Feast your eyes

Austin Food + Wine Festival 2019 returns with hot events, all-star chefs, and plenty of booze

Austin Food and Wine Festival auditorium shores woman drinking wine

Austin Food + Wine Festival returns with its most popular events.

Start breaking in a new pair of shoes now. On January 24, the organizers of the Austin Food + Wine Festival announced the lineup for the 2019 party and you are going to want to hit the ground running.

The Capital City’s biggest foodie event is returning to Fair Market and Auditorium Shores on April 26-28 for another year of tasty bites, drink samples, and appearances from some of the culinary world’s biggest names. The chefs participating this year not only represent the hottest restaurants in Central Texas, but some of the most renowned eateries in the world.

As is tradition, the fun kicks off the night before the festival with Feast Under the Stars on April 25, a separately ticketed event held on the grounds of Auditorium Shores. The collaborative dinner features a family-style meal from some of the city’s most respected chefs including Kristen Kish (Arlo); Stephanie McClenny (Confituras); Nicholas Yanes (Juniper); Michael Fojtasek (Olamaie); and Grae Nonas (Carpenters Hall). The event will be a reunion of sorts for Fojtasek and Nonas, who were co-executive chefs of Olamaie before the latter parted ways with the restaurant in 2016.

The festival proper roars into town April 26 with the return of Tim Love’s popular Chillin' and Grillin'. As usual, the Lonesome Dove chef guides participants through a raucous hands-on live fire cooking demo with plenty of drinks on hand to keep the event spirited.

Rock Your Taco will also be back for 2019 to anchor the April 27 programming. Jai Malano will provide the tunes as guests graze from more than a dozen tacos, ranging from traditional to decidedly new school. A celebrity panel of judges will determine if multi-time winner Tyson Cole takes home bragging right again.

Joining Cole in the battle will be Tatsu Aikawa and Takuya Matsumoto (Ramen Tatsu-Ya, Kemuri Tatsu-Ya); Andrew Curren (ELM Restaurant Group); Jason Dady (Jason Dady Group, San Antonio); Tiffani Faison (Big Heart Hospitality, Boston); Sarah Grueneberg (Monteverde, Chicago); Antonia Lofaso (Dama, New York); Tim Love; Fermín Núñez (Suerte); Aarón Sánchez (Johnny Sánchez, New Orleans); Chris Shepherd and Nick Wong (UB Preserv, Houston); Nancy Silverton (Mozza Restaurant Group, Los Angeles); Max Snyder (Pitchfork Pretty); Jonathan Waxman (Barbuto, New York); and TV host Andrew Zimmern.

The signature attraction on both days of the fest will be the Grand Taste tents. The stellar group participating this year are Jeff Balfour (Southerleigh Fine Food & Brewery, San Antonio); John Bates and Brandon Martinez (Noble Sandwich Co.); Stephen Bonin (Geraldine's); Daniel Brooks (Licha’s Cantina); Jeff Brown (Old Thousand); Thomas Calhoun (Aviary Wine & Kitchen); Jo Chan (Eberly); Ji Peng Chen (Wu Chow); James Cole (Jacoby's Restaurant & Mercantile); Austin Ewald (Grizzelda's); Alexandra Gates (Cochineal, Marfa); and Taylor Hall (Apis).

Also on hand will be Sarah Heard and Nathan Lemley (Foreign & Domestic); Ethan Holmes (Mattie's); Clinton Kendall (East Side King); Lance Kirkpatrick (Stiles Switch BBQ & Brew); Geronimo Lopez (Botika, San Antonio); Jason McVearry and Trisha Fortuna (Poke Poke); Brian Moses (Olive & June); Ashley Neave (Forthright); Josh Neises (Lonesome Dove); Steve Nelson (Wild Kitchen + Bar); David Norman (Easy Tiger Bake Shop & Beer Garden); Daniel Olivella (Barlata); Ling Qi Wu (Lin Asian Bar); Sterling Ridings (Guild); Maribel Rivero (Yuyo); James Robert (Fixe); Ryan Samson (Vespaio); Charles Schlienger (Sway); Eric Silverstein (The Peached Tortilla); Anthony Sobotik (Lick Honest Ice Creams); Lakana Sopajan-Trubiana (Dee Dee); Carmen Valera (Tamale House East); and Kevin Williamson (Ranch 616).

Throughout the festival grounds, Sonya Coté (Eden East, Hillside Farmacy); Lance Kirkpatrick (Stiles Switch BBQ & Brew); Evan LeRoy (LeRoy and Lewis); and Wayne Mueller (Louie Mueller Barbecue) will helm interactive Fire Pits. Andrew Wiseheart will also host Contigo Catering & Friends, an expanded fire pit area featuring a few surprise guests.

The culinary talent will be joined by an array of sommeliers and beverage experts. Devon Broglie (associate global beverage buyer, Whole Foods Market) and Craig Collins (Italian portfolio sales manager, Vintus) have been confirmed but more headliners will be announced throughout the spring.

Tickets are available now. The All-In pass, at $625 per person, gives guests access to the Chillin’ and Grillin’ event with Tim Love, Rock Your Taco, and both days of the festivities. The $250 Weekender ticket includes access to the chef showcase, the Fire Pits, and a Sunday morning gospel brunch.

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Back to the Plow

Homey Austin jam and bake shop closing and returning to farmers market

Confituras/Instagram

Confituras Little Kitchen is closing its brick-and-mortar store, but feeling optimistic about the future.

A famers market find is returning to its natural environment after six years in a brick-and-mortar location. Confituras Little Kitchen, which specializes in locally sourced preserves, is closing its jam and biscuit shop after service on Sunday, December 22. However, it will continue selling goods at the Barton Creek Farmers Market and via retailers.

Confituras announced the change in a newsletter to its customers in December. The letter called the news "bittersweet."

"Although the brick and mortar will no longer be, the good news is that this will be a fresh new start for us – we are bursting with energy and creativity at the thought of being back out in the community where it all started for confituras," it said.

The kitchen is closing because the lease is up, and the team has decided to "give up the chase." The newsletter emphasized the ups-and-downs of business over the past several years — ones that were chaotic for just about any business, let alone a small, fairly niche food operation.

"So much has happened since we decided to open a brick + mortar – a wonderful kickstarter fundraiser, THE PANDEMIC, the AFTER-EFFECTS OF THE PANDEMIC, and an ever growing city," the letter says. "We tried so very hard but never really got our footing. We know we are not alone, many small business are in the same boat. We renewed our lease during the pandemic because we were hopeful we could make it work - the changing times had other ideas."

Finally, it shared how customers could keep enjoying Confituras creations:

The Barton Creek Farmers Market is open at 2901 S. Capital of Texas Hwy. every Saturday from 9 am to 1 pm.
A list on confituras.net compiles retailers including Royal Blue Grocery, Farmhouse Delivery, and Antonelli's Cheese Shop.
Jam share and Table22 subscription customers will have more instructions coming soon about picking up their goods in January at the same space, 2129 Goodrich Ave.
Customers may also reach out to inquire about continuing to order meals directly.

The kitchen also hosted frequent events and workshops, but the letter did not address this aspect of the business.

A shorter message shared on Instagram has inspired 63 comments so far, five days later. Customers eulogized the shop for its community feel and providing a sense of regularity during the height of the pandemic thanks to weekend pick-ups.