The Blanton Bake-Off Returns, Good Food Foundation Taps Austin Winners, Here Comes the Texas Wine Auction, Lucky Robot Hypes the Tuna, Oseyo Gets Streety with Anju Banju on Thursdays, and More

Here’s some of what's happening in Austin's culinary scene – as wrangled from numerous PR releases, words on the digital street, and even the occasional (verified) IRL eavesdroppings.

Make food? Make art! The Blanton's popular Bake-Off returns

Yes, citizen, here’s the latest installment of your “Food News Buffet,” come what May.

(Get it? Come what May? omg are we a riot or what)

It’s time for the Blanton Bake-Off again! The Blanton Museum of Art (200 E. MLK) invites art lovers and bakers of all levels and ages to participate in the Blanton’s fourth annual virtual Bake-Off. Participants in Central Texas and beyond are encouraged to make edible recreations of artworks from the museum’s collection. This contest, started in 2020 as part of the Blanton’s #MuseumFromHome program, has become a popular annual event with hundreds of online voters choosing the winners – and last year’s winning creations were featured in Smithsonian Magazine. Note: Entries will be accepted in three categories: Under-18, Adult Amateur, and Adult Professional. A public vote to pick a winner in all three categories will take place on the Blanton’s social media pages on World Baking Day, Wed., May 17 …

Also each year, the Good Food Foundation recognizes exceptional food and drink crafters in 18 categories from across the United States, featuring the exceptional makers whose products excelled on the basis of taste, while also demonstrating a deep commitment to sustainable environmental and social practices. Out of this year’s 237 winners, four of them are from around these here parts: Madhu Chocolate, with their Saffron Milk bar of 45% cacao; El Meteoro, with their Super Green Cremosa sauce; Greater Goods Roasting Company’s Sumatra Ribang Gayo Natural; and Vista Brewing’s Hive Mind, a collaboration honey ale.

They’re “aging like fine wine, an’ sipping it too.” That is to say, the Italian excellence of Il Brutto (1601 E. Sixth) is partying up a fifth anniversary on April 27, with an evening of live music, frozen spritzes, and tunes by DJ Ferno …

And you know this year’s Texas Wine Auction is coming up on Saturday, April 29, out there at the Vista Oaks Center in Fredericksburg, right? (We told you some interesting things about the first one, didn't we?) Incredible food, brilliant wine, and ooooh, those auction items (e.g., a VIP trip to California’s Napa Valley) …

Lucky Robot celebrates World Tuna Day in savory style

And let’s see – what else, what else? You Grill Girl’s smoking it up at Franklin Barbecue on Thursday, April 27 … Lucky Robot celebrates World Tuna Day on Tue., May 2 … L'Oca d'Oro's Pasta Paisanos returns that night as well … Wednesday’s Taste of Mexico is precisely what you need to spice up your dining night … although that evening’s Tour de Farm from Urban Roots is at least equally temping … and a new Chuy’s is opening in Mueller … and A. Richmond tells us how we can Eat Trash and Save the Planet … and Food editor Melanie Haupt’s got the lowdown on Emmer & Rye’s new Ezov (among even more news) …

WUXTRY! Crawfish season’s here again, right? And so there’ll be hella much mudbug-feasting all over town, right? Yeah, well, heads-up: We can’t imagine what could possibly match this boil coming up at Olamaie (1610 San Antonio St.) on Sunday, May 7, with chefs Michael Fojtasek, Amanda Turner, Jules Stoddart, and Gregory Martinez, each contributing their own takes on crawfish – with bread by MaieB Hospitality’s chef Carlyle Wyatt. For real, better get your pincers on those tickets while you can …

BONUS WUXTRY! Starting on May 11, that beautiful bastion of modern Korean-American succulence called Oseyo (1628 E. Cesar. Chavez) will present Anju Banju popup nights weekly on Thursdays, featuring live music from local artists, a curated menu of street-style foods like panko-crusted k-dogs, soy-marinated brisket, gochugaru cotton candy, and more. Oh, now you know where you’ll be on Thursdays …

Now eat as well as you can, tip like it’s going out of style, and love the one you’re with.