Five Food Celebrations to Fill Your Belly

East Austin neighborhood favorite Rosewood launches a new lunch menu Tuesday, Nov. 13, focusing on seasonal ingredients while reflecting Chef Jesse DeLeon’s South Texas roots.

They’ll feature dishes like braised greens with black-eyed peas, crispy mushrooms, and cornbread; a pork confit pozole with cabbage and corn tortillas; a fried chicken sandwich with queso fresco and salsa roja; and a patty melt with poblano queso and tomato jam on a brioche. Lunch is served daily, 11am-2pm.

The Choco Taco at Holy Roller (Photo by John Anderson)

Shake Shack’s monthly community run, Shack Track & Field, is Tuesday, Nov. 13, at 7pm. Under the auspices of Run Lab Austin, the Shack Track & Field run gathers community members every second Tuesday of the month and involves a free 3-4 mile community run inclusive for all ages and abilities. This month, two routes will be available from the Shack North Austin and Shack South Austin, and, as a reward for all that hard work, your first drink back at the Shack is on the house.

Mini kamayan platter at Be More Pacific (Photo courtesy of Be More Pacific)

Beloved food truck Be More Pacific celebrates their one year anniversary on Thursday, Nov. 15, with a special event featuring a special menu, Filipino dancers, and more. The celebration begins with a suckling pig starter (a traditional Filipino celebration food) roasted by Chef Salvador “Buddy” Melgarejo and a mini kamayan platter featuring pork ribs three ways: adobo, asado, and Filipino barbecue-style.

The menu debuts five new dishes, including binagoongang gulay (squash, long beans, eggplant, and red onion sautéed in shrimp paste); ginataang gulay (pork with squash, long beans, eggplant, and red onion stewed in coconut milk); kilawin (Filipino ceviche made with tuna); pares (Filipino beef stew); and bicol express (pork sautéed in shrimp paste and coconut milk atop green mango).

For dessert, there will be halo-halo, a Be More Pacific fan favorite featuring Amy’s Ice Cream and ube, a sweet purple yam. Filipino dancers from the Filipino Students Association at the University of Texas in Austin will be performing throughout the evening, and there will be a raffle and giveaways, including a free T-shirt giveaway. Tickets are $37 in advance and $45 at the door. Bonus: Kids eat free!

Pretzel Croissant at The Brewer’s Table (Photo by John Anderson)

On Friday, Nov. 16, and Saturday, Nov., 17, Horseshoe Bay Resort celebrates its 14th annual Wine, Dine, and Jazz Festival. It’s a whole weekend full of celebrity chef cooking demonstrations, live jazz, Texas Hill Country wine tastings (with food pairings), and more. Kicking off Friday with a five-course dinner – with each course paired with wine from a Hill Country winery and the Jon Klekman Trio playing live – the event continues Saturday with a day of cooking demonstrations from Sarah Penrod (author of The Urban Cowgirl Cookbook), James Beard Award nominee Roberto Madrid, and Chopped winner Shehu Fitzgerald. The culminating event is the Wine and Dine Stroll on Saturday afternoon, where attendees can taste wine from all over the Hill Country, sample bites from local restaurants, and watch vendors compete for the Silver Spoon Award, which is given to the best taste of the festival. The Huntertones will provide live music during the event. Tickets are available here.

The James Beard Foundation’s 2018 Taste America event comes to Austin on the weekend of November 15-17 for three days of delicious events celebrating American foodways. The main event is the Night of Culinary Stars gala dinner on Nov. 16, an evening of culinary delights benefitting the foundation. Dinner will kick off with a reception filled with cocktails and hors d’oeuvres from local chefs and restaurateurs, including Kemuri Tatsuya’s Tatsu Aikawa, Zach Hunter of The Brewer’s Table, and Holy Roller’s Callie Speer. Afterward, guests will be seated for a three-course dinner prepared by Taste America Visiting All-Stars Sara Kramer and Sarah Hymanson and Local All-Star Michael Fojtasek, chef at Olamaie. To cap off the evening, guests will be treated to a walk-around dessert reception featuring sweet bites from Emmer & Rye’s Tavel Bristol-Joseph, Uchi + Uchiko’s Ariana Quant, and Sarah Prieto.