This means treble

Central Austin lounge sets new tone for Highland neighborhood

The Long Play Lounge puts the needle on the record of Central Austin's bar scene.

Photo courtesy of the Long Play Lounge

Royal Jelly may have closed in December 2018, but music is still in the air at 704 W. St. Johns Ave. A group comprised of a club owner, a musician, and a bonafide punk icon have transformed the space into Austin’s latest nightlife jam.

The Long Play Lounge is a collaboration between Will Tanner of Hole in the Wall and Stay Gold, popular musician Mike Therieau, and John Doe of Los Angeles rock pioneers X. The space snuck onto the scene prior to SXSW, but is now finally gearing up for its grand opening on April 28 — a delay in part due to the partners' various touring schedules.

According to general manager Tate Mayeux — himself one half of “swampy tonk” duo Mayeux and Broussard — the idea came about in casual conversation. Mayeux, Tanner, and Doe all live near Hyde Park and often bemoaned the lack of bar options in the area. When Royal Jelly owner Evan Garrett psychedelic bar and eatery in December 2018 in order to move to Washington, D.C., the group snagged it to open a lounge.

“As musicians, we wanted a hangout,” explains Mayeux, “but didn’t want to do another music venue.”

Long Play will not host live performances, but music is still very much a part of its DNA. The bar plans to regularly host listening parties from both local and national acts, like a recent one from gothic Americana troubadour Garner Sloan.

“The whole record release thing is such a pain in the ass,” says Mayeux. The idea, he says, is to give bands a more intimate way to interact with fans.

The melodic theme continues to the bar, where the team had some fun in naming the cocktails. The Marga-Reba, an homage to country’s most famous redhead, comes in three versions: a regular, a fancy, and a Fancy Don’t Let Me Down. Likewise, a Fernet, tequila, lime, and ginger beer sipper is called the Fernetta Lynn, despite its namesake’s demand, “Don’t Come Home A-Drinkin’.”

The rest of the drinks program is minimal with around 11 beers in cans, two drafts, and a couple of ciders. Mayeux says with all of the offerings, the team wanted to provide high-end brands but still keep the prices affordable. Cocktails hover between $8-$9.

The food is kept simple. Moving away from Royal Jelly’s broad internationally inspired menu, Long Play offers a handful of snacks like chips and salsa and “ripping” meat and vegan chilis. Mayeux says the team is still in the process of finding the perfect queso recipe.

Perfect queso or not, the bar will likely prove to be popular in the underserved area. In an increasingly pricey Austin, bars that mix the high and low like Nickel City, Frazier’s, and Tanner’s own Stay Gold are proving to hit just the right note.

cocktails craft-beer openings drinks

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.