Rumors have been swirling about Central Texas chefs from award-winning
restaurants with national reputations who have recently found themselves
unemployed. The best news is that San Antonio chef Jay McCarthy, formerly of
Cascabel restaurant in the Sheraton Fiesta Hotel, will become an executive at
our own Central Market… Speaking of Central Market, their cooking school has
a great line up for the rest of the month: New York chef/cooking
instructor/author/foodstylist Shirley King will appear this week, teaching
cooking classes on Friday, June 21 and Monday, June 24, also presenting a
demonstration and booksigning in the seafood department on Saturday afternoon,
June 22. The energetic Ms. King is busy promoting two new cookbooks, Fish —
The Basics: An Illustrated Guide to Selecting and Cooking Fresh Seafood (Chapters Publishing, $19.95, paper) and Pampile’s Table: Recipes and
Writings from the French Countryside (Faber & Faber, $22.95, hard). The
Friday cooking class will feature recipes from King’s definitive fish cookbook
and the Monday class will present a French dinner menu from Pampile’s
Table, her faithful translation of an early 20th-century French classic
cookbook, Les Bon Plats de France by Marthe (Pampile) Daudet. Local
Francophile Ann Clark reports that she read Pampile’s Table in galleys
and was very impressed. After Shirley King’s visit, the flavors change from
French to Italian with Rino Lanzalotti, chef/owner of Bottega della Pasta. Rino
has recently returned from a visit to his Italian hometown outside Milan. He
will be sharing new recipes and cooking trends picked up in his homeland in a
class on Tuesday, June 25. The next night, Jeffrey’s executive chef David
Garrido will teach a class pairing original dishes with wines from Fall Creek
Vineyards. To make reservations, call 458-3068… Appetite of Austin
chef/caterer Greg Petrosewicz has some interesting summer classes coming up at
Williams-Sonoma. On Monday, June 24, he’ll present a Dinner from the Grill that
will allow you to fix a great meal and leave the heat outside. The next
evening, Petrosewicz will feature a simply prepared, classic French dinner menu
designed for two people. Call 338-4080 to register. The word from Breed &
Co Westlake is that they will resume a regular schedule of Tuesday night
cooking classes in late August… Interested in sampling some top-rated
Chardonnays with a delightful summer meal? Sfuzzi presents a Chardonnay wine
dinner on Tuesday, June 25 featuring a four-course meal and Chardonnays from
Bernardus Winery, Cambria, Robert Mondavi and Kendall Jackson. For
reservations, call 476-8100… Recent correspondence from the Gillespie County
Fruit Growers at Burg’s Corners confirms the bad news about the Texas peach
crop. However, the retail room at the popular roadside stop on Hwy 290W outside
Stonewall will be open all summer, selling peaches imported from California and
Arizona, and other homegrown produce… The International Association of Women
Chefs & Restaurateurs (IAWCR) will sponsor a panel discussion entitled “How
Women Can Succeed in Restaurants” on Tuesday, June 25, 10:15-11:15am, during
the Southwest Foodservice Expo ,Room 302 at the Brown Convention Center in
downtown Houston. The panel will present female restaurateurs from around the
country including Sharon Watkins of Austin’s Chez Zee. That afternoon,
Boulevard Bis-tro owner Monica Pope will host a reception at her restaurant
from 4-6pm. To make reservations for the reception or receive info about the
IAWCR, call 415/362-7336
This article appears in June 21 • 1996 and June 21 • 1996 (Cover).