Fonda San Miguel hosts centennial celebration for renowned Mexican cuisine expert Diana Kennedy

Diana Kennedy

Courtesy photo

Fonda San Miguel owner Tom Gilliland is teaming up with the University of Texas at San Antonio Libraries Special Collections to host a memorable fundraising party for his dear friend and renowned Mexican cuisine expert, the late Diana Kennedy.

Taking place on Sunday, March 5 — just two days after what would have been Kennedy's 100th birthday — the special event will benefit the Diana Kennedy Cookbook Endowment, which will ensure items from this priceless collection are preserved and available for future generations of students, researchers, and chefs.

A respected world-famous authority of Mexican food, Kennedy spent most of her life traveling to every region of Mexico meeting people, learning cooking techniques, visiting markets, and studying all foods native to Mexico. She dedicated her life to preserving and promoting every aspect of Mexican cuisine and sharing her vast culinary knowledge with others.

Kennedy was close friends of Fonda San Miguel owner, Tom Gilliland, and the restaurant’s co-founder and executive chef, the late Miguel Ravago. She passed away last summer at the age of 99 on July 24, 2022.

“Many recipes at Fonda San Miguel are inspired by our dear friend Diana Kennedy," says Gilliland in a release. "Our co-chefs Blanca Zesati and Carlos Monroy, constantly pay tribute to her by offering special menu items taken from the nine cookbooks she authored. Yet, what many people may not know is that during her life’s travels to every region of Mexico, Diana also accumulated her own collection of 600 cookbooks, including eleven, rare Mexican cookbooks dating back to the mid-nineteenth century.”

Tickets for the event are $45 per person and include a welcome cocktail and appetizers, as well as the chance to hear from Kennedy's close associates and friends. Guests will also have the opportunity to view a variety of items from the author's personal collection, including research papers and correspondence, in addition to her cookbooks. The collection is part of the University of Texas at San Antonio’s Special Collections renowned Mexican Cookbook Collection, which is the largest in the nation.

The event will take place from 4 to 6 pm on Sunday, March 5, and tickets are available under 'Reservations' at fondasanmiguel.com.

Ad Placement 300x100

Ad Placement 300x600

CultureMap Emails are Awesome

Property Showcase

Plan a summer play-cation in Frisco for golf, pools, music, and more

The City That Plays

Looking to take a play-cation this summer? Obviously Frisco, The City That Plays, is the perfect fit. It offers so many activities to fit every interest, from sporting events and unique golf activities to kid-friendly attractions and pools.

Summer sports
Watch a Frisco RoughRiders baseball game like never before from the in-stadium lazy river, or tour The Star, the Dallas Cowboys World Headquarters, to take in some NFL history and see where the pros call home.

While you are visiting The Star, you’ll find shopping and dining, with everything from sushi at Sushi Marquee to sweets at Cow Tipping Creamery.

Pro tip: if you love America’s team, plan your trip in August to get a pre-season glimpse of the Dallas Cowboys at training camp, open to the public at Ford Center.

PGA Frisco awaits with its two championship courses, a short course and putting green that’s lit at night, an entertainment district full of shops and dining options for the whole family, and the newly opened Omni PGA Frisco Resort, where it’s easy to cool off in one of the four pools.

Frisco offers golfers a range of play options, including The Fazio Course at The Westin Stonebriar Golf Resort & Spa, Frisco Lakes Golf Club, Plantation Golf Club, The Trails of Frisco, and the unique indoor option of the Swing Suite Lounge by Topgolf.

Cool tunes
Now that Frisco is officially designated a Music Friendly Texas Community, there’s plenty of live music to enjoy over the summer.

Friday nights in June are for listening to live music at Frisco Square during the free outdoor Summer Concert Series on the lawn in front of City Hall.

Visitors can get into the groove anytime at one of Frisco’s many venues that host live music and entertainment throughout the summer.

Happy 4th
Frisco celebrates the Fourth of July big, too. Mark your calendar for two major events with food, music, games, and fireworks: Frisco Freedom Fest and The Independence Day Celebration at Omni PGA Frisco Resort.

Kiddo time
Escape the Texas heat with a visit to Frisco’s unbelievable new library. The bright, open design has spaces to inspire, create, innovate, and collaborate, plus you can say hi to Rexy, the 20-foot-tall T-Rex dinosaur skeleton.

Check out the high-tech Makerspace and active learning spaces like Tiny Town, for kids up to age 5, and Kid’s Club, for kinder through 5th graders.

Take a dip
Cool down poolside in Frisco. With rooftop views, cabanas, adults-only, splash pools, and the Frisco Water Park, families, couples, and friends can all find the right place to cool down during your visit.

Whatever your summer style is, rest your head at one of Frisco’s 26 hotels while experiencing a weekend play-cation with things to do for visitors of all ages.

Soak up all Frisco has to offer this summer — visit the website for more vacation ideas.

Photo courtesy of Visit Frisco

See a baseball game from the water at Riders Field.

Austin pedals into the 5th-best ranking for naked biking among U.S. cities

Skin in the game

Austinites just will not do things clothed, apparently. We slid in our ranking for naked gardening in 2023, but No. 2 ain't bad. Naked biking sounds a lot less appealing, but Austin is a great place to do it, coming in at No. 5 overall.

According to LawnStarter, who compiled the research out of the 200 largest cities in the U.S., Austin beat every other Texas locale, with Houston coming in at No. 13, San Antonio at No. 45, Dallas at 58, and everyone else doing pretty abysmally.

Austinites interested in trying this fringe sport can look into the World Naked Bike Ride, with the slogan, "Less Gas, More Ass." The next ride is scheduled this month, which is what inspired LawnStarter to do this important work. Austinites will have to travel to Houston to participate officially on September 9.

Not that having a black plastic bike seat between your cheeks in the blazing sun isn't a good idea in Texas — it just doesn't sound like a great one. Still, naked biking is surprisingly popular among Ausitnites, earning the city the 12th ranking in that category, tied with Madison, Wisconsin, and Boston, Massachusetts. If you're racking your brain for the last time you saw a naked biker cruising by in Austin, you're not alone. It may be more popular than it is in most other states, but it's certainly not the norm.

Austin's top category ranking was in friendliness to nudists (No. 2), which definitely fits our image as a city, and often comes back to our legally-protected toplessness, even in public places without nudist designations — a rarity in the United States. We were beat by Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in that category and overall; The City of Brotherly Love also loves biking with their bits out.

Austin's worst ranking was in safety (No. 182), which was dragged down by our prevalence of sex offenders. Apparently, almost any U.S. city is better to live in if you don't want to live near a sex offender.

One would think Austin's climate would be anything but conducive to biking with nothing but sunscreen between your vulnerable human form and the punishing summer rays, but the city achieved No. 81 in the category, which is basically average.

The worst city for naked biking is one called Surprise, Arizona, which is a pretty sad surprise. Naked biking is decidedly unpopular, and the city's worst rank is in biker friendliness. If you're going to be out on the street like a modern-day Lady Godiva on gears, it does seem important that your city like bikers. The worst Texas city is Pasadena, for similar reasons.

Women and Gen Z are the most financially stressed — and how that fits with recent local findings in Austin

show them the money

Money may not buy happiness, but financial stress affects every generation — some groups more than others. Point, a home equity lender, did some research and found that personal finance was negatively impacting the mental health of 55 percent of respondents, especially Gen Z and women.

The study covered four broad sources of stress: personal finances, climate change, geopolitical issues, and social issues. Both Gen Z and women were most stressed in all categories except geopolitical issues, where men and Boomers took the lead. Actually, despite Boomers' financial stability, they worried about every other category the second-most after Gen Z, coming in almost even on the issue of climate change.

The report measured the frequency of responses that impacted "mental health 'a great deal' or 'quite a bit,'" indicating that the reported stress was significant. It does not include data about milder stress.

Adult Gen Z was most worried about their ability to save to buy a house, followed closely by not being able to find jobs that pay enough for general living expenses — two sides of the same coin, or credit card. Gen Z was least worried about losing their jobs, perhaps because they're not paying enough to begin with, and most of Gen Z hasn't had their jobs for more than a few years.

There was not a further breakdown of women's stressors, but Austin women are surely feeling the pressure of our pay gap. Women in the capital city are making nearly $11,000 less than men, even though Texas at large is supposedly a great place for women in business.

Thankfully for Austinites stressed about being able to save for a home, the housing market has been stabilizing, according to the Austin Board of Realtors. First-time homebuyers who can get their credit together and afford a down payment may find relief in refinancing, and have at least five excellent neighborhoods to look in, or perhaps they'll even leave the city proper in favor of nearby suburbs.

Georgetown, one Austin's closest neighbors, is the fastest-growing city in the country, and should have improved access around Austin after Project Connect's light rail fills in the gaps left by the 40-minute commuter rail. If renting in Austin is more appealing than moving, renters can expect to afford about 714 square feet for $1,500 — only slightly less than the 782-square-foot national average.

Like any city, Austin has its roses, buds, and thorns, but across the board, things in this city seem to be stabilizing for the first time in years. Maybe that's why, despite the stress, we're still one of the happiest cities in America.

View All Listings