Breeding

Sure, Thanksgiving has expired, but there’s still pumpkin pie in the fridge. As we head into the season of gratitude and generosity, it’s useful to celebrate the things to love about our town.

The arts and culture in Den­ton are a mix of sights, sounds and tastes. Here’s my annual list of things to love about Denton culture, and in the spirit of the season, some things to be thankful for in town.

Keiichi — After hearing a lot of hullabaloo about this new sushi bar in Denton, I fi­nally tried it. Believe the hype. Chef Keiichi Nagano renovated a small space just across the street from Sleeping Lizzards on Elm Street. If you think the cozy restaurant — which seats diners around a U-shaped bar — is swanky and simple, the food matches it detail for detail. Nagano prepares some dishes behind the bar as you watch, while his specialty dishes — call it Japanese-Italian fusion — are assembled out of view in a small kitchen. The menu changes daily, but the costliest entrée — a sashimi plate — was fresh, delicious and adventurous. My dining com­panion chose a shrimp dinner battered in Japanese bread, with a semi-sweet glaze, a curious but scrumptious mound of mashed potatoes and delicate shavings of fresh vegetables. We went in for more traditional sushi fare with California rolls and Alas­kan smoked salmon rolls (so good you almost cry), and top­ped off our evening with Na­gano’s green tea tiramisu. The dessert was just like everything else he touched — subtle, flavorful and too fresh to believe. The sake was serviceable, too.

New and improved Jupiter House — Some people might think Denton’s small businesses are less than notable, but let those critics enjoy chain-res­taurant barbecue. Jupiter House is a strange brew of smoke-free, 24-hour outer-space imagery and fair trade coffee. The coffeehouse on the Square happens to be the purveyor of one of my favorite ad­dictions: the crazy cosmonaut, a smooth, sweet treat served hot or over ice. This is a cup of glory. It is hazelnut flavoring, with maybe a touch of vanilla and almond syrup, a shot of espresso and skim milk. And bravo to Jupiter House for offering free wireless. This java joint just got a facelift. The owners have brought in some new furniture, freshened up the paint job, and built on the fun theme it was born with. We’re proud to be in your orbit, Jupiter House.

The Center for the Visual Arts — Denton’s public visual arts space is so very much more than its two galleries, one workshop, dance studio and banquet hall. The Center for the Visual Arts is home to weddings, worship services, nonprofit agency board meetings and, occasionally, a nightclub throbbing with music, art and food. At one time, a drumming circle met at the arts center. Dancers of the ballet and Celtic variety pound the floors. If you pop in on the right night, you’ll catch Music Theatre of Denton rehearsing its latest show. The arts center is something of a community center, a cog for all different sorts of people, beliefs and abilities. It’s also the seed of what city officials hope will grow into an arts corridor.

Music Theatre of Denton — Call it the little company who could. For years, the company was devoted to the precious light operas of Gilbert & Sullivan. Over the last five years, though, Music Theatre of Denton has pushed Denton’s nonprofessional theater groups to explore fresher musicals, and bring shows to the city that some people can’t see. In February, the company will stage the revue I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change, and then it will slip back to the past with Thoroughly Modern Millie. This is after it opened its 23rd season with The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.

Deanna Wood — I fell hard for this visual artist nearly 10 years ago, when I saw her painting Recurring Dream in a show in the Meadows Gallery. It was a large painting, framing tornadoes through different screens of color. (I have recurring tornado dreams, so the subject caught me from the start. But Wood has grown exponentially as an artist. She’s also versatile — check out her collage story box at www. deannawood.com and her ab­stract paintings at Barnes & Noble Booksellers in Golden Tri­angle Mall (up through January). Wood is showing indefinitely in Provincetown, Mass., Houston and Dallas. In her work, Wood mixes mystery with truth and lightness with depth, and she’s forever questing. Spend even five minutes in front of a Deanna Wood painting, and you’ll start thinking about the meaning of home, the de-stabilizing nature of change and the persistence of beauty and balance.