News You Can Eat

Patio parties and new menus bring fresh air to Austin's food scene

Thai Fresh is celebrating Songkran, the Thai New Year, with specials and a soup bar out front.

Photo by Liz Harroun

Austin's patio days are in full swing, and with them come new menus, backyard food celebrations, and reasonably priced drinks.

New menus

Last week's food news column was all about openings and closings. This week, let's talk new menus.

Pete's Dueling Piano Bar: This dueling piano bar used to be called Pete’s Peanut Bar, and it's bringing the legume back with new "peanut-inspired" drinks. "Pete’s House Shot" pairs Maniball Peanut Butter Tequila with a packet of jelly for a two-part shot, the Maní Fashioned pairs the same spirit with classic old fashioned flavors, and the Peanut Colada offers another twist on a classic, among other themed drinks.
Serenade: This French brasserie has introduced a new executive sous chef, Stephen Kozak. His debut marks "a new chapter" for Serenade, a press release says. Diners can expect new menu items including house-made conchiglie pasta, steak frites, chilled Argentinian shrimp with broth, chicken rôti, potato pavé with duck fat and cheese, and Ora King salmon, psweet tea-brined duck, and more.
Oria: The new Mediterranean restaurant on Barton Springs Road now offers happy hour Mondays through Thursdays from 4-6 pm. That includes cocktails for $9-11, glasses of wine for $9, and beer for $5, plus $2 oysters and "affordable bites" including a pita burger for $10. Bottles of wine will also be half price.
Pinthouse: Both a pizzeria and a brewery, Pinthouse has launched new menu items and beers for spring. Highlights according to a press release include crawfish étouffée fries, bánh mì pizza, and charred corn and tomato panzanella. For beer releases, look for the Nose Jelly, a West Coast IPA, and Island Kitty, a Tiki IPA.
Épicerie: The first weekday is now "Mussel Monday" at this neighborhood French bistro. Guests can order bottomless mussels and frites for $32 a person from 5-9 pm, plus $8 French 75s and half-off wine bottles under $100. A new lagniappe, or happy hour menu is available Mondays through Fridays from 3-5 pm. It includes seasonal bites, $10 burgers and poboys, and specialty cocktails and wines for $10.

Other news and notes

Goldie's Sunken Bar, the cocktail bar at the Austin Proper hotel, has launched a new Sunday night series. "Oldies in Goldie's" invited guests to bring vinyl records — or just to enjoy other people's tunes — every Sunday from 6 pm to midnight. The intent is to get music-lovers together for an organic, "analog" social experience.

For the ultimate block party, Austinites can taste the music at Hotel Vegas. Guests who buy a featured drink can dig in for a free crawfish boil, shop a clothing market by Decades in Retro and Serpent's Kiss, and take a line dance lesson (3-5 pm). Doors open at 1 pm, and Eastside Boilers is serving the first round of crawfish at 2 pm. Country DJ Ed West plays from 1-3 pm and roots rock band Swindlers plays from 5:15-6 pm.

Thai Fresh is celebrating Songkran, the Thai New Year, with a party on Sunday, April 19. Guests can stop by the street-style, customizable noodle soup station and shop at a market curated by Austin Flea from 10 am to 3 pm. The soup station will be run by Chef Jam Sanitchat and her staff in front of the restaurant; inside, there will be more specials including banana, sweet potato, and ube fritters (which are vegan and gluten-free), plus moo ping and chicken satay.

news you can eat parties cocktails wine happy hour menus

Pizza Party

Austin travel company and pizzeria team up for culinary tours in Italy

Alex and Nico Gabbi of Aventine Hill Travel

Photo courtesy of Aventine Hill Travel

Alex and Nico Gabbi (left and right) of Aventine Hill Travel will lead the inaugural tour through the Emilia-Romagna region.

Austinites who love Italian cuisine and want to experience the authentic thing can now follow a local restaurant through a tour in the motherland. Starting this fall, Baldinucci Pizza Romana and Aventine Hill Travel are collaborating on a new venture called Baldinucci Culinary Tours. The first tour will bring visitors to the Emilia-Romagna region from October 11-18.

It is important to note that although, as its name suggests, Baldinucci serves Roman-style pizza, Emilia-Romagna is farther north. Its largest city is Bologna and it covers nearly the entire width of Italy, including the east coast. Pizza in general comes from Naples in Southern Italy. However, this tour focuses on other dishes and ingredients.

“This may seem like an unexpected leap, but it really does feel like a natural next step for us” said pizzeria co-owner Gabriel Baldinucci, who co-founded Baldinucci Culinary Tours, in a press release. “Our mission has always been to give our community an authentic taste of Italy, and this is just an extension of how we can accomplish that. Our tours will always have a member of the Baldinucci family on board. We want this to feel personal and special, because it is to us.”

The release says these "high-touch travel experiences" will accommodate 10-18 guests. They'll go on behind-the-scenes tours and of course, enjoy lots of delicious food. (One notable stop is at Massimo Bottura project Ristorante Cavallino.) Yes, both the pizzeria and the tour company are based in Austin, but the guides at Aventine Hill Travel offer a more regional Italian touch.

“Aventine Hill Travel was the perfect partner for us,” said Baldinucci. “A father and son team, with the father growing up in Rome, and their focus on local relationships with Italian owned businesses, made them fit perfectly with our focus on family and authenticity.”

Guests will also shop at markets, go looking for truffles with experts and their dogs, and tour artisan producers so they can see how Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, balsamic vinegar, and wine are made. They'll even go on a Ferrari driving experience through Maranello — where the Museo Ferrari is — and stay at a five-star resort.

Altogether, the experience costs $9,995 per person without airfare. The hotel, dining, wine, tours, classes, and transportation are all included.

"Our partnership with Baldinucci Travel is grounded in what matters most to both of us: family and a genuine love for authentic Italy,” said Alex Gabbi, managing partner of Aventine Hill Travel. “Baldinucci brings that same respect for tradition that defines how we approach travel at Aventine Hill. It’s a collaboration built on shared values and a common purpose."

After the first journey, the new partnership is looking to other regions for future travel: Tuscany, Piemonte, Campania, Puglia, and Sicily.

tours italian cuisine pizza