Yesterday, the Austin Food & Wine Festival announced the finalized schedule for the 2013 festival, which takes place April 26-28 at Auditorium Shores.

The culinary event features a plethora of seminars including Drinking Vinegars & Shrubs, Classic Desserts in a Modern Kitchen, Qui Ingredients, It’s Tailgate Time In Texas, and numerous others. The Festival’s Facebook page also announced the addition of three celebrity chefs to the talent lineup: Graham Elliot, Brian Malarkey, and Barton Seaver.

Tickets to the AF&W Festival are $850 for the Savor Pass – which includes the Taste of Texas Kickoff Event, the Rock Your Taco Showdown, and a myriad of VIP perks – or $250 for the Taste Pass, which includes the option to purchase individual tickets to the Taste of Texas Kickoff and/or Rock Your Taco Showdown.

For more information, visit the Austin Food & Wine Festival’s website.

Tagged: Auditorium Shores, austin, Austin Food & Wine Festival, Barton Seaver, Brian Malarkey, Graham Elliot, Layne Lynch, Rock Your Taco Showdown, Taste of Texas Kickoff

This year kicks off with a Tempranillo for Texas Wine of the Month. By now, you should be fairly familiar with the prevalence of this grape. It’s turning heads in Texas blends  (McPherson Cellars La Herencia) as well as in single-varietal wines (Inwood Estates Vineyards “Cornelius” Tempranillo). This month, we celebrate a wine devoted solely to Tempranillo grapes—most of which were grown in the Hill Country. It’s an elegant representation of just how great this grape can be in Texas. In fact, it was one of the top 10 Texas Monthly Wines of 2012. And it comes from a winery in Stonewall that continues to make strides in the emerging Texas wine industry.

The Wine: Pedernales Cellars Tempranillo Reserve 2010 

Who Likes It: This wine was selected in conjunction with Adam Danielson, wine director for Parkside, Olive & June and The Backspace in Austin. Danielson has been in the restaurant business since he was 15 and his ongoing love for wine led him to take on restaurant wine programs by the age of 25. He even spent six years in Santa Barbara getting his hands dirty in vineyards and wineries to further his knowledge.

Why He Likes It: “This wine has bright red and dark fruits with a touch of spice on the nose,” says Danielson. “There’s also cedar and earth on the back end giving this wine great structure and complexity. It’s medium-bodied and well balanced.”

Suggested Pairings: “The structure of this Tempranillo would pair perfectly with the rustic gamey qualities of rabbit such as the rabbit risotto at Olive & June.

On Down the Road: “I think that Texas wine is right where it needs to be right now,” says Danielson. “There are some great producers who are focusing on warm climate varietals from Spain, Portugal and Italy. As winemakers and growers continue to learn from each other and tinker with better farming practices that are Texas-specific I think that the quality and consistency needed to make an impact on the domestic and global market will continue to increase.”

- Jessica Dupuy

Tagged: Adam Danielson, Jessica Dupuy, Olive & June, Parkside, Pedernales Cellars, Pedernales Cellars Tempranillo Reserve 2010, The Backspace

Last week, we reported that Tim Dornon, chef de cuisine of Uchiko, was leaving the Uchi establishment to join Paul Qui’s newest restaurant, QUI, as a chef consultant.

Just a day after the news broke, Philip Speer, culinary director of Uchi, revealed to Eater Houston that Page Pressley, sous chef of Uchi Houston, would be taking over Dornon’s former position.

No word on the exact details of Pressley’s newest role, but Speer revealed to Eater that he is “being groomed for bigger things in the future.”

Tagged: Layne Lynch, Page Pressley, Qui, Tim Dornon, uchi, uchiko

Jeret Peña at The Brooklynite (Photo Courtesy The Brooklynite)

On heels of the San Antonio Cocktail Conference—a national four-day conference modeled after the likes of the New Orleans’ Tales of the Cocktail event that brings together bartenders from around the country to learn, taste, and talk everything cocktail—I had a chance to catch up with local craft bartender extraordinaire Jeret Peña to talk about the conference, cocktails and Texas spirits. He even shared a couple of his latest recipes.

The ambitious Peña has been an integral part of the food and drink renaissance San Antonio has experienced in recent years. He even brought national attention here when he nabbed a James Beard nomination for Best Bar Program in 2012 at the historic Esquire Tavern where he held the role of Bar Manager. He has since opened his very own bar, The Brooklynite, midway between downtown and The Pearl. And if you ask this Alamo City native, we can expect great things from this town in the near future.

TM: How did you get into bar tending?

Peña: I think any bartender you ask has the same answer: by chance. I was working at Pesca at the Watermark Hotel and my general manager asked me to host a tequila seminar for guests. He gave me a month to study and prepare. I ended up learning so much that I fell in love with it.

That’s where it started. It wasn’t long before I went to Houston to meet Bobby Heugel. It was three weeks after Anvil Bar & Refuge opened and I didn’t know much about cocktails then. But meeting Bobby Heugel changed my life. Getting to know him and later, other Texas people like Bill Norris and David Alan in Austin kept pushing me in this direction.

TM: So how did you get involved with Esquire Tavern when it was renovated and brought back in 2011?

Peña: The owner of the Esquire, Chris Hill found me while I was working at a small San Antonio bar called Le Midi. That’s a place where I really came into my own. And when he saw what I was doing, shortly after, he asked me to run his program and I ran with it. We went around to different parts of the country to look at different bars like the Rickhouse, Agricole, and Bourbon and Branch in San Francisco. And began working on putting an amazing crew together.

TM: But in October 2012, you opened your own bar? That was pretty fast.

Peña: I told Chris when I met him that I’ve always wanted to own and operate my own bar. I had some contacts who had talked to me about investing in something together. We had been looking for months when this dirty, nasty nightclub came available. It was the perfect turnkey opportunity because the owners wanted out of it, but they had all the nuts and bolts in place and even had a liquor license they could turn over. All we had to do was change the aesthetics to make it look the way we wanted. So we jumped on it and turned it around in 35 days. It happened a lot faster than I thought it would, but it was fast. It’s on Brooklyn Avenue, so we named it after a classic cocktail, The Brooklynite.

TM: How do you go about choosing the spirits you want to use for your cocktails when there are so many out there?

Peña: You have to understand spirits. How they’re made. Where they come from. And you have to know the different flavor profiles between things like highland tequila or a lowland tequila. There is a lot out there, but it’s still possible to understand the flavor profiles. When you start to build a cocktail, it’s always going to be the base spirit—like gin, Scotch or rum—that will be the back backbone of the drink. I choose the actual spirit based on what works best for my style.

TM: Are you familiar with many of the Texas Spirits on the market right now?

Peña: I think Chip Tate at Balcones Distilling does a really good job. His True Blue blue corn whisky is something I’ve used in Cocktails. There’s also a new gin that’s coming on the market from Austin called Genius Gin and it’s pretty great. I think it will be the first top notch craft gin. Because I focus more on mixing drinks, I need to be able to get quality spirit at a price point that’s not going to force me to gauge my customers when they order a drink. Many of the Texas spirits on the market are just priced too high, which means I have to turn around and charge $20 for a cocktail, and no one is going to pay for that.

TM: Can you share a couple of Texas cocktails with us? Can you

Peña: One of cocktails I’m most proud of right now is called the Tobin Hill. It’s a spin on a neo-classic cocktail that called the Red Hook that was created about ten years ago. I named it after the Tobin Hill historic district here in San Antonio. It may not include a Texas spirit, but its name was inspired by Texas heritage. You have to be careful about the gin you use in this. Ransom Old Tom Gin is what you need. I’ve made it with Hayman’s Old Tom Gin and it’s completely different. I also use spicy pecan vinegar in this. I love using vinegar because it has both sweetness and acidity. It really brings balance to a drink.

The other cocktail does use the Balcones Distilling True Blue whisky. It’s called the Boots and Heels. It’s named after I found two people getting it on in the bathroom stall of my bar. All I saw were boots and heels.

The Tobin Hill

1 1/2 ounces Ransom Old Tom Gin

1/2 ounce Carpano Antica

1/2 ounce maraschino liqueur

Bar spoon of spicy pecan vinegar (Can be found at Gaucho Gourmet in San Antonio.)

2 dashes of orange bitters

Stir together on ice and serve up in a coupe glass.

Boots and Heels

1 1/2 ounces Balcones True Blue whisky

3/4 ounce of Punt e Mes (An Italian fortified wine similar to vermouth.)

1/2 ounce Averna

3 dashes of lavender bitters

Stir together and pour over rocks and serve in a tumbler with orange peel on top.

- Jessica Dupuy

Tagged: Anvil Bar & Refuge, Bobby Heugel, Esquire Tavern, Jeret Pena, Jessica Dupuy, The Brooklynite

Texas Monthly February 2013

Once a year, I sort through my dining notes and come up with a list of my favorite dining spots of roughly the past twelve months. We modestly call the resulting story, traditionally published in February, “Where To Eat Now.” On its face, it is an honor roll of the best and the tastiest new restaurants Texas has to offer. Practically speaking, though, I think of it as:  “I Eat Out So You Don’t Waste Your Money on a Dud.”

This year I made a dozen choices, whereas normally I select only ten. (What can I say—2012 was a very good year.) The types of places covered a lot of territory, from a Vietnamese cafe in Austin to Texas-centric meat palaces in Fort Worth and Houston, and from a French (but not too French) bistro in Dallas to an international vegetable palace in Houston. In between were a seafood restaurant and a number of places that can only be described by the all-encompassing adjective “eclectic.”

The story appears in the February 2013 Texas Monthly, an issue that is special for two reasons: it takes an in-depth look at our state’s six major cities and, not coincidentally, celebrates the fortieth anniversary of the founding of the magazine  (“Happy birthday to us, happy birthd . . . . .  “). If you don’t follow the restaurant scene, “Where To Eat Now” is a quick and easy way to catch up. If you do keep up, you can see whether you agree with me or not.

You can also take a little trip back to the dining scene in Texas circa 1973, when the magazine began publication. The write-up for each city has a quickie overview of the best-known restaurants from that era (raise your hand if you remember the Sir Loin House in Houston, Karam’s in San Antonio, the Carriage House in Fort Worth,  the Capital Oyster Company in Austin, Ewald’s in Dallas, or Casa del Sol in El Paso’s sister city, Juárez, Mexico).

I hope you’re a subscriber, but in case you’re not, here’s a run-down of the restaurants we selected. You can get the full details online at texasmonthly.com or in the magazine, available on newsstands now. To be eligible for “Where To Eat Now,” a restaurant had to have opened between November 1 2011, and November 1, 2012.

AUSTIN: Elizabeth Street Café and Salty Sow (honorable mention to Clark’s Oyster Bar, Lenoir)

DALLAS: Boulevardier, Driftwood, and Oak (honorable mention to FT33, Sissy’s Southern Kitchen and Bar)

EL PASO: Red Mountain Bistro

FORT WORTH: Woodshed Smokehouse

HOUSTON: Oxheart, Roost, Triniti, Underbelly (second locations were not eligible—sorry, Uchi; honorable mention to Lucille’s, Provisions, Sparrow Bar + Cookshop)

SAN ANTONIO: Bliss (honorable mention to Bite, Nao, Sustenio).

Tagged: Bite, Bliss, Boulevardier, Clark's Oyster Bar, Driftwood, Elizabeth Street Cafe, FT 33, Lenoir, Lucille's, Nao, Oak, Oxheart, Provisions, Red Mountain Bistro, Roost, Salty Sow, Sissy's Southern Kitchen and Bar, Sparrow Bar + Cookshop, Sustenio, Triniti, Underbelly, Where To Eat Now, Woodshed Smokehouse

Tim Dornon, chef de cuisine at Uchiko, is jumping ship and joining the team at QUI, the 55-seat, flagship restaurant from Top Chef Texas winner Paul Qui.

According to a press release, Dornon will work as a chef consultant at the restaurant. Qui and Dornon worked closely with each other at Uchiko before Qui left the restaurant in 2012 to pursue his own restaurant ventures. When QUI opens, Dornon and Qui will collaborate on the restaurant’s menu, food execution, and day-to-day operations.

“I think Tim is one of the most talented, yet unrecognized chefs in the city. It’s my honor to work with him,” Qui said in a press release. “He provides a great balance to my madness.”

Tagged: Layne Lynch, Paul Qui, Qui, Tim Dornon, uchi, uchiko

A myriad of Texas artisans and culinary businesses were recognized at the Good Food Awards Ceremony in San Francisco this weekend. The ceremony was hosted by well-known food activist Alice Waters.

In the beer category, both Independence Brewing Co.‘s Convict Hill Stout and Jester King Craft Brewery‘s Boxer’s Revenge were honored. In the coffee category, Cuvee Coffee‘s El Molino Witness Project was recognized. In the pickle category, Aunt Nita’s Homestyle Foods‘ Sweet Jalapeño Relish and Pogue Mahone Pickles’ Jalapeño Mint were honored. In the preserves category, Flume Creek Preserves‘ Raspberry Preserves was awarded. Texas did not take home awards in the spirits, confections, chocolate, or cheese categories. For the full list of winners, see this link.

Tagged: Aunt Nita's Homestyle Foods, Cuvée Coffee, Good Food Awards, Independence Brewing Co., Jester King Craft Brewery, Layne Lynch, Pogue Mahone Pickles

Yesterday, The New York Times featured a story on a new breed of bars popping up around the United States: charitable bars. The newspaper noted that a “new generation of beer halls dedicated to something beyond the cash register is cropping up around the nation and the world, with proceeds going not into an owner’s wallet but to charity…”

One of the philanthropic bars mentioned in the story included the Original OKRA Charity Saloon, which opened in Houston last month. Every month, the bar allows patrons to vote which Houston-based charity should receive the bar’s proceeds from that month.

Though the newspaper article encouraged patrons to question the true charitable nature of these up-and-coming bars, the Original OKRA Charity Saloon took to Facebook this morning to clarify that the beer house is a 501(c)(6) Not-For-Profit Corporation, and that it “really [does] give 100% of [its] profits to charity after paying for all standard bar costs – product, employee wages, rent, etc.”

Tagged: bars, Houston, Layne Lynch, OKRA Charity Saloon, The New York TImes

People from the spirits/brew world will descend upon Alamo City this weekend to discuss, serve, and celebrate a myriad of boozy beverages at the 2^nd Annual San Antonio Cocktail Conference. TEXAS MONTHLY’s own Pat Sharpe will be judging the conference’s Original Cocktail Competition from 3:30 to 6 p.m. at the St. Anthony Hotel today.

Image courtesy of the San Antonio Cocktail Conference

According to the Conference’s website, “each contestant [at the Original Cocktail Competition] will have ten minutes to make a cocktail for the guest judges from their own original recipe… using one or more of the following William Grant & Sons spirits: Hendrick’s Gin, Reyka Vodka, Gibson’s Canadian Whisky, Hudson Whiskey (Hudson Baby Bourbon), Milagro Tequila, Lillet (Blanc, Rouge and Rose), Sailor Jerry, Monkey Shoulder, Tullamore Dew and Solerno.”

Other individuals joining Sharpe on the judging panel include Dale DeGroff, author of The Craft of the Cocktail; Audrey Saunders, owner of Pegu Club in New York City; Michael Madrusan, owner and operator of The Everleigh in Melbourne, Australia; and Ron Bechtol, food, wine, and spirits writer at the San Antonio Current.

Tickets can be purchased at the door, and proceeds from the four-day event will benefit HeartGift, a group that provides life-saving heart surgery to children in developing countries around the world.

Tagged: cocktails, Layne Lynch, Original Cocktail Competition, pat sharpe, san antonio, San Antonio Cocktail Conference, Spirits, Texas Spirits

Paul Qui

Austin’s South by Southwest (SXSW) festival is embracing a much more prominent culinary element this year with SouthBites, a curated line-up of gourmet food trucks and trailers. Paul Qui, executive chef/owner of East Side King and the yet-to-be-opened Qui, is in charge of orchestrating the new event.

According to the SXSW website, “SouthBites is operating for all nine days of SXSW (March 8-16), open to the public and located right across the road from the Austin Convention Center. It will be an essential destination for thousands of hungry music, film, and interactive fans and industry players.”

“SXSW has always been an innovator in music, film, and technology, and I’m excited about being part of the food aspect,” Qui told TEXAS MONTHLY. Details are still being pieced together, and Qui said that the food truck/trailer line-up hasn’t been finalized quite yet.

Tagged: austin, food trailers, food trucks, Layne Lynch, Paul Qui, SouthBites, SXSW