Beef cake

H-Town billionaire shakes up steakhouse scene in Manhattan with a star-studded grand opening

Tilman Fertitta just doesn't do anything in a small way. Consider his most recent landmark event — opening of Mastro's Steakhouse in New York City. More than 1,000 guests, sports and media stars among them, crowded into the bi-level restaurant to party party.

Landry's Inc., of which Fertitta is CEO, purchased the 11-steakhouse empire in 2013. The Manhattan spot becomes the 12th and the first on the East Coast.

The glam new eatery on Avenue of the Americas across from Radio City Music Hall was the place to be on this night when executive chef Aaron Albrecht and his team pulled out the stops creating an amazing, vast ice bar that featured lobster, shrimp, crab, oysters and more.

Orange Is the New Black stars Jackie Cruz and Lea DeLaria, comedian Joe Piscopo and actor Ice-T with his Ice Loves Coco wifey Coco Austin were among the headliners as were New York Giants Daniel Fells, Jameel McClain and Quintin Dempsey.

Earlier in the day, before welcoming the heady coterie of guests, Fertitta appeared on CNBC’s Street Signs with Brian Sullivan followed by an interview on Bloomberg News regarding his fast growing empire. Sullivan was among the biz media personalities in the mix. These included the host of CNBC's Fast Money Melissa Lee; Street Signs cohost Amanda “Mandy” Drury, Bloomberg News's Caleb Melby and Brandon Kochkodin, MSNBC's Eric Salzman and many more.

The party crowd also included Mastro’s Restaurants president and COO Mark Levy; Jeffries Group chairman of the board and CEO Rich Handler; Real Housewives of New York star Romana Singer; Mistresses actress Rochelle Ayte; New York Jets players Demario Davis, Jaiquawn Jarrett and Leger Douzable; and New York Knicks players J.R. Smith and Travis Wear.

The Landry's Inc. move into Manhattan continues with the opening in just a few weeks of a Morton's Grille in Union Square.

Mastero's president and COO Mark Levy, from left, comedian Joe Piscopo and Tilman Fertitta.

7 Mark Levy, from left, Joe Piscopo and Tilman Fertitta at the opening of Mastro's Steakhouse in NYC November 2014

Photo courtesy of Mastro’s Restaurants

Mastero's president and COO Mark Levy, from left, comedian Joe Piscopo and Tilman Fertitta.

unspecified

RIP, Wally

Texan Wally Funk, oldest woman to travel into space, dies at 87

Wally Funk aboard Blue Origin New Shepard

Photo courtesy of Blue Origin

The 82-year-old Wally Funk became the oldest person to go to space on July 20, 2021.

GRAPEVINE, Texas (AP) — Wally Funk, an aviation pioneer who was the oldest woman to launch into space, has died. She was 87.

Funk died Wednesday, July 8 at her apartment in an assisted living facility in Grapevine, Grapevine City Councilwoman Duff O'Dell said Thursday. O'Dell, who described herself as Funk's caregiver, said she was by Funk's side. Funk had fallen a couple of times recently and had an infection in her leg.

“It took its toll,” O'Dell said in a phone interview.

Wally Funk became a hometown hero in Grapevine. Facebook/Wally Funk's Space for Race

Funk was one of 13 female pilots who went through the same tests as NASA’s all-male astronaut corps in the early 1960s but never made it into space. In 2021, she got her chance aboard Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin rocket. At the time, the 82-year-old was the oldest person to go into space, though the record was later broken by “Star Trek” actor William Shatner and Ed Dwight, America’s first Black astronaut candidate. They were both 90.

Bezos chose Funk as an “honored guest” to ride alongside him and two others on an up-and-down hop from West Texas aboard his Blue Origin rocket.

In interviews after the 11-minute flight, Funk enthusiastically told reporters, "I loved every minute of it. I just wish it had been longer.”

Wally Funk in her '20s as a flight instructor. Facebook/Wally Funk's Space for Race

She became a hometown hero when she returned home to Dallas-Fort Worth; the city of Grapevine threw a parade for her history-making experience.

“Wally Funk never stopped believing that one day she would reach space. Her passion for flight, perseverance, and love of exploration will continue to inspire generations of Americans. Godspeed, Wally,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman posted Thursday on X.

---

This story contains material from CultureMap story archives.

obituary wally funk celebrities deaths