Bits and Bites

Happenings
-- La Condesa's final tequila dinner for the summer is August 6th, tickets are $100, and can be purchased here.  

-- Crabbie's Ginger Beer, the UK's best selling alcoholic ginger beer has finally made it's way to Texas. To celebrate, Fado's will have a launch party on August 8th, beginning around 8 pm. The first 50 people get a free Crabbie's drink!  Full disclosure: their PR people contacted me, asking if I would mention on my blog, and sent me samples. I had never heard of Crabbie's before, but I am completely hooked! Serve over ice, with a twist of lime, and it's a perfect refreshing drink for this hot summer weather! Central Market Westgate has started carrying it as well. 

--  Pay It Forward with Daniel Curtis Benefit will be August 8th, 7 - 10 pm, $75/person at the AT + T Conference Center. The event benefits the Lone Star Paralysis Foundation, and has an amazing lineup of area chefs donating their time and talents.

-- Olivia will hold their 5 year anniversary dinner on August 8th, $125/person, TEN courses with drink pairings! Email for reservations: eat@olivia-austin.com

-- Houndstooth Coffee is holding a Japanese Iced Coffee brewing class at their downtown location at 401 Congress, on August 10th at 4 pm, $30/person. Tickets can be purchased at either Houndstooth location. 

-- Starting August 11th, if you sign up for Austin Cake Ball's e-newsletter, you will receive a $5 off coupon to use online, and another $5 to use at either of their shops (5310 Burnet Road or at the Domain). 

-- Summer Sparkler Dinner benefiting the Sustainable Food Center, August 13th at Parkside, 5+ courses with sparkling drinks to match, $100/person, buy tickets here.

-- Independence Brewing tasting dinner at Olive + June, August 15th, 4+ courses, $60/person, buy tickets here. 

-- The Carnivores Ball, "the ultimate Texas Hill Country BBQ Party" will be September 15th at Ceres Park Ranch, featuring the barbeque of John Mueller, banana bourbon salted caramel pudding from Sugar Mama's Bakeshop, beer from St. Arnold, and live music. Tickets are $44/person.

-- Plinio Sandalio, pastry chef at The Carillon restaurant at the AT + T Conference Center, has unveiled some new lighter summertime desserts and digestif pairings, such as corn fritters with salted butter ice cream, spiced lime curd and cotija crumbles served with bacon moonshine!

-- There's a Kickstarter underway for a digital thermometer called Range that hooks into your iPhone or iPad, making your smart device into a smart thermometer.  Developed by an Austin company called Supermechanical.


Openings
-- Planet Sub, a sub and salad shop has opened in the Brodie Oaks shopping center on South Lamar (by Sprouts); from their website, another location is in the works for downtown at 9th and Congress.

-- Smashburger opens its second location on August 14th at 14028 N. Highway 183 (Cedar Park), with plans to open a third location in the Mueller development in late 2013. 

-- Mighty Bird, a new rotisserie chicken concept restaurant will open two spots, one at 2900 Anderson Lane and the other at 12200 N. Highway 183.

-- Royer's Pie Haven will open in the old Toy Joy at 29th and Guadalupe.

-- New food trucks I've seen in South ATX: Snap Foods (healthy!) at South Lamar and Bluebonnet and Potato.A (poutine) at South Lamar and Mary (behind Corner Bar). 

-- The new HEB at Mueller opened last week. Went to check it out with a few other foodies. The building is stunning, gorgeous architecture, and even sitting on the covered patio for lunch (close to 100 degrees out) wasn't bad at all. Gotta be honest though, the cafe food was mediocre (brisket and fried Brussels were decent) but other items were unexciting (egg rolls drowning in grease, chicken with strange texture in Asian chicken salad {probably previously frozen}, under seasoned salmon bowl). And the rest of the store is just like a regular HEB (though a nice one, like at Escarpment or 360/Bee Caves). Been there, done that.


Closings
-- To my major dismay, SPIN Modern Thai closed last week. I only ate there once, about 6 weeks ago, and it was one of the best meals I've had in a long time. A very informative interview with the owners ran in the Austin Chronicle; basically, they made some bad financial decisions coupled with major repairs that they couldn't recover from. One of the chefs says he will be assisting his sister get Titaya's back open later this fall.

-- East Side King trailer at the Grackle Bar has closed. (Bring it south, though there has been steady construction on ESK's brick and mortar spot on South Lamar!)


Misc.

-- I had the pleasure of meeting former Top Chef contestant and Italian restaurateur Fabio Viviani at a food blogger meet-and-greet just prior to his book signing at BookPeople on April 30th. He oozes charm, talked non-stop, and was excited to meet a group of dedicated food bloggers. He asked for our cards, and said he was always looking for guest bloggers for his online magazine. Well, sure enough, about a week later, I was contacted by his PR team, asking if I'd like to write a guest post on lasagna, for National Lasagna Week. So if you saw my Summer Skillet Lasagna post from 2 weeks ago, that's the recipe I created for Fabio! You can see the entire issue here, and my lasagna is on page 12!

-- And now on Instagram! @southaustinfoodie

Bits and Bites -- Austin Food News

Openings, etc.
-- Houndstooth Coffee in the Frost Bank Tower downtown, 401 Congress.

-- DFG Noodles (Darn Freakin' Good), a new trailer on Rainey Street, specializing in all things noodles. 

-- WuWu Sushi, at 1407 E. 7th -- Asian fusion with a full bar.
 
-- Benji's Cantina at 6th and West, will open May 24th, offering rooftop seating and Mexican classics. 
 
-- Umami Mia Pizzeria at 1500 Barton Springs (old Romeo's), opening May 31st.

-- Patrizi's Italian food trailer, soft opening next week, at 2307 Manor Road, inside the Vortex Theater complex. (Went to a tasting last night, blog post coming, but some amazing meatballs!)

-- Celebrating their one-year anniversary, SPIN Modern Thai Cuisine is now offering a social hour menu, Monday - Thursday,  5 - 6:30 pm, 14005 US Hwy 183, near Lakeline Blvd.

--  El Monumento in Georgetown has created Mixology Wednesdays, where the craft cocktail are celebrated with three pours for $14.

-- El Chile on Manor Road is moving to the old La Reyna at South First and Mary Streets (my Bouldin 'hood!).

Closed
-- Longhorn Food Court (food trailers) and Texadelphia on Guadalupe 

Events
-- Through May 20th, Uchi and Uchiko are celebrating Uchi's 10 year anniversary, with special six-course omakase menus.

-- Rough Hollow in Lakeway is holding their 4th Annual Crawfish Boil, Sunday, May 19, from 12 - 4 pm,  $20/person.
 
-- The Escoffier School of Culinary Arts will host a Backyard BBQ Party in on Sunday, May 19 from 6 - 9 pm, to celebrate AUSTIN Foodstyle Magazine’s publication launch. Ticktets are $55 and benefit the school's culinary scholarships. 

-- Olive + June will host a benefit for the Sustainable Food Center on Sunday, June 1st, $25/person. 

-- On Sunday, June 9th, Dai Due will present a special Supper Club fundraiser event for Heather Love, one of their employees who was seriously injured in an accident. The  four-course dinner with wine pairings will be held at Parkside, tickets are $150/person, and will include dishes from Jesse Griffiths, Rene Ortiz, Todd Duplechan, Jessica Maher, Barrie Cullinan and Shawn Cirkiel.  

 All about ME! ;)
-- Top Chef alum Chef Fabio Viviani was at BookPeople recently to promote his new cookbook. He took some time beforehand to meet with a group of food bloggers; he was very personable and didn't stop talking! He was not very impressed with the Topo Chico he tried, calling it too gassy! Fabio has become a total brand -- opening new restaurants, book tour, online magazine, blog, and a video channel. And he's looking for bloggers to do guest posts for his magazine -- stay tuned, yours truly may just show up in one in the coming months! 

 -- Cooking Planit is website that helps home cooks plan out their meals, and offers step-by-step chef-written recipes that are easy to follow. They have also been a supporter of the Austin Food Blogger Alliance (of which I am a member), and have taken some of the recipes from our cookbook and adapted them for their readers. My Black Bean and Quinoa Burger is included! (And you KNOW I am not a vegetarian, but this is a good, hearty burger!)

  -- Texas Monthly Magazine has released their list of Top 50 BBQ spots in the state; ATX's very own Franklin BBQ gets the top nod. I've been to 10 of the top 50, how 'bout you? What should I not miss?
 

Bits and Bites -- Food News!

                                                      Events -- Mark Your Calendars

-- Now in it's fourth year, the Austin Give 5% campaign is back for Earth Day. On Monday, April 22nd, participating businesses will donate 5% of their gross sales to seven area environmentally friendly non-profit organizations; last year's event raised $60,000. There are a ton of restaurants on here so go eat!

-- Lustre Pearl is hosting the Earth Day Happy Hour Benefit Concert on Friday, April 19th from 5 - 9 pm, which will benefit the Rainforest Partnership, that works to protect tropical forests in Ecuador and Peru. $50/person

-- The Tanger Outlets in San Marcos are hosting A Taste and Style Experience, on Saturday, April 20th, and Australian chef Curtis Stone will be there at 2 pm signing books; a variety of area food trucks will be on hand too.

-- Lambert's is presenting Vaca y Vino, a cow-roast, inspired by Argentinean beef traditions, on April 21st. Tickets are $100 or $120, including transportation from downtown to the event site, which is just outside of Austin. Chefs Larry McGuire and Lou Lambert will be at the helm (or horns?), Argentine wines and other Argentine foods will be available. Proceeds will benefit the Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance. 

-- The Austin Food and Wine Festival is April 27-28 at Butler Park (adjacent to Auditorium Shores)!

-- Top Chef Fan Favorite Chef Fabio Viviani will be in Austin at BookPeople on April 30th at 7 pm signing copies of his latest book, Fabio's Italian Kitchen, which will be released on the 23rd.

-- La Condesa is having a Cinco de Mayo block party on May 5th from 1 - 9 pm, with free food, music and entertainment. More info is on their Facebook page for the event. 

 -- Jack Allen's Kitchen in Oak Hill will host a Spanish wine pairing dinner on May 7th, $95/person, five courses.  

Exciting News! 

-- Our very own Sugar Mama's Bakeshop WON their Cupcake Wars battle against three other bakeries! Super congrats to owner Olivia O'Neal and her head decorator Andrea Leck, as they created cupcakes to please Weird Al Yankovic. See their Facebook page for updates, they're currently offering one winning cupcake flavor a week (call ahead to reserve!), and I am hoping to interview Olivia in the near future about their experiences!

-- Austin Cake Ball has rebranded their Domain location into Copper Restaurant and Dessert Lounge. I've been invited to try it out, and will report back! 

-- Baker Street Pub on South Lamar is happy to announce their outdoor patio is dog-friendly. 

-- Speakeasy, the 1920s lounge downtown, has remodeled their mezzanine space giving guests a better look at the stage. Also note that the entrance has moved from 412 Congress to the alley, in typical speakeasy style.



-- Oh yeah, I almost forgot! The Austin Food Blogger Alliance (of which I am a member) has produced it's first community cookbook! I am super-excited, as two recipes of mine are included in it, and I helped with some of the editing. Our official book release party is actually tonight, and see the link above to find out how you can purchase a copy!  

Openings
-- Lucy's Fried Chicken will open a second location at 5408 Burnet Road, the former Austin Diner space. Michael Hsu will redesign the space, and look for a fall opening.

-- Zoës Kitchen, a branch of a national Mediterranean chain, is opening in Sunset Valley, 5601 Brodie Lane.

-- Teji's Indian, opening at 2100 Guadalupe, the second from the Round Rock restaurant and grocery.

Closed/Closing
-- Fran's on South Congress at Mary. The family-owned restaurant decided not to renew their lease (I can only imagine what the rent was). I went for a final burger and onion rings lunch on Saturday, April 6th, and wrote a brief obituary you can see here.

-- It's OFFICIAL. The South Congress food trailers have to be out from the lot May 25, as we prepare for a hotel. :(