The Leader • Saturday, January 5, 2019 • Page 1B
Collaborative couple brings locals cornucopia of flavors By Zarah Parker zarah@theleadernews.com Flavors of the world meet on the plates at Mastrantos restaurant, much like the lives of owners Xavier Godoy of Venezuela and Marisol Chacon of Spain. The couple first met when Godoy, a tennis coach in Venezuela at the time, became Chacon’s instructor. While opportunity in the United States separated the two for a time, they found themselves reunited in Houston. During the period Godoy was completing his degree in electrical engineering at Prairie View A&M, Chacon was at Houston Baptist University completing a dual degree in business management and Spanish. They got married, started a family and entered the corporate world after college graduation, having three children and taking jobs that took them to Chile, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela and back to Houston. Then they invested in a restaurant project started by Godoy’s brother, who eventually gave it up. The couple took over operations and in the process created their own concept, which became Mastrantos. “One thing we said was if we do something, it’s going to be something we love, not just like,” Godoy said. “Food has always been around our house, around our culture.” Realizing Mastrantos was a three-year journey for the couple, with construction being completed in November. The restaurant is now open in the Heights at 927 Studewood St. Ste. 100. Godoy and Chacon operate on three pillars -- transparency, global taste and balance. They achieve the first pillar with an open kitchen,
Photo by Zarah Parker Xavier Godoy and Marisol Chacon are the owners of Mastrantos at 927 Studewood St. Ste. 100.
Photo by Zarah Parker Mastrantos will feature flavors and tastes from around the globe, such as the Middle East and Peru. Owners Xavier Godoy and Marisol Chacon’s restauarant offers customers both breakfast and dinner.
where former executive chef of Tiny Boxwoods, Tony Castillo, leads. The prep area, dough lab and
wine bar are open concepts as well. Not only does the space showcase their transpar-
Life Savers gives critical service close to home By Landan Kuhlmann landan@theleadernews.com Despite its many advantages, one prominent downside of hospital waiting rooms is that it can at times take hours for emergency patient care due to sheer capacity. But now, residents have a free-standing emergency room always at the ready, right in the heart of Garden Oaks. Dr. Foye Ikyaator, M.D., founded Life Savers Emergency Room in 2015 to provide a safe and comfortable environment for communities to receive emergency medical care without having to experience long wait times in a bustling hospital emergency room. Now opening its second Houston-area location in the Garden Oaks Shopping Center at 3820 N. Shepherd Dr., Life Savers provides hospital services for patients who are in need, and have developed an observation program that saves patients thousands of dollars in hospital fees while allowing them the comfort of receiving personalized oneon-one care with a team of dedicated health care providers. “We’re here, and we’re ready for the community whenever they need us,” Ikyaator said of the clinic, which officially opened its doors Dec. 23. Ikyaator and her staff offer the same services found in a typical hospital – CT scans, X-rays, certified nurses, 24hour radiologists and doctors, on-site pharmacy and more – all within a several-minute drive of local residents. Ikyaator said most patients would rather avoid the hospital at all costs, and Life Savers can provide them that care with a
ency, but the management style they’ve chosen to adapt does, too. They want to be seen as regular people who come into the restaurant with their kids and customers can see who they are. “As long as you’re coming here to enjoy dinner through conversations with friends and family, that’s all we ask for,” Godoy said. Global tastes are found in Mastrantos’ menu, which serves one of the country’s most diverse cities. Every dish is meant to be complemented by a flavor that’s found in another region of the world. Their salmon, a more America dish, features Middle Eastern and Peruvian flavors. The menu and wine list will rotate every quarter to
Business Briefs
Fashion show funds hygiene care closets
Strut HTX is a nonprofit, started by area resident Emily Pennington, that focuses on fashion-forward fundraisers, with all proceeds from events going to purchase personal hygiene products for care closets at area schools, such as Wainwright Elementary and Stevens Elementary. The next fundraiser is happening in Bellaire at Evelyn’s Park on Jan. 12. For more information, visit www.struthtx.com. Cane Rosso, closing in Montrose, remains open in the Heights Cane Rosso announced on social media that it was closing its Montrose location Dec. 30. The post said, “Looking ahead to the new year, unfortunately, we have had to make the difficult decision to close this location for good and are currently working on handing over the space to another group that will hopefully bring Montrose a new and exciting restaurant that will be embraced by all.” The post went on to state that the Heights location would remain open. In another email sent by the company’s marketing arm, Cane Rosso announced its new glutenfriendly pizza. “While we cannot call this new pizza ‘gluten-free,’ it is handmade with the highest quality gluten-free flour and prepped and fired on separate sheets to avoid as much flour contact as possible,” the release said. Free spay/neuter sign-up event BARC is offering a sign-up event for a free spay or neuter - don’t bring your pet for the sign-up - on Jan. 12 at the Gar-
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Let the New Year’s resolutions begin Body Rock Pilates in Ella Plaza is offering 20 percent off its session packages. Use promo code Christmas20. After-Christmas sale at Noted Noted, the new stationery store at 1901 Lawrence St., recently profiled in The Leader, is having an after-Christmas sale of holiday items with 40 percent off. Ten-year anniversary at Deuce Electrical To celebrate 10 years of service, Deuce Electrical is offering 10 percent off a service call. Offer expires Jan. 31. Coupon available at www. deuceelectrical.com.
Have something for next month’s Business Briefs? Email betsy@theleadernews.com.
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minimal wait. “Doctors are able to treat patients the same way they would in an emergency room, and our services are dedicated to just our patients,” she said. “In a normal hospital, all departments are going to one lab – here, we have one department, so all equipment is dedicated to our ER patients. Patients like its convenience.” Life Savers also partners with doctors in the area who will travel to see their patient – as opposed to the patient needing to come to them – such as those at Memorial Hermann Greater Heights and surrounding care centers. “We build relationships with the community doctors, and we like them participating in our patients’ care,” Ikyaator said. “It’s more like a familyoriented and close-knit patient
care program. We do need backup.” The Garden Oaks expansion represents Life Savers’ second Houston-area location, joining their office in Tomball. Since opening in December 2015, Life Savers ER has provided care to more 10,000 urgent need patients. You want to provide a service where it’s needed, and the Garden Oaks/greater Heights community really didn’t have a facility like this,” Ikyaator said. “If someone has issues in the middle of the night, they have to go across 610. There’s a need for it here, so we felt like if we could provide something the community needs and a spot for it, we’d be a good fit here. Patients can walk-in at any hour of the day, or call 281766-8911.
Hours: Mon-Sat 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Sunday 11 a.m.-4 p.m.
Page 2B • Saturday, January 5, 2019 • The Leader
Making Happy Feet One Sole At A Time!
OTF raises $80,000 for Make-A-Wish Foundation jacks, push-ups and rowing – for a donation. A 30 percent increase in donations from the public got OTF to this year’s total. What is most meaningful for the company and for those who gave to the cause is knowing the wishes of kids with critical illnesses will be fulfilled with the funds. Nine kids will see their dreams come true through Make-A-Wish and OTF as it costs about $8,900 to fulfill one wish. Five children will get to go to Disney World and meet their favorite characters, one will get a bedroom makeover,
By Betsy Denson betsy@theleadernews.com It was another record year for Orangetheory Fitness in Houston, which topped the $53,000 raised last year for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of The Texas Gulf Coast & Louisiana to raise $80,100 in donations this year during its annual Torture the Trainer fundraiser. For the first two weeks in December, members had the opportunity to “torture” OTF trainers by assigning repetitions in one of six designated exercises – burpees, jump squats, jump lunges, pop
one will get a service dog to help with everyday activities, one will go on a cruise on Royal Caribbean’s Symphony of the Seas, and one will meet the Real Madrid soccer team. Some of the wish recipi-
Merrell • Clarks Naot • OluKai Sanuk • Birkenstock Taos • Vionic • KEEN Sanita • Josef Seibel
ents came to the watch party Dec. 15 at the Midtown and Sawyer Heights studios, where trainers performed their “torture” or assigned reps for more than an hour as members cheered them on.
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Shipley Do-Nuts Mike Clark is the proud owner of the #1 Shipley DoNuts in Houston. We’ve been at this location since 1963. Satisfaction guaranteed to all his customers. See our weekly coupons on page 8A in this week’s The Leader news.
Photo supplied Miguel, a Make-A-Wish Foundation beneficiary, will go to Disney World with the money raised by Orangetheory Fitness.
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The Leader • Saturday, January 5, 2019 • Page 3B
Why is kitty peeing on the doggy bed? electrolytes, detoxified substances and urea. One of the reasons the bad odor of cat urine is so unappealing is because sometimes the animal’s pee is left unnoticed until the smell gets progressively worse. Bacteria break down the urea, which releases ammonia -- one of the main odor-causing chemicals. So, first of all, let’s puzzle through why your cat is peeing outside of the box.
Trip to Vet Might Be in Order
Dear Tabby, One of our cats has stopped using the litter box and, instead, is peeing on the dog’s bed! What is this about? Is the cat mad at the dog? Please help! Perturbed with Inappropriate Peeing in Garden Oaks
It’s a good idea to rule out a medical condition that might be causing your cat to pee outside of the box. Often, something simple like a urinary tract infection can cause the cat to associate the litter box with painful elimination, causing him to look elsewhere to relieve himself.
Is Your Cat Fixed?
Dear Perturbed, While cats are typically considered factitious in their cleanliness, sometimes (for no apparent reason) a cat will decide to stop using the litter box. What follows can be a mess of epic proportions. While dog pee isn’t necessary pleasant, it is more diluted than cat urine. Cat urine contains uric acid, salt,
Intact males (and sometimes females) will spray to mark their territory. Obviously, your cat should be neutered for a variety of reasons, but getting your cat fixed will help with the spraying immensely.
Behavioral Problems
While many people think cats can
Mastrantos from P. 1B
be malicious and pee out of spite, that’s not always the case. It’s unlikely that your cat has it out for the dog. Chances are, the dog bed feels like a suitable place to pee, so that’s why he’s going there. What is more likely the reason for the peeing outside of the box is a household stressor. Have you recently introduced a new pet (or person!) to the home? Are there new problems between this cat and another animal? Is there an outdoor cat who might be looking in the windows, causing stress to your cat? Any of these might be the cause.
What Can You Do?
After a vet has ruled out a medical cause, another thing that might help is to put several litter boxes around the house, giving your cat an opportunity to choose a box and location that suits his sensibilities. Once kitty remembers how much easier it is to pee in a proper litter box, hopefully he’ll resume using one. If not, your vet can work with you on some behavior modifications that should get your cat back on the litter box track in no time. Do you have a question for Tabby? If so, email her at dear tabbyquestions@gmail.com
give exposure to flavors of the world they hadn’t yet featured, with input from customers. They also import items from their country of origin because through Godoy and Chacon’s travels they’ve realized that food tastes most authentic coming from the country where it’s originally made. “We’ve lived in six different countries, we have completely different backgrounds, we’ve been in the U.S. 18 years one way or another,” Godoy said. “So bottom line, we have to bring that to a melting pot of some kind.” Mastrantos executes balance with its interior, using wood, steel and leather to provide a blend of rural and industrial features. Every dish on the menu includes balanced flavors, and Mastrantos also has balance in terms of the meals it serves. Along with dinner, the restaurant offers an over-the-counter breakfast that features fruit- and Nutella-filled croissants, Venezuelan-style kolaches and arepas, breakfast tacos and yogurt bowls with fruit and nuts. While their breakfast is more casual, the Mastrantos duo also want to make it known that dinner may feature more elevated food. But it’s not meant to be a fine-dining experience. “Come in shorts,” Godoy said. “You’re more than welcome.” Conversation and community is so important to Godoy and Chacon that they even discussed implementing 5
percent-off dinner tickets to people who put their phones in a basket. Though it’s mostly a joke within the restaurant, the owners aren’t opposed to doing it. Godoy and Chacon said their main goal with Mastrantos is not to get rich, but to find the potential in everything they do, including the people who work for them. They want to be able to see the dish washer one day become general manager, for example, and in that they would feel like they’ve truly made a difference. The name Mastrantos comes from an aromatic leaf in the mint family. It’s the signature plant in a particular part of Venezuela. “It’s a plant that when we were very little, like my kids age, we used to go out into the woods and you hit that plant when you’re walking around and you’re like, ‘Whoa,’” Godoy said. “It reminds you of where you come from.” The plant is so well-known in Venezuela that Godoy said it’s like the bluebonnet of Texas. One of the images in the restaurant is a Spanish bull with a mastranto on its back, because it shows where Godoy and Chacon come from. Mastrantos is open from 7-11 a.m. and 5-10 p.m. Tuesday–Friday, 8 a.m.-1 p.m. and 5-10 p.m. Saturday and 8 a.m.-1 p.m. Sunday.
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Page 4B • Saturday, January 5, 2019 • The Leader
Celebrating
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Hours: 10:30 AM - 9:30 PM Tuesday - Saturday • Closed Sunday & Monday
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