Texas BBQ Takes Manhattan

Austin's Carillon wins Grand Champion prize in elite NYC BBQ contest

Food_and_Drink_Smoke@ICC_banner_Sept_2013

The Smoke@ICC is part of the International Chefs Congress.

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NEW YORK — Where there was smoke on Manhattan's SuperPier Saturday night, there was plenty of fire — and barbecue, too. Ten all-star teams from across the nation — including three from Texas — competed in the first ever Smoke@ICC competition at the prestigious 8th Annual Starchefs.com International Chefs Congress.

Austin’s team from The Carillon won the Grand Champion award and was recognized in several categories at the inaugural, invitation-only event. Headed by Josh Watkins, the Austin team included Plinio Sandalio, Chris Andrews and Brad Turner.

Celebrity judges included Steven Raichlen, Brad Orrison of The Shed on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and Kenny Callahan of Blue Smoke. A crowd of 500 tasters swarmed the event, which included the categories “New World” (lamb); “American Regional” (quail), “Asian BBQ” (pork) and brisket.

All contestants were required to use Sunchang Gochujang, a chili-bean paste from the event sponsor.

Houston restaurateur Ronnie Killen’s team won third place in the Asian barbecue portion of the competition. Killen's teams included Mark Gabriel Medina, Randy Rucker, Ben Rabbini and Teddy Lopez. The Two Brothers BBQ team from San Antonio took the prize for People’s Choice in the brisket category. The San Antonio team included Jason Dady, Jake Dady, Shei Mei and Estaban Valdez.

Smoke@ICC competitors converged and smoked up on a Manhattan pier.

Smoke@ICC Facebook

Smoke@ICC competitors converged and smoked up on a Manhattan pier.

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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.