Celebs come out for Original Ninfa’s Uptown party
A sign on the door read: “Closed for a private event.” But that didn’t stop curious onlookers and Tex-Mex fiends from attempting to crash the Original Ninfa’s Uptown Houston’s VIP preopening party. Can you blame them? Dozens of would-be walk-in guests were turned away from the private event, including World Series of Poker bracelet-holder Ihsan “Sam” Farha. The good news is that the restaurant opens to the public Monday. The bad news is that from the outside looking in, the scene inside the new Original Ninfa’s on Thursday night felt particularly FOMO-inducing.
Glass-wall dining rooms, designed by Michael Hsu and Studio Red Architects, afforded prime people-watching from the intersection of Post Oak and San Felipe.
Former Texans player Wade Smith, KHOU meteorologist Chita Craft and anchor Ron Trevino, KTRK traffic anchor Katherine Whaley, interior design sister-duo Sarah and Saba Jawda, and a bevy of social-media influencers filled the 6,400-squarefoot space, which was formerly occupied by Peska.
Fellow KTRK anchor Miya Shay and her husband, state Rep. Gene Wu, checked in for their reservation at the same time that Smith rose from his chair to congratulate executive chef Alex Padilla on a job well done. Whaley and blogger Allison Lach, both expectant mothers, snapped photos together before dinner. Chita and husband Lane Craft posed for a similar shot; the couple is expecting their second child, a baby girl, later this year, and captioned the photo #eatingfortwo.
A portrait of “Mama” Ninfa Laurenzo, the restaurant’s namesake, hangs near the hostess stand and proved another popular spot for social-media fodder.
Then, of course, there was the food.
Diners were presented with abbreviated menus of Tex-Mex favorites featured at Original Ninfa’s on Navigation and given free rein to order at will. Servers delivered frozen Ninfaritas, the chain’s signature margarita, tableside queso flameado and sizzling fajitas to more than 200 partygoers. Owner Niel Morgan and CEO Jonathan Horowitz also made the rounds; and by late evening, stylish young things, including the Jawdas, Live Nation’s Grace Gibson and Alexander Pappas, congregated in a private dining room to extend the festivities.
And come grand opening day, neighborhood residents-slash-Original Ninfa’s fan can join in the celebration, too.