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    Recipe For Success

    Recipe for Success celebrates 10th anniversary with a fab food-and-art fete

    Clifford Pugh
    Oct 2, 2016 | 4:00 pm

    What: Delicious Alchemy: The Art of Food, benefiting Recipe for Success.

    Where: Four Seasons Hotel.

    The scoop: Recipe for Success celebrated its 10th anniversary with a big party that combined food, fashion and art. Sixteen top chefs offered tasty treats to guests in the Four Seasons ballroom as models from the Neal Hamil Agency roamed the room in dinner napkin attire strategically placed on their well-toned bodies. The linen napkins, part of what organizers call "The Napkin Project," were designed by 12 notable Houston artists with a dining theme. (A set of 10 unique napkins are available for $250.)

    Recipe for Success founder Gracie Cavnar, wearing a striking one shoulder Stella McCartney dress, encouraged guests to sample the offerings and bid on silent auction items, including a pantry makeover and cooking lesson from chef Justin Kouri and dinner for 12 with with wine and music, commemorated by photographic artist Jay Rosovich. With megaphone in hand, auctioneer Michael Pearce encouraged a lively night of competitive bidding.

    Proceeds from the evening will fund the Seed-to-Plate Nutrition Education program for 3,000 children in several Houston schools.

    Who: Seen in the crowd were Romy Mitchell and Charles Clark, Duyen and Marc Nguyen, Anne and John Mendelsohn, Karina Barbieri, Matt Burrus, Marsha Montemayor, Jeff Shell, Fady Armanious and Bill Baldwin, Deborah Colton, Susan Plum, Bob Cavnar, Liz and Stepanian, Genevieve and Shawn Patterson, Candace and Brian Thomas, Karen and Roland Garcia, Lisa and Larry Powers, Tammie and Andy Johnson, Ebony and Warrington Goudeau, and Ariana Smetana.

    Models in napkin attire pose with Anne and John Mendelsohn.

    Models with Anne and John Mendelsohn at Recipe for Success gala
    Jason Mortel Photography
    Models in napkin attire pose with Anne and John Mendelsohn.
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    BOOTS & BALLET

    Houston Ballet kicks off 2026 season with Texas-themed fundraising dinner

    Gabi De la Rosa
    Sep 16, 2026 | 12:31 pm
    Houston Ballet season opener
    Photo by Michelle Watson, CatchLight Group
    Honorees Hugh and Carroll Ray and Opening Night Onstage Dinner chairs Kris and Richard McGee.

    This year, ballet aficionados swapped formal attire for cowboy boots, hats, and fringe as they filled the Wortham Theater Center for Houston Ballet's 2026-27 season opener, a triple bill including George Balanchine’s Symphonie Concertante, Lar Lubovitch’s Meadow, and the revival of Stanton Welch’s Pecos Bill. The Western-inspired looks were a nod to the highly anticipated production, which brought a fun Texas twist to the ballet's annual onstage dinner.

    The evening began with Michele Leal, the City of Houston’s director of the Office of Arts, reading a proclamation from Mayor John Whitmire naming September 11, 2026, Houston Ballet Day. The celebratory moment was followed by a pause for silence in remembrance of those lost on 9/11, before the orchestra launched into a spirited rendition of the national anthem.

    The crowd gave a hats-off ovation to Kris and Richard McGee, who chaired the event, which raised more than $320,000 for the Houston Ballet. Co-artistic director Julie Kent honored Carroll and Ray Hugh for more than 40 years of generosity and for helping to inspire and sustain an appreciation for dance in Houston.

    Immediately after the performance, the curtains rose to welcome dinner guests to the opening-night onstage dinner. Completely transformed by Bergner and Johnson Design, the space drew inspiration from Pecos Bill and Texas's natural landscape. Tablescapes included denim, taupe linens, and red gingham napkins set off by centerpieces featuring a colorful bounty of flowers.

    Guests kicked off their Texas-themed meal, prepared by City Kitchen, with a seasonal salad, followed by a main course of beef short rib served with Yukon Gold potato mash, oven-roasted okra, and buttermilk biscuits. Dessert was a classic chocolate pecan tart paired with vanilla bean gelato.

    Boot-wearing VIPs included Kris and Richard McGee; Carroll and Hugh Ray; Sonja Kostich; Julie Kent; Stanton Welch AM; Chad Libertus; Stephanie Tsuru; Melza and Ted Barr; C.C. Conner and David Groover; Jo Furr; Margaret Alkek Williams; David Wuthrich; Bill Stubbs and Kurt Grether; Rose Cullen; Leigh and Reggie Smith; Ileana and Michael Treviño; Shawn Stephens and Jim Jordan; Margaret Cox; Deborah Keyser and James Stafford; Allison and Troy Thacker; Jay Jones and Terry Wayne Jones; Jennifer and Chris Laporte; Leigh and Chris Joseph; Michele Leal; Angie Matula; Akemi Saitoh; Marguerite Swartz; Jerry Ann Woodfin-Costa; Mignon and Steve Gill; Susan and Gary Binney; Christine and Paul Sofka; Sharon Roark; Leslie Alston; Michael Zenker; Michelle Iversen Jeffery; Timothy Wampler; Beth Muecke; Rochelle and Andrew Deiso; Kent Schaffer; Sasha Davis and Geoffrey Oshman; Kevin Potter; Jean and Henry May; Helen and Jim Shaffer; Rini and Edward Ziegler; Erin Patak and Alejandro Aballay; Mitchell George and Stanley Curtis, Jr.

    Houston Ballet season opener 2026

    Photo by Michelle Watson/CatchLight Group

    Honorees Hugh and Carroll Ray and Opening Night Onstage Dinner chairs Kris and Richard McGee.

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