Bids and bites

Texas Wine Auction invites Austin chefs to compete for best paired dishes

The Texas Wine Auction organized an eight-chef competition, to be judged by guests between sips.

Going once, going twice; the Second Annual Texas Wine Auction by Texas Wine Revolution is back. This is more than an excuse to collect a few more bottles. The Fredericksburg auction on April 29 is accompanied by wine and food samples, and when buyers aren’t competing with each other, they’ll rate bites by competing chefs.

Not to be confused with the The Rare & Fine Wine Auction and Gala by the Wine & Food Foundation, this event is explicitly Texas-themed. The spirited night will raise funds for the health of Texas hospitality workers as well as research and development through Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Programs, while spreading the word about local wineries to watch.

The culinary competition is new in the auction’s second year, enhancing the theme by drawing inspiration from the wines present, all made entirely from Texas grapes. Each chef will be paired with a winery to help inform their flavors in a dish that should pair well with each glass. Guests will then vote on the best pairing and best overall dishes.

Two of the competing chefs — Amber Rebold and Krystyna Cibelli-Pettus — will be visiting from Austin, known respectively for being a contestant on Chef Gordon Ramsay’s Next Level Chef and a dedicated instructor to other chefs. They’re joined by Angie Ragan of Lubbock (also a competitor on Ramsay’s show), Roshni Gurnani of Houston, Matt Church of Fredericksburg, plus two unnamed chefs for a total of eight.

“As a proud native Texan who has always celebrated our big bold flavors in my cooking, developing a dish to pair with Texas-grown wine will be fun for me,” said Rebold.

Her two-time competitor, Ragan, adds, “As a former medical professional, I am honored to participate in an event that will help bring healthcare to my colleagues in the Texas hospitality industry. Everyone deserves access to health services and the money we raise from the auction will go directly toward improving the health of others.”

Some of 2023’s featured wineries include:

Inwood Estates and William Chris Vineyards (2023's featured wineries)
Ab Astris
Kalasi Cellars
Kerrville Hills Winery
Pedernales Cellars
Texas Heritage
Texas Wine Collective

Auctions will be both live and silent, and along with the food and wine, attendees can look forward to musical performances.

The Texas Wine Auction will be held on April 29 at Vista Oaks Event Center in Fredericksburg, Texas. Tickets ($175 for individuals, larger tables available) can be purchased at texaswineauction.com.

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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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