A new farmers’ market is coming to Sugar Land. The Farmers Market at Imperial, located at Highway 90 at Highway 6, will be held every Saturday 9 am to 1 pm beginning October 1 through December 10. Visitors can purchase local cheeses, fresh-baked goods, jam, honey, fresh-cut flowers and more. Interested vendors should contact Gail Best, Fort Bend Chamber of Commerce, at gail@fortbendcc.org or 281-491-0800 … Chef Aldo el Sharif, who has cooked at several high-end Houston restaurants (e.g. Sorrento’s, Cafe Le Jadeite) – and owned a couple of them, too (Aldo’s) – for 25-plus years has unveiled Aldo’s Cucina Italiana (18450 I-45 South, Shenandoah) in The Woodlands area. Plans call for being open only for dinner at first, then adding weekday lunch and Sunday brunch at a later date. The menu and wine list will both have wallet-friendly prices … The Tremont House in Galveston recently unveiled a new open-air lounge on the hotel’s roof. It’s called, appropriately enough, The Rooftop Bar and is located four stories above street level. It’s open evenings Wednesday through Saturday.
Popular mixologist Claire Sprouse – she’s a finalist for My Table’s Houston Culinary Award for Favorite Mixologist – is relocating to San Francisco this week. Brandon Fisch, another HCA finalist (for Up-and-Coming Chef of the Year) has landed at Xuco Xicana, where he is now Jonathan Jones’ sous-chef. That seems like a good fit. The recently closed Heights West (2307 Ella Blvd.) is getting a new tenant. El Gran Malo (the name means The Big Bad) is set to open in the space in early September. The bar/restaurant will specialize in infused tequilas and Latin-inspired bites and is from Steve and Shaun Sharma (they also own The Dirt Bar), Dimitre Dimitrov and Lea McKinney.
The House of Blues (1204 Caroline) restaurant is getting an overall. Not just the Houston location, but all links in the 13-store chain. The restaurants will now be known as Crossroads at House of Blues with a new menu under the direction of celebrity chef Aaron Sanchez.
We’re intrigued by Ikea’s upcoming crayfish party. Houston’s humongous Ikea (7810 Katy Fwy.) is hosting a Swedish Crayfish Party 6 to 8:30 pm this Friday (August 19). Unlike Houstonians, who prefer hot and spicy mudbugs, the Swedes boil theirs in salted water and dill and serve them cold with lemon wedges. You can sample for yourself and also indulge in tossed green salad, cucumber salad, hard-boiled eggs with mayo and shrimp, crispbread, assorted Swedish cheeses, meatballs with lingonberries and more. It actually sounds good, doesn’t it? Cost is $9.99 per adults, $2.49 per child. Tickets must be purchased in advance and are available from Ikea restaurant workers. Maybe we’ll see you there.
Nancy Sarnoff of the Houston Chronicle reports that a Washington Avenue shuttle-service operator wants to turn the parking lot that she leases into a gathering spot for Houston’s growing fleet of food trucks. Lauren Barrash, who owns the shuttle service and leases property at 1525 Silver, is circulating a survey to nearby residents to gauge interest in the proposed project. She already leases space to one food truck and has started approaching others about the idea. Barrash, who notes that similar food-truck parks exist in Austin, Dallas and San Antonio, envisions as many as eight trucks that could be rotated on different nights. Read more here.
Congratulations to Bob and Teresa Tadeo Wittman, who will celebrate the 11th anniversary of Fratelli’s Authentic Italian Cuisine (10989 Northwest Fwy.) tomorrow evening, Wednesday, August 17, with a special five-course dinner. Cost is $35 per person, plus tax and gratuity. As a special treat, tenor Angelo Farrari will be singing popular Italian opera arias during the dinner.