Food-o-File
Everything is still happening in October!
By Virginia B. Wood, Fri., Oct. 15, 2004
Everything Happens in October II
Local restaurateur Al Zare called to tell me his local coffee shop franchise started in the Davenport Ranch Center with 360 Uno Espresso & Vino (327-4448, 3801 Capital of TX Hwy. N., www.360uno.com). The first shop also offers delectable imported Italian coffees and gelatos, plus an assortment of breakfast pastries. The attached cafe serves pizzas, pastas, and salads for lunch and dinner... Carlos Rivero of El Chile Cafe & Cantina (457-9900, 1809 Manor Rd.) says they've resumed serving weekday lunches in response to customer demand and will continue their popular Sunday brunch. Rivero is busy building a little empire on Manor Road's Restaurant Row. He and hot local restaurant designer Joel Mozersky are hard at work transforming a long-abandoned fast-food outlet at the corner of Manor and Cherrywood into a hip new taqueria and coffee shop called El Chilito. Look for the new spot to open later this fall serving a full complement of coffee drinks, empanadas, and tacos for breakfast and lunch. Once El Chilito is up and running, the two Alamo City natives plan to create a San Antonio-style ice house in the old filling station across Manor Road from El Chile sometime next year... Speaking of brunches, we checked out the new Sunday offering at the Moonshine Patio Bar & Grill (236-9599, 303 Red River). Comfortable indoor/outdoor seating, nice ambience, friendly staff, and considering the bountiful array of choices, an incredible bargain for the price! Wayne Wilborn, new general manager of Umi Sushi (383-8681, 5510 S. I-35 #400) advises us that the place is under new management with new chefs in both the kitchen and at the sushi bar. Wilborn encourages folks to come see what's cooking... Restaurant 7 (383-8877, 1716 S. Congress) is in the news again. Manager and wine director Darcy Jane Fromholz has left the eatery in preparation for her upcoming London wedding! She leaves the country to join her new love in early November, so get her to tell you the engaged-in-two-weeks story before she leaves. Meanwhile, former Austin pastry chef Philip Speer is returning to town after a stint at Jean-Georges' posh downtown Houston restaurant and will take over the pastry department at 7 in a matter of weeks... Chefs Andy and Kristie Sasser (with new daughter Audrey) are also back in town. Andy just took over the kitchen at Mezzaluna (472-6770, 310 Colorado), and we don't know yet who will be lucky enough to have Kristie on their range... The best tasting thing I've sipped in quite a while is fresh pressed apple cider from Bat Creek Farm near Bertram. Farmers Kim and Jacque McBride sell it by the cup at the Downtown Farmers' Market (Republic Square, Fourth & Guadalupe) on Saturday mornings... The next Eat, Drink, Watch Movies is scheduled for Monday, Nov. 8, at the Alamo Drafthouse Downtown. We'll be screening Salma Hayek's provocative bio-pic Frida, about famed Mexican painter Frida Kahlo, with an elegant Interior Mexican menu designed and presented by chef Alex Duran of Málaga. Brush up your mustache and join us that evening.
Event Menu: Oct. 15-21
Attend the grand opening of the Westlake Farmers Market (www.westlakefarmersmarket.com) in their brand-new luxuriously large space where there'll be more than 70 vendors of freshly grown, produced, and prepared good foods, live music, food samples from some of Austin's best restaurant chefs, plenty of children's activities, and acres of parking. Saturday morning, Oct. 16, from 9:30am to 1pm in the Burger Center parking lot on Highway 290 West between Brodie Lane and Westgate Boulevard.
The Green Corn Project (249-3171) takes over the verdant grounds of Boggy Creek Farm for its annual fundraiser with chef-cooking demos, taste samples from 20 of Austin's best restaurants, farm tours, live music, a raffle of items from local businesses, a children's play area, and plenty of free parking. All proceeds go into the organic gardens Green Corn volunteers provide for their clientele. Call GCP for tickets, which are $25 in advance, $30 at the door; children 12 and younger are free. This Sunday afternoon, Oct. 17, from noon to 5pm at Boggy Creek Farm (3414 Lyons Rd.).
The Vegetarian Network of Austin hosts the 16th annual Lonestar Vegetarian Chili Cook-Off at the Austin Zoo this weekend. For more information about prizes, rules, and entry fees, go to www.vegnetaustin.org. Tickets are $5 at the door this Sunday, Oct. 17, from noon to 4pm at the Austin Zoo, 10807 Rawhide Trail, 21/2 miles past the Y in Oak Hill off Highway 290 West.
