Oprah's Big Night Out
Oprah's big night out in Houston: Superstar has a close encounter at trendy restaurant
Oprah Winfrey was busy in Houston over the weekend at her big Oprah's The Life You Want Weekend at the Toyota Center, but a girl's gotta eat.
Wearing little makeup and with little fanfare, the superstar entertainment mogul headed to nearby Reef Saturday night. Owner/chef Bryan Caswell and his wife, Jennifer, posted pictures on Twitter of Winfrey with the couple's newborn at the restaurant located several blocks from the arena where the two-day seminar was held.
When asked if Winfrey ordered the restaurant's famous crab cakes, referencing the 2010 lunch in which hip hop superstar Jay Z famously told Caswell the restaurant's crab cakes were "legit," Jennifer Caswell tweeted, "nope! Fried mac n cheese though!"
@Oprah just snuggled baby J @ReefHouston #oprah #reefHouston @Wholefish pic.twitter.com/XeoxBNbn6W
— Jennifer Caswell (@jenniferdell) October 19, 2014Oprah @ReefHouston tonight. Rapped w/ my bride @jenniferdell then scooped up young Jennings #ReefHouston pic.twitter.com/s7cuxWI3yR
— Bryan Caswell (@Wholefish) October 19, 2014Caswell tells CultureMap in a text message that group, which included four college students from Africa, started with gumbo. On Instagram, Oprah posted a photo of the group and said it was their first taste of the Creole classic.
As for the chance encounter with his infant son, Caswell explains. "My wife comes up for dinner every Saturday night. Kind of like an in-house date night. (They) just happened to be leaving at the same time. I introduced them, and she went straight for young Jennings."
Update: Reef co-owner Bill Floyd emailed that Winfrey did sample the crab cake. "It was quite the scene when she left, but she was so gracious with everyone. She loved the crab cake and gumbo and had all good things to say about Houston," Floyd reported.