In April 2020, we were all still reeling from the daily bombardment of bad news about the coronavirus epidemic with no idea the actual toll it would take on us over the next year. Most of us did not expect that hundreds of thousands of lives would be lost to the virus and millions of people would suffer economic hardship because of it. And let s not even go into the trauma of a unprecedented presidential election in which facts were twisted and partisanship flourished.
Perhaps this isn t the most uplifting way to describe a pleasant day of imbibing and dining. The past year has been a tough one and the prospect of social gatherings, dinner dates and live music again is filling us with hope. The vaccine roll-out has meant that many of us have been immunized and hopefully protected from COVID-19 or at least, its severity. While wearing masks is still the protocol for most of us, going out to dinner no longer feels like a life or death gamble.
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Sarasota film fest Through Women s Eyes returns with virtual event
The 22nd annual festival runs Friday-Monday, featuring 34 films showcasing women in front of and behind the camera.
2021 Through Women s Eyes International Film Festival: Friday-Monday; $10 individual screenings, $45 five-film package, $150 (general admission) or $135 (members) festival pass; twe2021.eventive.org
Sarasota s Through Women s Eyes International Film Festival returns this weekend with a lineup that will take viewers around the globe even as they watch from their homes, with the event going all-virtual this year due to the pandemic.
The 22nd annual festival runs Friday-Monday with 34 feature and short films featuring women in front of and behind the camera. The festival benefits UN Women, whose Gulf Coast Chapter produces the event, and has screened such notable films in the past as RBG, the Oscar-nominated documentary abou
Where to eat in Houston right now: The very best meals of 2020
Where to eat in Houston right now: The very best meals of 2020
Photo by Kirsten Gilliam
Photo by Dragana Harris
Photo by Raydon Creative
Courtesy of El Topo Yes, this year has been a strange time full of unexpected challenges. We’ve all learned far more than we ever thought we’d need to about how virus are transmitted and the importance of wearing a mask to #stopthespread. Restaurants, along with live music venues, movie theaters, and other places where people gather in large groups to have a good time, have borne the brunt of restrictions designed to slow the spread. Lots of promising establishments have closed some before they even had a chance to build a following. One of my favorite meals of 2020 took place at Alma, an elevated South American restaurant in Highland Village that didn’t even last two months before it closed for good.
Hidden Omakase, 5353 W. Alabama, is shooting to make its debut December 15. The tasting menu-only restaurant comes from Japanese chef Billy Kin, most recently executive chef and partner at Blackbird Izakaya, a Japanese pub and restaurant Kin opened with Ken Bridge of Delicious Concepts. Blackbird closed this past July. Robot Noodle, another concept from Bridge, has taken its place.
Kin is a graduate of the Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management at University of Houston. Kin comes from a restaurant family with a grandfather owning restaurants in Japan and his father operating restaurants in Taiwan and San Francisco, where Kin was born. After completing his degree, Kin began cooking professionally in Houston and studied under Takehiko Fuse in Austin. When Blackbird Izakaya closed, the chef took time off to start a family.