Connoisseurs Reboot after Covid with Big Bend Travelogue

Over 34 members and guests attend the event on December 8.

By Jawahar Malhotra

HOUSTON: Three years in the making and the Connoisseurs Club had a lot of bottled up – no pun intended for a social group that isn’t bashful about the liquor that it drinks – information to share with each other. Each couple brought in their favorite wine or liquor to share at the private hall of Nirvana Restaurant on the westside on Thursday, December 8

From left, Atul Vir, Jawahar Malhotra and Parul Fernandes at the Connoisseurs Club event.

This was the Connoisseurs Club’s first meeting in three years and the Club’s creed was still alive and kicking to share experiences with that can expand the knowledge and enrichen the outlook of its members.

The ten-year-old social group meets infrequently, but ties each event with a chance to learn something new from a member’s experience and its other constant is that each member brings a bottle of their favorite – or unusual – bottle of Scotch whisky to sample, and a dish for snacks or dinner that follows.

Sipping from their glasses, Club cofounder Atul Vir and his wife Aarti presented an account of their trip to the Big Bend area which they visited in their RV, covering the distance in ten days. They shared their experiences at stops in many little towns in West Texas and their near escape with running out of gas through a barren part of a rugged mountain road.

The liquor bottles brought in by the Connoisseurs Club members to share.

Atul and Arti Vir made a presentation about their trip to the Texas badlands.

The Virs ended their trip in the town of Terlingua which was holding its annual Chile Cookoff from November 2 through 5. This was the highlight of their long tour of what is commonly known as the Badlands.

Not only did the Virs share much from their trip, but they also treated the 34 members and guests to snacks and dinner, served shortly after the presentation.