served at cellar temp

Favorite Houston wine bar uncorks private label bottles for fans near and far

Sample the wine for $13 by-the-glass.

Courtesy of 13 Celsius

One of Houston’s most popular wine bars has added its own private label bottles to its extensive inventory. Dubbed Patina, the brand will serve as an extension of Midtown favorite 13 Celsius’s mission to encourage Houstonians to drink better wine.

True to its name, each label will feature artwork inspired by 13 Celsius’s historic building in the heart of Midtown. For general manager Adele Corrigan and owner Ian Rosenberg, sourcing unique vintages seemed like a good way to expand 13 Celsius’s reach without opening a second location.

“This idea was born out of ongoing discussions for the past 10 years of whether or not to open a second location, and how to bring 13 to a broader range of people,” Corrigan tells CultureMap. “We decided a creative option to make 13 more accessible would be to do private label selections. That way Houston wine lovers have a new option — whether they be new to 13 C, former regulars who have moved away, or people who are already fans and want to enjoy 13 from the comfort of their home. They can also gift their favorite wine bar to friends and colleagues.”

Corrigan and Rosenberg are working with a local importer to handle Patina’s logistics. For their first release, they selected a wine made with Barbera grapes from Piedmont in northern Italy. The sommelier tasted the wine during a visit to Italy in 2023 and wanted to share it with Houstonians.

Branded Patina “Due Gelsi,” it’s described as a “medium-to-full-bodied red wine with red fruit notes, a slightly earthy character, firm tannins, and a balanced finish.” Currently available for $13 by-the-glass or $47 for a bottle, it debuted on the list in time for the wine bar’s 17th anniversary on New Year’s Eve.

“It was a wine that works with or without food and is something I would want to drink every day,” Corrigan explains. “Knowing our customers’ palates, I knew with the first taste, our guests would make the connection between the wine and how it personifies the old world character of our space.”

Future releases will focus on other European wines that aren’t currently available in Texas. Expect more details to be made available soon.

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NYT best dishes

Houston Mediterranean restaurant makes NY Times' best desserts list

Sayad Mediterranean Kitchen/Facebook

Sayad Mediterranean Kitchen is the only Houston restaurant on either list.

The New York Times included four Texas restaurants among its favorite dishes of 2025. Divided into two lists — The 23 Best Restaurant Dishes We Ate Across the U.S. in 2025 and The 14 Best Restaurant Desserts We Ate Across the U.S. in 2025 — the dishes are:

Bad Honey Bunny at Mercado Sin Nombre (Austin)
Ketan Hitam at Yeni’s Fusion (Austin)
Konafa Naama at Sayad Mediterranean Kitchen (Houston)
Picadillo Macaroni and Cheese at 2M Smokehouse (San Antonio)

Times food writer Priya Krishna, who authors the entries for all four Texas dishes, traveled to far west Houston to visit Sayad Mediterranean Kitchen. “The konafa, a signature here, arrives with a molten layer of cheese under a sticky-sweet layer of golden, nutty semolina. The craft is evident, the konafa gone in a few bites,” she writes.

Sayad Mediterranean Kitchen Konafa Naama Don't skip dessert at Sayad Mediterranean Kitchen.KSayad Mediterranean Kitchen/Facebook

In Austin, Krishna praises the rice pudding at Yeni’s Fusion. “This barely sweet version, lush with coconut milk, aromatic with pandan and as soothing as warm porridge, is the gentlest way to end a meal,” she states.

Already hailed as one of America’s best breakfast spots by Bon Appetit, Krishna singles out a honeybun at Mercado Sin Nombre. “The coiled honey bun at this semi-clandestine cafe looks almost cartoonishly perfect, and the heady scent of cardamom and honey hits you before you even take a bite. Somehow, it tastes every bit as plush and elegant as it appears,” she writes.

The picadillo mac and cheese at 2M Smokehouse showcases how the San Antonio restaurant incorporates Mexican flavors into traditional Texas barbecue. “Imagine Hamburger Helper, but spicier, punchier and even more luxuriously creamy. It’s not easy to one-up the singular, thickly spiced brisket here, but the picadillo mac and cheese — which runs as an occasional special — holds its own and then some,” Krishna writes.

The New York Times regularly shines its spotlight on Texas restaurants, In September, it named four establishments — ChòpnBlọk (Houston), Isidore (San Antonio), Lao’d Bar (Austin), and P Thai’s Khao Man Gai & Noodles (Austin) — to its list of America’s 50 Best Restaurants.

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