Leora Wilson runs the housewares department at Callahan’s General Store
and
she calls White Mountain Ice Cream freezers the “Cadillac” of ice cream
freezers. Wilson admits that they are expensive, but says that you should
consider them a lifetime investment. I know I’m awfully partial to mine. I’m
considering one of those countertop, one-quart gelato makers for sorbets, and
there are good ones in department and cookware stores for under $100: Krups,
Donvier, and La Glacerie. But if you want the genuine article, call 385-3452
and talk to Leora about White Mountains. Prices for the top-flight freezers run
from $119.99 for a four-quart manual model to $169.99 for a six-quart electric
one. Callahan’s also has a five-gallon freezer which they rent out for $10 a
day (with a $500 refundable deposit) if you want to make ice cream for a really
big picnic this summer.
What’s Cooking in the Park?
This Saturday, May 20, you’ll have the opportunity to taste the freshest
local food in Central Texas, prepared by some of Austin’s most talented chefs.
Saturday afternoon from 12-4pm in Duncan Park (between Ninth and 10th, Lamar
and West Avenue), you can fork over a mere $10 for a ticket to What’s Cooking
in the Park?, which allows you to stroll under the tents and sample over 30
enticing dishes created by the following restaurants: Amandine, Barr Mansion,
Belgian Restaurant, Bitter End, Botanitas, Cafe Brio, Cafe Spiazzo, Caffe
Azurro, Carmelo’s, Casa de Luz, Chez Zee, Coyote Cafe, Dutch Regale Bakery, El
Rinconcito, Fonda San Miguel, French Affair Catering, Gilligan’s, Granite Cafe,
Green Pastures, Kerby Lane Cafes, Lake Austin Resort, Louie’s 106, Magnolia
Cafes, Mars, Omni Hotel, Satay, Sfuzzi, Spaghetti Western, Stelline Pastaria,
Stouffer, Taj Palace, Whole Foods, Zoot.
The farmers who actually grew the food will be in a booth next to the
corresponding restaurant so you can talk to both the chef and the grower about
how things were done.
In between bites, you can quench your thirst with Bruce’s Juices, Coral
Spring Water, Allegro Coffee, and Cool Quencher Natural Sports Drink while you listen to the music of Mariachi Relampago and the WST Bluegrass
Band. The event is sponsored by Whole Foods and
The Austin Chronicle
and proceeds will benefit the Texas Organic Growers Association and Carla
Marshall’s Green Classroom at Becker Elementary. Hold on to your $10 tickets,
because they will also be good for a 10 percent discount on your next purchase
at the new Whole Foods store. Tickets are on sale at Whole Foods (476-1206) and
Boggy Creek Farm (926-4650).
To support a good cause, you can purchase an organic-cotton, event T-shirt
designed by Vreeland Graphics or buy one-dollar raffle tickets for a chance to
win items including: a pair of wristbands for SXSW 1996; a meal for two at the
soon-to-be-opened Coyote Cafe; massages; personal training sessions; gift
baskets from Gardenville, Williams-Sonoma, Lunar Farms, and Native American
Seeds; organic cotton clothing from Reflections; a gift certificate from the
Texas Clothier; plants from It’s About Thyme; soil tests from Texas Plant and
Soil Labs; a Living Source Room Ionizer; a copy of Lucinda Hutson’s
[[exclamdown]]Tequila! Cooking with the Spirit of Mexico; and
Travelling Jamaica with Knife, Fork and Spoon by Jay McCarthy and Robb
Walsh. The proceeds benefit TOGA and you don’t have to be present to
win.
If you want to duplicate any of the food presented that day, copies of the
What’s Cooking in the Park? Recipe Collection will be on sale for $10.
The extremely busy chefs generously shared recipes for the dishes they’re
presenting. The loose-leaf recipe pages will come in a colorful, laminated,
three-ring binder that will accommodate recipes from the Whole Foods stores and
newsletter, cooking classes, and demos, plus recipes presented annually at the
park event. The recipe collection is sponsored by Whole Foods Market and
Kestrel printing and the proceeds will go to Carla Marshall’s Green Classroom
project at Becker Elementary in South Austin. Marshall and some of her students
will have a booth that day; their organic edible flowers will be used by the
Barr Mansion.
The purpose of What’s Cooking in the Park? is to educate the public and
the
restaurants about the fresh, organic produce that is available in Central Texas
and to encourage support for sustainable agriculture. Whole Foods Markets and
The Austin Chronicle are homegrown Austin businesses with high public
profiles and well known attitudes about the environment. Sponsoring What’s
Cooking in the Park? gives both businesses a chance to “put their money where
their mouths are.” If you would like to sample a stunning array of fresh,
seasonal organic food expertly prepared, $10 will let you put plenty of good
food where your mouth is on Saturday, May 20. – Virginia B. Wood
Whole Foods Reopens
601 North Lamar. 476-1206
Open daily 9am-11pm, bakery 10am-11pm
After a very short hiatus and much anticipation, Whole Foods reopened its
doors on Wednesday, May 10, just down the street from its original location.
The brand-new limestone structure houses the chain’s corporate headquarters as
well as its Clearwater Cafe & Bar, and will soon be home to Book People,
Austin Yoga Center, Clear Springs Studio, and the Breast Cancer Resource Center
of Austin. According to Environmental Coordinator Shellie Reott, business is
“incredible”; we’ll give you a more in-depth view of the new digs in the near
future. – Cindy Widner
This article appears in May 19 • 1995 and May 19 • 1995 (Cover).