Lustre Pearl Returns

Iconic bar Lustre Pearl returns to Rainey Street with a brand-new look

Sandwiched between Bar 96 and Bungalow in the city’s trendy nightlife district is a bar that’s planting roots on Rainey Street for the second time.

Opening quietly on Wednesday night, Lustre Pearl, the Bridget Dunlap bar that started it all, reintroduced itself to the neighborhood sparking nostalgia for anyone who walked through its original doors. She’s still the same gal we came to love, just dressed up in a brand-new outfit.

Touches of the old Lustre Pearl can be found throughout: exposed wood, pops of turquoise, and dusty vintage decor. Francisco Arredondo of North Arrow Studio designed the space — this time to more closely match the aesthetics that Rainey Street as a whole has taken on. But the real stunner of the new Lustre is the rooftop patio and bar, which boasts a fantastic view of the downtown Austin skyline.

The backyard’s red fence, emblazoned with the familiar phrase, “Welcome home,” hula-hoops, and a soon-to-come pingpong table harken back to the old days of Lustre Pearl. The immediately recognizable iron fence has also been put back in. The one thing missing is the iconic house, which will remain at Lustre Pearl's second location off East Cesar Chavez Street.

As with anything in Austin, permitting caused some delays, but the Dunlap ATX group was eager to re-open its first Austin baby. While finishing touches are still being made, in the near future you can expect large TVs for sports watching and movie nights, as well as a food truck.

It's a strange feeling sitting on the new front porch, looking at where the old Lustre Pearl used to live and seeing the condos that replaced it still under construction. After having success in a similar neighborhood in Houston, Dunlap opened the original Lustre Pearl on a street that, at the time, people thought was a crazy location. But once Lustre Pearl parked itself on the corner of Rainey and Driskill streets, the block exploded into the bustling district it is today.

Lustre Pearl is open Monday through Thursday from 4 pm to 2 am, Friday through Sunday from noon to 2 am.

Lustre Pearl has finally returned home to Rainey Street.

Lustre Pearl Rainey March 2016 welcome home porch

Photo by Nicole Raney

Lustre Pearl has finally returned home to Rainey Street.

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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.