October 21, 2010

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UPCOMING
EVENTS

STAY TUNED!
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ENTERTAINMENT
THIS WEEK
KARENNA LEE
Friday 10/22
7 to 10 PM
 
Kareena Lee 
Karenna moves easily between jazz, blues, caberet and pop.
Her versatile style and extensive repertoire includes romantic ballads to latin favorites and  broadway tunes. Her very entertaining and dynamic style are a welcome treat to a relaxing dinner on a Friday night. She is a must see!!
 

JEREMY GARCIA
Saturday 10/23
7 to 10 PM
Valiente

Originally self-taught, Jeremy later earned a Bachelor's degree in Classical Guitar Performance. Later he studied with Robert Guthrie at SMU where he completed a Master's Degree in Classical guitar. He has also received flamenco guitar instruction from several renowned maestros.  Jeremy maintains a busy performance schedule and we are very excited of having him perform at Mezzanotte. Don't miss him.

 
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In This Issue
Upcoming Events
We sold Capriccio!
What Will Happen to Capriccio?
What Will Happen to Mezzanotte?
The Moment of Truth
MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT: WE SOLD CAPRICCIO!
It is with the mixed feelings of euphoria, excitement, and sadness that I announce that we sold our beloved Capriccio Restaurant.

It was last December 1st after midnight that we made the decision for the sale. Spending New Year's eve in separate places (Adriana was at Mezzanotte while I was at Capriccio) was not our definition of a family celebration.
Many of you have told me before: "I don't know how you two do it".  And, frankly, I don't know either how we did it. It was 28 months of extreme hard work.

On the other hand we are very proud of what we accomplished in such (relative) short time. We had tremendous reviews by Houston Magazine and the Houston Chronicle and we were named among the Top 10 New Restaurants in Houston of 2008 (and we were the only "out of the loop" restaurant on the list).

But regardless of all the great press I felt that I was no longer having fun. The whole idea of owning Mezzanotte was to have the freedom to do something that I truly loved. But then, after the opening of Capriccio, all that freedom was radically transformed into a very demanding "job".

So yes, we are sad to have sold something we put so much of ourselves into. But, on the other hand, we are thrilled to go back to focus on our first love: Mezzanotte.

I am right now transitioning Capriccio to its new owner by doing all the training and hand holding that he needs. But I just can't wait to go back to Mezzanotte on a full time basis sometime next week.

To all of you that supported us at Capriccio: many, many thanks from the bottom of my heart. And I hope you continue supporting us at Mezzanotte.

Cheers!
SO WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO CAPRICCIO?
Hopefully good things. We sold it to a very nice couple that moved from Los Angeles back to Houston (after 7 years in LA). They are Ray and Denise Maxa. Ray is a professional Executive Chef well versed in world cuisines and Denise (like Adriana) has a "real" full time job.
 
Ray was fascinated with our food and the Tapas concept and I don't believe he will be making any changes, at least immediately.  The name will remain as well as all of our current employees. I wish them the best of luck in this new venture.
AND WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO MEZZANOTTE?
Great things!! I promise you!
I am so fired up and so excited that is hard for me to sleep at night thinking of the possibilities. For starters I will be revising our food and wine menus. I am planning to start bringing exciting new things: new dishes, new ingredients, new wines, new cocktails, new cordials...you name it!
I am thinking of bringing back the Cypress Ladies Networking Tuesdays that used to be so popular.
I am thinking of new ways of having you try new wines and pair them with food.
And, of course, I am thinking of extending our Monday Night $5 Tapas to Wednesday nights as well (to give you more flexibility during the week to come try our fantastic small plates).
I am also thinking of bringing some high end wines - really high end fantastic wines, not expensive mediocre ones. I am already tasting some amazing California juice. And, of course, I will bring exciting new Italian wines as well as some spectacular Argentinean Malbecs.

But please, PLEASE, let me know if you have any ideas that you would want me to consider. I am very open to try new things. We will make Mezzanotte the best in all of Houston's northwest (if not in all of Houston).

Gerry
THE MOMENT OF TRUTH

Here we are signing the volumes and volumes of paperwork needed for the sale. The Sarmientos on the right and the Maxa's on the left (attorney at the head of the table):


Signing 1