Cheers to Mom

Celebrate chic moms at The Post Oak Hotel's Parisian Mother's Day brunch

Show the mothers in your life how much you j'adore them with a Springtime in Paris Mother's Day Brunch at The Post Oak Hotel.

On Sunday, May 14, step into Houston's version of Rue Cler, Paris' renowned market street of charming cafes, pastry shops, and retail boutiques.

It helps that the hotel's award-winning executive chef, Jean Luc Royere, is originally from France. His menu is the backdrop for this unique Mother's Day experience that's happening on the hotel's mezzanine level.

On this Parisian food tour, enjoy bites from the butcher shop, or boucherie, offering delights like carved domestic lamb with tarragon beluga lentils and slow-cooked filet mignon with corn and sauce vierge.

The poissonerie is the ultimate destination for fresh fish, offering smoked salmon tartar as well as roasted Alaskan salmon with warm tomato-garbanzo salad and jerez vinaigrette.

The culinary journey continues with fresh-rolled sushi and nigiri at the sushi bar, shucked oysters with caviar at the brasserie, and a wide assortment of local and imported cheeses at the fromagerie alongside a variety of cured meats and sausages at the nearby charcuterie.

In true brunch fashion, traditional breakfast will also be offered and includes an omelet station, assorted individual breakfast quiches, and a sourdough pain perdu bar.

The hotel’s exceptional executive pastry chef Oralia Perez will spoil all at the boulangerie filled with decadent housemade breakfast pastries and breads.

Don’t forget to save room for dessert — Perez’s patisserie is filled with delicate yet refined miniature desserts and macarons, and the creperie will provide delicious sweet crepes made a la minute.

Beverage options include classics such as freshly squeezed mimosas and traditional Bellinis as well as a champagne Bubble Bar created by the hotel’s esteemed mixologist Judith Piotrowski and inspired by a variety of French fragrances.

Favorites will surely include the Mademoiselle, made with infused Martini and Rossi Fiero, pink bubbles, and vanilla cedar aromatics, as well as the Je T’adore, which blends elderflower and cassis with bubbles and rose water aromatics.

Of course, guests will also have access to the hotel’s incredible Grand Award-winning Cellar at The Post Oak to treat Mom to that rare vintage or treasured bottle.

The celebratory brunch will also offer a Toy Boutique for kids to enjoy fun games and activities, face painting, a balloon artist, and a candy bar while adults can get their shopping fix from 29 North’s on-property retail boutique.

Before departure, family photos to commemorate this special day will be available in front of a floral wall, while mothers will receive lavender bouquets and piped floral “spring garden” cupcakes to take home.

The Springtime in Paris Mother’s Day Brunch will take place from 10 am-4 pm on Sunday, May 14, in the Post Oak Ballroom.

Adult tickets are $160 per person, inclusive of non-alcoholic beverages and one welcome drink from the Parfum Bubble Bar. Children ages 5-12 are $68 per person, while children under five are complimentary.

Reservations are required and should be made through The Post Oak Hotel’s website. For more information or to book a Mother’s Day celebration of 11 or more, please contact 346-227-5041.

Photo courtesy of The Post Oak Hotel

Travel to Paris for this Mother's Day brunch.

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a CultureMap Exclusive

Houston's 'Chinese takeout bar from the future' touches down in Webster

Courtesy of The Rice Box

A rendering previews The Rice Box's new location in Webster.

Houston’s Chinese takeout bar from the future is coming to the Bay Area. The sixth location of The Rice Box will open in Webster later this summer.

Located at 114 El Dorado Blvd, the new location will be called Rice Box Space Center after NASA’s headquarters at the nearby Johnson Space Center. Founder John Peterson tells CultureMap that it’s a bit of a homecoming for him and his wife/business partner, Jenny Vo, as they grew up in the area. As with every new location, the restaurant created a movie-style poster to announce its opening.

Rice Box Webster movie poster The Rice Box Space Center is expected to open later this summer.Courtesy of The Rice Box

For its first truly suburban location, Peterson plans to offer a more efficient pickup system for to-go orders. Dubbed The Rice Box Pickup Reactors, the system applies Rice Box’s sci-fi aesthetic to curbside ordering. As seen in the rendering above, the building will have six slots that drivers will pull into to get their orders.

“The goal is to have guests in and out with food in hand in around 90 seconds,” Peterson writes in an email. “It’s still pickup, but we’re trying to make that moment feel more intentional and more connected to the digital side of Rice Box instead of treating it like an afterthought. We’re looking at this opening as both a new store and a prototype for how Rice Box can work in more suburban markets without losing the part of the brand that makes it feel like us.”

Bay Area-area diners can expect the same menu as the Rice Box’s other locations. That includes staples such as General Tso’s chicken, sesame chicken, beef with broccoli, and orange peel beef. The restaurant also serves traditional Chinese-inspired fare such as Chongqing chicken, cumin beef, mapo tofu, and chow fun noodles.

Recently, Peterson rolled out a new version of Rice Box’s dumplings. Available in chicken, pork, or vegetable, each style of dumpling comes with a different wrapper that enhances the filling’s flavor. They’re also available either steamed or fried.

The Rice Box started as a food truck in the early 2010s. After moving to a permanent location in the Greenway Plaza food court, it has opened brick-and-mortar locations in the Heights, River Oaks, Rice Village, and Memorial.

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