Oysters and Chandeliers

Favorite East Austin restaurant unveils lavish space for oysters and fun

Justine's Brasserie Winter Tent Winter Tent oyster Bar à Huîtres

Justine's lavish Winter Tent is open for business.

The holiday season is in full swing with the recent debut of Justine’s Winter Tent and oyster bar, Bar à Huîtres. In proper Parisian style, oysters are served on weekend nights until 1:30 am, preferably chased with champagne.

The elaborate tent, bathed in shades of deep blue and gold, transports guests into another realm of grandeur and sensory delights.

“The Winter Tent allows us to express our creativity and build a very different fantasy space out every year,” said Justine Gilcrease, who opened the late-night French restaurant on East Fifth Street with her husband Pierre Pelegrin in 2009. “This year we were inspired by Hieronymus Bosch and The Garden of Earthly Delights, with a bit of Versailles thrown in.”

Gilcrease turned to her longtime friend and Los Angeles-based artist Emily Andelin Hughes to evoke the surrealist scenes of the medieval painter’s famous triptych in this year’s Winter Tent. The first panel of the panorama depicts the Garden of Eden and innocence, and the final, damnation. The center larger center piece reflects erotic derangement and a paradise lost.

“There’s definitely a bizarre sexual tone to the painting,” Hughes said. “Sexuality has always been a topic that Justine and I studied and discussed and feel like needs more liberation in this country. That attracts both of us to this piece, because we like that sort of honesty.”

Hughes’ take on a Boschian world includes beautiful art, a lavish peacock and owl, imitations of otherworldly plants, and opulent elements like sparkling chandeliers — the latter inspired by Hughes and Gilcrease’s joint visit to the Palace of Versailles last summer.

“It’s a little bit extravagant,” Hughes said. “You feel that when you go [to the Winter Tent]. There’s this laissez-faire [sense] — let’s just create for fun and enjoy.”

Bar à Huîtres features a rotating selection of beauties, such as Summersides from Prince Edward Island, La Saint Simons from New Brunswick, Marionports from Massachusetts, and Wild Maine Belons. Follow Justine’s on Instagram and Facebook (@justinesbrasserie) for updates on the night’s oyster selection.

“We're believers in the saying: ‘Oysters only in months that have ‘r,’ so the oyster bar is open every weekend all winter,” Gilcrease said. Oysters are freshly shucked and ready for slurping, every Friday and Saturday, from 6 pm to 1:30 am.

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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.