Hog heaven

Austin chefs go hog wild at annual pork throwdown

Wine and Swine brings New Orleans-inspired pork dishes to Camp Mabry on November 19, 2017.

Photo by Max Photography

Honey, I Blew Up the Kid. Fletch Lives. Weekend at Bernie’s II. Sequels rarely live up to the original, but when a sequel brings (spoiler alert) more cocktails, more chefs, and more pork — plus the return of a festive New Orleans theme that flipped the script on local sip and strolls, we’ll gladly keep coming back.

Austin Food and Wine Alliance’s annual Wine and Swine, the Empire Strikes Back of food parties, is returning November 19 with an all-star roster of participating chefs, libations from top bar talent, and Cajun music from Gulf Coast Playboys.

The porktastic celebration has a new location this year, moving from Star Hill Ranch to Camp Mabry to allow for cheaper ride-share fares and greater accessibility. But the mission is still the same: to raise funds for AFWA’s culinary grants program promoting innovation and community development.

As usual, AFWA has enlisted some of Austin’s brightest stars to come up with pork-based dishes for the hungry crowd to sample. This year’s roster features hometown hero Aaron Franklin of Franklin Barbecue as well as three of San Antonio’s most lauded chefs — Steve McHugh of Cured, Pieter Sypesteyn of The Cookhouse, and Luis Colon of Bexar Pub.

Also going hog wild will be chefs Jeff Martinez of Alcomar, Thomas Calhoun of Aviary Wine & Kitchen, Zach Hunter of The Brewer’s Table, Azhar Mohammad of The Carillon, Andrew Wiseheart of Chicon, Kendall Melton of Contigo, Nathan Lemley and Sarah Heard of Foreign & Domestic, Kevin Fink and Tavel Bristol-Joseph of Henbit & Honeybit, Todd Duplechan and Jessica Maher of Lenoir, Derek Salkin of Le Politique, Evan LeRoy of LeRoy & Lewis, John Bates of Noble Sandwich Co., Michael Fojtasek of Olamaie, Max Snyder of Pitchfork Pretty, Bob Williamson of Srsly Chocolate, Sterling Ridings of The Guild, Kristine Kittrell of WeatherUp, Joe Anguiano of Vox Table, and Tien Ho of Whole Foods Market.

Celebrated French Quarter mixologist and this year’s winner of the James Beard Award for Outstanding Bar Program Chris Hannah of Arnaud’s French 75 will bring New Orleans’ famed cocktail culture to Austin, serving up two signature drinks, the Amaryllis Sling and the Pableaux Martinez.

Tullamore Dew Irish Whiskey, Beam Suntory, Campari, and Patron will also have NOLA-inspired cocktails and guests can sample the 2017 Official Drink of Austin, the Capital City Collins from Frank, featuring Old Highborn gin. And since you can’t have swine without the wine, dozens of wines will be available for sampling. Guests can vote on their favorite wine and pork dishes, with token sales going towards AFWA’s culinary grant program.

Tickets are on sale now, but don’t hem and haw. The first 150 early birds will get a discounted price of $75. The price will then go up to $85, with 100 VIP tickets available at $135. A limited number of tickets will be available at the door, but be warned, this event usually sells out.

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Peak Plates

7 Austin restaurants make OpenTable's top 100 for 2024

Jeffrey's Restaurant/Instagram

Jeffrey's Restaurant is a great example of the type of fancy, well-established restaurant that made the list.

Restaurant reservation website OpenTable has issued its new list of the top 100 restaurants in America for 2024, and seven Austin restaurants have made the list. That's already impressive at a glance — 7 percent of the entire national list in just one city — but compared to other Texas cities, it's huge. Austin is the only Texas city to have more than one restaurant on the list.

The "2024's Top 100 Restaurants" list is a compilation of the most sought-after and top-ranked restaurants in the U.S. based on 14 million verified reviews on OpenTable from October 1, 2023, to September 30, 2024. Restaurants are not ranked, but arranged in alphabetical order by state.

Austin's seven restaurants (including several repeats from OpenTable's 2023 list) are:

Aba: Known for its laid-back, yet fancy patio and being a popular spot for visiting celebrities
J Carver's: Known for a commitment to the classic steakhouse experience and legitimately fancy dining
Jeffrey's Restaurant: Known for fine dining, a connection to Austin before its boom, and a fantastic wine program
Red Ash Italia: Known for approachable, yet high-quality Italian food with rustic touches
Sammie's Italian: Known for its romantic take on the archetype of an East Coast Italian joint
Uchi: Known for bringing Austin into the national sushi conversation and defining the scene
Uchiko: Known for a cool atmosphere and getting creative with sushi and other small plates

Austinites will probably not be surprised by this list, which names some very well-established restaurants that are all upscale. These qualities tend to appeal to similar lists, regardless of who's curating them.

It is interesting, given that the list was democratically based on user ratings, that there were not more beloved food trailers or casual spots. However, other factors that led to high rankings included alerts set and reservations made ahead — things that don't really apply to even the most awesome taco truck.

Mediterranean food was a trend among the Austin picks. Red Ash Italia and Sammie's Italian are, as the names would imply, completely dedicated to Italian food, while Aba covers a wider swath of the Mediterranean. There were also two steakhouses: J Carver's and Jeffrey's Restaurant.

As list-perusers may have guessed, Uchi and Uchiko are in the same family of restaurants, with Uchi being the more formal and Uchiko being a bit more accessible for drop-in meals and cocktails. But are two more incognito duos of sibling restaurants on the list: J Carver's and Red Ash, and Jeffrey's Restaurant and Sammie's Italian.

That could be a coincidence. It could also be a reflection of the utility of money and experience in opening a good restaurant, or a lesson about the effects of good (and expensive) marketing. Whatever it is, it doesn't sound like hospitality groups had any direct sway on how OpenTable made its choices.

This list was different from the inaugural list of OpenTable Icons, which launched in 2024. The "Icons" list chose restaurants that are getting a lot of buzz, which ended up being more subjective. It also seemed to let in — as a side effect of the process, rather than a hard eligibility rule — more new and Mexican restaurants. Two restaurants are on both lists: Red Ash and Jeffrey's.

Restaurants outside of Austin that made the Top 100 list, organized alphabetically, are:

Hudson House — Dallas
Steak 48 — Houston
Signature — San Antonio

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