Food News & Commentary

• Cakes by Hand: You gotta try this!
• Marge Kinsella, Owner of the Emerald Restaurant, Passes Away
• Hilton Roars into Town with 800 Rooms, 3 Restaurants
• Heading to Vegas? You Must Try AquaKnox

Restaurant Events

• Phoenix Pai Celebrates The Opening of Tokyo Steakhouse in Round Rock

Openings

• Phoenix Pai opens Tokyo Steakhouse in the La Frontera Mall in Round Rock

Closings

• Dan McKlusky's at the Arboretum Closes: Downtown Location to Remain Open
• Cafe Spiazzo on Parkcrest closes
• More on the UR Cooks story
• The Belgian Restaurant in Westlake Closes
• UR Cooks phone number disconnected
• Ray's Steakhouse on Guadalupe Closes!

• News Archives

Cakes by Hand: You gotta try this!

Had an opportunity yesterday to sample a fresh, Apple Walnut Cake by Donna Maxwell, proprieter of Cakes by Hand. It was delicious. Donna will bake to order and can ship to any location you desire. Email address is dcmaxwell@hotmail.com or call 512-291-1525.

01/07

Marge Kinsella, Owner of the Emerald Restaurant, Passes Away

Marge Kinsella, owner of The Emerald Restaurant on Highway 71, died early Monday morning, January 5th, after a long battle with cancer. She was much beloved both by those in the restaurant community and her many loyal customers. She will be missed.
Those interested in attending the memorial service or making a donation in Marge's name can call 263-2147. Funeral arrangements are still pending.

01/05

Hilton Roars into Town with 800 Rooms, 3 Restaurants

The long awaited opening of the downtown Hilton Hotel has finally occurred. A ribbon-cutting ceremony on Monday, January 5th, was the final event in the opening ceremonies. The hotel announced that a suite on the 25th floor would be named after beloved ex UT football coach Darrel Royal and his wife Edith. I think it's safe to say that Hilton execs left no stone unturned in trying to curry favor with the locals. The Hilton is the first hotel in the city with enough space to trigger bookings for large convention groups. That may explain how 70% of their first 100,000 room nights in 2004 have been booked by groups who have never before held a meeting in Austin.

The hotel has three restaurants: the first, called The Finn and Porker, features premium steaks, seafood, and sushi. The more casual restaurant is called The Liberty Tavern and serves comfort foods and regional cuisine. And there's also a coffee emporium known as the Java Coast.

While hotel cuisine had never been a strong part of Austin's earlier dining history, the past 6-7 years have seen the emergece of the Cafe at the Four Seaons, The Driskill Grill, and Rojo Red (at the Marriott). These are all excellent "hotel" restaurants. Here's hoping that the Hilton's fare is equal to that of its stellar competition. Good for us foodies if that proves to be the case.

Call 482-8000 for more information or visit their website at www.hiltonaustin.com.

01/05

Heading to Vegas? You Must Try AquaKnox

Just got back from Vegas where we had the opportunity to watch our daughter Lauren and the St. Edwrads Lady Hilltoppers play hoops and, of course, got to do some excellent dining. My favorite new find: the wonderful seafood restarant at the Venetian called AquaKnox. Seafood is the fare here and it's flown in fresh daily. We had a grilled Maine lobster basted in just a touch of truffle oil. Presented in a shell, it was an absuolute delight.

We also tried a Butter Nut Squash Soup topped with chunks of duck confit that was excellent. The freshness of the food was surpassed only by the ingenuity of the chef. This restaurant is only recently open, and has not yet been discovered by the cognoscenti. For reservations, call (702) 414-1000.

Phoenix Pai opens Tokyo Steakhouse in the La Frontera Mall in Round Rock

Busy week for Phoenix Pai. She has sold her acclaimed Chinese restaurant and Sushi Bar, Peony, on Parkcrest, and has opened a new restaurant, Tokyo Steakhouse, at La Frontera Mall in Round Rock. First day of business was December 26th.

Tokyo Steakhouse will feature Tepanyaki style grilling along with other Japanese delights. We'll have more on the cuisine as soon as Rob pays a visit.

01/16

Dan McKlusky's at the Arboretum Closes: Downtown Location to Remain Open

Joining Ray's Steakhouses, which closed last year, steakhouse Dan McKlusky's has permanently closed its Arboretum location. Owner Steve Batlin, burdened by a $26,000 rent bill, simply couldn't make the equation work. The landlord would not renogiate the lease. Too bad. Can't imagine another owner operated restaurant taking on that kind of overhead. So guess what we'll probably see if the space is taken over by a restaurant? Can you spell O-L-I-V-E G-A-R-D-E-N?

The 6th St.location of McKlusky's will continue on in a business as usual mode.

01/27

Cafe Spiazzo on Parkcrest closes

Sorry to report that Cafe Spiazzo on Parkcrest has closed. It wasn't long ago that they had locations in Westlake and in North Austin. But the little, family-styled Italian restaurant is no more. I enjoyed Cafe Spiazzo and I'll miss them.

01/23

More on the UR Cooks story

Got a call from the leasing agent for the commercial property at 183 and Burnet where UR Cooks was located. Apparently, the UR Cooks store was doing well: grossing over $120,000 per month. But extensive losses from an unprofitable investment in the Chelsea Street Pub chain forced the family that owned UR Cooks to give up the store.

I had not realized how many fans UR Cooks had in the Austin area. We were deluged with emails from readers all over the city. Well, perhaps some budding entrepreneur will read this and sieze the opportunity to fill an unmet need.

01/19

The Belgian Restaurant in Westlake Closes

After years of being the preemminent restaurant in the Westlake area, The Belgian Restaurant closed recently. It had been an excellent restaurant until the departure of Chef Christian Ebersole several years ago. He had been able to make their smallish kichen work miracles. But it just wasn't the same after that.

Good news though: The Cellar next door on Bee Caves Rd. has now opened an outside wine bar for sipping and tasting.

01/13

UR Cooks phone number disconnected

I never did understand why people would want to go to a restaurant where they had to cook their own steak. But UR Cooks has been popular for many years. They are now, however, apparently closed. The number is disconnected. More on this story as we learn the facts.

01/12

Ray's Steakhouse on Guadalupe Closes!

One of my favorite restaurants in the River City, Ray's Steakhouse, on Guadalupe, closed on December 24th. Earlier this year, he had been forced to closed his second restaurant on Research near Anderson Mill because of reduced business due to the construction ugliness and impassability of that part of 183.

Big Ray Lemay was a larger-than-life character, a bon vivant and wine enthusiast, who wanted to do a steakhouse where people could have a great meal, an excellent bottle of wine, and get out without putting a 2nd mortgage on their home.

He took over the site of the former Ruth's Chris on Guadalupe, and in my opinion, accomplished all of his goals and then some. His pork chops, ribeyes, chicken fried chicken, lobster.....and the numerous and complimentary "sides" that accompanied each meal, were mostly excellent.

Yet, when his lease expired, he chose not to renew it. Unlike other restaurants that have closed this year for lack of business, every time I was in there, the place was crowded. But hiis son, Little Ray, said that Ray and his wife are going to take a month or two off, and then perhaps contemplate a new concept. While I am sad that they didn't keep the fires going at Ray's, I wish them the best in whatever venture they choose.

01/05

Phoenix Pai Celebrates The Opening of Tokyo Steakhouse in Round Rock

We had a blast last week as Phoenix Pai celebrated the opening of her new Tokyo Steakhouse (some have asked it it's a chain: no, it's NOT). It's in the La Frontera Shopping Center off Highway 1325 in Round Rock. Not too far from Krispy Kreme...

Click here for pictures

01/27