Champagne Delivery

Special Delivery! Champagne maker's mail truck plans bubbly Houston stops

Don’t you just love the anticipation of the arrival of a special package? We all do, and Veuve Clicquot knows it.

That’s why the Champagne house has been sending a custom mail truck, adorned with its’ brightly hued, trademark French egg yolk yellow color, around the country delivering “exciting surprises” from city to city while encouraging folks to send more handwritten letters.

So what's the deal with the mail truck and writing letters? Veuve is glad you asked. Madame Clicquot conducted all of the Champagne house’s business with personally handwritten correspondence, and if it's good enough for the Widow Clicquot it is certainly good enough for you. Those who catch the mail truck will have the opportunity to partake in that tradition and mail a letter to family and friends with Veuve branded stationery.

Other potential treats in store on the tour include a photo opps; tasty treats; deejays/music; and games.

And, of course, there will also be plenty of glorious champagne.

What's Veuve got to do with it

Veuve Clicquot has been tweeting (#ClicquotMail) about the Mail Truck tour since early summer. If you’ve been following the tour like I have, you’ve been frantically worrying: “Is the tour coming to Houston?” “Did it come and I missed it?” Well worry no more, because the tour is finally stopping in the Bayou City.

The Veuve Mail Truck tour will make its first Houston stop on Thursday (Sept. 25), from 4:30 until 7:00 p.m. at the ever popular Brasserie 19 in River Oaks. In addition to its fantastic cuisine and wonderful wine list, Brasserie 19 is also well known for its incroyable oyster selection so it comes as no surprise that a delicious selection of the bivalves will be served on the patio, paired with glasses of Yellow Label ($16) and Rose ($19). Bottles options will also be available for those for whom a glass just isn’t enough (guilty as charged).

Part Deux

Can't make it to Brasserie 19? Never fear, because Veuve plans to keep the party going! The tour make its second stop at the newly opened cocktail bar Stones Throw on Lower Westheimer. One of the special features that the bar touts is its Champagne Sundays, so it makes the perfect next destination of the tour. The truck pulls in at 8:30 p.m. Thursday and will fête guests until 11:30 p.m. with lots of fun and lots of Yellow Label offered by the glass and bottle.

If you’re anything like me, you’ll just go home and nap or grab dinner between stops and show up to both events. What can I say — I’m no champagne underachiever.

Third times the charm

“A Clicquot party won’t stop” is apparently the theme of this Houston leg of the tour, because it is making a third fabulous stop at Saks Fifth Avenue. The tour wraps its festivities with a final stop on Friday (Sept. 26) from 5 until 8 p.m. where guests will be able to nibble on sweet confections as they sip Yellow label (again available by the glass and bottle) while they peruse the glorious Saks fashions.

Sipping champagne while shopping? Don’t mind if I do.

All good things must come to an end

If you are unable to make any of the Houston events, the Texas leg of the tour continues with a stop in Dallas on Sept. 27th. If you can't make the trip up I-45, the national tour continues on the road until October, so you still have a chance to catch it in another city. Or, if you’re a champagne groupie, you can just follow the truck from city to city.

I’m not saying that’s what I’m going to do but, you know, like I said, I’m no underachiever.

The Veuve Mail Truck tour will make its first Houston stop 4:30-7 p.m.on Sept. 25 at Brasserie 19 in River Oaks.

Photo courtesy of Veuve Clicquot

The Veuve Mail Truck tour will make its first Houston stop 4:30-7 p.m.on Sept. 25 at Brasserie 19 in River Oaks.

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an offer he couldn't refuse

Exclusive: Killen's Barbecue will soon shutter in The Woodlands

Killen's barbecue meat platter with sides

Photo by Robert Jacob Lerma

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Fans of Killen’s Barbecue’s location in The Woodlands have a days to make one last visit. The restaurant will close this Sunday, December 7, chef-owner Ronnie Killen tells CultureMap.

Open since 2021, Killen says that he’s in final negotiations to sell the location at 8800 Six Pines Dr. to Whataburger for a new location of the iconic Texas fast food restaurant. Neither the original location of Killen’s Barbecue in Pearland nor its Cypress location are affected by the closure of The Woodlands and will remain open.

“Whataburger made me a deal I couldn’t pass up. It would take 10 years to do that kind of revenue,” Killen writes in a text, adding that the company recently made a significant payment to keep the deal’s window open through the end of the year.

He added that the costs to operate the restaurant have gone up significantly. As one example, a cord of wood cost $175 when he opened the first Killen’s Barbecue in 2013. It costs $475 now, he writes.

If the deal falls through, Killen states that he could look for a new buyer or convert the restaurant into a second location of Killen’s Burger, the retro-styled burger joint he operates in Pearland.

The restaurant’s closure had been expected since February, when Killen sold The Woodlands’ location of Killen's Steakhouse. At the time, Killen said he also planned to find a buyer for his barbecue joint in the bustling suburb. He cited the driving distance from Pearland to The Woodlands as one reason he chose to divest both locations. He still operates Killen's Steakhouse in Pearland, comfort food restaurant Killen's near the Heights, Killen's Burger, and three other locations of Killen's Barbecue.

As it approaches its 13th anniversary in the spring, Killen’s Barbecue remains a vital part of Houston’s barbecue scene. The restaurant recently earned an honorable mention from Texas Monthly and holds a Bib Gourmand designation in the Michelin Guide. In July, it opened a new location at Hobby Airport.

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