Food-o-File: Monday Lagniappe

Sometimes there is too much Austin food news to squeeze into the print edition of the Chronicle. Rather than wait a week, we've decided to give our readers a little bite of something extra.

•The spring growing season is in full swing, which means now is the time to sign up for community supported agriculture (CSA) shares at local farms. Green Gate Farms offers $25 a week boxes with 13 different pickup spots, while Tecolote Farm has weekly prices that vary depending on home delivery ($37) or hub pickup ($33).

• One of Austin's newest catering and lunch delivery services is Bento + Picnic from chef Leanne Valenti, a graduate of Austin's Natural Epicurean Academy of Culinary Arts. Valenti's choices of bento box lunches are based on traditional Japanese techniques featuring non-GMO and organic ingredients sourced from Central Texas farms. For complete details, menus, and ordering information, call 512/987-8767 or go here.

• The Beer Plant (3110 Windsor Rd.) will be Austin's first vegan gastropub when it opens later this year in the Tarrytown space vacated by the vegetarian Austin Java. The operating team of the new business will be brothers Ray and Blaise McMackin; Ray's wife, Sarah McMackin; and their business partner, Steve Cogswell. According to press materials, the new spot will offer a hearty menu of plant-based specialties, a wide selection of craft beers with an emphasis on "sours, farmhouse styles, and session beers," in addition to local wines on tap, and a cocktail program influenced by "botanical mixology."

• Dai Due owner Jesse Griffiths has put together another one of his outdoor cooking camp experiences with a Gulf Coast Seafood & Fishing School in partnership with Coastal Wings Outfitters and Topwater Charters on Matagorda Bay. The four day, three night trip will include instruction in catching crabs and fishing as well as recipes and instruction in how to prepare the catch. In addition, the $2,250 price includes lodging and meals prepared by chef Morgan Angelone. For complete details, email [email protected]

• New Mexico chef and restaurateur Erin Wade is bringing her farm-to-table salad restaurant chain Vinaigrette to Austin this fall. Wade will transform the former Treehouse Italian Grill (2210 College Ave.) into a mid-century modern farmhouse, which is not that big a stretch when you consider that building was Austin's original Fifties-era Pig Stand restaurant. The property also includes one of the city's loveliest patios, shaded by a huge, ancient oak tree. Wade is the proprietor of Vinaigrette restaurants in both Santa Fe and Albuquerque and supplies both restaurants with seasonal vegetables, greens, and fruit grown on a farm she owns in Nambe, New Mexico. According to the press materials, she's currently looking at farms in the Bastrop area to supply her forthcoming Austin eatery.

• The Austin History Center (810 Guadalupe) hosts a book launch reception and signing for Austin's First Cookbook: Our Home Recipes, Remedies, and Rules of Thumb which was written by members of the Covenant Presbyterian Church in 1891. The book is being reissued by the AHC based on the work of city archivist and AHC director Mike Miller, who will make a short presentation during the reception and sign copies of the book afterwards. Tuesday, April 14, 6:30pm.

• If the approach of the tax filing deadline has you stressed, here are some tax day (Wednesday, April 15) events and specials that will literally lift your spirits!

Ranch 616 (616 Nueces) invites you to celebrate or grieve with a $5 "#%^& Your Taxes" margarita or "Tax Break" martini – or order one of the four special entrees paired with their signature Fire in the Hole cocktail for only $15. 11am-2pm; 5-10pm.

Spartan Pizza (1007 E. Sixth) will offer all 14 inch pizzas for $12.50 rather than $15. 11am-10pm.

South Shore District Food & Fun (1333 Shore District Dr.) will be hosted by Grayco Partners on their lawn with a live music line-up, food for purchase from several popular local food trucks, and beer for sale from nearby Buzz Mill. 6-9pm.

The historic Scoot Inn (1308 E. Fourth) hosts a launch party for the new Hot Mess food trailer operated by Kyle Lauterbach and Neely Hutchins. The party will include live music, happy hour drink prices from the bar, and special prices on some dishes from the trailer, which has a menu that includes slider swords, burgers, barbecue, and tacos. After the party, the new trailer will be a daily feature at the Scoot. 9pm-midnight. Daily hours after launch: 4pm-2am.