Good Vibes

Gift great food, wine, and times this holiday with these delicious ideas

One of the best parts about the holidays is the food and wine — and family and friends you get to enjoy it with.

The Big Vibe Group keeps this spirit going all year long, but its restaurants get especially festive this time of year. Here's how to gift delicious experiences to be savored:

Bottaio Wine Shop
A new dimension has opened inside of Coppa Osteria, and wine lovers will cheer.

Bottaio Wine Shop only stocks wines from small, boutique vineyards, about 90 percent of which qualify as biodynamic, natural, and/or organic wines.

Even better, the retail wines are sold at 10-15 percent below the already low wine list price — that's a major steal. Bottles are also listed online and available for pick up, so just call ahead to order.

Since you can never go wrong with a nice bottle of wine, pick up one (or several) for hosts and hostesses, colleagues, and friends.

Photo by Kirsten Gilliam Photography

Gratify can accommodate big groups.

Dining together
Whether you're planning the office holiday bash, a fun family get-together, or intimate dinner with close friends, consider private and group dining at The Big Vibe Group's restaurants.

Each restaurant has to capacity to host a crowd — all you need to do is determine how many.

Enjoy semi-private dining on the patios at Gratify, surrounded by lush greenery, bold wallpaper, and atmospheric hanging lights, or reserve the whole restaurant for an all-out experience.

The Dough Room at Coppa Osteria comfortably fits 20 guests, while the Frida room at Flora can comfortably fit 40 seated and 50-60 cocktail-style. The interior offers stunning chandeliers and floor-to-ceiling windows for a truly unforgettable meal, or expand the guest count and rent the surrounding patio space.

However long your guest count might be, you'll find the right fit at one of these restaurants.

Gift cards
You know what pairs really well with a bottle of wine from Bottaio Wine Shop, or even on its own? A gift card that can be used at any restaurant in The Big Vibe Group: Gratify Neighborhood Bistro, Coppa Osteria, Flora Mexican Kitchen, and Graffiti Raw.

Plan brunch with a good friend, happy hour with coworkers, or date night with your special someone and give the gift of great food, wine and craft cocktails, and time together.

Mucho merch
Hats off to the holidays with The Big Vibe Group merchandise, which includes T-shirts, hats, and brass keychains. Allow three to five business days for shipping or pick up at one of the restaurants, and then get ready for year-round big vibes.

shopping holidays dinner lunch brunch wine promoted

head north

Family friendly Garden Oaks restaurant coming soon to Magnolia

Photo by Becca Wright

A selection of dishes from d'Alba.

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