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Photo courtesy of Bob's Dance Shop

One Austinite’s weird is another’s painfully vanilla, and Feeld is here to suss out the balance. The alternative dating app — favored by the nonmonogamous, kinky, and queer — is hosting its first in-person Austin event on Friday, December 16, gathering Austinites for “An Unusual Night In Austin.”

Feeld users are invited out for a bar crawl to Lolo Wine, Lefty's Brick Bar, and The Liberty, with free pedicabs in between, followed by performances by DJ Cassandra and Bob’s Dance Shop (the fabulous cowboys who backed up Sofi Tukker at Austin City Limits Festival). Attendees will mostly be left to their own social devices, but should have plenty to talk about, given Feeld’s nonconformist reputation.

The app looks like any other that makes matches through swiping, with sections that may be harder to find on other apps: a broad range of sexualities that may prompt many users to break out a progressive dictionary; connected profiles for couples searching together; and tags for desires (dominant or submissive, friendship, texting, etc.).

Most importantly, the app has curated its own microculture among users that mirrors the greater themes at play in kinky or more intimacy-expansive communities. Feeld is a place to discuss wants and needs with more specific language and candor — some users list fantasies, while others state a noncommittal desire for someone “likeminded,” a word Feeld uses often in marketing.

“The reason [the “unusual” event title is] italicized, and the reason where we're sort of claiming this, is not because we think it's unusual to have a diverse range of interests in your sexuality, or to be someone who is curious about different desires and experiences,” says market expansion lead Maceo Keeling. But the rest of the world isn’t always on board. “Feeld is a place for those whose romantic experiences [or] their gender identity — the dating app world at large has decided that they were unusual. So Feeld is the place where the unusual are usual.”

Keeling chooses new markets based on organic interest: Feeld had not done any advertising in Austin, but users were popping up independently. Now, the app is in a stage of getting to know the area, in order to launch it as a “core city,” meaning that users can continue virtually meeting Austinites even if they aren’t physically there.

In addition to the scheduled events, some community partners will be around: FSG will be doing its famous live screen printing, and Peach Fuzz, Austin’s local “old school nudie mag,” endorsed the event.

“There are a lot of people that are interested in Austin, even if they might not be physically located there, and they want to stay in touch with the community in and around it,” says Keeling.

Feeld is one of those interested parties. Its main goal for the event is to “approach with a little bit more intention,” so Austinites should show up as their full selves and simply enjoy the spotlight.

“An Unusual Night In Austin” starts at 7 pm on December 16. More information is available on the Feeld app, and in a designated group chat for the event. RSVP on Eventbrite.

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CultureMap Emails are Awesome

Here are the Hollywood celebrities we spotted in Austin for SXSW, plus more top stories

Hot Headlines

Editor’s note: It’s that time again — time to check in with our top stories. Here are five articles that captured our collective attention over the past seven days.

1. Here are all the Hollywood celebrities we've spotted in Austin so far for SXSW. From Elizabeth Olsen and Eric Andre, here are some of the celebs we spotted out and about during the fest — and this was just weekend one.

2. Texas coastal town tops Austin's favorite spring break destination. Several cities in Colorado ranked highly, but this report says one Texas beach town is still the No. 1 spring break getaway for Austinites.

3. Austin rent prices increased nearly 10 percent from 2022, report finds. Zumper ranked Austin the No. 25 most expensive rental market in the United States.

4. Escape the crowds at SXSW: 8 Austin-area hangs, parties, and activities. Escaping the crowds during SXSW can be a challenge, but there are plenty of other things to do in Austin in mid-March.

5. Ben Affleck and Matt Damon will make surprise SXSW appearance with closing night film. Affleck's Air will make its surprise SXSW debut tonight at the Paramount Theatre as the closing night film for SXSW.

Austin Top Chef winner debuts new National Geographic series during SXSW

Top Chef

Austin is proud to claim chef Kristen Kish as our own, but the Top Chef winner has always had a global mindset. She first earned her chops in French and Italian cuisine at Boston's acclaimed Menton restaurant, infusing those influences into the menu at Arlo Grey with a pioneering curiosity and adventurous spirit. Now, she's bringing that explorer's mindset to a new National Geographic series, debuting Tuesday, March 21.

Available on Disney+, Restaurants at the End of the World is a docuseries in which Kish travels to off-the-beaten-path pockets of the planet. The four-part series follows Kish as she searches for the secret ingredients – people, places, culture and traditions – within the world’s most remote restaurants in Boquete, Panama; Svalbard, Norway; North Haven Island, Maine; and Paraty, Brazil.

A lucky selection of South by Southwest (SXSW) attendees got a sneak peek of the series at a special dinner on Tuesday, March 14. The event took place inside Arlo Grey at the Line Hotel, where Kish mingled with guests and introduced clips from the upcoming series. A family-style dinner featured dishes inspired by different episodes of the series, from Maine-inspired Parker House rolls to Arctic char and strawberry semifreddo.

"This series is all about shared experiences and trading stories," Kish said, introducing the evening's menu. "So, when putting this menu together, I realized there are a lot of similarities. When I think back to all the places I went and new things I learned, there are so many familiar flavors to every bite that can bring you right back home into your own story."

The menu celebrated each location in the upcoming series, often in the same course: Parker House Rolls (with delicious whipped brown butter) were a nod to her New England episode ("Maine Island Barn Supper,"), paired with a scallop crudo commemoration of her time in Brazil ("Brazil’s Floating Feast,"). Meanwhile, the main course gave guests a glimpse of the great lengths Norwegian fishermen go to when harvesting Arctic char, accompanied by a clip of Kish's adventures with local purveyors in Svalbard, Norway.

The aim of both the dinner and the upcoming series is to showcase the tenacity it takes to run restaurants in such remote places. Each episode follows Kish behind the scenes with local purveyors, farmers, herders, kitchen crew, managers, and head chefs to hear their stories. She invites viewers along with her in the hunt for the best and freshest ingredients, unearthing the culture and heart behind global cuisine and showcasing the balancing act required to bring unique food to the table around the world.

“Food has an unparalleled power to bring us together and teach us about one another and the world around us, and we see that firsthand by going to restaurants in the world’s most remote areas,” says Chef Kish via release. “Filming this series with National Geographic was an adventure of a lifetime that taught me so much about an industry I’ve been steeped in my whole life. I can’t wait for viewers to come along on the journey with us and experience these dishes at restaurants most never even knew existed.”

The first episode of Restaurants around the World will be available on March 21 at 9 pm CST.

Kristen Kish

Courtesy National Geographic

Top Chef winner Kristen Kish has a new National Geographic show debuting on March 21.

Boutique Austin hotel amplifies the vinyl bar scene with a moody new listening room

Moody Blues

There’s no shortage of cool places in Austin to hear curated tunes, but a new effort by Hotel Magdalena amplifies the imagination beyond the laid-back trend. Although many vinyl bars, listening rooms, or jazz lounges provide lovely venues to chat and check out of the active listening — if that’s a guest’s preference — Equipment Room is almost too intimate to invite any kind of distraction.

Bunkhouse Group, the hotel’s parent company (along with other boutique hotels like Hotel San José and Hotel Saint Cecilia) designed and operated the space; executive chairman Amar Lalvani collaborated with Mohawk owner James Moody and Breakaway Records owners Josh LaRue and Gabe Vaughn, who supply the records. Rather than hiring a couple of DJs to set the tone, the team is leaving it to Breakaway Records employees on a rotating schedule.

All it requires is good taste; These spinners will be taking a more curational than transformative approach, playing full albums so visitors can hear each “the way it was intended.” Cocktail waiters will pass out handwritten cards so patrons know what’s playing, and can listen more at home. (On March 1: The Cooker by Lee Morgan, 2006.)

Although Equipment Room is not quite a speakeasy (despite having a perfect name for it), the listening room is certainly covert. The front door, in a different building than the hotel lobby, is barely marked at all save for a little floating “E” sign.

Inside, a public-facing seat or a covetous corner are a guest’s choice. A long bar allows visitors to interface with staff and lean into the cocktail experience; plus, they get to sit closest to the main speakers and the turntables. The main room is further segmented with plush furniture in a variety of configurations. Some tables stand alone in the center of the room as if in a restaurant, serving as a point of connection; others on a raised platform around the edge of the room serve as a thin barrier between the cocktail sippers and the rest of the venue.

Some seating creates conversation circles, while other outward-facing couches are placed in command positions to either social or voyeuristic ends. A side room creates a small den for a bigger party to retreat to, or perhaps a few smaller ones to converge in, like a chill room at a rave — were the entire venue not already deeply chill.

Where a guest sits notably changes the experience. Besides inviting conversation, facilitating people watching, or concealing a romantic date, each part of the room sounds different thanks to different speaker configurations and a curved ceiling to spread out the acoustics.

Of course, besides the obscure and nonchalant implications of the name, the Equipment Room must be outfitted with the best audio tools LaRue and Vaughn could source, with the help of acoustic engineers at Klipsch. A full list of equipment on the venue’s website illuminates speakers, amps, and more, including a vintage cassette deck. Recording capabilities will come in handy on some special nights when the “guest selectors” record that night’s repertoire, and the especially high-fidelity equipment will be broken out for album releases and other more pointed listening events.

Audiophiles or otherwise, all do best with a cocktail and some snacks to settle into the space, and an eclectic menu delivers. Divided into A-sides and B-sides (classic and experimental drinks), it includes everything from a traditional French 75 to the ostentatious “Gold Dust Woman” with Still Austin gin, macadamia nut liqueur, Linie Aquavit, granny smith apple juice, spiced demerara, sparkling wine, and “ice gold leaf.”

Four virgin cocktails and seven sakes also grace the menu, along with snacks like a suspiciously tasty “caramel puffed cheese corn” (“like Pirate’s Booty,” explains a staff member, but with a sweet, glossy coating) and onigiri. The Japanese bites tie into the jazz kissaten, or Japanese vinyl cafes, that inspired this decidedly Western Austin treat.

Whatever’s on the audio menu that night — cowboy ballads, Afrobeat, or something psychedelic — every moment just gets tastier as visitors settle into the sensational space.

Equipment Room is open at 1101 Music Lane from Tuesday to Thursday 5-10 pm; Friday and Saturday, 5 pm to 2 am. More information including recommended albums is available at equipmentroom.com.

Hotel Magdalena's Equipment Room interior

Photo by Nick Simonite

Hotel Magdalena opened a chic listening room with speakeasy vibes, called Equipment Room.