We’ve found the perfect gift for craft-brewed beer aficionados. Texan Paul
Myhill, home-brewer and beer connoisseur, has created a beer-of-the-month club
called The North American Beer Odyssey. For a mere $15.95 a month (plus tax and
standard shipping), subscribers to the service will receive 12 beers from two
or three different microbreweries throughout North America, delivered fresh to
their home or office. The shipment will include a copy of Myhill’s newsletter,
Discoveries, that will provide detailed information about the month’s
beer selections, give insights into the region where the beer is brewed,
publish customer comments, highlight beer festivals around the country, and
tell subscribers where to purchase additional beers and beer merchandise. Two
characters, Lewis Barley and Clark Hops will lead the exploration across the
continent in search of new beer selections. Myhill assures that he has cleared
his business practices with the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, and that
his endeavor is legal in Texas. For more information, call
800/923-BEER(2337)… Invitations to the 1996-1997 Red Ribbon Dinner Series are
in the mail. The Red Ribbon Dinners are held annually to raise funds for AIDS
Services of Austin (ASA) and the clients they serve. This year’s schedule
begins July 22 at Zoot, Nov. 4 at Hudson’s on the Bend, Jan. 13 at Coyote Cafe,
Mar. 10 at Fonda San Miguel and ends up on May 12 at the Bitter End. Cost of
each dinner is $100 per person with $75 of the proceeds going directly to ASA.
For more information or to make reservations, call 406-6175… Check out the
supermarket shelves at Sun Harvest and Whole Foods for bottles of Isabella
Rae’s Salad Dressing from chef Derek Kindschuh of Christopher House. The chef’s
salad dressings were such a hit among patients and staff at the local
patient-care facility that the Roasted Garlic Ranch flavor is now on the market
with Fat-Free Herb and Greek Peppercorn soon to follow. All proceeds from the
sale of Isabella Rae’s Salad Dressings will benefit Christopher House, a care
facility for people living with AIDS… Expansion and renovation of the
State/Live Oak Theatre lobby begins this summer, displacing the popular
sidewalk coffee venue, Cafe Solaire. Live Oak director Don Toner reports that
the theatre crowds quickly outgrew the small lobby space, making remodeling
necessary. When the new lobby is operational, Prairie Rock Catering will handle
pre- and post-performance catering duties as well as special events for the
theatre. Meanwhile, Cafe Solaire owner Nina Marlowe is at her other downtown
venue, the Voodoo Lounge, planning her next Congress Avenue business. If all
the investment money falls into line, look for Marlowe to open Judge Roy Beans:
Purveyor of Edibles, Tonics & Finery, a grocery store/cafe/espresso bar at
an as yet undisclosed Congress Avenue location sometime in the fall…
Currently new on the Avenue is Momma’s Diner at 314 Congress. Former Pecan
Street Cafe manager Joe Rivera and his friends Dale Jordan and Dwayne Adams
have pooled their years of experience to open this small cafe in the space
formerly occupied by Gambrinus and Milieu. Serving breakfast, lunch and dinner
every day, the diner will be open 24 hours a day on weekends when the downtown
area is buzzing. The menu offers Southern-style comfort food and reads like it
was lifted from the Presley Family Cookbook or the immortal White Trash Cooking.
This article appears in June 28 • 1996 and June 28 • 1996 (Cover).