News You Can Eat

5 things to know in Austin food right now: New Triangle restaurant debuts brunch

Salmon toast adorned with flowers, by Provision Dining House at The Triangle.

Provision Dining House has come back with a bang and a very aesthetic brunch.

Photo courtesy of Provision Dining House

Editor’s note: We get it. It can be difficult to keep up with the fast pace of Austin’s restaurant and bar scene. We have you covered with our regular roundup of essential food news.

Openings and new offerings

Recently opened at The Triangle, Provision Dining House is already past getting back on its feet at a new location and is moving on to a brand-new service: brunch. Austin’s favorite meal is at Provision on Sundays and in a limited capacity on Saturdays, featuring items like cured salmon toast with capers, pickled Fresno peppers and parsley mint mojo; bananas Foster French toast with dark rum caramel and toasted marshmallow; and classic brunch cocktails. Food photos back up the lavish menu descriptions; this is one of the embellished brunches in town.

The new Moody Amphitheater has been one of Austin’s most sought-after concert spaces recently, with very little free space after over-packing general admission. The newly announced PNC Lounge sets aside a more private space with air conditioning, a private bar, bathrooms, and expanded food and beverage options. It’s accessible to premium seat and box ticket holders, and even GA with the addition of a “Level Up” package. It may not be the next restaurant Austinites are dying to try, but it does change what dinner and a show looks like.

Other news and notes

Peach season is upon us, and Gelato Paradiso is taking advantage of that with two new flavors: peaches and cream gelato and peach bellini sorbet. It’s also adding made-to-order shakes as a regular menu item — an unusual offering for a gelato shop. The peach flavors were made in collaboration with local events promoters Austinites 101, and will be ready to try for a launch party at the South Congress shop June 30 from 6 to 8 pm.

Sweetgreen, one of the most reliable fresh food chains, launched an app-based rewards program that peppers July with incentives to stop by. From now until July 3, any bowl or plate gets 50 percent off another. More perks throughout the month include buy-one-get-one deals on delivery fees, and free beverages with side items. The next challenge is cumulative, ending July 10: spend $20, get $4 credit for your next order.

No Austin lodging rivals the Austin Motel as a cute, instantly recognizable, and inviting locale, whether you stay the night or not. The motel is kicking off its Float Films summer series, showing Wet Hot American Summer and serving rum drinks, on July 1. Meanwhile, the Carpenter Hotel (managed by the same hospitality group) is hosting another series, pairing barbecue — fancy hot dogs, chicken wings, fruit, and veggies — with live music by Aaron Stephens on July 3.

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Staying Sharpe

Influential food critic Patricia Sharpe retiring after 50 years with Texas Monthly

Photo by Jeff Wilson

Patricia Sharpe is retiring after 50 years at Texas Monthly.

Something huge is shifting in the Texas food landscape as veteran Texas Monthly reviewer Patricia Sharpe, who is based in Austin, hangs up her hat. One of the best-known critics in the state — in any area of culture, let alone restaurants — Sharpe has been at Texas Monthly for 50 years.

The magazine announced in a release posted September 12 that Sharpe will retire at the end of the year, so readers haven't seen the last of her, yet. (Plus, most writers never really stop writing when they retire. But this culinary powerhouse deserves a break.)

Sharpe had many writers' dream career, starting almost immediately after the magazine was born as an editorial assistant in 1974. After proofreading the Dining Guide — and then managing and editing it — she developed her own column called Pat's Pick, plus the annual feature Where to Eat Now, which is now more than 20 years old.

The release points out that the Texas dining scene was in relative infancy when Sharpe started. The state's population was less than half of what it is today, and Austinites who have been here even five years need no introduction to how much the tone of the restaurant scene has changed.

“Pat has covered the fine-dining scene in Texas for so long, and in such a discerning and engaging manner, that she has become a vital part of the scene herself. There is no replacing Pat Sharpe,” said Texas Monthly's editor in chief, Dan Goodgame.

Readers have of course valued Sharpe for more than just her tenure, but also for her wry sense of humor and accessible, personal writing, even if the topic of fine dining is inherently a bit flowery (and ever escalating).

Here's a taste from a 30-year retrospective Q&A Sharpe wrote in 2005, the James Beard Foundation Award-winning feature Confessions of a “Skinny Bitch”:

"Last December 1 I celebrated thirty years at this magazine. That’s a lot of crème brûlée under the bridge, folks. During that time, food fads have risen (fajitas and Southwestern cuisine) and fallen (blackened redfish), and once-fabled Texas restaurants have vanished like a snow cone on the Fourth of July (how many of you remember Mr. Peppe, in Dallas, or the original Naples on Broadway, in San Antonio, or Che, in Houston?). Texas has changed from a state that eats at home to one that eats out, and Dallas and Houston have taken their places on the national culinary stage. Since it was founded, in 1973, this magazine has published more than 28,000 restaurant reviews. If that indicates anything, it’s that people are endlessly fascinated with food and dining. And judging by the queries I get, they’re also curious about the arcane practice of restaurant reviewing."

Now's as good a time as any to dive into Sharpe's lengthy archives, available in places like herTexas Monthly profile and in the 2008 UT Press collection Texas Monthly on...Food.

Catch her until the end of 2024 in more timely Texas Monthly writings. And if you think you can live up to that legacy, check out the newly posted job listing.

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