Pat’s Pick
Pat's Pick
Pat's Pick
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BACK TO THE FUTURE I had no idea how much I was yearning to eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner in a Victorian dining room until the 1886 Cafe and Bakery opened in Austin's Driskill Hotel, a mere block from my office. I've been all but boarding there since August. Early in the morning I like a booth by a window, a chocolate croissant, and a cappuccino made with Italy's celebrated Illy coffee. At noon it's easy to grab a perch at the bar for a quick lunch; favorite choices are a bowl of cheese soup, based on a recipe by Texas food maven Helen Corbitt, and the salad of spring greens with balsamic-honey vinaigrette. In the evening an outdoor table is perfect for a glass of wine and a mozzarella-and-roasted-tomato pizza. But what makes me happiest about the cafe is that it revives the spirit of the dear departed 1886 Room, which occupied this very spot until 1991. Much is different, but two key items—the aforementioned cheese soup and an irresistible chocolate cake—are still on the menu. If anything, they're better than ever.
PATRICIA SHARPE
1886 Cafe and Bakery Cheese Soup
This recipe is hotel executive chef David Bull's adaptation of Texas cooking maven Helen Corbitt's original cheese soup. He likes it a bit spicier and he uses Velveeta, which melts beautifully. If you substitute cheddar, which was called for in the original, be sure to grate it finely or it will not melt all the way.
On The Road
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THE REAL DEAL In 1902 Dell and Charlie Wunsche built a small saloon and hotel in Spring, a wide spot in the road north of Houston, never dreaming that their modest enterprise would last long enough to celebrate a centennial. Score one for longevity: On October 18, 19, and 20 Wunsche Bros. Cafe is throwing itself a birthday bash with good homestyle eats, plenty of beer, and Texas music. Headliners include Kimmie Rhodes on Friday night (tickets are $15) and Guy Clark and John Townes Van Zandt II on Saturday ($35). Other musicians play free Saturday and Sunday from two to six. Anybody who's just hungry can drop by the cafe—now owned by Brenda and Scott Mitchell and Sherry Sinisi—and grab a bite seven days a week. The chicken-fried steak is darn good, and the Sausage Crumb Salad with blue-cheese dressing is awesome. If you don't finish with a slice of the chocolate whiskey cake, you're crazy. Afterward, stroll around the cafe's Old Town Spring neighborhood, whose quaint stores sell every Texas doodad in the known universe. For advance tickets for Guy Clark only, call 281-350-1902. Order a cake at 888-333-2253; for more information, go to wunschebroscafe.com.
PATRICIA SHARPE
Happening
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CUISINE ART If your pocketbook can spare the $125-a-plate charge, then pull up a seat for Cena Con Frida—Dinner With Frida. The flavorful fare of saucy Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, passionately dished up by La Mansión del Río Hotel executive chef Scott Cohen, is the main course at this fiesta being thrown in the Alamo City on October 2 to benefit the San Antonio Museum of Art. Hie yourself to the hotel's El Capistrano room and courtyard and prepare for a little Latin dancing, a bit of uni-brow (a Saks Fifth Avenue makeup artist will turn any guest's two eyebrows into one, à la Frida), and a sample of the culinary skill of the multi- talented Mexican painter: Squash blossom quesadillas, tamales in banana leaves, and pine nut flan are all on the menu. The recipes come from the 1994 cookbook Frida's Fiestas: Recipes and Recollections of Life With Frida Kahlo, coauthored by her stepdaughter Guadalupe Rivera (Frida was married, of course, to famed muralist Diego Rivera). For more information, call the San Antonio Museum of Art, 210-978-8112.
STACY HOLLISTER
My Library
