Food-o-File
Happenings at Matt's El Rancho, Boggy Creek, Basil's, and more.
By Virginia B. Wood, Fri., July 19, 2002
The most happening party in Austin during the Fourth of July weekend had to have been the 50th anniversary bash at Matt's El Rancho (2613 S. Lamar, 462-9333) on Sunday, July 7. Thousands of longtime customers, friends, former employees, and family members flocked to Matt's to congratulate matriarch Janie Martinez, her children, and her grandchildren on 50 successful years in the restaurant business. Declining health kept the restaurant's founder, the self-styled "King of Mexican Food" Matt Martinez Sr. from attending, but he was there in spirit and many photographs. Felicitaciones!
Chef's Day Out
The man sporting a pirate's head-rag and gold earring in the fields at Boggy Creek Farm (3414 Lyons, 926-4650) a few days every week is Eric Polzer, sous chef and forager at Wink (1014 Lamar, 482-8868). Polzer told us of his serious interest in the farm-to-table connection earlier this year (austinchronicle.com/issues/dispatch/2002-02-22/food_feature.html), and since then he has been doing more about it than talking. Polzer and Wink co-owner Mark Paul tend a large garden in Paul's back yard that supplies the restaurant with herbs and vegetables, and Polzer is interning at Boggy Creek to learn everything he can about organic farming from Larry Butler and Carol Ann Sayle. His long-term goal is to someday farm on land that his family owns near Schulenberg, but for now he's just making sure that customers at Wink dine on as much farm-fresh, seasonal organic produce as he can raise for them.
Hen House Star
Speaking of Boggy Creek, one of the denizens of their famous hen house earned $20 worth of feed for herself and her sisters last week by appearing in a television commercial. The star was said to be unruffled by her one-day brush with fame and is back among her sisters, performing her regular duties. A chicken with a television career isn't the farm's only recent claim to fame. Check out the newest issue of Fine Cooking magazine, in which information about and photos of Boggy Creek's marvelous smoke-dried tomatoes fill the back cover. Folks who've been waiting for smoke-dried tomatoes since the Food Finds segment in March will be pleased to know that it won't be long before the 2002 crop is ready for sale.
Wine Dinner
Basil's (900 W. 10th, 477-5576) hosts a wine dinner that will include a vertical tasting of Silver Oak Vineyards' Alexander Valley Cabernets paired with a menu created by chef Mick Carpenter on Thursday, July 25. Reservations required.
Hurry, Hurry, Hurry!
Today, Thursday, July 18, is the last day to make reservations to watch La Strada and eat a five-course Italian meal under the Alamo Drafthouse Downtown Big Top (419 Colorado, 476-1320, www.drafthouse.com). Seating starts tonight at 6:30; dinner and a movie at 7pm. Hurry, Hurry, Hurry!
