news you can eat
Huge international food fair and relocated rotisserie tour Austin food news
This may look like a standard birria trio (still fabulous), but they feature Vietnamese beef. (Found at FoodieLand Texas)
From ultra-casual street food to politically minded fundraisers, the Austin food scene has it all. The cool thing is that both can be equally meaningful and enlightening. Chew on that while contemplatively nursing a bowl of ramen.
Openings and closings
This may not technically be an opening (jury's out), but to South Lamar residents it'll feel like one. The Austin Rôtisserie truck is moving from the Far Out Lounge to 1700 South Lamar Blvd., where the Picnik trailer used to be, in "early June." The menu will remain the same as other locations — a streamlined set of classic french sides like roasted potatoes, baguettes, and salads alongside the anchoring rotisserie chicken. The restaurant also announced two upcoming pop-ups: one on June 6 at Hotel San Jose'sFirst Thursdays, and one at Kitty Cohen'sOui Oui on June 9.
Dubious news for some loyal grocery delivery shoppers: Farmhouse Delivery posted May 26 that it would not be fulfilling the next day's orders because of unspecified challenges. The post did not confirm a total closure, but it has been the last communication for five days, as of May 30. The website calls it a temporary closure, and the post says, "We will be in touch soon with updates regarding future orders and the steps we are taking to navigate the future of Farmhouse." In its current state, the business has emphasized the health and sustainability benefits of shopping with small and family-owned farms, and has offered a wide variety of prepared foods and meal kits.
ICYMI: Austin's leading ramen chain, Ramen Tatsu-Ya, is opening its first Round Rock location June 2. This will be the first real suburban location in the Austin area. Now that you've got your casual fix, here's an extremely fancy influencer favorite: BOA Steakhouse, a sister restaurant to the newly opened Sushi Roku, is opening downtown June 3. Austin is also pre-mourning one of its iconic grocery stores as Wheatsville Co-op has announced its Guadalupe location closure a couple of years down the road.
Other news and notes
Wolf and Wheat, an adventurous bakery by pastry chef Margarita Kallas-Lee, is undergoing a summer transformation. Ice cream is not just the newest menu item, but the only one in the new ice cream-only program. A release boasts "the only composed interactive cones in town," whatever that means. [Update: A spokesperson explains via email that "composed cones are like a show almost[,] as they are placed in each cone stand and then finished off with each component of the dish by the pastry team. ... It differs from something like Amy's [Ice Creams] as each component is homemade by the pastry chef team and layered on, and there are not toppings like M&M's or other candy that have been purchased and then mixed in on the table.] The new program is kicking off with a visit from Graza Olive Oil, providing a drizzle over a raspberry and fig leaf sorbet swirled with sweet cream ice cream. That's available May 30 to June 1. Then the rest of the season is indefinite, but it starts with these flavors.
Italian restaurant L’Oca d’Oro is inviting Austinites for its last Pasta Paisanos fundraiser dinner of this “season” on June 3 — the last dinner benefitting Good Work Austin, which supports healthy workplace training in the food and beverage industry. The guest chef is Reem Assil, a Palestinian-Syrian chef based in California. Assil’s work at Reem’s California and in the award-winning cookbook Arabiyya: Recipes from the Life of an Arab in Diaspora centers on how food reflects and strengthens identity. Assil was one of the chefs who resigned from Chef José Andrés’ World Central Kitchen, an organization a joint statement says "chose to normalize Israel’s intentional starvation of Gazans." Presumably, she might disagree with Rabbi Neil Blumofe, one of two pro-Israel speakers who led L’Oca d’Oro’s Passover dinners this year. His last retweet at the time included an assertion that “You don’t win wars just by intercepting your enemy’s hits, … [but] by exacting a deeply painful price.” Restaurant owners said they were unaware of the Rabbi's post and that their series is meant to “to send a message of unity, peace and kinship.” All belief systems are welcome, and thoughtful conversation is encouraged. They also say they’ve spoken extensively with Assil, so it seems that this neutrality hasn’t made it onto her chopping block.
A large food festival is taking over Austin's Circuit of the Americas next weekend, June 7-9. With tickets for only $7, FoodieLand is one of the few festivals you can visit for relatively cheap, although you'll have to pace yourself to save on à la carte eats. Besides its size and intensity — more than 190 vendors selling over-the-top street foods — this festival stands out for its worldly selections. If past events are any indication, visitors will find lumpia (Philippines), tanghulu (China), Hawaiian honey cones, birria cheese fries (Mexico-ish), Cajun shrimp (Louisiana), pasta made in a cheese wheel imported from Italy, and more. Shoutout to California's Mama's Boy cookies, who let us know about this event. Note that parking is $15. Find tickets via universe.com.
