Carving new spaces

Steakhouse sensation carves outs new location in dynamic Austin development

CARVE American Grille will open its second location in Austin later this year at The Grove.

Courtesy of CARVE American Grille

The Grove is already growing. The dynamic mixed-use community located at 45th and Bull Creek will welcome its lead tenant later this year, thanks to an announcement from Perry’s Restaurants.

Carve American Grille, the popular Southwest Austin offshoot of Perry's Steakhouse & Grille, will open its second location at The Grove in late 2022, the restaurant group has announced.

Developed by renowned restaurateur Chris Perry, Carve pays tribute to the original butcher shop Perry’s father founded in Houston in 1979. The concept reinvents the "American grille" experience by utilizing live fire, smoke, and wood grilling techniques across the menu and pulling inspiration from Perry’s Steakhouse & Grille.

Menu highlights include wagyu meatloaf cupcakes and a long bone chicken-fried pork chop, both featured on the Food Network and Cooking Channel in 2021. Even signature salads, desserts, and cocktail options deliver a delicious and memorable smoky experience.

“We are thankful to the Austin community for frequenting our first location of Carve in the Barton Creek area and wanted to share this special experience with even more of Austin,” says Chris Perry, founder and owner of Perry’s Restaurants. “We’re working diligently to bring you an amazing second location, slated to open just in time for the 2022 holiday season.”

Designed in partnership with Aria Group Architects, the 9,400-square-foot space will feature a main dining room with a wine tower and three private dining rooms, as well as an island bar. A butcher room will showcase skilled carving of fresh hand-selected beef and custom cuts. High-tech farm shelves will highlight the restaurant’s modern farm approach, where fresh herbs are grown to complement dishes and cocktails.

Three patio spaces will provide a breezy, open feel. The expansive bar (also open to patio dining) will feature an impressive list of wines on tap, each stored in 100-percent reusable kegs and offered in four pour sizes.

“Cultivating the right blend of tenants in the mixed-use portion of The Grove has been an important focus of ours since we started designing and building the project,” says Alan Topfer, owner of The Grove. “We are thrilled to welcome Carve as our first lead retail tenant. The quality of Carve’s dining experience is representative of the quality The Grove is offering and will assist in making The Grove, Austin’s Gathering Place.”

Situated on 76 acres, The Grove features a diverse mix of new homes for purchase, more than 20 acres of parks and green spaces, rental apartments, office space, as well as dining, fitness, entertainment, and shopping options.

CARVE American Grille will open its second location in Austin later this year at The Grove.

Courtesy of CARVE American Grille

CARVE American Grille will open its second location in Austin later this year at The Grove.

openings dinner

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.