My most detailed food fantasy revolves around a cozy rural restaurant in the Texas wine country outside Fredericksburg. The old stone building is surrounded by a beautifully landscaped outdoor seating area and extensive organic gardens. This time of year, there would be a roaring fire in the big stone fireplace and the dining rooms would be festively decorated with fragrant greenery and softly flickering candles. The menu would include foods that were raised in the immediate area complemented by carefully selected wines. The sideboard would be loaded with a crystal punchbowl of rich eggnog, holiday cookies, and candies arranged around a traditional Yule Log decorated with meringue mushrooms and holly. Music of the season plays softly in the background... a rude awakening reveals that I haven't been nearly good enough during the past year to warrant such a gift from Santa, and a quick review of my bank balance verifies my financial inability to make the dream come true. Considering my fantasy, it's understandable that I'm just the tiniest bit envious of a new business venture I heard about this week. Popular local cooking teacher
Marie Claire Quittelier opened a new business in beautiful downtown Fredericksburg last week, in time for that city's annual
Kristkindl Markt. Quittelier's new venture,
Marie Cuisine -- A Gourmet Experience in the Belgian Tradition (215-B West Main, 830/990-0498), is housed in a charming 19th-century stone house on Fredericksburg's busy main thoroughfare. The shop, decorated with European antiques from Marie Claire's personal collection, will sell various gourmet items imported from her native Belgium such as Belgian chocolates, cheeses, and hams plus an exclusive selection of olive oils, flavored vinegars, and herbs. Beginning in January, she'll be offering a menu of prepared foods and cooking classes scheduled in the open kitchen. This type of venture looks to be the next big thing considering that New Orleans chef
Susan Spicer just opened a similar store in the Crescent City. Fans of Quittelier's highly rated cooking classes at
Cornerstone Hardware (3801 Bee Caves Rd., 327-0404) need not fear -- the Fredericksburg store is open Thursday-Sunday, leaving Marie Claire free to teach in Austin early in the week.
Santa Claus is really an orthopedic surgeon. Native Austinite and longtime owner of House Park BBQ (900 W. 12th, 472-9621) Joe Sullivan had surgery on December 15 to replace the hip damaged in a serious car wreck several years ago. House Park BBQ will be closed until January 15, giving Sullivan a few weeks of recovery time at home where he'll be tracking his investments on a new home computer. Joe invites all his regular customers to come see him when House Park reopens, saying "If you think the food is good now, just wait `til I'm not in pain anymore!"
Stocking Stuffer ideas... If you can't make it to New Orleans for the "Reveillon" Dinners being served in many French Quarter restaurants during the holiday season, the newest collaboration between New Orleans chef/ TVFN cooking show host Emeril Lagasse and Louisiana culinary historian Marcelle Bienvenu is the next best thing. Emeril's Creole Christmas (Wm. Morrow, $23 hard) is a festive little holiday volume filled with scrumptious Creole menus for Christmas and New Year's celebrations complete with detailed shopping lists and expert wine suggestions. For someone nursing a broken heart this Christmas, the hilarious Blue Jelly -- Love Lost and the Lessons of Canning (Hyperion,$18.95 hard) by former Rolling Stone writer Debby Bull just might be the cookbook to cheer them up.
