news you can eat

A new poke window and a mac and cheese festival top Austin's 9 tastiest bites of food news

Poke-Poke just opened a new window in East Austin.

Photo by Hayden Walker

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 and closings

Poke lovers often appreciate the raw fish salad for its convenience, but now it's easier than ever to get a bowl, thanks to a new walk-up window by Poke-Poke. This is the chain's fourth Austin location, where it offers a slightly different menu than many locals are used to — instead of adding ingredients to a chaotic custom bowl, these restaurants offer some curated combinations like the zesty "Yowza Yuzu" with shoyu sesame oil, yuzu kosho, tobiko, avocado, and jalapeño. The East Austin window (2601 E. Cesar Chavez St.) is open every day from 11 am to 9 pm.

Speaking of convenience, you could get a rotisserie chicken at the grocery store, but none of those can compare to the offerings at Austin Rotisserie. This French comfort spot with amazing takeout previously ran a food truck at the Far Out Lounge, but it closed for two years so the team could focus on the Fareground location. Now the truck is back at its original locale, continuing to serve luxe sandwiches, balanced family meals, and most important: potatoes tucked under the chicken to catch the drippings on your drive home. Swoon. Visit the truck at 8504 S. Congress Ave. from Thursdays through Sundays, from 6-10pm.

ICYMI: In a wave of New York restaurants opening in Austin, one famous bakery from the area is just paying us a visit. Milk Bar, made famous in association to Chef David Chang and Momofuku, will be staying at the Loren at Lady Bird Lake for six months. In more permanent news, one of Austin's most beloved restaurants, Intero, is getting a sister. The same couple in charge is opening a luxe Italian café called Poeta that encourages eating alone. We've also seen some older promises come into fruition this week: El Alma's anticipated second location and the intriguing dog park at Mutt's Canine Cantina are now open.

Other news and notes

Identity Productions, the team behind the popular Tacos of Texas podcast that airs on KUTX, is launching a new cooking show on YouTube. KanDeepa Texan highlights the cooking of Chef Deepa Shridhar, a now-Austin-based South Indian immigrant chef who grew up in Garland, Texas. Some of the fusion cuisine that will appear in upcoming episodes includes jaggery pistachio chocolate chip cookies, South Indian-Mexican steak, and chorizo queso thali. New episodes will drop every Thursday at noon.

Please don't tell anyone we're being such Grinches about this, but sometimes the same old holiday food gets old before the season even starts in earnest. The Salty, a small-ish high-quality donut chain with one Austin location, has added a quintessential holiday flavor that isn't played out: "Cinnamon Pear Crumble." This brioche donut is filled with spiced pears, and topped with a cinnamon glaze, Dutch apple pie streusel, and mascarpone whipped cream. This is a seasonal flavor as of November 13 — we don't know how long it'll last.

Fans of mac and cheese — and who isn't a fan of mac and cheese? — should mark their calendars for a festival this weekend. On November 19, the Mac & Cheese Festival descends upon Austin's Lantana Place, with another cheesy guest star on the menu: grilled cheese. There will be 16 food vendors, plus beer and cocktails, all available in unlimited quantities with each ticket. Most important, this festival benefits the Central TX Food Bank. Tickets ($56.68 general admission including fees, or VIP and kids' options) are available via macncheesetour.com.

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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.