LEONA Botanical Cafe & Bar has brought a new dining and community experience to the Sunset Valley neighborhood. Featuring Thai cuisine and Mexican dishes alongside specialty coffee and cocktails, the recently launched concept sculpts a local destination for all occasions.

The backstory: The new space is crafted by the husband-and-wife team of DEE DEE, Lakana and Justin Trubiana, and sisters Reyna and Maritza Vazquez of Veracruz All Natural.

What they offer: Community members can enjoy LEONA’s cafe options during the day and its bar menu at night. To pair with their drinks, diners can order food from one of the two counter-service eateries on site: country-style Thai cuisine restaurant DEE DEE and Mexican eatery Veracruz All Natural.

The experience is expected to gain a third dining option with the upcoming debut of Bun Bun Burger, a collaboration between the DEE DEE and Veracruz All Natural teams.

• 6405 Brodie Lane, Sunset Valley

Sculpt Wellness Spa is now offering cold low-light laser therapy in Dripping Springs.

What's special about it?: The team offers 40-minute body slimming sessions, during which laser therapy helps shrink fat cells. Using a 3D ShapeScan analysis, a 3D rendering of a customer’s body is created to help track progression.

Meet the owners: Meggie Buenz and Nichlas Jay are the local owners of Sculpt Wellness Spa.

The American Red Cross of Central and South Texas is working to open a new regional headquarters in East Austin.

The big picture: The new center is expected to help the nonprofit better meet a growing need for blood donations, further support military families and veterans, and provide faster, more efficient responses during natural disasters and emergencies, American Red Cross officials said at a groundbreaking event Oct. 29.

In thier own words: “We want this building to be that center of resilience,” said Reihaneh Hajibeigi, chief development officer at the American Red Cross of Central and South Texas. “If something happens in their community, their partners are here reading to take care of them in a moment’s notice.”

The details: The $13 million regional headquarters is expected to open by late 2026 to early 2027 at the nonprofit's former office space off Pershing Drive, Hajibeigi, said.

Why it matters: The 15,000-square-foot facility will allow the organization to collect blood and platelet donations on-site for the first time, Hajibeigi said.

Texas is the nation’s largest energy producer, leading other U.S. states in both natural gas production and renewable energy generation, data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration shows. Yet as people, businesses and data centers continue to move to the state, experts say Texas leaders need to harness new strategies to make energy more affordable and ensure the state power grid remains reliable.

The details: Amid high inflation nationwide, energy prices are on the rise in Texas, and residents are feeling the strain, experts said at the Texas Energy Summit, which ran from Nov. 4-6 in Austin.

In a June 2025 report, the Texas Energy Poverty Research Institute, a nonprofit research organization, found that 65% of low-income Texans recently engaged in “energy-limiting behaviors,” such as turning off their air conditioning to reduce electric bills or underheating their homes in the winter. 

What they're saying: Experts said state lawmakers and officials could invest in energy efficiency and residential demand response programs to tackle affordability and grid reliability issues.