Brisket Thief Strikes la Barbecue, Easy Tiger Works Some Pretzel Logic, Garbo’s Claws a Sunday Service, the Carillon Chimes Back In, and the Quesoff Is on Its Cheesy Way Again
All the news that’s fit to get your taste buds quivering
By Wayne Alan Brenner, 2:30PM, Wed. Aug. 10, 2022
Here's some of what's happening in Austin's culinary scene, as wrangled from numerous PR releases, words on the digital street, and even the occasional (verified) IRL eavesdroppings.
Yes, citizen, it’s your "Food News Buffet" for the second week of this possibly hot-as-hell August.
KVUE reports that la Barbecue has been broken into – by a brisket thief, who ganked thousands of dollars’ worth of expertly barbecued meat. Yes, some evil piece of shit (that’s our term, tyvm) “jumped over the side fence, cut off barbecue pit locks and loaded more than twenty whole briskets into an SUV before driving off” on the morning of Thu., Aug. 4. Note: The felon (albeit a felon with good taste) is still 1) unknown and 2) at large…
The ever-bready Easy Tiger is opening their first Pretzel Bar in the Domain NORTHSIDE at Lavaca Street Bar (11420 Rock Rose) on Sat., Aug. 13, 11am, wherein the first 100 guests will get a free pretzel – perfect for gathering before the Austin FC vs. Sporting Kansas City home match. “We’ll always have the classic pretzel with salt,” says the Tiger’s “head doughpuncher” David Norman, “but we’ve added one with cheddar cheese, one with sesame, one with sunflower seeds, and one that’s all the rage in Germany right now – black pepper.”
Beginning on Aug. 14, Garbo’s Fresh Maine Lobster will open their food trailer in the lot at 626 N. Lamar one extra day of the week: Sunday. Currently operating Thu.-Sat., the food trailer will open to serve a limited menu of seafood with a Texas twist every Thu.-Sun. from 11am to 7pm – until the new Garbo’s on Lamar restaurant is open for dine-in service …
Ring the changes! The Carillon, that fine dining concept within the AT&T Hotel and Conference Center on the UT campus (1900 University Ave.), will resume bar and dinner service on Tue., Aug. 23, returning the restaurant to full service. After supporting the hotel throughout the pandemic, the talented Kyle Barham returns to his role as chef de cuisine. But whether we’re more exited to try the maestro’s Texas lamb shank – sourced from Goldthwaite, Texas, braised in a stout from Austin’s own (512) Brewing Company, and served with field pea cavatelli, fava beans, asparagus, and gremolata – or pastry chef Harsha Pradith Seneviratne’s rose petal panna cotta with burnt berries, roasted peach ice cream, and honeycomb … well, tbh, we’re too excited to calibrate just which one’s enflaming our passions furthest…
Last week we told you about the return of in-person cooking classes at the Central Market Cooking School. This week we happily note that the local confectioners of Madhu Chocolate are hosting chocolate-making classes in their Austin headquarters (7701 Metropolis), the next one coming up on Fri., Aug. 19, 7pm…
There’s often a single standout dish at a restaurant, no matter how good the rest of the victuals are, right? Everybody’s buzzing about the carnitas tacos at De Nada Cantina (4715 E. Cesar Chavez). We’re eternal fans of the delicately spiced escargot at Elizabeth Street Cafe (1501 S. First) and the rich tortilla soup at El Alma (1025 Barton Springs Rd.) And last week we raved about Foreign & Domestic’s black-pepper-and-Gruyère popover – served up during Sunday brunches at 306 E. 53rd. Right now we’re glowing from a recent encounter with the complex, brothy brilliance of the tom kha gai at Sway. Yes, we know that Sway’s former building on South First is now a French bistro called 1417; we mean the Sway in West Lake (3437 Bee Caves Rd.), where the only thing better than getting a bowl of that Thai chicken-and-coconut soup is eating it in their lovely rooftop lounge … and chasing it with their Same Same cocktail of rosemary-infused gin, grapefruit, and lemon tonic…
And, let’s see, what else? Haris Qureshi reports on the tasty Southern fusion of Anything’s Baked Potato… the second-Saturday-of-the-month Fareground Food & Wine Festival continues… Meanwhile Brewing x Sawyer & Co. = Tenderloin, Tacos, and Beer… the Hotel Granduca’s latest Long Table dinner features bourbon from Treaty Oak Distilling… and the oysterrific Shuckfest is preparing to take over Hotel Vegas real soon…
WUXTRY! The Quesoff, that Austintatious celebration of all things melted cheese, will glorify the Mohawk (912 Red River) on Sat., Oct. 8, noon-3pm this year. Restaurants, chefs, home cooks, neighbors, all the cheesiest champions will go head-to-head in four categories – Meaty, Spicy, Veggie, and Wild Card – while you eat, drink, and vote for the best…
Now eat as well as you can, tip like it’s going out of style, and remember that the spice must flow.
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Sept. 22, 2023
