Icing on the cake

Iconic Hyde Park coffee shop and bakery expanding to bustling Mueller neighborhood

Lady Quackenbush's Cakery will take over production of the iconic Austin coffeehouse and bakery's signature cookies.

Quack's 43rd Street Bakery/ Facebook

Once the epicenter of Austin’s ‘80s and ‘90s cool (it was even one of the locations in Richard Linklater’s seminal film Slacker), Quack’s is lately having quite a moment. The iconic Austin coffee shop and bakery announced in April that they would be taking over the shuttered Strange Brew space in South Austin to open Captain Quackenbush's Coffeehouse and Bakery. Now a third location — Lady Quackenbush’s Cakery — will be taking over the former Mueller outpost of Jodi Elliott’s Bribery Bakery.

As the name of the new project implies, sweets will be a heavy component of the new shop. Quack’s will be moving the cake and custom cookie making facilities from their current bakery in Hyde Park to Mueller, and the bakers will be trying their hand at expanded dessert offerings like macarons. Eater reports that they will also retain Bribery’s liquor license, allowing them to serve beer and wine in addition to coffee drinks.

An opening date has not been announced yet for the new project. In the meantime, expect the first phase of the South Austin location to open in early 2018. Owner Art Silver will also be developing the Strange Brew Lounge Side into a new music venue, Austin Soundroom.

Quack’s 43rd Street Bakery, which became the sole location after the Drag’s Captain Quackenbush’s Intergalactic Espresso and Dessert Company closed in 1999, will remain open in Hyde Park.

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.