Restaurants Take ALS Ice Bucket Challenge; Tastemade Highlights City's Best; Rudyard's Beer Dinner

CHARITY WIRE— Luis Villegas, bar manager at El Big Bad, started a domino effect in within the Houston restaurant industry that took on a life of its own over the weekend. After posting a video of his ALS ice bucket challenge on Facebook last Thursday, he issued a call to Julep's Alba Huerta, James Beard Award-winning chef Chris Shepherd of Underbelly, and Justin Yu of highly-acclaimed Oxheart to do the same. Shepherd and the entire Underbelly team took the plunge early Saturday morning. Shepherd asked for other Houston restaurants to follow suit. By weekend's end, Coltivare, Triniti, Saint Arnold, and Uchi accepted. [Facebook]

COCKTAIL WIRE— Leslie Ross, wielder of the swizzle stick and one half of Triniti's Ladies of Libations (with Laurie Sheddan), shows there's no ingredient she can't use in a cocktail. In the latest episode of Tastemade's Local Flavor - a YouTube series spotlighting local ingredients with innovative cocktails - host Shawn Thomas presents Ross with a challenge. She is to concoct a cocktail using a hot sauce from Houstonian and former MasterChef contestant James Nelson's Bravado Spice Line. Watch the stunning results here. [YouTube]

MONTROSE— On Thursday, August 21, head to Rudyard's Pub at 7 p.m. for its 82nd monthly beer dinner with O'Dell Brewing Co. The $55five-coursed paired dinner kicks off Rudyard's 36th anniversary festivities; reserve a spot here.