head north

Family friendly Garden Oaks restaurant coming soon to Magnolia

A family friendly Garden Oaks restaurant is coming to Montgomery. D’Alba Craft Kitchen & Cocktails will open a new location this summer near the intersection of FM 2978 and FM 1488.

Located in the former Philipose’s space at 32823 FM 2978 Rd, d’Alba owner Daut Elshani tells CultureMap that he’s been looking for a location in The Woodlands/Woodforest/Magnolia area for about a year. He sees a lot of similarities between the growing northern suburbs and Garden Oaks, the neighborhood where d’Alba has been a neighborhood favorite since it opened in 2021.

“The recipe is there with young professional couples and young families that have the same demographics that fit what we’ve done in Garden Oaks to make the first one so successful,” Elshani says. “In the last year I moved to the suburbs myself. Seeing how lively it is, you’ll get some deja vu of how the Heights developed in the late twenty-teens.”

Slated to open in September, area residents will find the same formula that led d’Alba to win Best New Restaurant in the 2022 CultureMap Tastemaker Awards. A meal at d’Alba may start with shareable items such as spinach and artichoke dip, campechana, or the signature balloon bread — a puffed-up, baked pita served with basil-garlic pesto and truffle honey drizzle. Entrees include pizzas, pastas, salads, and heartier mains such as blackened salmon, a cheeseburger, and confit chicken thighs — all of which are made from scratch.

The restaurant also offers a popular happy hour and a lively brunch. Elshani thinks the area’s relative dearth of Italian-inspired restaurants will work to his advantage.

“[Compared to] Zanti in The Woodlands and Amalfi in Woodforest, we’ll be in the middle of them with a more casual atmosphere and the same time of quality at a lower price. We’re definitely excited about it,” he says.

Currently, Elshani is performing renovations to convert Philipose’s into d’Alba. Changes include installing large doors that can be opened during nice weather, getting rid of the outdated drop ceiling, upgrading the lighting, and dividing the room to improve energy and flow.

“We’re stoked and super excited about getting this up and running,” Elshani says.

A selection of dishes from d'Alba.

Photo by Becca Wright

A selection of dishes from d'Alba.

news-you-can-eat openings d'alba craft kitchen and cocktails magnolia the woodlands

sudden cupcake shutter

Cupcake pioneer Sprinkles shutters all locations, including one in Houston

Photo courtesy of Sprinkles

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A nationwide cupcake bakery has shuttered all of its locations, including in Houston. Sprinkles Cupcakes closed all of its locations on December 31, according to multiple media reports.

The company provided a brief statement about the closures to TV station KTLA: “After thoughtful consideration, we’ve made the very difficult decision to transition away from operating company-owned Sprinkles bakeries.”

Founder Candace Nelson shared her own thoughts about the news via a post on Instagram. After noting that she sold the business to private equity in 2012, Nelson stated she was disappointed by the decision.

“Even though I sold the company over a decade ago, I still have such a personal connection to it, and this isn’t how I thought the story would go. I thought Sprinkles would keep growing and be around forever,” she says in the clip.

The bakery had 20 locations in six states. In Houston, Sprinkles had one location in Rice Village that opened in 2021 (2563 Amherst St.). A Highland Village location that opened in 2010 had already closed.

It also operated stores in Austin (3120 Palm Way), Dallas (4020 Villanova), and Plano (7500 Windrose Avenue) and cupcake ATMs at other spots statewide, including one in The Woodlands Market Street district.

Sprinkles was widely credited for creating the cupcake craze of the late aughts and early 2010s. Founded by Nelson in 2005, the shop's treats elevated the form with high quality ingredients, a wide range of flavors, and the sort of eye-catching designs that would be now be described as Instagram-worthy — but Sprinkles predates the app’s creation. It introduced a number of innovations, including a cupcake ATM to satisfy cravings 24-hours-a-day.

As for Nelson, she pivoted to Pizzana, an Italian-style pizzeria she co-founded with her husband Charles, actor Chris O’Donnell and his wife Caroline, and chef Daniele Uditi. The restaurant, which holds a Bib Gourmand designation in the Michelin Guide for its original outpost in Los Angeles, has a Dallas location that opened in 2022 and a Houston store that opened in 2024.

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