking on starring roles. Diners can also celebrate National Oyster Day and National Root Beer Float Day. Plus, there are two anniversary parties this week that mark important milestones for a Katy restaurant and a Galleria chocolatier.

Monday, August 5

National Oyster Day at the Oceanaire Seafood Room
Stop into the bar any time today and get chef's select oysters for $1. With one of the more extensive oyster menus in town, diners are sure to love this sweet deal.

Tuesday, August 6

National Root Beer Float Day at Bernie's Burger Bus
Get the restaurant's popular root beer float for $2 with the purchase of any burger. Dine-in only.

Wednesday, August 7

Real Ale Dinner at State Fair Kitchen & Bar
Executive chef Justin Yoakum pairs a four-course dinner with selections from the Hill Country craft brewer. The menu includes selections such as hatch chile deviled eggs with Tabasco peppers and pickled micro crudité paired with Fireman’s Light, and chicken and waffles done with spiked hot honey and Brussels sprouts coleslaw paired with Hans Pilsner. Dinner is from 6-8 pm, and the cost is $50 per person, plus tax and gratuity. For tickets, call 832-831-0950, or buy online.

Italian Brunch Cooking Class at the Italian Cultural and Community Center
Kick up the weekend staple with this class from food blogger Flavia Scalzitti that teaches participants how to incorporate Italian ingredients into brunch. Class starts at 7 pm, and the cost is $65 for ICCC members and $70 for non-members.

Thursday, August 8

8th Wonder Brewery Tasting at Jasper's The Woodlands
From 5-7 pm, the restaurant offers a menu of signature appetizers paired with 8th Wonder selections. Pairings include shrimp shooters with Haterade Gose and short rib empanadas with Hopston IPA. The cost is $35 per person, plus tax and gratuity. For tickets email the restaurant or call 281-298-5650.

Saint Arnold Draft Night at Cane Rosso
From 7-9 pm, the beloved Houston-based craft beer company will have a representative on hand at Cane Rosso's Heights location who will be serving $3 seasonal brews in a commemorative pint glass. Pair it with Cane Rosso's pizza of the month, the Escape Hatch, topped with housemade mozzarella, roasted hatch chiles, corn, bacon marmalade, caramelized onions, and red pepper flakes. Bonus: The restaurant offers an extended happy hour throughout the duration of the Astros' game.

French Wine Class at French Country Wines
Charelle Grant, adjunct instructor at the Culinary Institute LeNotre, leads participants through the complex — and sometimes confusing — language on French wine labels. Guests will sample five wines paired with cheese. The cost is $48 per person, and reservations can be made by calling 713-993-9500. Class starts at 7 pm.

Saturday, August 10

Anniversary Party at Mona Fresh Italian Food
The Katy concept marks its first year in business with a day of deals. From 10:30 am to 9 pm, drop in for drawings for gift cards and a chance to win dinner for four. There's also a buy-one-get-one deal on homemade pasta with up to five toppings, a core component to the restaurant's build-your-own-dinner design.

5th Anniversary Block Party at Cacao and Cardamom
Annie Rupani celebrates her business milestone in her signature style, with an event chocolate lovers won't want to miss. From noon to 4 pm, guests can stop by the store on Westheimer to taste, shop, and splurge. They can even design their own chocolate creations, selecting an artisan chocolate bar to which they can add up to three toppings, including choices like pop-rocks, spices, nuts, pretzels, rice puffs, or dried fruit. Also part of the fun are swag bags and a five-pound bar of chocolate made with 24-karat gold leaf, along with a photo booth and live music.

Sunday, August 11

Sunday Supper Club at Decatur Bar & Pop-Up Factory
Join chefs Brandi Key and Jorge Valencia at this monthly pop-up hosted by their venture, LMN Hospitality. The menu celebrates partner Kelly Laudadio's favorite dishes with an epic seven-course feast that's limited to just 20 diners. Courses include a seafood tower sampler, a lobster roll, horseradish-crusted lamb chop, and miso-glazed sea bass, and a boozy milkshake. Tickets, $145 or $175 with wine pairings, are available online. 6:30 pm.

Get a root beer float for $2 at Bernie's Burger Bus.

Photo by Dragana Harris

Get a root beer float for $2 at Bernie's Burger Bus.

news-you-can-eat

And a new speakeasy

Goode Co.'s mesquite-fired Tex-Mex restaurant coming to River Oaks in March

Courtesy of Goode Co. Restaurants

Goode Co. is bringing its mesquite-grilled fajitas to River Oaks.

Levi Goode is ready to share more details about his plans to bring Goode Co. Kitchen & Cantina to the River Oaks Shopping Center.

As CultureMap reported in October, Goode has claimed the former La Griglia space for Kitchen & Cantina’s fourth location; it will also be home to a speakeasy-style bar called Bar Buena. With construction well underway, both the restaurant and the bar should open in March.

The chef and restaurateur explains that part of the decision to open in River Oaks stems in part from the good-natured grief he’s been getting about the restaurant from regulars at his four establishments on Kirby Drive. They wanted to experience its food without having to drive to the Heights or Memorial.

“Everybody is very territorial on where they live and eat,” Goode says. “I think it’s funny. I’ve been getting lots of jokes about Credence and Kitchen and Cantina, ‘Are you ever going to do this inside the loop?’ It was exciting we were able to secure a really iconic restaurant space and evolve it into Kitchen & Cantina.”

Turning La Griglia into Kitchen & Cantina requires extensive renovations. One that people will notice immediately is that the bar has been moved back a little bit to make it easier to enter the restaurant. A large tree in the middle of the dining room will emphasize its high ceilings.

One element that will remain are the concrete pavers that local celebrities signed when the restaurant opened. Its a nod to the space’s history and as well as a bygone era of Houston restaurants.

Just as Credence’s speakeasy Sidebar has a distinct feel from the main restaurant, Bar Buena will have a difference environment than Kitchen & Cantina. Occupying La Griglia’s former private dining room, the bar takes inspiration from Goode’s extensive travels throughout Mexico, including to places like Jalisco and Oaxaca.

“Bar Buena is going to be a bit more refined than what we’ve done at Kitchen and Cantina,” he says. “If it’s ranch-inspired, very Texas-Mexican frontera, you’re going to get more a polished finish at Bar Buena. It’s a small space, very intimate. A place where we’ll be well suited for great hospitality with small bites, great cocktails, and tastings of agave-based spirits.”

Of course, the food menu will be familiar to anyone who’s dined at Kitchen & Cantina’s existing locations. Like all Goode Co. restaurants, it features meats grilled on mesquite. Expect favorites such as fajitas, redfish on the half shell, carnitas, and campechana along with an extensive selection of agave-based cocktails.

Courtesy of Goode Co. Restaurants

Goode Co. is bringing its mesquite-grilled fajitas to River Oaks.

river oaks news-you-can-eat openings