Tuesday, February 15, 2022

Changing with the Times

The past few weeks have brought some very sad news to the Austin food scene.

The owner of La Mexicana Bakery announced his retirement and the longtime South First institution will close for good before I hit publish on this post.  I made it by two weeks ago for tacos, which I will sorely miss.

La Mexicana breakfast tacos
La Mexicana breakfast tacos...no frills but large and inexpensive!

La Mexicana tres leches cake
Chocolate tres leches, just one of hundreds of items from their panaderia.

Winebelly, my favorite wine bar, and not just because it was 5 minutes from my house, sadly could not withstand the economic times and closed in January. RIP to the best chicken liver mousse in town.

Winebelly chicken liver mousse
Winebelly's chicken liver mousse, this one during a pandemic pivot to carry out.

And an end of an era, though not by choice, as fire ripped through Texas French Bread on Rio Grande Street on January 24th, leaving literally ashes. A Go Fund Me has raised nearly $195,000 for staff; at this time they do not know if they will rebuild. This was one of the first places I ate when I moved to Austin in 1994 and their Hyde Park Fudge Cake was legendary.

Texas French Bread fire

As they say, all good things must come to an end, which includes this blog. Not hanging it up quite yet, but getting close. Stay tuned.