Food for thought

Austin Food & Wine Alliance announces winners of inaugural grant program forculinary innovation

Announcing the winners of the 2012 AFWA grant program.

This fall, Austin Food & Wine Alliance announced an open call for submissions to its "first-of-its-kind grant program,” which would award $20,000 in 2012 to support “chefs, farmers, spirit-makers” as well as “artisan producers and food-focused nonprofits.”

On December 12, the organization announced the winners of the inaugural grant program at an awards ceremony at the AT&T Executive Education & Conference Center. Winners were selected by a prestigious private panel of culinary professionals and community members.

In 2012, the Austin Food & Wine Alliance awarded three grants, one of $10,000 and two secondary grants of $5,000 to Argus Cidery, Telecote Farms and the Connally High School Culinary Arts program, respectively.

“The winning grant projects clearly demonstrate innovation and value to the community,” said Cathy Cochran-Lewis, AFWA president, in a press release. “We are so fortunate to have the ingenuity, talent and commitment of these individuals and organizations focused on the advancement of food, wine and spirits in our community. It’s an extraordinary honor to be able to help these projects come to fruition.”

The grant program is the first in the nation to provide funding specifically to support culinary innovation that contributes to a local community. Grant funding was generated through direct support from the Austin Food & Wine Festival, Whole Foods Market, Maker’s Mark Bourbon, FreshPoint Produce and the CultureMap Tastemaker Awards.

The 2012 winning projects, with descriptions provided by the Austin Food & Wine Alliance, are as follows:

Argus Cidery

"The $10,000 grant will be used to plant a test orchard in Dripping Springs for experimentation of new apple varieties and rootstocks not grown in Texas, and will be the first Texas apple orchard using organic practices. The orchard, which will be open to the public for picking as well as to supply local restaurants, will be for educational purposes to carry on the apple growing tradition in Texas since many apple growers are leaving the business."

Telecote Farm

"The Pitres [owners of Telecote Farm, a 20-year old organic farm] will use the $5,000 in grant funding for two projects — a pilot program to humanely raise endangered heritage breed hogs on pasture and supply its pastured pork to the Austin community; and to subsidize and deliver weekly CSA baskets filled with local and organic vegetables and heritage pork to low-income, underserved families in Austin, uniquely providing access to fresh foods."

Connally High School Culinary Arts Program

"The Connally High School Culinary Arts program is the first of its kind and offers real life experiences while building practical skills in the foodservice and culinary field. The students have created a five-episode cooking show called Cooking with Connally: Where You Become the Chef and have won numerous awards and cooked at the James Beard House in New York City. The $5,000 grant will be used to produce a documentary film to teach students across the state about the process of raising beef in Texas from pasture to plate. Students in the culinary arts program will produce the documentary and gain the opportunity to interact with ranchers, beef experts, chef and restaurants on the BBQ Trail to the highest-end steak houses."

Honorable Mention:

Salt & Time Butcher Shop & Salumeria
The Homegrown Revival
Skinny Lane Farm
River Oaks Elementary (Pflugerville)/Recipe for Success Foundation
Red Rabbit Cooperative Bakery
Farm City, State

unspecified

Bill's Oyster team to debut new Southwestern bar and grill in Austin

Teddy's Texas Red Chili with Bone Marrow

Photo courtesy of Teddy's

Teddy's will bring Southwestern flavors to Tarrytown, like this Texas Red Chili with Bone marrow.

From the team who brought us Bill's Oyster comes a new restaurant called Teddy's Restaurant & Bar. This Southwestern-inspired bar and grill is set to open in east Tarrytown in November. Both its design and menu will celebrate the Southwest; inside, this 80-seat restaurant will be a mix of dark woods and copper, and outside will be an enclosed, temperature-controlled patio for year-round use.

Dishes will blend the unique flavors of Texas and Mexico, with a heavy dash of the Southwest. Some menu items that already have mouths watering include filet mignon with chile relleno, Parker House rolls with cinnamon ancho butter, and blue crab tostadas.Of course, there will also be a full bar for regular happy hours, serving up craft cocktails, martinis, a curated wine list, and frozen drinks.

"The inspiration for doing a Southwestern menu came from my love of Texas and its melting pot of cultures and cuisines," says Teddy's owner Daniel Berg. "When I first moved to Houston from New York City in 2017, I was naive to all that Texas' food scene had to offer beyond Tex-Mex or BBQ. My first real exposure to Southwestern cuisine was in Houston where I worked alongside James Beard award-winning Chef Robert Del Grande, who is considered one of the godfathers of Southwestern cooking."

Berg is referring to a project between Del Grande and Berg's brother Ben Berg, who worked together to spruce up and reopen Houston's Annie Cafe & Bar. Daniel Berg worked with Del Grande on establishing the new menu, exposing the relative Texas newcomer to a much deeper pool of knowledge about the region's cuisine. He says Teddy's will focus on Mexican, German, and Czech traditions' influences on Texas cooking.

A crab tostada and Lone Starr Martini at Teddy's.Photo courtesy of Teddy's

Operating partner Dylan Salisbury adds he's "excited" for the opening, because "while Austin has an abundance of incredible Mexican cuisine, the bold and unique flavors of Southwestern food are somewhat underrepresented."

"I believe this concept will not only bring something fresh and exciting to the city but also challenge our team to do the food justice," he says.

The entire team behind this Southwestern style restaurant are veritable A-listers in the restaurant world. Before teaming up here in Austin, both Berg and Salisbury ran a slew of successful restaurants. Berg (a talented chef, himself) started out in New York, working under James Beard Award-winning chef Andrew Carmellini. He opened several restaurants with Carmellini, and eventually opened his own restaurants in both New York and Houston before coming to Austin.

Salisbury has helped to open over 20 restaurants over the years, from Texas to New Orleans, including Austin's beloved Tiki Tatsu-Ya.

In 2023, Daniel Berg and Dylan Salisbury teamed up to create Bill's Oyster on Third Street; CultureMap has included it in multiple lists since then, including the best seafood snacks in town and the fan-voted Best New Restaurants category of the 2024 Tastemaker Awards, which also had to make it past a panel of past winners.

Aside from the delicious seafood (especially the raw bar), Bill's Oyster includes a beautifully designed interior. Austinites can only imagine that these two will deliver once again on that front.

"I worked with local architecture and design firm Steinbomer," says Berg. "My task for them was to create a small bar [and] restaurant that guests would dream of wandering into in the Hill Country. Think 'Fredericksburg': nothing pretentious but warm dark woods, patinaed brass, and maybe even some longhorns. ... It’s the kind of place you can bring your kids early and not worry about them running around, but also perfect for date night and casual enough to sit at the brass inlay bar and watch a game."

Let's not forget the man behind the menu. Teddy's executive chef is Rene Garza, formerly of local heavyweights Uptown Sports Club, Este, and Suerte. Garza started his cooking career early, working in various hotels and restaurants in the San Antonio area. In 2015, he moved to Austin and landed a job at Uchiko; since then, he has helped open James Beard Award-nominated Suerte and worked his way up to chef de cuisine.

In 2021, he helped open Suerte's sister restaurant, Este, and in 2023, he opened New Orleans-inspired restaurant and bar Uptown Sports Club. At Teddy's, his dishes will "celebrate the unique flavors of Texas, blending the bold and rich influences of Mexican cuisine with a modern Southwestern twist," according to a press release.

Teddy's is located at 1601 W. 38th St., Suite 1. It will be open daily for dinner only, to start, with breakfast, lunch, and weekend brunches on the way. More information is available at teddysaustin.com.

openings seafood dinner