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Photo by rdpeyton

This gumbo is from Emeril's in New Orleans; the gumbo at Under the Volcano will likely be just as good.

If you've been missing Robb Walsh, here's your chance to catch up with our former food critic outside the busy environs of his new restaurant. On June 7 and again on July 12, Walsh will be speaking at his restaurant, El Real Tex-Mex Cafe, as part of the Houston Museum of Natural Science's Cultural Feast series. The talk, Tex-Mex! The Cuisine, will focus on the history and evolution of the oldest regional American cuisine. Tickets are $73, or $63 for HMNS members, which includes a full Tex-Mex dinner to illustrate Walsh's talking points.

If you don't already have plans for this Memorial Day Weekend, here's one suggestion: the annual gumbo cookoff at Under the Volcano. Each year, the Rice Village-area bar hosts the cookoff to support Wellsprings, a home for abused women and their children, and to fill your bowls with tasty gumbo from a dozen different competitors. The cookoff takes place from 4 to 9 p.m. and costs $10 at the door.

Next Thursday evening, check out our very own Thirsty Thursdays at Niko Niko's in Market Square Park. Our weekly happy hour series always features a great local band, but this Thursday, June 2, is a real treat. Los Skarnales will be playing from 5 to 8 p.m., and Niko Niko's will be offering happy hour prices on its Nikoritas and Mighty Aphrodites.

And the following weekend, the Italian Expo will be hitting town once again when it takes over the George R. Brown Convention Center from June 3 to 5. Advance tickets are a mere $10 online, a bargain when you consider the sheer size of the Italian Expo and all the food and wine that makes an appearance throughout the weekend. This year's expo will also include live cooking demonstrations from chefs such as Trattoria Il Mulino's Michele Mazza and Quattro's Chef Maurizio Ferrarese.

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