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

Tim Love

Pack your bags, Top Chef fans; your favorite culinary reality show is setting sail in April 2013….on a cruise. With Gail Simmons and Tom Colicchio as the celebrity hosts, Top Chef: The Cruise stops in Key West and Cozumel and gives attendees “the chance to spend quality time with the show’s judges and chefs, [thus] making [it] a one-of-a-kind culinary vacation experience.”

The food-centric cruise features Quickfire challenges, cooking demos, menus inspired by Top Chef episodes, and Q&A sessions. Former Top Chef and Top Chef Masters contestants including Jennifer Carroll, Tiffany Derry, Chris Hanmer, Michael Isabella, Spike Mendelsohn, Hosea Rosenberg, Angelo Sosa, Casey Thompson, Hubert Keller, and Fort Worth’s Tim Love will attend. Love was a contestant on the first season of Top Chef Masters and ended up finishing in third place. TEXAS MONTHLY’s Pat Sharpe featured Love’s Woodshed Smokehouse as “Pat’s Pick” this past March. Top Chef: The Cruise runs from April 11-15,  and room prices range from $699 (four people in a stateroom) to $5,999 for a penthouse suite.

Tagged: Layne Lynch, pat sharpe, Pat's Pick, Tim Love, Top Chef Masters, Top Chef: The Cruise, Woodshed Smokehouse

(Ground beef guru Josh Ozersky, from a 2008 Nightline appearance)

Wednesday at approximately 4 p.m., culinary event planner Mike Thelin was driving around Austin in search of hardwood briquettes, trying to fill a last-minute request from one of the many chefs participating in the Texas Hill Country Wine and Food Festival. The 26th edition kicks off tonight with the Stars Across Texas Classic at the Long Center for the Performing Arts.

Local talent will be featured at the gala, including Austinites Tyson Cole (Uchi/Uchiko), Shawn Cirkiel (Parkside) and David Bull (Congress), new part-time San Antonioan John Besh (Luke) and current Texas Monthly cover star Tom Perini (Perini Ranch).

But Thelin and the festival staff have also wrangled an eclectic out-of-towner A-List for the weekend, including L.A.’s Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo (Animal), Australian chef and cookbook author Andrew Dwyer and several luminaries from his own home base of Portland, Oregon. (more…)

Tagged: barbecue, bbq, beef, food, hamburger, hill country, Josh Ozersky, pat sharpe, Restaurants, texas, wine

My good friend Laura Kelso, queen of Dishola.com, sent this report on yesterday’s barbecue demo and “crash course,” held at Emo’s as a satellite SXSW event (what it had to do with music, I don’t know, but there you go . . .). It was organized by Dishola.com and the Austin Chronicle (specifically food editor Virginia Wood).  Star appearances were made by a red carpet’s worth of BBQ maestros. First and foremost were Kim and Kerry Bexley, owners of Snow’s BBQ (which Texas Monthly named the best barbecue joint in Texas in our June 2008 issue).  Located in Lexington, Texas, an hour’s drive from  Austin, Snow’s did fantastic brisket. Kevin Williamson of Ranch 616, upped the ante with smoked cabrito (and pineappple relish), neatly tucked into a flour tortilla. Inman’s Ranch House, in Marble Falls, served up spicy pure-turkey sausages. The County Line Austin offered pork and beef ribs so tender the meat fell off the bone. And Louie Mueller, of Taylor,  did two kinds of sausage, jalapeno and original, plus mouthwatering brisket. Art, of Artz Rib House in Austin, doled out great pork and baby back ribs. That’s about it, but now you’ve got a whole bunch of links to barbecue in the Austin area, so give one or more of these folks a visit (just remember that Snow’s is only open on Saturday mornings, and they sell out early). For more bbq around Texas, check out our whole story.

Tagged: bbq, pat sharpe, texas monthly

The Counter Cafe, in Austin, has the most incredible chicken burger. They only offer it once a week, usually on a Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday.  So you need to be sure it’s chicken-burger day before you go. And don’t try to go right at noon, because it’s a teensy weensy place and they get swamped. This burger is made from organic chicken, they grind the meat there, and I could see onion and carrot mixed in. Comes on a wheat bun with lettuce and tomato. Dishola.com has touted the CC too. I am in love.  626 N. Lamar (old GM Steakhouse location, if you remember that); 512-708-8800. I think they’re open 7 days a week from 8 to 4.

Tagged: chicken burger, counter cafe, lamar, pat sharpe

If times weren’t so darned tough, I’d predict that La Condesa was going to take off like a rocket. I mean, the space is crazy contemporary, the drinks are awesome, the food is by and large excellent (based on, oh, about eight apps and dishes). The only thing standing in the way are the prices, which I think are kinda high for now. But maybe the beautiful people who haunt the warehouse district still have folding money and noncanceled plastic. I loved the ceviches, which are  offbeat, and the  tuna tostada. Great duck in black mole with toasted sesame seeds (did not love love love the huarache with huitlacoche–I can barely even type those words!). You definitely ought to give the place a try. You know, be there or be square.

Tagged: la condesa, pat sharpe, texas monthly