Bits and Bites

-- It's F1 weekend in town! A reminder that the Austin Food Blogger Alliance has a GREAT restaurant guide, all prepared by your local food bloggers! My contributions are food trailers in the south part of town, as well as restaurants.

-- Thanksgiving is only a week away! Comprehensive listing in the Statesman as to who will be open. Also, places like Easy Tiger have their dinner rolls available for pick up before Thursday, and Max's Wine Dive has several of their side dishes available too. Central Market and Whole Foods offer fully-prepared meals.  And whether you're grocery shopping for your ingredients or going out -- PLAN AHEAD! You're not the only one out there looking for organic pumpkin pie filling. Don't wait til the last minute. (And if you do, don't get grumpy when you can't find what you're looking for!)

-- Speaking of Thanksgiving, I was "invited" to a Thanksgiving pot-luck. A virtual one! My friend The Kid Can Cook organized her blogger friends to each write a post on one of their favorite Thanksgiving dishes, including my pecan pie! You see all the dishes here, and you may find a new favorite to try this year. 

-- Eater Austin has their (well, the readers picks) picks of the top trendy spots, the 2012 Eater Awards. 

-- Fonda San Miguel is holding a wine and port pairing dinner on December 5th with Niepoort Wines, $85/person.


Openings/Reincarnations
-- The Cutie Pie Trailer is back in business at the Bouldin Creek Food Park, 1209 S. 1st Street. 

-- Zen, the Japanese fast food restaurant is changing concepts, becoming Lucky Robot, which will officially open November 28, emphasizing Harajuku fashion styles, iPad ordering, and a lot of Japanese street food, most of which will be priced under $10/dish.

-- Out in Fredericksburg, well-known pastry queen Rebecca Rather has opened her new spot -- The Pink Pig, open for B, L and D. No link yet on the website to the menu, but from the copy I've seen, it looks fantastic, I just wish it was in Austin! Their Facebook page has a little more info regarding hours, etc.

-- New Thai spot Sway to officially open December 9th at 1417 S. 1st Street; check out their tasty looking menu too!


Closings/Transitions
-- Sagra has sadly announced they are closing (though looking for a place to relocate); their current landlord will not renew their lease. Read Sagra's letter posted on their homepage. 

-- La Boite, the food "trailer," made out of an old shipping container (before it was cool!) is closing due to their inability to find a suitable wholesale baker for their needs. 

-- Uncle Billy's Brew and 'Cue on Lake Travis, by the Oasis and Soleil.

-- Collie's Burgers, formerly part of the South Austin Trailer Bazaar has apparently closed with the closure of this trailer park.

-- Chef John Bullington and the Alamo Drafthouse have parted ways. No word yet on what's next in store for him, but he's got lots of love around town!

Bits and Bites

Well, I took a week off from posting while I was in New Mexico visiting family, so here's what's accumulated in my in-box!

-- Tomorrow, Sunday, September 9th, Hope Farmer's Market is holding their 2nd Annual East Side Country Fair! Music, games, moon bounce and more!

-- Easy Tiger has two beer pairing dinners coming up:
    -- Sept 12th with Avery Brewing Company beers, six courses, $70/person.
    -- Sept 24th with Lagunitas beers, five courses, $65/person.

-- September is National Bourbon Heritage Month, so drink.well is more than happy to celebrate with various bourbon-inspired cocktails and flights available throughout the month. There's also Bourbon, Bluegrass and BBQ at Stubbs on Sept 25th, $25/person.

-- An impressive list of area restaurants and vineyards will be participating in the 23rd Annual La Dolce Vita, the annual fundraiser for the Austin Museum of Art-Arthouse, on the stunning Laguna Gloria grounds, on October 11th (10/11/12, get it?). Tickets are $125.

-- J Blacks is announcing their Breakfast Club -- on the morning of every Longhorn home football game, they will open at 10 am for specials throughout the day, and they will run complimentary shuttles to the tailgate parties by the stadium. Nice way to stay safe!

-- A new commercial kitchen space that's available for rentals/commissary has just opened -- Kitchen Ventures at 2600 East Cesar Chavez.

-- Max's Wine Dive has a new fall menu, highlights which include a beer-braised pork cheek with tomato chutney.

-- Chef-owned and operated Ramen Tatsu-ya has opened on Anderson Lane, in the same shopping center as Sunflower and Din Ho. Some pictures of the food and video from Thrillist.

-- The International Wine Guild is holding classes on wine, spirit and sake education this fall at the Escoffier School of Culinary Arts; for more info check here. 

-- Snap Kitchen has opened another site at the Arboretum if you're looking for prepared meals (three locations north of downtown and nothing in south Austin though....where's the love?).

-- Eater Austin maps out some new restaurants that are in the works!  

-- And in case you missed the latest episode of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations, they started their season in Austin, filming during SXSW. It was a sorta odd episode, I thought, converging the music and food scenes. I saw someone's comment on a Facebook post about the episode, wondering why he went to lesser-known spots such as El Azteca and La Mexicana (along with national darlings Barley Swine and Franklin BBQ). That's pretty much THE point. Bourdain has never been all about what's trendy and cool, he finds the out of the way places too. Here are the spots he hit, along with some of his one-liners, again, from Eater Austin.

Bits and Bites

-- The Austin Chef Showdown is Saturday, May 12 at the Mexican American Cultural Center from 11:30am - 2:30 pm. Hosted by the Mayor’s Fitness Council, guests can sample the tastiest healthy entrees from 15 restaurant finalists and vote on their favorite.

-- For a nice full list of places to go for Mother's Day brunch, check the Statesman. (And really, if you've waited this long to make reservations, you better get on it!) Ruth's Chris Steak House is also doing dinner on Sunday, from 5:30 pm onward.

-- Slow Food Austin is hosting a happy hour at Boggy Creek Farms, May 17 @ 6 pm, suggested $15 donation. Food will be from the farm's resources, and drinks will be warm-weather friendly!

-- Ski Shores Cafe on Lake Travis is offering summer movie nights, live music, and new dockside pick up of to go orders. See their website for more info.

-- Eater Austin shares their list of favorite pizza joints in town. I am still wondering what's happened to Mercury Pizza at South Lamar and Oltorf..... are they really going to reopen? Anyone know?