Food-o-File
"Food-o-File" is on the Basil's case and other big restaurant changes.
By Virginia B. Wood, Fri., July 18, 2003
No Scoops!
After nearly 18 years of service, Basil's chef Mick Carpenter got a shock on July 7 when he showed up for work and found the locks on the building changed and new operators taking control of the restaurant. When contacted, longtime Basil's owner Marshall Slacter explained that after owning Basil's for 23 years, he'd "burned out, just lost the love, lost the passion" necessary to keep an independent restaurant going. Slacter has leased the cozy downtown cottage on the banks of Shoal Creek to husband-and-wife team Paul and Joni Constantine, who are longtime hospitality veterans in Austin. Paul was a chef at the Barton Creek Country Club for 10 years, and Joni managed the legendary Cedar Door for seven. The new restaurant is called Cafe Caprice (900 W. 10th, 477-4340), as in the caprice or whim of the chef, and will feature an "eclectic American menu that changes frequently," according to Paul Constantine. Look for them to open sometime in August... We've had no luck getting any information out of the Trudy's folks, but we do know their new South Congress Cafe (1600 S. Congress, 447-3905) opened quietly recently and is serving dinner daily from 5-10pm. The renovated building looks great, and diners can watch SoCo's rich pageant pass by from seats in the bar... "Barbecue Bob" Cole and his partners threw a grand-opening party at the newly refurbished, resurrected Tavern (912 W. 12th, 320-8377) on Monday evening, July 14, and opened for business the next day. Kudos to them for saving another Austin landmark... Though construction is ongoing, owner Paul Silver of 412 West, a new multiroom watering hole at 412 W. Fourth, held a preview party last weekend. We're curious to find out just what they'll be doing in the space formerly occupied by Girasole... Stop by the Texas French Bread location at 29th and Rio Grande streets for a hot breakfast some day soon. This new menu offering is only available at the Rio Grande Street store and can be enjoyed from 7-10am weekdays and 7am-2pm on weekends. The delicious menu includes scrambled eggs, migas with their signature salsa, marvelous banana-walnut pancakes with warm maple syrup, French toast, steel-cut oats and fruit, plus a daily special such as a breakfast tostada with refried beans, fried eggs, cheese, lettuce, and salsa. The breakfast is a wonderful addition to their established line of pastries and good sandwiches... Chef/owner Kevin Williamson and his buddies at Ranch 616 (616 Nueces St., 479-7616) celebrated the restaurant's fifth anniversary recently, just as soon as Williamson returned from a weeklong stay at his family's summer home in Whitefish, Mont. Look for some changes in the Ranch menu soon, as Williamson and new pastry chef Katherine Clapner revamp the restaurant's cuisine with plans to open a spinoff in Aspen, Colo.
TFR Benefit Dinner
Like most worthwhile local nonprofit organizations, Texas Folklife Resources (1317 S. Congress, 441-9255) is feeling the economic pinch these days. TRF board member Ann Clark will host a benefit dinner in her home on Sunday, July 27, featuring a North Indian meal, music, and a lecture on Moghul architecture. The food will be prepared by Clark and Rebecca Wallace of Word of Mouth Catering. The cost for the evening is $100 per person, and reservations may be made by calling Texas Folklife Resources.
