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MEET MARIO Vroom, Vroom: "Ride On" at Art Car Museum combines three combustible talents whose work is based upon car culture and a love affair with heavy- metal materials. Watch for works by Core Fellow turned occasional art-car maker Amber Eagle (the subject of our next Menil bungalow home story), man of terrariums Dion Laurent and collage king Jonathan Rosenstein, who's the scion of late Menil scholar Harris Rosenstein and his wife, bookstore director Sheila Rosenstein (through August). Putt Putt + Puppetry: Among the new crop of Lawndale Art Center studio residents, JooYoung Choi captivates with riotous canvases matched with charming little videos starring the artist and her cache of homemade puppets, including Putt Putt the octopus (through June 13) … At Sharon Engelstein's Front gallery, Choi presents additional works in her ongoing cosmology (through June 6). Blaffer Blast: Blaffer Art Museum mounts a doubleheader, pairing eagerly watched Houston painter Shane Tolbert (in the McClain Gallery stable) with an international pair of image-makers, the incomparable yet rarely Houston-exhibited Teresa Hubbard and Alexander Birchler, who live in Austin yet show around the world. Tolbert is part of the museum's ongoing "Window into Houston" but departs from tradition by taking over historic facades of properties owned by patron Jim Petersen Jr. at 110 and 112 Milam. The three canvases, from the "Fine China" series, reference floral painting with some edgy street asides (through July 29) … Hubbard and Birchler land at the Blaffer itself on the UH campus as the third venue of an exhibition that began in West Texas (organized by Ballroom Marfa), then touched down at the Irish Museum of Modern Art in Dublin. Entitled "Sound Speed Marker," the pair's trilogy of videos, photos and an alfresco sculpture confront tropes of Texan-ness filmed in statewide locales Paris, Sierra Blanca and Ryan (through September 5). Isabella Court Update: At Inman Gallery, investigate the always profound Dario Robleto, just named 2016 Texas State Artist in the 3-D category by the State Legislature. (Who knew our elected officials were so avant-garde?) Up now at Inman are the sculptural tableau of Michael Jones McKean, a Micronesian-born past Core Fellow whose garnered a Guggenheim for his curious, intricate practice (through July 4) … At neighboring David Shelton Gallery, bask in the exquisite, yet mysterious landscapes of Sara Frantz, a former San Antonio artist/now Californian (through June 20). New Digs + an Arrival: Colquitt denizen Laura Rathe Fine Art adds a second Houston location to its thriving gallery empire (which includes a Dallas Design District anchor as well as pop-ups in Austin). Rathe's next new door will be at BLVD Place, a nifty 1,200-square-foot space with 18-foot ceilings. The new gallery, expected to open in August, neighbors the Elaine Turner boutique. (Up now at Laure Rathe Colquitt is the perfect pairing of Pop-text inflected Cecil Touchon and Paul Rousso (June 6 – July 4) … At DiverseWorks, incoming director Xandra Eden arrives after serving for the past decade as a curator with a smart contemporary eye at Weatherspoon Art Museum in Greensboro, North Carolina, where she organized solos for internationally known artists Nancy Rubins, Diana Al-Hadid and Yoshua Okón, as well as Texas contingent Jeff Shore and Jon Fisher and the aforementioned Inman-represented Dario Robleto. Design + Art Hearts Fashion: It's a European Father's Day at Uptown fashion stop BBI Classic, which curates an afternoon of art, design and shopping Saturday, June 13, 2 to 5 pm. Look for marquetry-inlaid furnishings from Sorrento, a book signing by Houston artist Justin Garcia (the memorably titled bio, One Ton Goldfish) and baroque ceramic wizardry by Annaliese Cogliandro. Boxing with Canvases: One of spring's highlights was the boxing- with-paint performance by Ushio Shinohara at Deborah Colton Gallery. (Check out the video on our Instagram.) Catch this post-war Neo-Dadaist with wife/fellow artist Noriko Shinohara and their Oscar-nominated film bio at the gallery (through June 27). More hot art topics, papercitymag.com. Catherine D. Anspon Art Notes Luxury PROPERTIES. Utmo DISCRETION. M E C O M P R O P E R T I E S . C O M | 7 13 . 5 5 8 . 3 3 18 L uxe Asian bistros such as Hakkasan in London, Buddakan in New York City and Tao in Las Vegas are lighting up nightlife with culinary fervor Soon Houston will have a piece of the action with Tarakaan, a high- energy pan-Asian restaurant and lounge in the heart of Midtown at 2301 Main Street (entrance on Hadley), in 6,000 square feet of the former Knoll Furniture Showroom space, which earned national recognition for its 1980s design by Chicago architect Stanley Tigerman. Owners Piran Esfahani (55 Restaurant & Bar Rice Village) and PJ Jamea (Oxberry Group) anticipate a June opening. Stay tuned … After months of anticipation, Rebecca Masson's Fluff Bake Bar has opened at 314 Gray Street, just steps away from newly renovated Midtown Park. The dual Bakery and bar serves sweet and savory menu items such as the Veruca Salt cake (a heavenly mix of devil's food cake, salted caramel butter cream and pretzel crunch) alongside beer and wine. It's the first of its kind, they say … Sud Italia, the Italian concept from former Arturo's GM Shanon Scott, has opened at 2347 University in Rice Village. The bungalow-style restaurant highlights authentic Italian fare inspired by the southern coast … Ogden Hospitality's newest concept is Pour Society, a swanky gastropub in Gateway at 947 North Gessner, set to open in July. Chef Greg Lowry (Bradley's Fine Diner) will lead the kitchen along with his former sous chef, Matthew Lovelace (Triniti) … F.E.E.D TX Restaurant Group's Lee Ellis and Carl Eaves add Lee's Fried Chicken & Donuts to their fleet of successful eateries this summer. The restaurant will open at 601 Heights Boulevard and serve fried chicken, biscuits and eight donut flavors daily. Also from F.E.E.D. TX, Liberty Kitchen opens in Austin at 507 Pressler — the group's first venture outside Houston. Jailyn Marcel THIS JUST IN… Restaurant Buzz MARK WOOLCOTT PHOTOGRAPHY Fluff Bake Bar's Fluffernutters A golf course once owned by Texas oil baron Thomas Blake, located 40 minutes northwest of Houston in Montgomery, is being reshaped and rethought into Tiger Woods' first-ever domestic course design, Bluejack National championship golf course. Golf magazine — the bible for golfing fanatics — declares that the course, due to open this fall, is shaping up to be "highly playable" with "wide landing areas, open green fronts and no rough." That's golf-speak for nirvana: a course that presents a solid challenge for a scratch player while still being fun for a weekend duffer. But if tee time for you is more about savoring a cup of Earl Grey than playing for par, consider Bluejack's other amenities. The 18-hole championship layout is accompanied by an alternative family-friendly short course, all part of a 755-acre private club community in the Piney Woods, created by Beacon Land Development partners Michael Abbot and Casey Paulson and patterned after the great lodges, golf clubs and fishing camps of the 19th century. The two private club operators have notable ultra-exclusive communities under their belts, including Kukio on the Big Island of Hawaii, the Madison Club in Palm Springs and Vacquero in Dallas. Bluejack's other enticements include tennis; spa and wellness centers; dining and corporate retreat facilities; 35 acres of fishing lakes and seven miles of hiking, biking and running trails that wind through the Bluejack community; fruit orchards and vegetable gardens; and a communal coffee house for area residents. The club community consists of 386 private residences, from small units inside the clubhouse to cottages, Sunday homes and grand estate lots. Call for pricing and membership information. 4430 S. FM 1486 Montgomery, 281.475.2165, bluejacknational.com. Rebecca Sherman TEE IS FOR TIGER JooYoung Choi's Welcome Home: We've Been Waiting For You, 2015, at Lawndale Art Center Jonathan Rosenstein's Houston Tough Jew, 2015, at Art Car Museum Tiger Woods'-designed Bluejack National championship golf course, in progress R enowned Italian architect Mario Bellini has designed furniture for Cassina for a remarkable 50 years. To celebrate a half-century of collaboration with one of Italy's most prestigious design brands, Bellini tours the U.S. this month. Bellini is so revered in Italy that both the president of the country and the mayor of Milan have presented him with their highest medals of honor, and his iconic Cab chair (1977), along with 24 of his other creations, are included in New York City's Museum of Modern Art's permanent collection. Cassina has produced more than half a million Cab chairs, which come in about a dozen colors, with two new pieces for the Cab collection introduced in April at the Saloné del Mobile in Milan: the Cab Night bed and Cab lounge. Playing off the Cab chair's sinuous leather lines and playful zipper, the bed and lounge are Bellini's only additions to the Cab collection in 38 years. At Internum, internum.com. Rebecca Sherman Mario Bellini's Cab lounge chairs JUNE | PAGE 8 | 2015