Shelby's Social Diary

Rockin' with the B-52s in Nantucket, with Al Franken on Martha's Vineyard,Houstonians love summer

On Martha's Vineyard, Karen and Roland Garcia visited with Sen. Al Franken,center.
Artists John Ross Palmer and Chris Silkwood were hits at the Nave Museum inVictoria.
Photo by Ryan Lindsay
Back in Nantucket.
Helping the Nantucket birthday girl blow out the candles.
On the scene for the B-52s concert.
Celebrating with the birthday girl.

It wasn't a total redux of her 50th-birthday celebration in Nantucket 10 years ago, but Franci Crane's 60th on the island this past weekend reverberated with a similar upbeat theme.

Friends and family came from Houston and from various vacation homes around the country to spend the weekend saluting the popular, fancy Franci, as she is affectionately known.

The partying began on Thursday, when hubby Jim Crane hosted dinner at the Great Harbor Yacht Club. It was an intimate start to the weekend of partying attended by Jim's son Jared Crane and daughter and son-in-law Krystal and Garrett Thompson, Franci's mother Bobbie Allen, Sis Johnson, Vance Muse, Carl Palazzolo, in from his summer perch inMaine, and Cece Fowler.

Friday night saw the full contingent of partygoers donning flip flops, capris and sweaters for the beachfront clambake on Miacomet Beach at sunset. Internationally-renowned photographersCarol Beckwith and Angela Fisher and The New Yorker editor Elisabeth Biondi were in the mix as well as Franci's son, hedge fund whiz Trey Beck in from New York, Susie and Sanford Criner, Karen and Harry Pinson and Phoebe and Bobby Tudor, who spend much of the summer in Nantucket.

As Houston Grand Opera's Rudy Avelar reported, "The clambake on the beach was fabulous — lobsters, clams, corn on the cob, the most delicious tomatoes, barbecued chicken."

The party action turned to the Crane's home spread on Saturday night where guests gathered under a party tent for a lavish buffet birthday dinner and a performance by the B-52s. "The setting was amazing," Sheridan Williams e-mailed, "tented on the Crane's eight-acre spread where they have three homes, all Nantucket style. The view as you entered the tent was the beautiful tables and decor, food stations, etc. and on out to the water with the beautiful boats and the sun setting."

In addition to those already mentioned, the Saturday night crowd included writer/editor Alice Gordon, Lynn Wyatt, Milton Townsend and Jackson Hicks, Hasty Johnson, Gracie and Bob Cavnar, John Eddie Williams, Lauren Clark, Kelli and Eddy Blanton, Carrin Patman and Jim Derrick, Melanie and Ben Barnes and so many more.

And over on Martha's Vineyard . . .

That's where you would have found Greenberg Traurig shareholder Roland Garcia and wife Karen over the weekend attending the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee retreat. Garcia e-mails that the weather was so friendly that most of the meetings and briefings with senators were held outdoors in a large tent behind the Harbor View Hotel. Imagine, the locals were complaining about the "heat wave" that had the weather in the 80s.

Highlight of the Garcias' visit was a reception where they rubbed shoulders with Meg Ryan, Al Franken, Jim Belushi and a host of U.S. Senators and candidates.

Down Victoria way

Houston artists John Palmer andChris Silkwood, who specializes in mosaics, unveiled their Solo & Collaborative exhibition at the Nave Museum last week. The beautiful people from both Victoria and Houston turned out to celebrate the opening-night party and applaud the artists' works.

Palmer is back from a stint in Berlin where he did a number of paintings featured in a recent exhibition at his gallery in the Heights. The Solo & Collaborative remains on view in Victoria through Aug. 29.

Sight 'ems

Kate and Greg Scheinman at one table, Janet Gurwitch and Ron Franklin at another in the Friday night crush at Stella Sola where partner Bill Floyd arrived to check on things and introduce young chef Justin Basye to friendly diners.

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Pas de Deux Dining

Houston Ballet's gourmand bash delights with chef-dancer collabs

Photo by Melissa Taylor

Houston Ballet danced united with some of Houston's top chefs for Raising the Barre.

What began as a young professionals’ soirée has gracefully pirouetted into one of Houston’s most anticipated culinary-meets-culture nights.

And this year’s Raising the Barre delivered a standing ovation-worthy performance. Hosted at Caracol, the fan-favorite tasting event drew nearly 160 guests on May 4, where balletomanes (and those who love them) mingled, noshed, and toasted to an artful cause.

Co-chaired by Duyen and Marc Nguyen and Dr. Tatiana Sorkin and Michel Coret, the springtime soirée raised nearly $110,000 for Houston Ballet, supporting its mission to inspire a lasting love for dance through performance and education. But this wasn’t your typical rubber-chicken charity dinner. Here, dancers became muses and sous chefs, joining forces with Houston’s culinary stars to serve up an inspired four-course meal, each dish a storytelling moment in its own right.

Each course hit the table like a pas de deux.

Chef Aaron Bludorn kicked things off with soloist Danbi Kim, channeling her Korean childhood through a delicate sesame-crusted hamachi, balanced by gochujang vinaigrette and marinated cucumbers. Chef Chris Williams and demi-soloist Estheysis Menendez served a soul-warming lobster stew with plantain fufu and jalapeño pesto, a dish rooted in global tradition and personal memory, honoring the dancer’s Cuban heritage and her mother’s love of herbs and wellness.

Then came the entrée: Chef Hugo Ortega teamed with principal Chase O’Connell for picanha a las brazos, a coulotte steak celebration dressed in pasilla mole and earthy mushroom zacahuil. The duo riffed on Chase’s ritualistic pre-performance steak dinners, adding Ortega’s signature Latin American soul.

Pastry powerhouse Rebecca Masson of Fluff Bake Bar partnered with first soloist Gian Carlo Perez to close out the show with a guava pastelillo topped with cream cheese ice cream and honey, a nod to his Cuban childhood sweets.

Adding to the evening’s thoughtful twist, those lush floral centerpieces didn’t just wilt away post-party. Thanks to Houston nonprofit Bloom Again, the arrangements were repurposed and delivered to local hospitals and care facilities, offering cheer beyond the ballroom.

Among those soaking up the delicious scene were Beth Muecke, Patti Murphy, Ann Bean, Dr. Patrick Benge, Susan Binney, Jennifer Kushner, Kristy Bradshaw, Lindsey Brown, Andrea Medina, Lenni and Bill Burke, Anne and Albert Chao, Jo Furr, Mitchell George and Stanley Curtis Jr., Paula Whitten-Doolin, Victoria Gutierrez and Nick Pierce, Carey Kirkpatrick, Deborah and Edward Koehler, S. Shawn Stephens and Jim Jordan, Liliana Soltero and Mike Hawkins, Yana and Warren McFatter, Kris and Richard McGee, Teal and Jeffrey Reamer, Julie Kent, Jim Nelson, Melissa Reihle, and Laura and Brannon Robertson.

Photo by Melissa Taylor

Houston Ballet danced united with some of Houston's top chefs for Raising the Barre.

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