Hole in one

New bagel and coffee truck slams into South Austin from beloved wine bar

Wham Bam features house made schmears on Rosen's bagels.

First he conquered home design with Aviary Decor and Lounge, then he set his sites on wine with Aviary Wine & Kitchen, now owner Marco Fiorilo is getting into the mobile munchies game. His new food truck Wham Bam will park in on the corner of Stassney Lane and Manchaca Road beginning this fall.

According to a release, Fiorilo worked with business partner David Mireles in opening the new concept, which specializes in bagels and coffee. Though bagels were ubiquitous in his former home of New York City, Fiorilo found that satisfying his carb cravings in Austin wasn’t quite as easy.

“I’m excited to bring a ray of bagel sunshine to a city flooded with never ending breakfast taco options,” Fiorilo beams in the release. “We’ll also have super fast service, so you won’t spend hours waiting in line for your bagel and coffee fix.”

The curated lunch menu features five sandwiches, all made on bagels from Rosen’s. Classics include lox with capers, shaved shallots, and tomatoes; roast beef with horseradish cream cheese and arugula; and pastrami smoked by Loro.

Lighter offerings such as jalapeño marinated chicken with grilled onions and peppers and a veggie sandwich with seared shiitake mushrooms and basil and lime aioli round out the offerings.

In the morning hours, Wham Bam will serve a customizable breakfast bagel with a choice of bacon, sausage, and ham and eggs made your way. Schmears like house-made berry and bacon jam will also be available for customers on the go.

Keeping with Aviary’s bold aesthetic, Wham Bam is housed in a rare Ultra Van RV. The poppy pink exterior, fuchsia lettering, and gold stripes will surely be as eye-opening as the Third Coast Coffee.

Once open, Wham Bam will keep regular hours daily 7 am-3 pm. Mobile catering will also be available.

food-trucks openings

Noodle News

Vegan ramen joint from Los Angeles visits Austin for 2-night pop-up

Ramen Hood/Instagram

Los Angeles' Ramen Hood will be in Austin for a two-night pop-up.

This Thursday and Friday, the Loren Hotel Austin is teaming up with Los Angeles vegan ramen restaurant Ramen Hood for a two-night pop-up dinner on November 7 and 8.

The dinner on both nights will include a multi-course prix fixe menu featuring some of the restaurant's best-selling dishes. Guests will see broccoli with soy, chili glaze, and scallions; Ahi "Tuna" crisps made from spicy beets, crispy rice shells, yuzu avocado puree and sesame seeds; Avocado Toast with crispy rice cakes, yuzu avocado puree, herb salad, togarashi, and chili threads; and ramen with sunflower seed broth, bean sprouts, scallions, bok choy, and king oyster mushrooms.

Dinner is priced at $45 per person, plus an additional $45 for sake and cocktail pairings.

Dinner will include this simple but savory broccoli dish, along with several other courses. Photo courtesy of Ramen Hood

Ramen Hood was founded in 2015 by chef Rahul Khopkar and Ilan Hall, as a vegan and plant-based ramen option in L.A. This will be the first time Ramen Hood is teaming up with The Loren, but it's not the first pop-up the hotel is offering. This is part of an ongoing chef series, where The Loren Hotel partners with chefs from all around the country to showcase their specialty dishes to Austin eaters.

A portion of the proceeds from The Loren Chef Series benefits The Loren Roots Imperative, a nonprofit that has big goals in terms of carbon footprint. Currently the Roots Imperative aims to acquire and regenerate over 50,000 biodiverse acres of land and plant 10 million hardwood trees to offset its own carbon emissions.

Ramen Hood's pop-up vegan restaurant will be at The Loren's Nido Lounge from 6-9 pm on Thursday November, 7, and Friday, November 8.

The Nido Lounge at the Loren Hotel Austin. Photo from thelorenhotels.com

The Loren Hotel is located just south of the Colorado River at 1211 W Riverside Dr. Aside from the Nido Lounge, the hotel a Milk + Honey spa, an extensive fitness center, cafe, rooftop terrace, infinity pool, and plenty of other luxurious amenities in its 108 guest rooms and suites overlooking Lady Bird Lake.

More information and tickets are available at thelorenhotels.com.

ramen vegan hotels pop-up