News You Can Eat

Spanish-Egyptian dinner and smoky s'mores ice cream reinvent Austin food news

Unfortunately in real life you'll have to close the lid.

Photo courtesy of Uchiko

Although the summer can be sleepy for food news, this week was served up with some surprising twists. With all these openings and closings, we have a few events and longer-term offerings to look forward to, like a mature new s'mores ice cream and lots of multi-cultural tasting menu innovation.

Openings and closings

Upscale downtown restaurant Fixe Southern Cafe is opening a new restaurant called Hissy Fit, located at 9761 Great Hills Trl. Details on social media are still sparse, but a job listing posted on the website says the cafe "embodies Southern charm and hospitality," and co-owners chef James Robert and Keith House told Eater it will be "Fixe’s 'sassy little sister.'" According to the website, it's opening sometime this fall.

Baker Margarita Kallas-Lee's Wolf and Wheat isn't closing, but is transitioning out of directly serving the public. According to a spokesperson, overwhelming wholesale demand and a new pastry bar program at Pasta Bar have changed the team's priorities. That's a full-circle move for Wolf and Wheat, which started as a way to get treats from Pasta Bar, Sushi by Scratch, and other restaurants in the hospitality group in front of customers who don't want an entire meal. Austinites can still get their favorite bakes at their respective restaurants, and Wolf and Wheat will open to the public occasionally this fall, focusing on holidays and any other events that suit their schedule. Fans can also find the famous sourdough at Uptown Sports Club and Cape Bottle room.

ICYMI: Nonalcoholic cocktails could just be delicious juice mixes, but at Taano House, they're full of botanical highs. The psychoactive plant-based cocktail bar opened August 15. In more niche bar news, Lala's Little Nugget is taking its year-round Christmas cheer to a new location in South Austin. Things aren't so festive at Elementary, which surprised fans by announcing its closure in the middle of its first anniversary celebration. The team is working on a replacement, but it won't be the same concept going forward. Folks who are disappointed to see Wolf and Wheat close its doors have a more-than-capable consolation prize coming when industry vet Amanda Rockman opens her first-ever solo bakery, Rockman Coffee + Bakeshop, this fall.

Other news and notes

Few flavors have so much potential for overdoing it as s'mores, but Uchiko's ice cream rendition of the campfire snack is a mature alternative — and it's now available in to-go pints ($12.50). Diners can pick it up after their meal or folks at home can get it delivered via Uber Eats. The not-too-sweet base is itself a "toasted marshmallow" flavor, but tastes comparable to a neutral cream base with some smokiness added in. Then, marshmallows, chocolate, black sesame praline, and sea salt are mixed in. It's topped with more chocolate and a butter cookie crumble for texture.

Sexy neighborhood spot Justine's is doing what it does best on Sunday, August 18, with a rare Champagne event and night market. Alongside the fancy sips-by-the-glass will be vintage clothes, zines, tattoos, tarot readings, and "a mini-film about a rock star," although the emailed event description doesn't say which one. See this Instagram post for a full list of participants and this Instagram post to learn more about the Champagne takeover.

Every Mediterranean fusion in town is a little different, but this collaboration by the SpanishEl Raval and EgyptianKG BBQ should be especially unique. From a press release, diners can expect an Egyptian baladi salad and gazpacho; crudo; a spread with foraged mushrooms, sunchoke miso hummus, cured egg yolk, roti prata flatbread and smoked lamb bacon ribs; pomegranate and za'atar-glazed pork ribs; an Egyptian twist on paella; and Moorish rice pudding. Reserve a spot at El Raval on August 19 ($70) on OpenTable.

Brazilian cheese by Juniper and Chef Junior Borges Chef Junior Borges knows you can't go wrong with grilled cheese.Photo by Consumable Content

Another fancy multi-course collaboration is bringing together the Italian tastes of Juniper with the Brazilian signature of James Beard Award semi-finalist Chef Junior Borges. The Dallas chef is coming to Austin for a three-night residency from Thursday, August 22, through Saturday, August 24. The menu "modernizes traditional Brazilian dishes with Italian influences," according to a release, which means things like grilled beach cheese with hot honey, oregano and lime; sablefish moqueca with gold rice, charred plantain and coconut broth, and dende oil; and more across six courses. Reserve ( $120, plus $65 optional wine pairings) on OpenTable.

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Peak Plates

7 Austin restaurants make OpenTable's top 100 for 2024

Jeffrey's Restaurant/Instagram

Jeffrey's Restaurant is a great example of the type of fancy, well-established restaurant that made the list.

Restaurant reservation website OpenTable has issued its new list of the top 100 restaurants in America for 2024, and seven Austin restaurants have made the list. That's already impressive at a glance — 7 percent of the entire national list in just one city — but compared to other Texas cities, it's huge. Austin is the only Texas city to have more than one restaurant on the list.

The "2024's Top 100 Restaurants" list is a compilation of the most sought-after and top-ranked restaurants in the U.S. based on 14 million verified reviews on OpenTable from October 1, 2023, to September 30, 2024. Restaurants are not ranked, but arranged in alphabetical order by state.

Austin's seven restaurants (including several repeats from OpenTable's 2023 list) are:

Aba: Known for its laid-back, yet fancy patio and being a popular spot for visiting celebrities
J Carver's: Known for a commitment to the classic steakhouse experience and legitimately fancy dining
Jeffrey's Restaurant: Known for fine dining, a connection to Austin before its boom, and a fantastic wine program
Red Ash Italia: Known for approachable, yet high-quality Italian food with rustic touches
Sammie's Italian: Known for its romantic take on the archetype of an East Coast Italian joint
Uchi: Known for bringing Austin into the national sushi conversation and defining the scene
Uchiko: Known for a cool atmosphere and getting creative with sushi and other small plates

Austinites will probably not be surprised by this list, which names some very well-established restaurants that are all upscale. These qualities tend to appeal to similar lists, regardless of who's curating them.

It is interesting, given that the list was democratically based on user ratings, that there were not more beloved food trailers or casual spots. However, other factors that led to high rankings included alerts set and reservations made ahead — things that don't really apply to even the most awesome taco truck.

Mediterranean food was a trend among the Austin picks. Red Ash Italia and Sammie's Italian are, as the names would imply, completely dedicated to Italian food, while Aba covers a wider swath of the Mediterranean. There were also two steakhouses: J Carver's and Jeffrey's Restaurant.

As list-perusers may have guessed, Uchi and Uchiko are in the same family of restaurants, with Uchi being the more formal and Uchiko being a bit more accessible for drop-in meals and cocktails. But are two more incognito duos of sibling restaurants on the list: J Carver's and Red Ash, and Jeffrey's Restaurant and Sammie's Italian.

That could be a coincidence. It could also be a reflection of the utility of money and experience in opening a good restaurant, or a lesson about the effects of good (and expensive) marketing. Whatever it is, it doesn't sound like hospitality groups had any direct sway on how OpenTable made its choices.

This list was different from the inaugural list of OpenTable Icons, which launched in 2024. The "Icons" list chose restaurants that are getting a lot of buzz, which ended up being more subjective. It also seemed to let in — as a side effect of the process, rather than a hard eligibility rule — more new and Mexican restaurants. Two restaurants are on both lists: Red Ash and Jeffrey's.

Restaurants outside of Austin that made the Top 100 list, organized alphabetically, are:

Hudson House — Dallas
Steak 48 — Houston
Signature — San Antonio

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