kate + jv ftw

These 5 favorite Kate Upton and Justin Verlander headlines toast Houston's superstar couple

Kate Upton and Justin Verlander celebrate after the Astros win over the Yankees to clinch the ALCS.

Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

As sports fans are well aware, World Series champ and Cy Young Award-winning Houston Astros ace Justin Verlander is headed to the Big Apple, where he'll pitch for the New York Mets after signing a two-year deal.

While the debate is on as to how the team will fare with JV no longer in the rotation, one common Houston chorus on social media (including our own Facebook page comments) is "Can Kate stay?" Indeed, superstar supermodel Kate Upton has captivated fans worldwide, influenced wardrobes across the state, and proven that she gives absolutely zero since she and her husband Verlander arrived.

With that in mind, we look back on some of our most-read Kate/JV headlines (in no particular order). Houston's elite sports, society, and fashion scenes will surely miss this mega-power couple — as will the legion of fans.

Verlander and Upton wed in Italy. Justin Verlander/Twitter

Here's our top five:

Kate Upton shares details of fairytale Italian wedding to Justin Verlander
Call this one, "how it started." The power couple wed in a storybook, Italian setting in 2017 — just three days after the Astros World Series victory. Upton shared details about why the couple selected the Rosewood Castiglion Del Bosco resort as their venue, the pre-wedding "Uplander Olympics" (complete with custom Under Armour jerseys), and the inspiration for her Valentino dress.

Kate Upton and Justin Verlander announce the birth of their daughter
And this, to follow, would be dubbed, "how it's going." A year after they wed, Upton and Verlander announced the birth of their baby, Genevieve Upton Verlander, born on November 7. Verlander melted hearts with a touching fatherly message to his little girl: “Welcome to the world Genevieve Upton Verlander. You stole my ❤️ the first second I met you!!! 11.7.2018.”

Kate Upton reveals she almost missed her wedding during late-night TV appearance
Always one to steal a show, Upton appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in 2019, with a memorable ’80s-style aerobics dance challenge with Fallon — and a revelation that she almost missed her own wedding in Italy. The episode also featured Verlander working in a reference to Fallon’s 2005 baseball-themed romantic comedy, Fever Pitch, during a red carpet interview in which he’s asked the secret to netting a supermodel wife. “Man, there’s no secret,” Verlander tells the interviewer. Then, “I recently watched a movie, Fever Pitch. It still holds up.”

Kate Upton and Justin Verlander reveal their 5 favorite Houston haunts
Houstonians love a national shout-out, and Verlander and Upton shouted H-Town out in a big way in 2019 in the pages of the New York Times. Dishing on their five places to visit in the Bayou City, the couple spread the love for The Menil Collection, which Upton called "an awesome art collection," and Tiny Boxwoods. Oh, and Upton named the best burger she's ever had (read on).

Justin Verlander shouts out his favorite Houston burger on national TV
That leads us to the burger at the award-winning Nancy's Hustle, also Verlander's favorite. The ace name-dropped the restaurant and burger — a double patty cheeseburger with chopped onions, pickles, and aioli on a housemade brioche English muffin during an August 11 broadcast of the Astros game against the Texas Rangers. Now that's what they call scoreboard.

Honorable mention:

Kate Upton's hilarious 'salute' reminds fans why she and Justin Verlander are 100-percent ready for New York
As we bid farewell to the Houston megastars, we reminded fans of the time Upton was captured shooting her mouth off (and shooting the bird) to a smack-talking Philly fan — meaning she'll have no trouble handling fans in NYC.

perfectly paired

2 Michelin-rated Houston restaurants teamed up for taco-fueled fundraiser

Big Brothers Big Sisters Houston Perfect Pairing Pit Room Tatemo

Courtesy of Big Brothers Big Sisters Houston

Michael Sambrooks, Emmanuel Chavez, Humberto Celis, Alexia Ramirez, Matt Harris, and Amber Kelusky.

A chef who leads a Michelin-starred restaurant teamed up with a Michelin-rated Houston barbecue joint to raise money for a local nonprofit that helps young people reach their potential.

Held Sunday, August 30, the Perfect Pairing event united Tatemó chef-owner Emmanuel Chavez with The Pit Room’s Memorial location for an epic evening of tacos, margaritas, and community. Both restaurants are included in the Michelin Guide, with Tatemó holding one star and The Pit Room holding a Bib Gourmand desgination. Michael Sambrooks, founder of The Pit Room’s parent company Sambrooks Hospitality, credits BBBS volunteer and event chair Matt Harris for the original idea behind the event.

“The idea is to have guest chefs, do something lowkey that’s more like a fun party than a big gala,” Sambrooks says. “All the proceeds go to Big Brothers Big Sisters — 100 percent of the ticket sales. We donate all the costs of the space, food, and drinks.”

Harris proposed two styles of ribeye tacos to Chavez that have become trendy in both Texas and Mexico — gaoneras and cachetadas — both wrapped in Tatemó’s signature nixtamalized corn tortillas. The Pit Room’s staff served them to diners alongside papas fritas and smoked corn elotes. Chavez’s signature tuna tostada and huitlacoche quesadilla kicked off the meal, while jackfruit tres leches with Altima caviar ended the night on a sweet note.

“Part of the event is we want people to have fun. We don’t want it to be too fussy, but the food has to be good,” Harris says. “Talking to people in the crowd last night, a lot of people were intrigued and excited because it’s a pretty high level taco. To be able to present them tableside, it just felt right.”

“We were just there with a flat top trying to bust out tacos as fast as we could,” Chavez says. “I felt like I was on Top Chef. There were 30 minutes, you have x amount of people, go.”

Harris credits Sambrooks for providing the organization with such generous support.

“What people saw on the plate was great, but the number of moving parts that it took to make that happen was not small. None of that would be possible without Michael,” Harris says. “It’s very humbling to have someone be that generous and not just open the doors but provide service, provide product, open his relationships with vendors — it doesn’t stop.”

Sambrooks explains that he’s decided to support both Communities in School and Big Brothers Big Sisters with larger events, which allows his company to have a greater impact than if it spread its contributions around more broadly.

“Restaurants always get asked for donations. You’ve got to pick who you want to work with,” Sambrooks says.

Overall, the sold-out crowd of 120 people raised over $12,000 to support Big Brothers Big Sisters mentorship programs. Seen in the crowd were Burger Bodega chef-owner Abbas Dhanani and his wife Nida; Craft Pita chef-owner Raffi Nasr and his wife Brittney, commercial real estate developer John Andell, Leaf & Grain founder Deets Hoffman, former Masterchef contestant Cesar Cano, Houston Business Journal 40 under 40 recipient Chassidy Deckhard, and Houston Chronicle food critic Bao Ong.