Closings and Openings, Hirings and Aspirings, Wining and Dining and Economic Undermining in Austin’s Food Industry

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, that’s right, citizen – it’s your “Food News Buffet” for the second week of October.

The part that’s the sad news is: Baby Greens (10611 Research) owner Sharon Mays announced on Instagram that she’s shuttering her 6-year-old drive-through salad concept on Friday, Oct. 7. The part that’s not even news at this point is the bottom-line reason behind this closing: Living in Austin has become too expensive for so many, especially workers in the food industry. “In the last 2½ years, I have lost more employees due to the lack of affordable housing and living in our fair city than almost any other reason,” Mays told our reporters Melanie Haupt and A. Richmond…

Gelateria Gemelli at 1009 E. Sixth is also closing, as owner Andrew Sabola informed the frozen confectionarium’s ardent followers via Facebook: “Y’all, it’s been a long road. 8 years of negronis, spritzes, teaching people how to say ‘stracciatella,’ first dates that turned into marriages, pop ups, cones on cones on cones, birthday parties, Fernet shots, laughter and tears.“But: “We scraped by through Covid thanks to the support of all of you but business has not come roaring back substantially enough for us to climb out from our Covid hole.” Catch the yumminess while you still can: Gelateria Gemelli shuts for good on Oct. 31…

Meanwhile, Arizona-based fast-casual restaurant chain Flower Child is set to open its 30th location (11th in Texas) in the West Lake neighborhood (3300 Bee Caves Rd.) on Nov. 1 – and they’re having a job fair for all positions, Oct. 10-22. Might wanna give that application a go, grab yourself a gig serving up healthy food … if you can still afford to live in Austin, right?

In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the Salty Donut (2000 S. Congress) is offering a specialty donut to benefit the Breasties, an all-inclusive nonprofit organization that creates community for “survivors, previvors, thrivers, and carevivors affected by breast and gynecologic cancers.” The unique donut flaunts a 24-hour brioche bottom crusted in white chocolate, with strawberry cookie crumble, strawberry cream cheese glaze, and white chocolate drizzle. They’re $4.85 each and available through Oct. 23…

Nobody needs another reason to visit the fresh and abundant excellence that is the Texas Farmers’ Market, but here’s one anyway: Every weekend in October, they’re hosting the ninth annual Austin Fermentation Festival, featuring industry experts and workshops where you can learn all you want to know about fermentation (and buy some of the deliciousness those experts have prepared)…

The COTA Culinary Experience returns to the Circuit of the Americas during this year’s Formula One weekend, Oct. 21-23, offering an array of the best food found in Austin and beyond, with a variety of vittles from 20 different restaurants and chefs. Lest you think it’s just another ho-hum calorie factory lineup, let’s note that Lockhart’s own Commerce Cafe, helmed by Foreign & Domestic chefs Sarah Heard and Nathan Lemley, are among those bringing the highest-quality meat and produce grown and raised locally to the weekend’s spread of gastronomic delights…

The Austin chapter of Les Dames d’Escoffier, that international culinary leadership organization of women, has named its 2022-2023 board and added 25 new members representing the fields of food, beverage, and hospitality, with incoming President Anna Tauzin taking over for last year’s Prez Stacy Franklin…

Let’s see – what else, what else? Second Bar + Kitchen has returned to Downtown and is now bringing its culinary and mixological prowess to the fore in the East Austin Hotel at Sixth & Waller; check out that rooftop lounge for the height of leisure… the Austin Humane Society is offering a Paws & Pours Passport, allowing you free glasses of wine, free flights, and other paw-some specials at more than two dozen spots around town throughout October… out in the autumnally gorgeous Hill Country, Southold Farm + Cellar has just launched “The Prologue,” a new afternoon dining experience from chef Sable-Tanya Wentwoord; this is a guided group tasting experience that includes a four-course menu paired with four Southold wines, and you can make reservations right here… a little closer to home, the Hotel Granduca (where new restaurant Laurel is already open and presenting the culinary creations of chef Tommy Suddeth Jr.) kicks off the fall season on Fri., Oct. 14, with Cinema Under the Stars, where there’ll be an outdoor screening of the 2004 film Friday Night Lights amid a star-canopied scene of relaxation with a deliciously elevated burger and hot dog buffet… and Rae Wilson’s Wine for the People will move from the Texas AVA tasting room off Fitzhugh Road to Spread & Co. in the Jefferson Square Shopping Center (1601 W 38th) in mid-November… and fancy Downtown dining destination Roaring Fork (701 Congress) is open for lunch for the first time since pandemic shutdowns… and, when this year’s Austin Food & Wine Festival galvanizes the town in early November, those Earlybird purveyors of all things CBD will be there – once again partnered with Little Ola’s chef Michael Fojtasek, to present biscuits that’ll calm you closer to nirvana… but first, Industry is opening! Industry, Cody Taylor and Harlan Scott’s hospitality-centric San Marcos eatery – a casual, counter service atmosphere with an expansive bar and Sunday brunch – will open a new venue in Austin at 1211 E. Fifth in mid-October, and we’ll have more on that for you soon…

And, yes, damn it, we’re also pretty heartbroken over Nau’s Enfield closing… and you did see our feature about Koko’s Bavarian Biergarten getting the (literal) royal treatment, right? And, although National Taco Day has come and gone, this roundup of great local taco joints is still a helpful mini-guide… and OMG THE QUESOFF IS THIS SATURDAY… and if it seems a little weird that we’ve completed an entire “Food News Buffet” without, per usual, taking up paragraphs raving about one kind of booze or another, well, that’s because 1) we’ve been too busy enjoying the excellent happy hours at Opal Divine’s, and 2) the very next installment of The Austin Chronicle is our annual Drinks Issue…

Now eat as well as you can, tip like it’s going out of style, and see if you can still make rent this month.