America’s and Lounge 1492 – A Voyage Worthy of the Discovery

THE WOODLANDS, Texas -- It’s finally arrived…the greatly anticipated arrival of the highly acclaimed restaurant of Chef Michael Cordúa, one of America’s “Top Ten Chefs” from Food and Wine. The opening of Américas in The Woodlands not only brings the fine exotic cuisine of South America, but it also offers an unexpected additional feature – Lounge 1492.

From the moment you walk through the doors, you are immediately aware that this place is unique from anything you’ve ever seen in The Woodlands. Named after the year Columbus discovered The Americas, stepping into Lounge 1492 is like coming to a New World.

Although this wasn’t my first time to visit Américas in The Woodlands, it was the first time for the girlfriends I brought with me. There were six of us out on Wednesday for a night on the town. As we entered Américas, we were embraced by the chic, contemporary Lounge 1492 which is situated just above the dining area. While waiting for our table in Lounge 1492, I ordered us all a round of Mojitos from the bartender, Tony.

As a seasoned fan of the Mojito cocktail, I make it a point to sample one every chance I get. And I can honestly say, this is absolutely the best Mojito I have ever tasted. After returning to Américas for a third time to introduce my friends to this cocktail, I have renamed it the “Moji-Tony”. To get six women to agree on anything is a challenge, so it is no surprise our group had differing opinions on the level of sweetness in the Moji-Tony. In the end, it was unanimous that this bartender can make a Mojito to suit anyone’s tastes as he graciously tweaked the recipe to suit those who wanted “a less sweet” version.

After cocktails our voyage continued downstairs where everyone was blown away by the slate walls lining the interior with our table overlooking The Waterway’s sunset. It was clear that no detail was forgotten in the New York design of America’s as we were surrounded by fountain water walls, with beautifully lit images of the Amazon jungle over our heads. All of this attention to detail combined with the upscale exotic ambiance seemed to set the tone for a fabulous evening.

Our professional waiter greeted us with an introduction to the many exotic specialties including MARINEROS (Corn-smoked crab fingers, puffed yucca, and jalapeño-lemon butter), ENCAMISADO (Plantain-crusted chicken with spicy black bean sauce, roasted tomato and seared chontaleño cheese), and my personal favorite, CHURRASCO (savory center-cut beef tenderloin served with yucca-black bean caramañola and maduro). There were four orders for the Churrasco, and four different requests for the desired temperature of the steak. From rare to well-done, all of the tenderloins were grilled to perfection once again catering perfectly to the individual tastes of each of us.

After dinner, we moved back upstairs to Lounge 1492 where our group seemed to linger as we sipped our last drink of the evening. Six different women were all in agreement that this impressive evening far exceeded our expectations for a night on the town. But rather than just take my word for it, why not explore, discover, and indulge in Américas for yourself?