Texas French Bread reopened its charming brick-and-mortar dining room last week. In 2022, the bistro and bakery’s historic Rio Grande building suffered a devastating fire, pushing its scratch-made baked goods to a lot next door, where staff served limited items and coffee from an Airstream. After many years of thoughtful rebuilding and restoration, the beige brick outpost, originally built in 1939, will once again host diners eager to taste the spot’s signature menu of organically sourced brunch and lunch items and farm-to-table dinner dishes.
Olamaie will close its doors after 12 years on July 19. The campus-area fine dining establishment made a name for itself as the first Southern cuisine restaurant to earn a Michelin star, and one of the first Austin restaurants to receive the honor, which was upheld this year. Founder and chef Michael Fojtasek told the Statesman that the Austin restaurant scene is particularly challenging, citing slow summer months, rising rent and labor costs, and a lack of late-night dining culture. In an Instagram post, the restaurant thanked its staff and guests for their support, writing that: “Our mission has always been to offer excellence through our warmth. We’re proud of what we have accomplished.”
Carlos Ramirez, an Austin-based audio engineer, has been nominated for a 2026 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Sound Mixing For A Comedy Or Drama Series (One Hour), for his work as a scoring mixer on Stranger Things Season Five. The UT alum worked on the show for the past three seasons in addition to running locally based recording studio Factory Systems, which focuses on vintage synthesizers and drum machines – “some of which,” he wrote to the Chronicle, “were used to create a few cues on Stranger Things.” The 78th annual Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony will take place at Los Angeles’ Peacock Theater on Monday, September 14, and be broadcast on NBC and Peacock.
This article appears in July 17 • 2026.
