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A chef, a knife and a ponytail: Swift's Attic owner celebrates major milestone

Swift's Attic owner C.K. Chin marks a major milestone.

Swift's Attic/Facebook

If you've dined at Swift's Attic, you've likely met owner C.K. Chin, a striking figure often dressed in a suit with his dark hair pulled back. Throughout the evening, Chin often makes the rounds through dining room, meeting guests, refilling water and inquiring about meals. It's a true labor of love — in more ways than one.

It all began as a joke. During construction on the swanky (and superb) Congress Avenue spot, an investor in Swift's stopped by to check on the progress. Bogged down with opening a restaurant and having no time to actually get a haircut, Chin had thrown is shaggy locks into a small top knot. The investor made a joke about his bun, and Chin countered by crafting a tall tale. "I told him that it was a Chinese tradition that if I owe money, I can't cut my hair [until the debt is repaid]," Chin laughs. "And he was like,'"Really?' I said, 'No. But come to think of it, it would be cool.'"

And so Chin stopped cutting his hair. For two years, it grew longer, a physical manifestation of a debt that he was reminded of every time he looked in a mirror. "I think it's an interesting thing, it's an ongoing metaphor," says Chin. "It keeps me focused and I'm grateful for that."

In May, a little more than two years after Swift's opened, Chin wrote his last check. With the last of investors paid off, Chin turned to the task at hand: cutting his hair. With Electra Avellan, John Fitch and Swift's cheese purveyor Joaquin Avalon there to document it in the video (featured above), Chef Mat Clouser did the hair cutting honors, chopping off nearly 9 inches. Chin donated his hair to Children With Hair Loss, a nonprofit dedicated to providing free wigs for children who have lost their hair due to a medical condition.

But don't expect Chin to have short hair for very long. "I'm going to keep it going as I open these new places," says Chin. With his highly anticipated new restaurant Wu Chow set to open later this year, Chin will have a whole new round of investors to pay off. "If you see me with hair down to my waist, you know things aren't going well," he adds, laughing.

Back to the Plow

Homey Austin jam and bake shop closing and returning to farmers market

Confituras fig crackers

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.

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