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Food
News & Commentary
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Restaurant
Events
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Closings
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The
bar for Pizza in Austin has just been raised: by Tuscany!
You know that I am
an unrequited pizza snob. My roots lie in New Haven, Ct, home of
arguably the world’s best pizza joint, Pepe’s Pizza.
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So it takes something to get me
excited. Well, I have discovered Tuscany. It’s a Restaurant,
Market and Wine Bar on Riata Trace Parkway off 183.. They
spent $60,000 on a unique Italian oven which heats up to 1400
degrees and uses both convection and conduction. They can
cook at pizza in 1 1/2 minutes at Tuscany and it is something.
The Mediterranean along with the Sausage and Pepperoni with
mushroom are my two favorites.
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And the key is the
crust: as it is with all great pizza. Tuscany’s crust has great
texture, in the true Neapolitan style, and wonderful flavor. It
sets everything else up. The pies themselves, 8” or 14”, are authentic
and the flavors linger, long after the last bite.
I would rank Tuscany at the very top of
the Pizza wars in Austin, even a small notch ahead of the other
leader, Saccones. If you’re craving east coast style pizza, you
need to try this.
10/28
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Construction
Making Life Difficult for Freda's Seafood Grille at 183 and 620
It’s hard enough for restaurants to attract
customers these days without having to play construction roulette.
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As this picture attests, Freda’s Seafood Grille has been
rendered all but unavailable to commercial traffic this past
week. Horrific construction coupled with City of Austin red
tape have given owner Freda Chang fits all week.
Bottom line, Freda’s is open for business, even though you
might have to navigate past a barricade or two to get there.
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It’s sad that municipal planners don’t take
into consideration the havoc that construction can cause on local
businesses, especially restaurants.
10/26
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Mysterious
Fire Spares Bakehouse
Early in the morning of October 18th, the
Bakehouse, long-time S. Austin favorite on Manchaca dodged a
bullet in the form of a fire that could have quickly engulfed the
popular restaurant.
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The arsonist had apparently also thrown a rock through the
windshield of a car owned by the owner of a beauty school
adjacent to the restaurant. This awakened the owner of the
beauty school who noticed that a fire had started in a shed
attached to the restaurant. She called the fire department
who responded, literally, in the nick of time, and doused
the blaze before it spread to the main building.
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Owner Carl Zapfe says his restaurant will open
as usual for lunch on the 19th.
10/18
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Congress
and Riverside Construction Begins: Don’t Forget About the Restaurants
Stuck in this Mess
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The City is at it again with
another road construction project impacting Congress Avenue,
Rivreside Drive, Barton Springs Road, and parts of S. 1st. I
don’t know what the hell they’re doing and it doesn’t really
matter, does it? Suffice to say, it could take up to 7 MONTHS!!!!!!! |
This means essentially
one-way traffic westbound on Riverside and on-way traffic eastbound
on Barton Springs, not to mention major gridlock on Congress.
I tried to pull into the Sonic on Riverside
to get coffee this morning and was unable to do so because there
was a line of cars a mile long in total grid lock outside the restaurant.
I am thinking about some restaurants in this
area that would be easy to ignore for awhile because of the inconvenience.
Threadgills, Zax Pints and Plates, Paggi House, Sonic, Hooters,
there’s a bunch of them.
I’m also hoping you won’t let our brilliant
planners bring ruin to these restaurants like they did to many on
Barton Springs Rd. during their construction project from hell several
years ago. (Remember that one?)
Fight your way through all the detritus and
keep going out to dine in this area. You’ll be glad you did. This
is the economic equivalent of Hurricane Rita on these restaurants..
10/11
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7
on S. Congress Closes: Collaboration of Will Packwood and Sam Dickey
In a move that shocked
many in the Austin food world last week, Will Packwood and Sam Dickey,
proprietors of 7, one of our favorite SO CO restaurants, announced
they were closing. Packwood, late of the stunningly original Emiila’s,
and Dickey, who had helmed the always popular Granite Café,
brought a bright, engaging menu to 7. The gnocchi was to die for;
the risotto as well. They insisted, however, on making their customers
part of the process by pricing their fish by the ounce. This confused
many and apparently exasperated quite a few more.
But the real killer was their decision to expand to the space next
door. Problems occurred, red tape with the city, et al, and they
wound up not being able to open the new space until early this summer.
Bad timing for a high-end restaurant.
Money got tight and a really fine restaurant bit the dust.
Meanwhile, my daughter and her college roommates at St. Edwards
went to the Olive Garden the same night. Wait was over an hour.
Go figure huh!
10/03
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Events You Might Have Missed:
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Vintners
Dinner at Selene's Bistro, Nov. 7th
Rick and Madelyn Nabor
of Flat Creek Estate are presenting a Vintners Dinner at Selen's
Bistro on Monday November 7th. They will be featuring 5 wines from
Flat Creek Estate, showcasing the fabulous range of this wonderful
winery.
They've had a lot of fun keeping their menus a secret for dinners
like these. Not this time, the evening's menu is as follows (cuisine
by Andy from Selene's Bistro):
Reception -
Muscato Blanco
First Course -
Pinot Grigio served with "Beef Carpaccio ala Selene's"
Second Course -
The new Shiraz served with a stuffed tomato with crawfish and Andouille
sausage etouffee on baby greens with a dried cherry vinaigrette
Third Course -
Super Texan Sangiovese (Double Gold Winner) served with Kurobuta
Pork Osso Bucco on a wild mushroom risotto
Dessert -
Primrose served with homemade (as always) candied ginger ice cream
in an almond tuille cup
The evenings celebration of good food, good
wine, and good friends is $65.00 per person. Reservations are required.
(512) 528-9595.
Secure your reservation with your credit card. There will be a 50%
charge for cancellations after 5 pm Thursday Nov. 3rd. (Their ordering
deadline.)
This should be a lot of fun!
10/24
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Crime
Prevention Institute 2nd Annual Wine Tasting Event
A wine tasting to benefit
the Crime Prevention Institute (CPI) will be held at the Apple Bar
in downtown Austin on Tuesday, November 1st, 2005 from 6-9pm. A
silent auction, samplings of food from local area restaurants, and
the presentation of the 2005 CPI Community Spotlight Award are among
the other attractions at the event. To purchase tickets or become
a sponsor, please visit the CPI website at www.cpiaustin.org
or call 512-502-9704.
Ten red and white wines consisting of five varietals
from five countries will be available. The tasting will be facilitated
by Vino Veritas, with on-hand expertise to talk about the subtle
and not-so-subtle differences and factors that influence the wines'
characteristics. This added dimension of the tasting should make
it both interesting and educational. Items up for bid include salon
and financial services, original art and handmade jewelry, memorabilia,
automobile detailing and expert video golf swing evaluations.
Tickets are $40 pre-purchase and $50 at the door. All proceeds benefit
CPI, a 503(c) non-profit organization providing re-entry services
for at-risk individuals to facilitate a smooth and productive transition
back into the community and break the cycle of crime.
10/14
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Zax
Pints & Plates Does Oktoberfest: October 13, 6-10pm
What's the middle of October without Oktoberfest,
that thinly veiled excuse for Germans and German wannabes the world
over to get hammered drinking those fine teutonic suds.
Well, Zax Pints and Plates, at Riverside and Barton Springs, (and
don’t be deterred by the road work around Congress and Riverside,
Zax is open and accessible) is having a big bash on October 13th
from 6-10 PM.
They're gonna have bratwursts and knockwursts and sauerkraut and
schnitzels and all kinds of German comfort food. There will be German
music by the Polkadillas. AND OF COURSE, THERE WILL BE GREAT GERMAN
BEERS.
Zax is a very cool spot and this figure to be an evening that will
linger long in the memory banks. Call the restaurant at 481-0100.
10/05
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McCormick
& Schmick's Seafood Restaurant to Participate in Dine for America
McCormick & Schmick's will participate in
Dine for America along with approximately 13,000 other restaurants
nationwide on Wednesday, October 5, beginning at 4:00 pm, to help
raise funds for Hurricanes Katrina and Rita relief efforts.
10% of each dinner entrée sold will go directly to the American
Red Cross.
For dinner reservations, please call 512-236-9600.
10/03
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Openings, Closings, and Food News & Commentary
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