Charity Profile

Austin Food & Wine Alliance cultivates local culinary scene through fun and dynamic initiatives

Rock Your Taco Austin Food & Wine Festival Underbelly

Austin Food & Wine Alliance uses grants, educational programming, and events to raise awareness about culinary innovation.

Photo courtesy of Austin Food & Wine Festival

Editor's note: CultureMap is committed to shining a light on Austin-area nonprofits and their impact on our community. So, we're launching the first-ever CultureMap Austin Charity Challenge, highlighting deserving local organizations — one of which will become our charity partner for 2016 based on readers' votes. Get to know one of our eight finalists, the Austin Food & Wine Alliance.

Austin garners a lot of praise for vibrant, creative fare and the good times that tend to roll along with it. One organization dedicated to growing and maintaining that reputation is the Austin Food & Wine Alliance (AFWA).

The nonprofit organization uses grants, educational programming, and events to raise awareness about innovation in the culinary community. Originally conceived as The Texas Hill Country Wine and Food Festival 26 years ago, the program evolved into a nonprofit in support of the rich culinary community it helped to cultivate.

Most notable among the many services AFWA provides to the community is the annual Culinary Arts and Career Conference. An event hosting over 500 area high school students, this conference links current professionals to the future generation, providing classes, information, and inspiration.

So how can the Austin Food & Wine Alliance afford to do so much? With celebrations, of course! Proceeds from the can't-miss Austin Food & Wine Festival benefit the organization. In addition, the annual Live Fire! event features favorite local chefs getting creative with beef, a pillar of Texan cuisine. And Wine & Swine, which just celebrated five years, features an authentic pig roast and, of course, top Texan wines. AFWA uses fun events to bolster an already dynamic community of food and drink.

Vote now for the Austin Food & Wine Alliance — or any of the other worthy local nonprofits — in the CultureMap Charity Challenge running through December 30. A winner will be announced January 5, 2016, and will receive a CultureMap advertising package worth $10,000.

charity-challenge

Basil And...

Pflugerville chef brings Vietnamese eats to Hutto with new concept

Broth & Basil/Instagram

Basil & Bites, a new concept by the owner of Broth & Basil, is opening in Hutto in spring 2025.

A Pflugerville chef is circling Austin and opening a second, new concept in Hutto. Basil & Bites, which fuses Vietnamese cuisine with Texas influences, will open in fall 2025 at the junction of TX 79 and CR 119, according to a press release.

The new restaurant by the chef behind Broth & Basil is part of the Townwest Commons development, owned by NewQuest Properties. The same company also promised this summer to bring a new Chuy's to the same development by early 2025. It says in the Basil & Bites release that Chuy's is on track to open in January.

Basil & Bites has claimed half a building, totaling 5,500 square feet of space. It's across from the EVO Entertainment — a movie theater, bowling alley, arcade, bar and restaurant, and more — that the developer has been using as an anchor in promoting the new business park. It also maintains its "original anchors" Lowe's and the YMCA.

Phen T. Diep owns Broth & Basil, and was already familiar with in NewQuest because the restaurant is located in another one of its properties, Stone Hill Town Center in Pflugerville.

The release offered few details about the restaurant itself, including what would be on the menu. At Broth & Basil, as the name suggests, pho is a main offering. And like Basil & Bites, the existing restaurant also takes pride in its Texas heritage, offering Texas Wagyu Beef from Ranger Cattle, which is based in Austin.

Other menu offerings include a variety of meats served over vermicelli or rice, and a few specials like Wagyu bo luc lac (shaking beef) cooked on the hot plate it's served on.

According to the Broth and Basil website, Diep started out as a home chef. He's committed to traditional Vietnamese dishes, even though he's added some Texan elements, and the bone broth simmers for 10 hours so no additives are needed.

"We recruited him because of the yearslong success of his first restaurant, which was the first one in Austin to feature Pho Wagyu," said NewQuest leasing director and senior vice president Josh Friedlander in the release. "It's now one of the most popular dishes on the menu."

openings asian cuisine hutto pflugerville