HOUSTON, July 14, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Americas, an iconic Houston restaurant, is closing the doors of its original Post Oak Boulevard location August 20th. Founder, Michael Cordua opened Americas in 1993, and it became recognized as the leading Latin restaurant in the nation. A new Americas opened this past year in Houston's exclusive River Oaks Shopping Center. A special menu humorously called the Last Supper featuring many classic favorites, will debut July 25th and run through close.
Known as much for its award winning Latin food as its fantastical design, Americas has been the scene of countless special occasions – from marriage proposals, anniversaries, birthdays and other once in-a-life-time events. Guests from the restaurant's 18 year history are being asked to share photos and memories on the restaurant's Facebook page, www.Facebook.com/AmericasRestaurant. One lucky guest will win a table for two on the last night, August 20th.
Plucked to national prominence in its first year by Esquire Magazine food critic, John Mariani, Cordua quickly took his place in the culinary spotlight. Pairing the indigenous ingredients of the Americas with the finesse of European techniques brought Cordua accolades from around the globe.
"With the opening of Americas in 1993, Michael Cordua was the first to introduce serious Latin-American cuisine to the world and did so with tremendous ingenuity and panache within a unique design that influenced so many restaurants to follow," says John Mariani.
Food & Wine Magazine recognized Cordua as Best New Chef in 1994 and the only Food & Wine Hall of Fame inductee from Texas in 2008. Countless other accolades include recognition in Esquire's 20 Best Steaks in America, the Robert Mondavi Award for Culinary Excellence, and membership in the Continental Congress of Chefs & Sommeliers.
"As I look back over 18 years since what I like to refer to as 'the' discovery of the Americas, a quote from a favorite Latin poet, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, comes to mind - What matters most in life is not what happens to you but what you remember and how you remember it," says Michael Cordua. "What I remember is a dream that became a vision - a vision that became an audacious expression both culinarily and in its design. My Americas! With humble disbelief, gratitude and a heart bursting with pride I will close this chapter, hoping for another journey. Remember one thing- you can't eat hope; you can't eat it but it sustains you. Here is to you and my love of unending sustenance."
From the food to the interiors by internationally acclaimed architect, Jordan Mozer, Americas was and has been seen as a Houston landmark. Long recognized for its Latin, artistic, yummy cuisine, the design was well matched by its other worldly interiors. The collaborative genius of Cordua and Mozer brought to life a riotous interpretation of the Americas- entwining the boldness of Spanish architect Antoni Gaudi, surrealistic rain forests and lyrical writings of Gabriel Garcia Marquez. The sum is a non-linear, curvaceous story of the Americas.
"Michael Cordua changed our idea about what 'American' meant when we met twenty years ago. He continues to do that today," says Mozer. "When we first spoke, Michael riffed on the fiction by Jorge Luis Borges and Nobel Prize Winner, Gabriel Garcia Marquez. He pushed us to match his wildly creative and fearless approach to mixing the foodstuffs of the Americas with the techniques of Europe and our design. Encouraging and gently badgering toward poetic abstraction, subsequently shattering our gringo fantasies about the Americas. We created a terraced room populated by crystalized tree trunks, chandelier flowers of spun copper and hand-blown glass and booths resembling Amazonian proportioned leaves. It would be sad for me to see Americas Post Oak close, had we not just given birth to a new and even more soulful Americas."
In honor of the restaurant's history, the original Americas located at 1800 Post Oak Boulevard, will hold a month-long celebration during which diners are invited to relive some of their favorite dining memories. From July 25th to August 20th, diners may order a five-course "Last Supper" featuring wines from Chile. (See the complete menu here http://www.cordua.com/americas/wine-dinners)
Americas Post Oak will live on through Cordua's food at its new location at Shepherd and West Gray in the River Oaks Shopping Center and at 21 Waterway Avenue, The Woodlands.
Cordua and Mozer will team up again on the creation of a new Churrascos this fall. The 7,500 square foot restaurant to be located at 1520 Lake Pointe Parkway in Sugar Land will seat over 250 guests inside and on the waterfront patio.
Reservations for the Last Supper are highly recommended and can be made by calling 713.961.1492.
Contact: Bambi Anton | 713-961-0911 | [email protected]
SOURCE Cordua Restaurants
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