space to grow

To outsiders, the fourth-largest city in the United States might seem like an impenetrable sprawl of highways and suburbs. But Houston's art and food scenes are among the country’s finest, the result of vibrant communities and a sense of boundlessness that's always left residents lots of room to dream

- By Kayla S. Stewart Photographs by Nico Schinco Additional reporting by Matt Ortile

The Gulf Coast-meets-France bistro Chardon, at the Thompson Houston hotel; a geometric sculpture from the exhibit "Abstract Transitions" by Argentinian artist Marta Chilindron at the gallery Sicardi Ayers Bacino; Marcus Davis, owner of The Breakfast Klub in midtown Houston; a cream cheese and cucumber dish that will be served at the soon-to-open restaurant Augustine's; an avocado sour cocktail at Late August; the Houston skyline; Cameroonian ikoyi shrimp at the West African restaurant ChòpnBlok

On a sweltering summer Monday in midtown Houston, chef Chris Williams turned up the heat for a recipe-testing session at his new restaurant, Late August. It’s an airy space with banquettes swathed in cobalt blue velvet, in an Art Deco building that, until 2018, was a Sears department store. In 2021 the city and Rice University repurposed the site as a business incubator and community events space, part of a joint project to develop a technology park dubbed the Ion District.