Food-o-File

Eat Local Week 2009 culminated Saturday morning with the Media Celebrity Local Food Cook-Off at the Austin Farmers' Market Down­town (Fourth & Guadalupe). A small but enthusiastic crowd of locavores braved the cold, drizzly weather to observe KGSR deejay Bryan Beck and KXAN reporter Kate Weidaw transform local ingredients purchased at the market into fresh, delicious, seasonal meals in one hour. Beck won the day with a skirt steak roulade of Fredericksburg Grassfed Beef stuffed with spinach and goat cheese paired with caramelized carrots and a perfectly balanced Texas citrus salad with cilantro, jalapeños, Texas olive oil, and pecans. Weidaw's yummy Peach Creek Farm pork chops with sautéed carrots and spinach ran a close second. The allure of the weeklong slate of appetizing local food and drink events vanquished the miserable weather and made Eat Local Week a rousing success again this year. Edible Austin publisher and Eat Local Week organizer Marla Camp reports, "When all the accounting is done, it looks like we'll raise about $35,000 for Urban Roots, and that's $10,000 more than last year." Good job!... If you're in the market for a little edible holiday hostess gift, consider cake balls. Austin Cake Ball (7950 Anderson Square #104, 826-4824, www.austincakeball.com) has small boxes of exquisitely decorated tiny treats (candy snowflakes, ornaments, Santas, reindeer) in festive holiday flavors such as red velvet, peppermint, chocolate mint, and gingerbread. Holy Cacao (1311 S. First, 851-2253, www.theholycacao.com) offers 12 holiday flavors of chocolate cake balls on sticks, such as egg nog, peppermint, and gingerbread to mix and match in signature gift boxes... We're told the food at Max's Wine Dive (207 San Jacinto, 904-0111, www.maxswinedive.com) has really kicked up a notch since the arrival of new Executive Chef Jean Pierre LaCoste. The Louisiana native is putting his personal stamp on the menu with delicious daily specials that fly right out of the kitchen... The newest addition to Austin's trailer cuisine scene is Trailer Perk (1602 E. Sixth), where Monica and Kasey Magee are serving sandwiches, pastries, and coffee Monday-Saturday, 7am-2pm, and Thursday-Saturday, 10:30pm-2:30am... Facebook fans of Lux Bakery & Cafe (3601 W. William Can­non #175, 891-9850, www.luxbakeryandcafe.com) have the opportunity to win their choice of the cafe's popular bubble tea drinks for an entire year in the Bubble Tea Bailout contest. Check out details online... The local restaurant community mourns the untimely death of parkside (301 E. Sixth, 474-9898, www.parkside-austin.com) general manager Eddie Del Valle, who had a heart attack Dec. 5. Del Valle, 36, grew up around his family's restaurant in Puerto Rico and had been at parkside about a year and a half. "He was instrumental in making the restaurant successful this year, and he was very excited about some future projects," said chef/owner Shawn Cirkiel. Del Valle is survived by his wife, Zaira Rivera; two sons, ages 7 and 6; and a daughter, age 4. Parkside is accepting donations for the young family, and a benefit is being planned for sometime after the first of the year. We offer our sincere condolences.