I recently returned to Rice University, my alma mater, to celebrate their centennial – 100 years since the founding!  There were all kinds of events – a football game (which we won!), parties, galas, picnics, speeches, lectures, you name it!

And our first President – Edgar Odell Lovett – finally got his own statue!  About time!  William Marsh Rice (Willy) may have provided the money for the institution, but Lovett provided the vision for what it should be.

For something really incredible, click HERE to see a video of the Spectacle – an amazing work of art combining architecture, history, and technology into something the likes of which I have never seen before.  Seriously – watch it.  For real.

Ok – moving on.  Most of my food was provided for me at the events, but I did have the chance to eat out one night and was fortunate enough to go to Kata Robata – a sushi restaurant and Japanese grill.  Headed up by Manabu Horiuchi (aka Chef Hori), my favorite sushi chef from college, the concept is Japanese tapas and the food is AWESOME.  The service is pretty incredible, too.  Our server, Thai, was very knowledgeable and comfortable making suggestions.  The pacing was good and we always felt like we were being taken care of.  I tried to order a good balance between sushi and tapas to get a really good idea of the place. (more…)