texan tastes

Austin spring festival that unites chefs and farmers unveils 2024 lineup

Field Guide Festival Austin Sustainable Food Center booth

Field Guide Festival is returning for its third year April 20.

Photo by Mackenzie Smith Kelley

Farmers market fiends treasure a chance to sample a product straight from the booth. Vendors regale these shoppers with tales of sustainable farming practices, happy animals, and a strong avoidance of freezers. The snack somehow tastes better than it would have without the preamble.

Multiply this by two dozen and you get Field Guide Festival. The third annual event will return April 20 (we're begging for some cannabis-infused options), and the full lineup has been revealed.

This walk-and-taste experience is one of a growing category of similar events, but it sets itself apart with a unique concept: pairing chefs and food producers to create micro-dishes that are as illuminating of our food system as they are tasty. Perhaps because this festival is still in its relative infancy, it's much more laid-back than others. Chefs and farmers are eager to chat with guests, and that's the driving idea.

"A lot of times you're only seeing the farm names on menus," says Field Guide co-founder (and former ACL Music Fest festival director) Lindsey Sokol in conversation with CultureMap, operating on a generous assumption that restaurants even disclose their suppliers. "This was our way to bring that farm face to a name and be able to have conversations with these local farmers."

Field Guide crowd Much smaller than most of Austin's other festivals, Field Guide provides a more relaxing experience.Photo by Mackenzie Smith Kelley

Also on Sokol's team is Philip Speer, one of Austin's leading chefs, as the event's "chef curator" and culinary director. Speer is well-known for his work at the Mexican restaurant Comedor, but is seen about as much as a chef can be outside its walls, frequently engaging community members at creative events with sustainable food sourcing at the center.

“As a longtime chef and restaurateur in the Austin and Central Texas community, I have learned that the importance of supporting our local farmers is paramount to the future of our local food system,” said Speer in a release. “Without these working relationships built by our commitment to buy local where and when available, our food system is incomplete. Field Guide Fest shines a light on these pathways, making the information accessible to anyone, while enjoying amazing food and connection.”

He's not the only star chef chipping in. The full lineup includes:

Amanda Turner (Olamaie) and Ty + Sara Burk (True Bird Farm)
Ariana Quant (Uchi + Uchiko + Uchibā) and Tara Chapman (Two Hives Honey)
Arturo Hernandez (Murray’s Tavern) and Ryan Gould (Geosmin Regenerative)
Chelsea Fadda (Pecan Square Café) and Cody + Natalie Scott (Green Bexar Farm)
Christina Currier (Comedor) and Travis Breihan (Smallhold)
Colter Peck (Elementary) and Finegan Ferreboeuf + Jason Gold (Steelbow Farm)
Daniela + Rosa de Lima Hernández (La Santa Barbacha) and Benjamin + Meghan Roberts (Elder Hill Farms)
Edgar Rico (Nixta Taqueria) and Erin Gomez + Allen Li (Solana Farm)
Fiore Tedesco (L’Oca D’Oro) and Perrine Noelke (Local Pastures)
Graeme Little (Fairmont Austin) and Amalia Staggs + Adachi Ogbenna (Farmshare Austin)
Harvard Aninye (Canje) and William Nikkel + Ivan Bates (Trosi Farm)
Jo Chan (Bureau de Poste at Tiny Grocer) and Joe + Kasey Diffie (Joe’s Microgreens)
Joaquin Ceballos (Este) and Anamaria Gutierrez (Este Garden)
Kevin Cannon (Barley Swine) and Phillip Green (River Field Farm)
Peter Klein (Holiday on 7th) and Jacob Grob (Urban Roots)
Rick Lopez + Frank Harris (La Condesa) and Ben McBride (Heritage Seafood)
Rodolfo “Rudy” Rivera III (Bottega) and Lis Stumpf + Mo Ryan (Hot Spell Farm)
Sarah Heard + Nathan Lemley (Foreign & Domestic) and Hannah Gongola (H2Grow Farms)
Sonya Cote (Store House Eatery) and David Barrow (Eden East Farm)
Susana Querejazu (Lutie’s) and Sean Henry (Hi-Fi Mycology)
Taylor Chambers (Suerte) and Hannah Beall (CTFB Garden)
Todd Duplechan + Joey Atwater (Lenoir) and Germaine Swenson + Ivan Matula (Munkebo Farm)
Tracy Malechek-Ezekiel (Birdie’s) and Becky Hume (VRDNT Farm)
Special guests Tracy + Jack Geyer of Boggy Creek Farm

Sarah Heard Foreign & Domestic pork chop salad Sarah Heard, one of the returning chefs, brought this grilled pork chop salad in 2023.Photo by Mackenzie Smith Kelley

This year's festivities will also include educational talks (curated by co-founder Trisha Bates), a "farmer's bodega," a pizza party, and a miniature vegetable omakase experience. Guests to the omakase tent will get to taste three bites as part of a "10-minute culinary journey" that showcases some of Boggy Creek Farm's seasonal yields.

"The omakase experience that we are seeing not only in Austin right now, but also nationwide, I think has taken over so much of the food scene in a really exciting way," says Sokol. "[During an] omakase experience, you are being very intentional with knowing what you're putting in your mouth because of how the coursing experience is...so [that] is unlike anything that hopefully you'll have seen at a festival before."

Sokol believes that the main draw for such an all-star lineup of chefs is the festival's commitment to starting conversations in the community about how our food is sourced. Chef Fermín Núñez of Este — which is constantly on best-of lists along with its sister restaurant, Suerte — backs this up.“

We couldn’t pass up the opportunity to join a festival committed to fostering connections between farmers and chefs,” said Nuñez in the release. “This year, our restaurants are proudly represented by both of our chef de cuisines and given our own farm at Este, it was an obvious choice to participate. Cultivating the bond between farmers and chefs aligns perfectly with our values and we look forward to another great year.”

Because this is a smaller-than-usual festival and tastings almost always run out of food, guests should arrive as early as possible. Tickets are available now at fieldguidefest.com. Sales benefit the Central Texas Food Bank.

farmers markets sustainability gardening festivals

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.