Houston people with an appetite for meat on skewers have a new option in the Galleria area. Casa Do Brazil has turned on the wheel.
A Brazilian steakhouse with a sister location in College Station, Casa Do Brazil maintains its local company Construction Concept (BCK, Ninfa’s Uptown) to convert files former Tango & Malbec room at 2800 Sage Rd. Changes include a completely new bar area, a dedicated grill for roasts, and, of course, the all-important salad bar serving a selection of vegetables, cheeses, charcuteries and more.
However, churrascaria is all about meat. At Casa Do Brasil, beef on the all-you-can-eat menu is USDA Prime and includes all the cuts one would expect from this style of restaurant: top sirloin, bottom sirloin, ribeye, filet, etc. Other options include pork ribs, pork tenderloin, lamb, and bacon-wrapped beef and chicken. Pescetarians will find wood grilled salmon filet as their go-to option (or prawn cocktail) with the ability to add access to the salad bar for an additional fee.
For those wanting a lighter experience, Casa Do Brasil offers a lighter menu in its bar and terrace area. Options include a variety of appetizers (empanada, ceviche, smoked crab and kale sauce, etc.) along with a la carte meat and seafood entrees. The happy hour menu, served on the bar and patio daily from 4-7pm, features an array of $ 7 bar snacks, $ 7 cocktails, $ 7 wine per glass, and $ 5 drafts. The 22-foot high wine wall displays the restaurant’s inventory.
“From the start, it has been our mission to provide an authentic churrasco experience in a fine dining setting,” said general manager and co-owner Israel Casas in a statement. “Our newest restaurant serves food and design to perfection. We understand many people are familiar with Brazilian steakhouses, but ‘Casa Experience’ goes far beyond the ordinary. We’re proud to offer the finest USDA Prime beef cuts and maintain this classic cooking technique. Our team is excited to be a part of the Houston restaurant community. “
It takes something “out of the ordinary” to stand out in a busy market in Houston for steakhouses and churrascarias. Besides all the established players, Gauchos do Sul, a restaurant with a location in Vintage Park, opened in Highland Village earlier this year. King Ranch Texas Kitchen, a new restaurant from Houston billionaire Tilman Fertitta, will open near the intersection of Post Oak and San Felipe in the coming weeks.
Can we? The industry is well aware of overproduction and overconsumption, but staying in business means getting on the path of more, more, more. It’s an idea that is illustrated, perhaps inadvertently, by the influx of designers who have forgotten history for their reluctance to play the more game of fashion: Lamine Kouyaté Xuly Bët’s upcycled lettuce hem dress was included alongside Stephen Burrows’ original 1975 lettuce hem ensemble. “I ended the show with the idea that there was a 24/7 need for everything, that the rush and the urgency had stopped time,” said Bolton. “It really needs to be addressed.”
The final look at the show, unlike the others, was white. Viktor and Rolf’s patchwork upcycled patchwork suit hung like angels just before the exit, with a circle of lace and light around the mannequin head. Bolton said the haute couture display served as a sign of hope for sustainability, community and shared ideas to change the fashion of the future. Will it be needed? Time will tell.
About Time: Fashion and Durationopens at the Metropolitian Art Museum on 29 October. Entry can be done with a timed ticket. This exhibition was made possible by Louis Vuitton, company sponsorship also provided by Condé Nast. Additional support was provided by Michael Braun, John and Amy Griffin, Nancy C. and Richard R. Rogers, the Natasha and Adar Poonawalla Foundation, and Dana Laura and Raymond Johnson.
Left: “Bar” suit, Christian Dior (France, 1905– 1957), jacket, spring / summer 1947; Mrs John Chambers Hughes’ Gift, 1958 (CI58.34.30). Skirts, spring / summer 1947, edition 1969; The Gift of Christian Dior, 1969 (CI69.40).
The artist Inuvialuk from Tuktoyaktuk remembers watching his mother teach his younger brother the craft. Arey is looking forward to the time he, too, will be able to pick up a needle and study.
“I just learned from anyone who would teach me – my mother, and many other talented tailors,” he said.
Having mastered the craft as a young girl, Arey has made everything from parkas to hats for herself and her family, all using local materials from the ground.
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He eventually learned to sew moccasins after inheriting his grandmother’s seal skin pattern, as well as learning the art of beading in a fairly short time.
Elizabeth Arey, wearing a summer cover made for her by her sister. Photo: Sent
Now, Arey runs his own business – Arctic Oceans Mocs – where he sells beaded shoes to customers across the region.
She said sewing and beading was a way to honor her heritage and ancestry.
“This is to pass on my culture and traditions,” he said. “Obeying my (grandfather), when he was a child, he remembered when the flu outbreak came. He was a child who brought water to all the tents where the sick were. He saw many deaths.
“It’s very important for me to pass on our culture and traditions through sewing, and also to pass those skills on to anyone who wants to learn – the same way older tailors taught me.”
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Arey stitched and tied leather moccasins seal. Photos sent.
Arey is one of 12 women across the North in the EntrepreNorth 2020 business program cohort.
Launched in 2018, EntrepreNorth help Indigenous companies and entrepreneurs develop into thriving businesses. Each year, the program takes on a different theme – for example, last year it focused on tourism.
This year’s theme? Circumpolar mode.
Over the course of nine months, the women – all of whom design and manufacture clothing, jewelry, and other accessories inspired by their Indigenous culture – receive guidance from established Indigenous professionals and designers.
Mix tradition with trends
When Arey found out that she was accepted into this year’s program, it made her cry.
“I almost got emotional, because it was so exciting,” he said, choking at the memory of the moment. It’s still real.
Arey’s cousin, Erica Lugt – also Inuvialuk from Tuktoyaktuk – joined him in the EntrepreNorth 2020 cohort.
Lugt has made and sold beaded jewelry under the brand name He is a Free Spirit since 2017. Her work has been featured at Indigenous Fashion Week in Toronto and Paris Fashion Week.
“My time is now, and it took me this long to get where I understand … this is my calling,” Lugt said of the opportunity with EntrepreNorth. I’m honored.
Lugt describes finding inspiration in the surrounding landscape – especially the colors.
“It excites me,” he said. “I can see the autumn skies over the Arctic and really scream, because seeing those bright colors makes me so happy.
“There is excitement I can’t describe, so I try to incorporate that joy into every part I make.”
Erica Lugt, Tuktoyaktuk’s Inuvialuk bead jewelry shop. Photo: Sent
He is also fascinated by the mix of modernism and tradition, blending current trends with the practicality and culture of his Inuvialuit heritage.
“We live in a modern society but, at the same time, you want to respect the style of your ancestors,” he said.
Gwich’in quilt maker Dorathy Wright, in Norman Wells, can relate to that.
Wright complements the NWT contingent in the newest EntrepreNorth cohort. She learned sewing and quilting from her family, then learned new techniques from community classes and YouTube videos.
Sharing her creations to Facebook, she has garnered local followers and admirers.
Names her new venture Willow Crescent Quilting, Wright attempted to incorporate his cultural heritage into Gwich’in Delta-style blankets and Beaufort Delta parkas. He uses materials such as fox fur and arctic fur.
Dorathy Wright of Willow Crescent Quilting. Photo: Sent
A single mother of five, Wright describes sewing as “quiet time”.
“When my house goes crazy, and I’m on my sewing machine, it just… calms me down,” she said.
‘The most satisfying feeling’
The Circumpolar fashion group will meet three times in person during the program, in addition to the online courses. Nunavut and NWT members met in Yellowknife last week – there was a travel bubble between regions during the pandemic – to receive business training and take part in product shoots (group members from the Yukon, who were not in the same group, were unable to attend).
The three women said the experience was great.
“That’s very informative. I learned a lot of things, “said Wright. “It was very tiring, just all the information they gave us, and we were there all day, [but] It’s so precious. I’m really into the moon. “
Beaded earrings made by Erica Lugt. Photo: Sent
For Lugt, the best part is meeting fellow designers and fans of Indigenous fashion.
“It is the most fulfilling feeling, being surrounded by like-minded individuals who all love our culture and respect our culture through our fashion,” he said.
“Sometimes, I feel like a crazy person because I am obsessed with Indigenous fashion. Being surrounded by other people like me, it was like, ‘Yes!’ “
When asked what makes Native northern fashion unique, Arey, Lugt, and Wright use one word: practical.
Wright said northern clothing was “practical and eye-catching”.
“It’s like a Delta-style parka – very, very warm, but the ornate on it is totally unique to the Delta and North,” he said.
Arey remembers talking to his father about the fringe during a trip.
“He started telling me they wanted water to drip,” he said, “and I never thought of that before. I thought it was for fashion.
“He asked me, ‘Why? Why did they do that extra sewing long ago if it didn’t work? ‘
“I think all of our fashions have had practical uses for a long time, but they still look good today too.”
‘Part of a movement’
The global Indigenous fashion world has “exploded in the last two years” according to Lugt. More and more Indigenous designers are setting trends, offering innovation, and bringing new meaning and purpose to the world of fashion.
Lugt calls it a movement.
“We are part of it. We took him to the front. We have clothes that we make to keep warm in the North and now, we have some of the women in this group who take what we need to survive in our part of the world and make it glamorous and make it cool.
“It’s amazing to see him.”
Even though the program doesn’t end until next May, the NWT artists already have plans. The three of them will be featured at Dene Nahjo’s upcoming Indigenous online handicraft market.
Lugt wants to launch a website to sell his creations. Wright dreamed of becoming a tailor and starting a shop in Norman Wells.
Wright’s daughter wore fur gloves that her mother had sewn together. Photo: Sent
Arey applied to art and fashion shows, something he was too embarrassed to do before joining EntrepreNorth.
She finally hopes to start an online shop that showcases her own work together with other Inuvialuk tailors, “to help them reach further” and perhaps gain the courage she has.
“That is us as Inuvialuites – we help each other,” he said.
Wyomissing School District arts teacher, Mike Miller, didn’t have to bother fighting over a theme when invited to participate in an art exchange with the sister city of Reading – Reutlingen, Germany.
“I think of pretzels because of their German roots and history at Reading,” he said. It seems to represent both cities.
Large-scale public art projects, called The Berks Pretzel Collection – from Reutlingen to Reading, feature variations on pretzel shapes.
Panels of eight pretzel paintings were installed each Sunday on the north side of the state office building at 645 Cherry St.
Coordinated by Miller with Berks Community Murals, an initiative that invites community involvement in collaborative public art projects, the project started with more than 80 pretzel paintings that were shipped to Germany last year by local artist Josh Brightbill. Installed as part of Reutlingen’s annual street festival, the paintings will remain in Germany, Miller said.
Nearly 100 local artists and 10-year-old students contributed to the series of paintings hanging on Sundays, and more works are expected. Upon completion, the installation will include some 70 reciprocal works, painted under the direction of Susanne Immer, an art teacher at Reutlingen.
“The individual paintings work as a cohesive whole because they are all inspired by pretzels,” Miller said.
Architects and other staff from Muhlenberg Greene Architects were among those who contributed to the project, said Suzanne Cody, project manager and marketing coordinator for architectural firm Wyomissing.
Cody met Miller last fall when the mural corridor on Cherry Street in West Reading was renamed Dean’s Way in memory of the late Dean Rohrbach, who compiled the idea for a mural collection in the area.
“Mr. Miller quoted Dean as saying, ‘Public art humanizes the built environment,'” said Cody, noting that he shared the statement with his co-workers. “The architect was tasked with envisioning, creating, and improving the built environment, and Dean’s sentiments influenced the team at company.”
The staff eagerly accepted Miller’s invitation to participate in a large-scale public art project, he said.
“Helping to improve the built environment is something that is important to us,” said Cody. “It’s something we think about every day. The opportunity to be creative and take part is an opportunity we cannot miss. “
Miller said there was enough space at the site of the first Cherry Street exhibition for about 100 paintings. He searched the site for additional paintings.
“Hopefully this will be the first exhibition of several pretzel painting collections in Berks County,” said Miller.
Theron Cook, a Reading artist, worked on her contribution on Saturdays during a meet-the-artist event at Reading Distilling Guild, 503 Penn Street. The event was intended to raise funds for breast cancer research.
Cook combines a pretzel design with a Ganesha image. Hindu divinity, often depicted as an elephant, symbolizes the wisdom and understanding the artist says he wants to achieve.
“I thought I was going to tie it all up,” said Cook.
Transforming and interpreting pretzels is at the heart of this project, says Miller.
That CSM Graduated Edwin Mohney famous for her whimsical silhouettes, creations worthy of headlines (which remembers inflatable swimming pool dresses and “Trumpettos” from his MA collection?) and bespoke clothing for the like Beyoncé, Frank Ocean and Christina Aguilera . However, over the past year, it was forced to adapt to the industry challenges posed by pandemicThe Buffalo-born, LA-based fashion designer has shown that there is more to this brand than that.
First come avatar model, explore the possibilities of the new frontiers of digitally led fashion. Then, in the midst of a pandemic, Edwin turned his hand redesigning the PPE line hospital attire for frontline workers, which overcomes some of the shortcomings of existing uniforms. While Edwin’s work consistently displays exceptional craftsmanship, its unpredictable trajectory also keeps it interesting: for his latest project he’s teamed up with an Australian photographer Edward Mulvihill in a book exploring the outside of 3D modeling.
In response to a series of renders of an imaginary fantasy world created by Edward, Edwin has created six dresses that are incorporated in their design approach and which will ultimately be photographed in this imaginary setting. With the book due later this year, Edwin shares his new design with iD – picked up by Edward about new star Ajok – for an exclusive early preview.
We called Edwin to chat about his new project and his desire to “catch the wind and turn any moment into an unforgettable experience.”
Edwin, how would you describe yourself and your job? I will describe myself as an artist working in the mediums of fashion, costume and design. I love the diverse aspects of these disciplines and how they continue to develop. There are always new techniques or completely opposite skills to explore. One minute I can express myself through pictures, then sew clothes, experiment with resin, be on set, or finally design characters on my computer. The integration of all these aspects feels generous and futuristic. I am interested in forging a path at the intersection of all my passions while remaining true to myself.
It makes a lot of sense in the context of your design. List your Instagram bio: couturier, customer, artist, tailor, tailor and stylist as your specialty. Why limit yourself ?! Exactly. This description includes all versions of the ideal of myself that I see exist. One day I woke up and wanted to role-play Dior and Gaultier. The next day I distributed the Rauschenberg. To produce good work, in my opinion there is an element of performance and pretending to be involved. It comes from how I played as a child and I think that always lightens my mood when making things.
What inspires you the most? Life, friends, love and family. Of course there are always literal references like imagery and music, but conversations with my best people inspire me more than anything.
How do you think growing up in America affected your job? Enduring my teenage years really shaped me. I was consistently bullied and grew up as a strange, non-binary kid in rural America. I’m either too sensitive or too gay or too, dare I say, extraordinary for vanilla people. Creativity is my escape from pain that grows difficult and also a source of strength. Not much has changed in the way I practice. I still use my work to bring ideas to life and build more beautiful gifts. I learned a lot about my tenacity, passion, and identity through that experience.
The dresses here are made for your new project by photographer Edward Mulvihill. How did this come alive? Planets and stars align. When many new ventures started, Edward and I were introduced Instagram. I have admired his work for some time and he came up with ideas for collaboration. I am so excited! It’s really something straight out of the universe because as I learn more about Edward’s ideas I realize I’ve started with dresses that feel in line with their virtual integration approach and textures. I keep expanding my early wardrobe ideas into a few more and here we are.
How do you make it and what is it made of? I’m a big vintage collector. My favorite thing to do, when there’s no pandemic, is hunt for antiques. I have quite an archive of pleated cuts and jerseys from fabric stretch experiments. I didn’t find the technique, it was Pierre Cardin, but I created a silhouette which is my aesthetic using the stitched boning.
You’ve created clothes for some amazing artists including Christina Aguilera and Beyonce. Is this something you will continue to pursue? It is the performative aspect of clothing that has inspired me from a young age. I love how the dress will change my mother’s mood or change her actions. It felt like magic. I ended up trying to help the wearer become the most confident version.
How would you describe what you are trying to share with the world? If I can make something that makes someone smile or gives them life, that’s enough. The taste changes, my taste changes. I’m not interested in projecting my aesthetic in a deliberate way. Instead, I focus on catching the wind and turning the moment into a memorable experience. My goal is to unite people with this experience, whether they like it or not.
