News You Can Eat

A beloved bakery spin-off, Karen's Diner, and famous BBQ ramen top Austin's tastiest food news

Julie Myrtille announced that a new shop, The Rose Bakery by Julie Myrtille, is in the works.

Photo courtesy of Austin Restaurant Weeks

Editor’s note: We get it. It can be difficult to keep up with the fast pace of Austin’s restaurant and bar scene. We have you covered with our regular roundup of essential food news.

Openings

On October 2, Julie Myrtille — the renowned baker behind the eponymous pastry shop — announced that she would be opening a spin-off. The new store, called The Rose Bakery by Julie Myrtille, will open this fall. "It is with immense gratitude for your unwavering support that we embark on this new chapter," the baker wrote on Instagram. "Your love for our baked goods and the demand for more inspired us to expand our reach."

The viral dinner theater sensation Karen's Diner has finally opened ticket sales for its two-day Austin residency on January 20-21. This diner became famous for the over-the-top, no-holds-barred intentional rudeness of the waitstaff, all delivered with creativity and gusto (i.e., in this case, a deadpan). Reviewers have said the food is good, although that's low on most visitors' priorities. Somehow, lower than being verbally abused. Buy tickets via Hidden.

Austin has lots of taco joints — in case you didn't know — but one stands out for its creative menu and world influence. Velvet Taco, which serves up unusual taco varieties like spicy tikka chicken with buttered cilantro basmati rice, is opening in Round Rock in October (although no date has been declared yet). At 2131 N. Interstate Hwy 35, this will be the Dallas-based chain's 29th Texas location.

ICYMI: Recently two small Austin institutions announced new locations. Fresa's, known for its grilled Mexican eats and seasonal menu, is opening Fresa's 360 — so named for its proximity to Loop 360. The new location will prominently feature a patio with great views. Meanwhile, Tiny Grocer had been cooking up a second location for a long time, which finally opened this week. Its locally famous founder Steph Steele teamed up with Top Chef contestant Jo Chan to add a French bistro called Bureau de Poste in the renovated Hyde Park post office that houses the new artisan shop.

Other news and notes

Camp Lucy, a Hill Country wedding venue, has a "sister property" in Malmesbury, England, also managed by Whim Hospitality. The Texas destination was thus inspired to start its own afternoon tea service, paired with sweets and sandwiches by executive pastry chef Hannah Smith. Visitors can choose from nine tea varieties like chamomile flowers, lemon chiffon rooibos, jasmine pearls green, and, of course, grand english breakfast. Book ($55) via OpenTable.

Meat eaters know that the best part of ramen is the chashu, so it makes sense that barbecue legend Aaron Franklin and Uchi king Tyson Cole would serve a killer ramen at their joint venture, Loro. Ramen is a fan-favorite, but the miso-chili tonkotsu ramen is a brand-new seasonal recipe with charred bok choy, scallions, noods, sesame, ajitama egg, and smoked sliced brisket or post oak grilled prawns. It will be available Tuesday and Wednesday starting at 4 pm through fall.

One of Austin's leading hospitality groups, Emmer & Rye, is celebrating Texas Wine Month with four different events. First up, on October 8, is a party at Canje with the award-winning William Chris Vineyards — that'll cue up nine Canje dishes with nine wines ($125). Next up Alta Marfa Winery & Vineyard takes over Kalimotxo on October 18; Emmer & Rye hosts winemaker Randy Hester of C.L. Butaud on October 26; and San Antonio's Ladino hosts two Hill Country vineyards for a happy hour on October 30.

news you can eat openings pop up theater tacos mexican cuisine barbecue chefs tea wine wineries

Whoops

Michelin goofs on a few restaurants honored in first Texas guide

Kau Ba/Facebook

Houston's Kau Ba has been removed from the Michelin Guide.

Texans' reactions to the first Michelin Guide in the state have ranged from glowing to unimpressed, but a few notable mix-ups are more concrete than differences in taste. The November 11 ceremony honored more than 100 restaurants across the state, but at least two were in error. In Dallas the guide confused two restaurants with each other, and in Houston one of them had closed.

Starting in Dallas: The Guide's release announcing the list of restaurants who'd won awards included The Charles, an award-winning Italian restaurant in Dallas' Design District, as one of 57 restaurants that earned a "Recommended" rating.

The Charles is a surely deserving restaurant that opened in 2018, the first concept from acclaimed food & beverage group Duro Hospitality, which has since gone on to open other restaurants such as El Carlos Elegante, Sister, and Cafe Duro.

But the Guide got the wrong Charles: The real recipient was Mister Charles, a sibling Duro Hospitality restaurant that opened at 3219 Knox St. in early 2024.

The Charles specializes in Italian and Texas-inspired dishes.

Mister Charles features French and Italian-influenced dishes.

It wasn't just an incorrect name; it listed the accompanying (incorrect) address.

A spokesperson for Michelin Guide verified that Mister Charles was the winner and said that the listing of The Charles was a mistake.

“This was an internal error caused by our geolocation process. The problem will be corrected in the most expeditious manner,” the spokesperson said. The Guide website has since updated the list and replaced The Charles with Mister Charles.

Having a difference of opinion about a critic's choices is one thing — but having an error of this magnitude is something else entirely.

And blaming "geolocation" as the source of the error is a curious excuse. Geolocation refers to the ability to track the whereabouts of an electronic device using GPS, cell phone towers, WiFi access points or a combination of these.

The Houston mix-up was also disappointing, but only involved one restaurant: In a press release issued Thursday, November 14, the Guide announced that it had removed Montrose Vietnamese restaurant Kau Ba from the list of Bib Gourmand recipients.

The reason: "Upon further investigation, our team has discovered the restaurant has been permanently closed since our Inspection team's visits occurred," the statement reads.

As has been widely noted in local media, Kau Ba closed earlier this month. The restaurant’s Instagram account now belongs to Alora, which is described as “a fresh Peruvian-Vietnamese fusion concept inspired by travels to Saigon.” It is expected to open soon.

Open since 2018, Kau Ba served an innovative take on Vietnamese fare created by Nikki Tran. The restaurant built on the notoriety Tran had achieved after being featured in two Netflix series: Somebody Feed Phil and Ugly Delicious. It earned considerable acclaim, including a spot in the Houston Chronicle’s top 100 restaurants as recently as 2023 and a nomination for Best Neighborhood Restaurant in the 2021 CultureMap Tastemaker Awards.

The restaurant went through a number of iterations during its tenure. For three-and-a-half years, Tran partnered with Aya Sushi owners Minette Corpuz and Bruce Kish to oversee operations, but they parted ways in February 2023.

In an email sent to Houston Public Media, Tran expressed regret over Michelin's decision.

“But we understand and respect Michelin’s decision to remove Kau Ba from its selection,” Tran said to HPM. “Exercising an abundance of caution from a legal position, I am not able currently to share further details of our situation but I do hope to follow up soon with more information.”

“Until then, on behalf of the entire Kau Ba team, we want to thank the entire culinary community for the recognition and support,” Tran added. “Kau Ba is proud of the dishes we created and look forward to sharing very soon what’s next.”

Thankfully in Austin, things seem to be going okay. The capital city swept the competition with seven stars (one more than Houston now that the change has been made), and two green stars for sustainability — in fact, the only green stars in the state.

Austin also had four of the first-ever barbecue restaurants to be awarded stars. Houston also had one.

Austin's winning restaurants were Barley Swine, Craft Omakase, Hestia, Olamaie, InterStellar BBQ, John Bates, La Barbecue, Alison Clem, and LeRoy and Lewis Barbecue.

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