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.
Here comes the weekend. Here comes the weekend of that Hot Luck Festival. Here comes the weekend of the Austin Greek Festival. Here comes the everloving, TGIF, let’s-eat-and-drink-and-be-merry-for-tomorrow-we-face-the-robot-apocalypse weekend, O best beloved.
Speaking of Hot Luck, we hear they’ve partnered with Goldbelly – thus bringing new chefs, more music, and even more food to the already pretty much overwhelming multiday shindig. And, tit-for-tat, Goldbelly’s offering a Hot Luck Package of local culinary goodness, now available nationwide…
Summer’s on its way, and so Ramen Tatsu-ya is bringing back their Spicy Chilled Ramen (the next evolutionary step after hiyashi chuka) starting on May 25, at all locations. Note: This refreshing brothless dish is made with citrus soy dressing, ajitama, cucumber, tomatoes, pirikara ground pork, karashi mustard, chili oil, and scallions. And the, ah, the noodles themselves? “We cook our custom noodles past their usual cook time for hot ramen,” the chefs tell us. “This compensates for the gluten tightening up as they’re plunged into ice water. The noodles are dressed with a traditional soy and vinegar-based hiyashi tare that we’ve revamped with a yuzu kosho citrus kick.” Okay, then – we’ll see you there…
Wax Myrtle’s, that snazzy kitchen-forward lounge in the Thompson Hotel (506 San Jacinto), is debuting a new Tasting Club which will run on Tuesday nights, May 31-July 12. Guests are invited to join executive chef Nick Erven and beverage director Ben Carrington for an exploration of spirits and dishes inspired by the spirits’ history, distillation process, and flavor profiles. For each event, a different distiller will walk guests through a tasting that’s paired with the perfect bite. Bonus: The series starts off with a tasting from Still Austin. Challenge: There are only ten tickets for each event. Get ’em if you can, on the Resy app…
Speaking of Still Austin, that spirited powerhouse’s newest Distillery Reserve Series – a limited-release, four-grain bourbon whiskey, made from white corn, rye, wheat, and malted barley, aged for three years and bottled at cask strength, featuring four label variations designed by Ft. Lonesome – goes on sale on Mon., May 30, at 1:00pm. Note: First-come, first-served, and you have to pick it up at Still Austin’s place in the Yard (440 E. St. Elmo)…
But even before that, the whiskey wizards of Milam & Greene – well, specifically, master blender Heather Greene – will release the second iteration of the company’s acclaimed Castle Hill Series Straight Bourbon Whiskey on Saturday, May 28, starting at 11am. That blessed event’s happening at their distillery in Blanco, naturally, where they’ll also be celebrating with cocktails and whiskey flights (noon-7pm) and live music from Corey Killough (1-4pm)…
And Desert Door is releasing their newest expression of sotol, at a party on Thursday afternoon…
Ah, so much great liquor in this town – we always tip our ten-gallon chapeau to that Tito Beveridge, and wave goofily across the miles to Danny Barnes at Treaty Oak, and (since last weekend’s “Best of Austin” party) salute the Cummings siblings and their sublime WildGins – but a person’s also got to eat, right? Probably don’t need to ask that question, even rhetorically, in a food column… but we do need to let you know that El Alma (1025 Barton Springs Rd.), where they make the most satisfying tortilla soup in the Northern Hemisphere, will be offering their popular brunch service on Memorial Day, too: starting at 11am on Monday, May 30…
Not that there aren’t other excellent brunches around town on the usual days. Not that Saturday or Sunday brunch at Ciclo in the Four Seasons (98 San Jacinto) is anything but reason to be glad you live close enough to Downtown. Whether in the beautifully appointed dining room, or at artfully shaded tables near the lawn that leads down to Lady Bird Lake, the array of fresh and tasty feastables you’ll enjoy there is a perfect welcome-to-the-weekend experience. (And, pssssst, Father’s Day is coming up, right? Might want to treat the old man to a brunch worthy of his own paternal goodness.)
Oh, did we say “Father’s Day” just now? We’ll be saying more about it soon enough – with a smol Father’s Day Gift Guide, even – but right now we’ll just point you in the direction of 3012 Gonzales, where Swoop House will be offering a Father’s Day Brunch from 11am to 2pm, featuring a plethora of mouthwatering vittles from De Nada Cantina and Sawyer & Co: crispy beef tacos, blue masa tacos al pastor, Mexico City quesadillas with barbacoa, deviled eggs, buttermilk biscuits, scrambled eggs with veggies and/or meats, cheesy grits, peach cobbler, and – oh, good lordy, June 19 is still three weeks away, we need to stop before we drool up a flood…
Remember when we told you about Sprinkles, the Austin-based national bakery, and their Female Chef Series of original baked creations? Glad to note that the second offering of the series is a savory bacon-and-pepper-jack scone from LeAnn Mueller and Allison Clem of la Barbecue, and it’s available at all Sprinkles locations across the country, May 30-June 12. Why, you can even order it via this link …
And, what else? OMG, the Chicken Salad Shoppe has closed? Just learned of this last night, and we’re looking into it and will let you know, because AAAAAARGH: We’re already jonesing for those half-pound cookies of theirs, to say nothing of the joint’s signature chickeny delights…
Thing like that (see above), it makes a person seek out other comfort food to compensate. And if your idea of comfort food includes the Asian-inflected barbecue brilliance they craft at Loro, then you’ll enjoy it even more when it’s happening at the Fierce Whiskers Distillery on Sunday, May 29…
Also, if you were wondering what last month’s first annual Texas Wine Auction was like, well, we’ve got the scoop right here…
Now eat as well as you can, tip like it’s going out of style, and tell your favorite mammal you love them.
This article appears in May 27 • 2022 and Best of Austin 2022 (Insert).