Delicious Dish

Austin Cellar Classic provides two days of uncorked fun at Max's Wine Dive

Max's Wine Dive might be best known for fried chicken and reverse happy hour specials, but the upscale downtown hotspot is ready to show off its impressive culinary talents that put the "gourmet" in "gourmet casual" dining.

Coming this October, the restaurant's Fourth Annual Austin Cellar Classic will feature two chef-prepared menus and pairings with wines from around the world by Max's Austin Chef Erica Beneke.

This premiere two-day food and wine event offers Epicurean Austinites two ways to enjoy Chef Beneke's culinary talents, with proceeds benefiting The Austin Food & Wine Alliance and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

First, the "Reserve" Dinner on Oct. 5 is an exclusive five-course wine dinner held downstairs in Max's Underground Wine Lounge. The mouthwatering menu will include a veal and pear Carpaccio, a fig and Roquefort salad, a duo of scallops, a seared duck breast and house-made chocolates. Each course will be paired with one of Max's finest wine selections.

The following afternoon, you are invited to the "Grand Tasting" also in Max's Underground. Here, Chef Beneke's bites can be enjoyed along with live music and a healthy sampling of dozens of Max's best wines from around the world. Upgrade your ticket to VIP, and you'll get the chance to enjoy even more wines and access to an outdoor tent serving Austin's best barbecue.

True wine lovers will not want to miss these two unique culinary celebrations that only come around once a year. For the rest of you non-wine drinkers, it's never too late to start.

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Max's Wine Dive Austin Cellar Classic takes place Oct. 5 - 6. Tickets for the "Reserve" Dinner are $125 for individuals and $225 for a couple. The "Grand Tasting" tickets are $45.00 per person, with upgrades to VIP tickets set at $100.00. Normal ticket prices are also good for use as a $20.00 voucher toward any case of wine, while VIP tickets count as $50.00 vouchers.

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NYT loves AUS

Homey Austin bakery Comadre makes New York Times Best Bakeries list

Comadre Panadería/Instagram

Comadre Panadería is known for nostalgic Mexican bakes with feminine flair.

The New York Times has once again shined its spotlight on Austin’s culinary scene. It included Comadre Panadería, an Austin bakery focusing on Mexican treats, on its new list of the 22 of the Best Bakeries Across the U.S. Right Now.

Interim food critic Priya Krishna praises pastry chef Mariela Camacho’s pastries that include conchas and her signature pink cake. “Despite their saccharine appearances, not one of the desserts is overly cloying, and even the coffee drinks (Texas pecan horchata! Cranberry vanilla agua fresca!) strike the playful tone of the pastries,” she writes.

Comadre Panadería has been widely recognized, including by this publication; Camacho won Pastry Chef of the Year in the 2023 CultureMap Austin Tastemaker Awards. She also earned a 2024 James Beard Award semifinalist nomination for Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker.

Camacho and Comadre as a whole are both invested in using baked goods to make a more equitable world, from the bakery's early days as a fundraiser for disaster relief, to a current insistence on charging enough to support ethical and organic foods, and paying staff enough to keep up with rising costs in Austin.

Mariela Camacho of Comadre Panaderia in Austin Mariela Camacho, Comadre Panaderia. Courtesy photo

The Times also recognized Houston's Koffeteria. Krishna hails the bakery for pastry chef-owner Vanarin Kuch’s creative fare that includes dishes such as beef pho kolaches, Chinese sausage breakfast tacos, and butter mochi.

“Some of Mr. Kuch’s offerings are rooted in his Cambodian American identity — he makes cornbread with the coconutty, scallion-forward flavors of Cambodian street corn — while others are odes to Houston’s multicultural makeup. But most of the fun of Koffeteria is having no idea what Mr. Kuch will do next, and eagerly awaiting his next innovation,” Krishna writes.

Open since 2019, Koffeteria has been riding high this year. It earned a James Beard Award semifinalist nomination for Outstanding Bakery and a CultureMap Houston Tastemaker Award for Pastry Chef of the Year.

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Comadre Panadería and Koffeteria are the only Texas establishments to make the Times’ list. Only California and New York City, which each have three representatives, earn more recognition.

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