Beat It Beets

Local culinary stars dish on food trends that need to disappear in 2015

The new year is here and with it comes anticipation and excitement throughout the local culinary scene. 2014 was saturated with paleo diets, ramen fanatics, gluten-free options, kale everything and coconut oil — but the winds of change are upon us. Local culinary experts weigh in on what they're leaving behind and what they’re hoping to embrace in 2015.

Goodbye grits
“I would hope to not have grits on every menu in the city in 2015,” says Joe Anguiano, executive chef of Vox Table. “I think the process of fermentation and dehydration will be the next big thing in 2015.”

Forget fad diets
“I would love to see the end of the unbalanced diet. Avoiding certain things and going heavy on other things is difficult to handle in the kitchen," says Rob Snow, Executive Chef of Greenhouse Craft Food. "If someone is allergic to an ingredient, it can most always be handled, but someone who is on a fad diet that says they cannot have sugar, eggs, wheat flour, dairy, animal protein, legumes, green vegetables and/or cooked fruit may be better off eating in the comfort of their own home.”

Beets need to beat it
“I love bourbon, but I’m ready for a new player in the barrel-aged trend. I’ve been seeing more tequila barrel-aged items and I hope that catches on in Texas,” says Lynda Berrios, Whole Foods Market’s Texas forager. “Also, beets. Okay, this has been a trend for years, but I’m glad the humble cauliflower got a little of the spotlight this year.”

Sayonara to sous-vide
“I would like to see the reliance on cooking items sous-vide and hydrocolloids fade away,” says Uchiko sous chef Sterling Ridings. “There's nothing wrong with any of these techniques, but they should be used as a method for enhancing cooking — not replacing it. It should be the icing on the cake, not the cake itself.”

Toast is ... toast
“Artisan toast is a trend that I wouldn't be sad to see go,” says Eden East Executive Chef Sonya Cote. “Also, plating food on one side of the plate is so 2014!”

Stop questioning the staying power of local sourcing
“I think it’s become a trend to question the validity and longevity of this renewed interest and importance placed on what we eat," says Justine's Brasserie Executive Chef Casey Wilcox. "The mistakes we made in the last two or so generations in how our meals were treated, sourced and prepared is becoming a thing of the past, and the interest in knowing what, who and where is only a return to our roots. Celebrity chefs, food trends and restaurants may now be getting a lot of attention, but as a response to how little we were concerned not so many years ago, it's definitely for the better.”

Going mobile
“We’re hoping that the barbecue trend is as popular in 2015 as it was in 2014,” says Alison Clem, La Barbecue's general manager. “We see that the food truck scene has really kicked off in the past few years and continues to grow bigger and bigger every year. I feel like some popular restaurants will even extend their businesses with mobile food trucks.”

Casual fine dining excels
“I’m hoping the transition to casual fine dining stays,” says Uchi Executive Chef Tyson Cole. “We’re transitioning across the board by developing new ideas, systems and technology to better serve the general public and each other. The restaurant community is working on tweaks and changes to improve casual fine dining. "How can we make easy even easier?" is what I see happening everywhere lately.”

More vegetable-centric fare
“I’d like to see more of the shared plate. Everyone enjoys more small bites to keep the taste buds entertained. Sharing makes dining out more personal and fun,” says Chef Brian Malarkey of Searsucker. “One thing I’m hopeful for 2015 is more vegetable-driven menus. I’m excited to see less protein and more vegetables playing the lead role.”

“Even though this trend started showing up more near the end of 2014, I am hoping that vegetarian items and the use of vegetables as the focal point continues to grow as a trend. Making vegetarian items and using vegetables as a focus is fun — and challenges my creativity in a positive way. With our own farm, I am able to help choose the items for the restaurant and know exactly how it is grown,” says Bess Bistro Executive Chef Roman Murphy.

Authentic Chinese is set to make a mark
"Authentic Chinese food is primed for a big resurgence in 2015,” says Executive Chef Mat Clouser of Swift’s Attic and the soon-to-open Wu Chow.

Smoking out
“I’m ready to see lots of new smoked items in every style cuisine and more on the health movement as well,” says Carlos Buscaglia of Due Forni.

“I think the next big thing to hit 2015 is for lesser known cuts of meat to become household names. At Black's we're having fun cooking pork belly and some other cuts of beef," says fourth generation pitmaster Barrett Black. "Brisket, ribs and sausage will always be our mainstays and we will never change from the way my ancestors have always prepared them, but that doesn't mean we can't have some fun tasting some other cuts, too. When we find a good one, we look forward to sharing it with everyone."

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Belles of the Ballroom

9 Austin bar and venue experts take over popular Old Austin space near UT

29th Street Ballroom/Facebook

Changes are coming at the 29th Street Ballroom, but the goal is to preserve what already makes it special.

The evolution continues at the 29th Street Ballroom, the music venue formerly attached to Spider House Café. It's no secret, Resound Presents CEO and co-founder Graham Williams says, that he and a large team of other industry pros are taking over the space; but now they're ready to talk about what comes next for the venue and adjoining bar.

Although Spider House Café closed in 2020, the Ballroom stayed open, and has continued serving University of Texas students and anyone else who wants to see a show outside of the ordinary: punk shows, burlesque revues, fundraisers, and more. It'll stay open through most of the renovations, scheduled through January of 2025, and is expected to hold a grand opening in March.

Now Resound — one of Austin's top live music organizers, which was itself born from the ashes of another Austin institution — is lending two of its co-founders to managing the space going forward: Williams and Ian Orth. They're joining seven other team members from venues around town, many of them overlapping: Amy Mullins, Brian Tweedy, Jason McNeely, John Yaklin, and Shannon LeBoeuf of Hotel Vegas, Chess Club, Kinda Tropical, Tweedy’s, and Yellow Jacket Social Club, in varying capacities; and Brian Buscemi and Mike Sanchez of the Little Darlin’.

Williams emphasizes that although things will be changing at the Ballroom, the goal isn't to change anything people already love.

"Over the next few months as we kind of ease into the spring, we're using this downtime to revitalize things, decorate, revamp some of the stuff in the venue and the bar, and just kind of get things moving in the right direction," Williams says, "taking what's already popular about the venue and just adding to it, really."

Bar updates
The biggest shift will be turning the bar from an accessory to live shows into its own entity that's open even when there's nothing else going on. Amy Mullins, best known as a co-owner of Yellow Jacket Social Club, is overseeing that transition. She's never operated a venue that is primarily focused on music, and has been enjoying learning more about how to do it; she even worked the door recently when a staff member called out sick.

Mullins echoes Williams in assuring that the change is more about logistics than tone. It'll still feel like Old Austin, but she does express a hope to run more than the "typical venue bar," handing out simple drinks as quickly as possible. She's working on a new menu that includes wine, beer, craft cocktails, and non-alcoholic options like tea, kombucha, or mocktails. Regardless of what's on the schedule on any given night, Mullins says the menu will stay the same.

"There's no drink too complicated for us to make, however busy we are," she says.

Food options
Another goal for the team will be making sure the space works when there's not someone onstage to crowd around. They'll expand the front and side patios and create a food truck food court that features the same trucks that are there now, plus one newcomer. All in all, that includes Yalla Burger & Wings, Gyro Center, Li’l Nonna’s Vegan Pizzeria, Guppy’s Indian Fried Chicken, Waylon J’s BBQ, and Ay Chihuahua Tacos.

The expanded patio will connect to Tweedy's Bar next door, which also has its own food trucks. The idea is to create a space to hang out after shows that feels fit for the purpose. It's possible to stick around after events now, but the layout does create a vague feeling of loitering.

Artist and fan-friendly tweaks
On the entertainment side, Williams says some of the renovations include putting in a new sound system, redoing the green room, updating the facade, and repainting signs. Since the winter is a slower time for live music, they'll be taking advantage of the extra time to work on things before packing the calendar with more events than before. Resound will handle most of the bookings in live music, comedy, and DJ sets, welcoming both national and local talent.

Whatever the details end up being, this team has proved to Austinites that they know how to run venues worth visiting. And since they're all friends and business partners on multiple levels, it sounds like having this many cooks in the kitchen just isn't an issue.

"Some of us have been roommates and known each other since we were young," says Williams. "It's a good mix of people who are all very like minded, so a lot is being brought to the table per decision. So yeah, it's it's really exciting. Sometimes that's not the case. .... But with this project, it's a lot of really great, creative people that are good at what they do [and] they trust each other."

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