Food-o-File
Food Editor Virginia B. Wood reveals the best bet for your Valentine's Day plans, among other tantalizing tidbits.
By Virginia B. Wood, Fri., Feb. 1, 2002
Valentine Plans
Special Valentine's Day dinner menus have been burning up the fax machine around my home office for the past couple of weeks. There are too many elaborate offerings to mention individually but, suffice it to say, Austin chefs will see to it that everyone has a meal to enhance the romance, so make those dinner reservations now! One event in particular that caught my eye is Jeffrey's & Jazz -- Heart to Hart, a champagne dinner and concert that is a joint venture between Jeffrey's restaurant, One World Theatre, jazz vocalist Pamela Hart, and the James Polk Quartet to benefit the theatre's arts-in-education program for children. The dinner/concert is on Thursday, February 14, at the One World Theatre and costs $200. Seating is limited to 300 people. Call 32-WORLD for reservations.
Farmer's Market Buzz
Austin's Historic Farmer's Market (6701 Burnet Rd.) is typically slow this time of year, but a new restaurant and some catering businesses are keeping it abuzz with activity even in the off season. While the established BBQ World Headquarters (323-9112) and Stone House Grill (452-1400) continue to serve their loyal clienteles, the new kid in the market is Hoover's Cooking (453-3002) with great down-home specialties for lunch, takeout, and catering during the week, and a dynamite brunch on the weekends. In fact, why their delicious, affordable weekend brunch isn't packed is a mystery to me. Have the migas, some garlic cheese grits, a few links of Elgin sausage, a tender Hoe cake soaked in syrup or some biscuits smothered in rich sausage gravy, and you'll go home happy. Meanwhile, just across the way, two new catering companies are sharing kitchen space. Weekdays, Jacqueline Elledge and her staff at the Catering Company of Austin (828-5797) are busy whipping up corporate lunches and all manner of foods for other events. On weekends, the kitchen is home to Amuse Bouche (454-0202, 453-2787), the new catering venture of Quincy Adams Erickson and Karen Farnsworth. The two Austinites met in Paris while both were studying at Le Cordon Bleu and decided to pool their culinary talents after returning to the states. Look for Amuse Bouche to provide sophisticated menus with vibrant world flavors, or, as they themselves describe it, "French food with an attitude."
Bocaditos
Rumors about the fate of Si Bon (801 S. Lamar, 326-8323, www.sibon.com) had been swirling since the beginning of the year, so I was pleased to hear from chef/owner Peter O'Brien last week. The O'Briens are pitching the new Si Bon as a bistro/wine bar with a less formal atmosphere and a simpler, more affordable menu. The restaurant has given up its mixed drink license and will now only serve beer and wine, but they plan to serve varietal flights and plenty of wines by the glass. They also plan to do lots of marketing via e-mail and the Internet, so if you're interested in news about upcoming events, their new menu, specials of the week or dinners to go, e-mail them at [email protected]... Fans of Indonesian chef Johanes Muljadi will be pleased to hear that his Java Grill Restaurant (13376 Research #100, 257-0104) is now open with a full bar. Java Grill serves lunch and dinner Monday through Saturday and serves a fabulous, and very affordable, Sunday brunch. Check out his cooking, and you'll see why the Chronicle Food staff chose Johanes as the best chef in Austin not too many years ago.
