There’s nothing like a bandwagon. No sooner did Food & Wine and Bon Appétit fall all over themselves to give Austin a whole lotta love than StarChefs.com (an online magazine for chefs and culinary insiders) decided to hold one of its four national awards ceremonies in Austin
For the grand opening of his new “veggie-centric” food trailer, Soular Food Garden, Hoover Alexander invited attendees to take a celebratory stroll with him around his childhood stomping grounds. The small group began their walk at the trailer’s East 12th street plot, continued to his church’s community garden, and finished
I first saw Japanese takoyaki - a delectably ambrosial octopus dumpling that has graced the shops and street corners of Japan for centuries - on an episode of Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations. Immediately I hopped to my computer and conducted a frantic search for takoyaki restaurants in Texas. There had
We heard the rumors that the show was coming (and that producers tried to shut down tweets about it). We've read about the state tax breaks and the lawsuit and the omission of our biggest (and completely food-rich) city,
Make that 22 pitmasters. Since Bertram Smoke Haus made our Top 50 in 2008, a lot has happened with the joint northwest of Austin. Pitmaster and owner Jim Wallace moved out of his original location, a 100-plus year-old former mercantile and lumber store, for a bigger
Editor's Note: The Texas Monthly BBQ Festival is almost here! Each day until then, we'll be talking to one of the featured pitmasters, with questions from TM staffers, esteemed BBQ experts, Twitter followers and you, the readers of this blog.Today we're featuring Lou Lambert of
Editor's Note: The Texas Monthly BBQ Festival is almost here! Each day until then, we'll be talking to one of the featured pitmasters, with questions from TM staffers, esteemed BBQ experts, Twitter followers and you, the readers of this blog.Today we bring you Aaron Franklin, 33, of
When you think "BBQ in Lockhart," you think Kreuz & Smitty's - but a lot of people swear by Black's. And when you think "taco trailer on South 1st St.," you think Torchy's - but there's also Izzoz Tacos, which opened in December of 2008 in the same parking
Through recent years of watching celebrity chefs like Mario Batali and Giada De Laurentiis magically unveil classic Italian dishes on television screens, many have been convinced the dish is as easy as 1, 2, 3 (eggs, flour, water). But the chefs and cooks who have mastered
A bright red sign outlined in neon lights screams CHICKEN as you approach Ms P’s Electric Cock, a large silver trailer on a quieter part of South Congress Avenue. As you may have guessed from the attention-getting name, Ms P’s is not a place for subtlety. It is, however, a
It wasn't chili dogs that brought me to Dogello's on yet another 105-degree day in Austin. It was coffee ice cubes. Joe Holland's trailer in the parking lot of Freewheeling Bicycles was formerly The Good Bike coffee stand, so when he opened up in January, he kept serving their
The bad news. Texas has a feral hog problem, with an estimated 2.6 million-plus animals roaming in destructive packs around our ranchland, woods and suburbs. The good news. They’re delicious. If you still haven’t picked up our August issue, check out writer Philipp
Get your general admission tickets to the Texas Monthly BBQ Festival on Wednesday, starting at 10 a.m. But if you are in or around Austin, we can also feed you sooner. Come downtown at lunchtime for the final TM BBQ Hunt, where we’ll pick four winners in
Over at Eater National, their regular “Sound Cheque” interview (musicians talking food) is with Eric Johnson of the Fruit Bats, which just released its fifth album, Tripper, on Sub Pop Records. The Portland-based musician says The Salt Lick is “something I basically think about daily.” But
MEATLIFTING. It's nothing new. The 2010 arrest of Austin's Ronnie Allen Brock provided Texas Monthly with one of our trademark never-ending punny Bum Steer headlines (as if "Bum Steer" itself wasn't enough). But meat fencing? With an undercover sting called "Operation Meat Locker" to catch
Am I really writing a blog post on the Bacon Takedown at Emo’s in Austin this Sunday? Apparently I lost my mind over the weekend. But something about the idea of an Iron Chef-style, fat-fueled grease-off is utterly irresistible, especially in the city that spawned the
Ahem. It’s never too late to have a pie thrown in your face for a good cause. I should know. Yeah, yeah, the picture was posed. But that only means the stylist slammed the pie on my face artistically (not in this picture, the next one, the one you’ll
Stopped in at Asti for a quick lunch, got the daily panino, expecting a good basic sammy. Wow! Homemade focaccia, toasty, slathered with house mozzarella & thin-sliced salami with a tart-sweet rosemary balsamic reduction. What a treat! They don’t have it every day but I’ll bet if you begged, they
Austin diners will be devastated: Mark Schmidt (formerly of Cafe 909 in Marble Falls), has left his gig at Annie’s (formerly Apple Annie’s). Man, that didn’t last long. And it seemed like such a perfect match. I’ve asked what the deal is, haven’t had time to hear back yet.
My good friends at Fino, Lisa and Emmett Fox, have fully embraced the cocktail craze. They’ve persuaded their chef at Fino, Jason Donoho,and mixologist Bill Norris to whip up a four-course dinner with courses matched to cocktails. Throughout the meal, Jason and Bill will discuss the philosophy behind the pairings.
Yes! Yes indeedy. Had a light dinner at David Garrido’s casual new interior Mexican/taco/small-plate venue Sunday night, and I will be checking it out again soon. Oyster nachos (almost identical version to the one chef-owner David Garrido made famous at Jeffrey’s)–yum! Crabmeat guacamole, lush, lavish, and delish. Lamb “pops” in
Everybody’s been stopping me in the hall and asking if I’ve been to Walton’s Fancy & Staple at 609 W. 6th. Well, no, not until today. Lunch. Verdict: Cute place, great candles & flowers (it’s a florist, too), nice displays, feels good inside to sit at a
There’s nothing I love better than eating off the street. Once in Mexico City during an interminable traffic jam, I got out of the car to buy a taco that came off a grill sitting 6 inches above the curb (okay, gutter.) In a ten block walk along Central Park
It won’t be open for a year, but the son of Uchi (“Uchiko”) is going to be at 4200 Lamar. Hooray–close to my house, or sorta close. It will be in an existing building on the west side of the street (the old Seton Hospital office building) that is being
Just got an announcement: The Mighty Cone food trailer is having its opening day this Saturday all day (from 11 to 11) at 1603 S. Congress, that’s the southeast corner of Congress & Monroe. TMC is a food truck from Hudson’s on the Bend, selling Hudson’s signature hot ‘n’ crunchy
Friends began to email back in August, saying, you gotta try this place in Austin named the Good Knight, it’s almost ready for prime time, some things are so good, yada yada yada (is that how you spell yada?). Finally, I went. Yes! First, lower your decor expectations (their ain’t
Jeffrey’s owner Ron Weiss is letting the news media know that Alma Alcocer-Thomas is leaving the Austin restaurant, where she has cooked, most recently as exeucutive chef, for sixteen years. The new man at the range will be Deegan McClung, who is now executive chef at Cissi’s Market on South