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    This Week in Dining

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

    Holly Beretto
    Aug 5, 2019 | 9:20 am

    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.

    Bernie's Burger Bus root beer float
    Photo by Dragana Harris
    Get a root beer float for $2 at Bernie's Burger Bus.
    news-you-can-eat
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    in like the rose

    Mimo duo open tiny Italian sandwich and gelato shop in Houston's East End

    Eric Sandler
    Apr 29, 2026 | 5:52 pm
    La Rosa Fernando Rios Mike Sammons
    Photo by Eric Sandler
    Chef Fernando Rios and Mike Sammons recently opened La Rosa.

    When sommelier Mike Sammons and chef Fernando Rios teamed up to open their East End Italian restaurant Mimo in 2023, they did so by serving sandwiches that eventually went away once the restaurant moved to only being open for dinner with full service.

    Thankfully, the sandwiches are back at La Rosa, the duo’s new sandwich restaurant that, like Mimo, is located in the East End’s Tlaquepaque Market shopping center. Currently, it’s open Tuesday-Sunday with sandwiches for lunch (12-3 pm) and gelato until the early evening.

    “I have always wanted to do a sandwich shop. That’s always been a weird dream since an experience I had in Italy when I was younger,” Sammons tells CultureMap. “Even back in the days at 13 Celsius, that was a big driver for the mortadella sandwich we still do there.”

    La Rosa’s menu is as compact as its space, which has four indoor tables, a little dining counter, and a couple of outdoor tables. It consists of three sandwiches:

    • Mortadella, with fior di latte, arugula, pesto di pistachio, mostarda, and garlic aioli
    • Formaggio, a vegetarian sandwich with corn and zucchini fritters, arugula, pesto di pistachio, mostarda, and garlic aioli
    • A daily special that, on April 29, was made with bresaola, pecorino, horseradish crema, capers, arugula, and lemon.

    La Rosa Fernando Rios Mike Sammons

    Photo by Eric Sandler

    Chef Fernando Rios and Mike Sammons recently opened La Rosa.

    “We R&D’ed the hell out of them,” Sammons says about the sandwiches. “I can’t tell you how many mortadellas we’ve tasted and how many different kinds of fior di latte. Even the way we do the pesto di pistachio — dry as a bone or super wet with lots of olive oil.”

    Alright, Mike, explain how nerdy you and chef got with the ingredients in the mortadella sandwich.

    “First of all, when it comes to the mortadella, you have to be able to cut it so thinly you can look through it. It has to have a certain integrity and still have bite to it,” he explains. “The fior di latte has to be creamy and snappy. You have to be able to crush it flat so it oozes all over the sandwich. The pesto di pistachio has to have a real presence of raw pistachio.”

    The duo applied a similar discipline to finding the right platform for La Rosa’s sandwiches. Sammons says he and Rios tried all kinds of bread, eventually settling on a telera roll from Houston favorite El Bolillo.

    “It’s more of a vessel. Bread is always the star of a sandwich, but we want the star of the show to be almost a little hidden, like an uncelebrated special guest,” he says. “It’s crisp and crunchy with a toothsome bite that’s light and airy in the middle. It holds everything together but doesn’t dominate.”

    Similarly, they’re sourcing gelato from Houston’s SweetCup Gelato. Sammons says he tried multiple vendors, but Sweet Cup’s lemon sorbet is the one flavor that most reminded him of Italy. In addition to classics like pistachio, chocolate, and strawberry, chef Rios can work with Sweet Cup on flavors that will be exclusive to La Rosa.

    Rios is already rotating the specials. The opening weekend’s meatball sandwich quickly gave way to this week’s bresaola. Diners have plenty to look forward to, including favorites from the old days like Italian beef and chicken parm.

    Sammons has some aspirations, too. He plans to add beer and wine to the current non-alcoholic offerings of soda and sparkling water.

    The little shop has been surprisingly busy, he adds.

    “We sold out Sunday, which was unexpected,” Sammons says. “If we keep doing that, we’ll make more. So far, everyone has been supportive. I’m really excited. I think it’s going to be great.”

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