Austin Way Magazine - GreenGale Publishing - There is a place beyond the crowds, beyond the ropes, where dreams are realized and success is celebrated. You are invited.
Issue link: http://digital.greengale.com/i/557531
lou delone PhotograPhy by DaviD brenDan hall (beattie); ben Porter (Westin, titan's) above, from left: At the grand opening of the Westin Austin Downtown with Bob Lander, president of the Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau, and Kristofer Carlson, general manager; at our Wu Chow Titan's Dinner at Seven with my wife, Meredith, along with Silvia Zese of Hotel Granduca, Wu Chow co-owner Stuart Thomajan, Lisa Matulis-Thomajan, and their daughter, Zayne Matulis. With Hacienda owner and curator Jessica Beattie at the Meet the Artisans event. Boston, 109; ChiCago, 51; Cleveland, 66; new York CitY, 50. These are not scores of basketball games— they are the snowfall totals by inches in those cities for winter 2014–2015, according to the National Weather Service. This is an interesting point of comparison when people in Austin complain about the heat. The weather in Austin is fantastic: hot but breezy summers and generally mild winters. Just another factor contributing to what makes Austin a great city. A simple pleasure of mine is driving over the Ann Richards Congress Avenue Bridge and seeing all the activity on Lady Bird Lake, a feeling I credit to the kind of weather that gets Austinites out and about. I can't help but think that our city's extermi- nators, the 1.5 million bats patrolling every night, are also fans of Austin's wonderful summers. Maybe they, too, admire the f lowers that bloom at night and enjoy the perfect balance of humidity that seems to keep everyone's skin looking so young. Austin Way recently held a special dinner poolside at Seven, the new high-rise luxury apartments on Seventh Street. The lovely weather only added to the amazing evening. Guests were able to preview a fantastic sampling of Wu Chow's dim sum menu before the highly anticipated Chinese restaurant opens its doors. There were wonderful guests, including: Ed Norton, cofounder of The County Line barbecue restaurants; Heather Cooke from Independence Title; T.C. Waugh from John Christian jewelry; Kimberly Menge from Benchmark Bank; Silvia Zese from the new Hotel Granduca; Fixe co-owner and Executive Chef James Robert and his wife, Charlie; and Tanya Rivera, general manager at Seven. A definite high point was meeting Stuart Thomajan and Lisa Matulis- Thomajan's dynamic daughter, Zayne, who joined us before leaving to begin her freshman year at Harvard, where she will play soccer. I once lived in Portland, Maine, where one winter the temperature stayed below zero for 45 straight days. I think it's fair to say it would have been difficult to host an event like our wonderful dinner at Seven there. Fantastic food from Wu Chow served poolside on a luxury rooftop on a hot yet breezy evening made it easy to rate the night a perfect "seven"… on a scale from one to Seven, that is. Stay up to date with all that's going on in Austin at austinway.com. 20 AUSTINWAY.com letter from the Publisher