whet your appetite

Austin Food & Wine Festival kicks off behind-the-scenes video series with Sway's modern Thai

To prep your palette in advance of three-days of nonstop noshing in April, the Austin Food & Wine Festival team debuts a video series in which they go behind the scenes with culinary experts around town.

Hit play and you'll be given a rare glimpse into the kitchens of the most renowned establishments in Austin: line cooks move with dexterity; chefs reveal the personalities that define their kitchens; and theories in complimentary courses are unveiled.

Kicking off with current culinary darling about town, Sway, C3 Festival Marketing Director Lisa Hickey explains that the video series was born out of curiosity.

"This series satisfies our craving to learn more about current culinary innovators and to just geek out about all things epicurean." - Lisa Hickey

"This series satisfies our craving to learn more about current culinary innovators and to just geek out about all things epicurean," Hickey tells CultureMap. "We wanted to create a platform that highlights the stories behind some of the people and places that make Austin such an incredible food destination."

In the first installment, Executive Chef Rene Ortiz of Sway says of the restaurant's modern Thai concept, "The cuisine is a take on using our fresher ingredients here in Austin and applying them to the traditions and culture of Thailand…One of our signature dishes would be the [prawn] miang. It's 'build your own taco.' Every global city has their own taco — this is the Thai version of it."

Fittingly, Sway chefs Ortiz and Laura Sawicki will showcase their prowess in the Rock Your Taco Showdown during the Food & Wine Festival, but we recommend making a trip to the restaurant's South First location for an evening of experimental, robust flavors. You live here — why wait?

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Videos will be released on a rolling basis prior to the Austin Food & Wine Festival, April 26 - 28. Purchase tickets here.

Nice Play

Sixth Street icehouse branches out with posh, old-school sports club

WTF Sporting Club interior

Photo by Richard Casteel, courtesy of WTF Sporting Club

This classy interior belongs to a sports bar, nontheless.

There’s no shortage of spots to grab a drink in East Austin. But despite the area’s wide range of bar offerings — from cocktail lounges to dives — it comes up surprisingly short on sports bars. Enter Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (WTF) Sporting Club, which is taking over the giant East 7th space vacated earlier this year by Easy Tiger.

In true sports bar fashion, it’s slated to open September 6, just in time for the UT-Michigan game the next day. But the probable new hotspot isn’t sticking to the contemporary sports bar script; it’ll tie in some chichi lounge elements, making this an updated take on the sporting, country, and hunting clubs of yore.

Following a string of labor disputes, Easy Tiger quietly closed its East Austin location in April 2024, citing “challenging weather conditions and increased costs.” Since then, a real estate sign outside the huge empty lot at 1501 E. 7th St. has teased a new “built-out restaurant [and] patio coming soon.” The space spans almost an entire city block.

WTF Sporting Club is the second location from the team behind WTF Icehouse on West Sixth. Though some features of the icehouse will carry over to the sports club — like WTF’s logo of a flirty fox holding a rose and a liquor bottle — this new indoor-outdoor space will be “a little more fancy and fun,” says co-owner Habib Bakshi.

WTF Sporting Club interior Many people wouldn't associate this beautiful cocktail bar with sports.Photo by Richard Casteel, courtesy of WTF Sporting Club

The fancier feel will be mostly indoors. Think of the requisite sports bar TVs, but surrounded by warm lighting and ornate rugs, plus chandeliers and greenery draped from the ceiling. The adjoining patio lets loose with a more traditional sports bar vibe: a turf lawn, giant screen, entertainment deck, and container bar.

Despite the opposing levels of formality, Bakshi says the team wants WTF’s sprawling new space to feel cohesive. That’s in contrast to what some might remember from the old Easy Tiger, where patrons faced a longish trek between the casual umbrellaed patio and industrial-feeling indoor café. So, WTF’s sporty patio still boasts a few upscale features, including semi-private cabanas,which are also chandelier-bedazzled and reservation-only at night.

WTF offers crowd-pleasing cocktails like prickly pear margaritas and espresso martinis, while the food menu combines classic sports bar fare like wings and burgers with fusion items, like Bao Bun Flights.

WTF Sporting Club dishes This mix of tradition and fusion fits the space perfecty.Photo by Richard Casteel, courtesy of WTF Sporting Club

WTF Sporting Club interior

Photo by Richard Casteel, courtesy of WTF Sporting Club

This classy interior belongs to a sports bar, nontheless.

One fancy feature that won’t transfer to the new location: WTF Icehouse’s one-time dress code. Just “don’t come naked,” Bakshi jokes.

Though WTF plans to highlight major sports events, the venue has entertainment options beyond sports-viewing, including live bands, deejays, an arcade, and live podcast tapings. And with so much space, the WTF team hopes to eventually make it a place not just to watch, but also to play sports like volleyball or pickleball.

“We really want it to be the mini Disneyland of the East Side,” Bakshi says.

Bakshi joined the team in 2023. A serial entrepreneur and digital marketing CEO, he was brought on by WTF Icehouse co-owners Shabawn Espili and Kahran Espili to help WTF scale up — expanding first to new Austin locations and then to other cities.

Located at 1501 E. 7th St., WTF Sporting Club’s hours will be Mondays through Fridays from 4 pm to 2 am and Saturdays and Sundays from 11 am to 2 am. Happy hour is 4 to 6 pm Mondays through Fridays.

openings cocktails sports

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