Dinner service hasn't even been gone from Apt 115 for three months, but an extended Italian pop-up by guest chef Grae Nonas of Le Cowboy is ready to fill in the gap from October 25 to December 31.

The niche Austin-favorite wine bar and bottle store may have scared a few fans when in June of 2024 it announced it would no longer be serving dinner, instead paring the menu down and focusing on wines. But as owner Joe Pannenbacker stated at the time, it was never meant to be a full-scale restaurant. Apt 115 offered some smaller bites like charcuterie boards as a consolation prize in the shift.

Now Pannenbacker says it was the right call, both for the Apt 115 and its customers. The wine bar never really left food service and has already hosted a few dinner pop-ups. However, this will be the longterm collaboration.

"Doing the pop up events made me miss doing the whole wine pairing restaurant thing," he says in an email to CultureMap. "So when Grae and I talked about doing a collaboration, we settled on doing it for a few months. One-off events are great and fun, but it’s hard to get your footing and consistency with only one day of service."

The aptly titled Apt 115.Photo courtesy of APT 115

The pop-up will serve as a preview of the new-and-improved Le Cowboy, which is both highly anticipated and formerly defunct. The space was briefly open in 2020 and 2021, from August to February, but these were unsurprisingly not great years to open a restaurant. Le Cowboy technically closed, but almost immediately started back up in a pop-up capacity.

Now Nonas is prepping a brick-and-mortar space for a full return in 2025. It was initially supposed to be summer of 2024, but the chef has been busy. Even without Le Cowboy, he was a nominee in CultureMap's 2024 Tastemaker Awards for Rising Star Chef, a nomination he also received in the James Beard Awards of 2016 when he was working at Olamaie. He also recently worked with celebrity chef Gordon Ramsey on the culinary team for Kitchen Nightmares.

Past patrons of the very pasta-focused Le Cowboy might recognize some menu items for the collaborative pop-up, according to Pannenbacker, while other dishes represent the Le Cowboy menu still to come. Pop-up guests will get to try house-made bread and mozzarella, Caesar salad, pasta, and chicken parmesan. He also teases "Grae’s version of a Lunchable."

Diners can order à la carte or as a $75, five-course prix fixe. Of course, other than the physical space, Apt 115's contribution is expert wine pairings. The wine bar's vinyl records-only policy is one of the things guests love about it, and both Pannenbacker and Nonas have selected albums to play. The playlist includes The Stooges, Fugazi, Miles Davis, and Frank Sinatra.

It wouldn't be Le Cowboy without some pasta dishes.Photo courtesy of Le Cowboy x APT 115

Pannenbacker credits sommelier Alex Bell, who founded Austin's popular Midnight in The Garden dining series, with connecting him and Nonas. Bell was working at Aviary Wine & Kitchen when it closed in August of this year, and he turned to Apt 115 to see if he could pick up some shifts.

"Naturally I was into the idea, and Alex helped us out for several weeks," says Pannenbacker. "It was really fun working with him and wowing our guests with wine and conversation. Grae did a Midnight in the Garden event with Alex, and he mentioned to me that he might be looking for a short term pop up/collaboration. The rest is history..."

Apt 115 is located at 2025 E. 7th St. and usually operates from 5-10 pm Tuesdays through Saturdays. It is closed in preparation for the pop-up, and will be back to normal hours once it reopens for the Le Cowboy x Apt 115 debut on October 25. Reservations are available via Resy.

More information about Apt 115 is available at apartmentonefifteen.com, and Le Cowboy has been posting updates on Instagram.