Posts tagged ‘new’

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January 18, 2012

Houston: Houston Uchi Opens Feb 2

… but they start taking reservations today! I used to cover the Houston restaurant scene for a luxury magazine, and let me tell you, competition is fierce in one of the fattest cities in the nation. I say that lovingly, as I think Houston is one of the best cities in the nation if you know where to go and what to do. Nonetheless, I think there’s little doubt the Houston outpost of Austin’s most famous restaurant (too bold a claim?) will be a success. Reservations at www.uchirestaurants.com or 713.522.4808.

The second location of Chef Tyson Cole’s critically-acclaimed restaurant, Uchi, will open to the public on February 2nd.  In the iconic former Felix space on Westheimer near the corner of Montrose. Offerings from the kitchen and sushi bar showcase his signature style of combining unexpected textures and flavors, pushing the boundaries of Japanese cuisine, drawing flavor inspiration from numerous points around the globe and mixing traditional master knife work with cutting-edge techniques.

Acclaimed pastry chef Philip Speer ends things on a sweet note with his ground-breaking desserts that showcase familiar flavors in completely original forms and combinations. Chef Cole is pleased to name Kaz Edwards of the original Uchi as chef de cuisine in Houston.  Monica Glenn, longtime protégé of Philip Speer, will be pastry chef.

The transformation of the building from the Felix space was helmed by (obviously) Michael Hsu, who also designed almost every impressive restaurant space in Austin including Uchi, Uchiko, Malverde, and so on.

“We have been looking forward to becoming a part of the Houston community for many months,” says Chef Tyson Cole, recent winner of James Beard Foundation Best Chef Southwest. “It’s a thrill to open our doors.”

904 Westheimer / Houston, Texas 77006

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December 22, 2011

Aspen: Finnbar’s

When you’re abroad, as an American, about the first thing you look for is the Irish pub. It’s where you’ll find all the other American tourists … but also the friendliest locals. Finally, Aspen has its own Irish pub in the newly-opened Finbarr’s Irish Pub & Kitchen. With lots of strategically-placed big screens, plenty of beers (and cider!) on tap, and tasty food, Finbarr’s is one new Aspen restaurant that’s likely to be around for a long time.

My first visit, I ate mainly off the appetizer menu. My second, the bar menu. My third and fourth, just drinks. Overall the portions aren’t huge, but they aren’t expensive either, so I’m ok with it. Maybe it’s not the best place for post-pickup-basketball grub, but for snacks or a girls’ night, the food is tasty and creative.

beer cheese fondue

Can't go wrong with Guinness cheese fondue and pretzel bread ($10)

kale art dip finbarrs aspen

Kale (instead of spinach) artichoke dip ... not my favorite app ($?)

mussels

Mussels were delicious: fresh and tasty, but not standout ($11)

I also had the french onion soup ($6 and delish) and the braised greens ($5 and not so delish). The bangers and mash got rave reviews from my companions, the burger not as much, though more for its size than flavor. Every time I’ve been in Finbarr’s, it has been packed with locals and tourists—which is exactly what you want in a real Irish pub.

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November 8, 2011

Austin: Olive & June to Fill El Arbol Void

With the sad news of El Arbol‘s closing, everyone wondered what would happen to the new Brykerwoods hotspot … well, wait no longer! Acclaimed Chef Shawn Cirkiel of parkside and backspace will open a Southern Italian restaurant called Olive & June next spring.

olive & june

Olive & June is named for Chef Shawn Cirkiel’s grandmother and his wife’s grandmother and will offer dishes influenced by the fun-loving family dinners Chef Cirkiel enjoyed as a child in the Italian-American neighborhood of the South Bronx, where his father grew up. Olive & June will highlight local, seasonal ingredients and will feature handmade pasta dishes, an updated traditional meatball made with roasted eggplant and breadcrumbs, and a variety of piccoli piatti, small plates.

Sunday evenings at Olive & June are family nights, and the menu will solely feature piccoli piatti and family-style entrées. Saturday and Sunday brunch will come shortly after the opening.

Olive & June is located at 3411 Glenview Ave. in Central Austin (my nabe, Brykerwoods!).

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October 24, 2011

Connecther

Like the shopping sites I’ve mentioned before, new Austin-based non-profit Connecther.org is focused on making life better for global women and children. Only Connecther.org provides collective giving and increased visibility to smaller scale 501c3 projects.

By aggregating and consolidating hundreds of women and children focused non-profit projects, Connecther provides a platform for a single donor or a donor group, such as a corporation looking for a philanthropic cause, to see over 91% of their donated dollars go directly to those in underdeveloped communities that are willing and driven to work for self-reliance. Think kiva but without loans and local.

The Connecther platform was specifically developed to use social networks to maximize giving and to create the greatest social impact for women and children in need. Local award-winning graphic and web design studio Creative Suite helped create the initiative. Rachel Clemens of Creative Suitcase says, “As a woman-owned business, and explorers of this wondrous world, we were thrilled to help bring Connecther.org to life. The opportunity for women entrepreneurs in impoverished countries to make a better life for themselves and their families is something we’re very proud to have contributed to.”

Connecther will begin with a pilot phase including non-profit partners such as:  DiscoverHope, Vanavevhu, Meca For Peace, GiveLight and Well Aware, as well as many others. Check out connecther.org to give and share!

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August 31, 2011

Guest Post: World Media Awards

Today I welcome World Media Awards founder Murray Newlands for a guest post explaining the awards: a way to recognize top bloggers, writers and publishers, influencers, innovators and strategists as the latest talent in online marketing.

5 Reasons Why YOU Must Participate: The 2012 Media Awards

There are a lot of excellent bloggers and publishers doing exceptional work, and those who stand out deserve to have their work recognized, associate with each other, and see their readerships grow. That’s why the World Media Awards exist—to recognize and reward great contributions to media from bloggers and publishers.

In my own career, I’ve learned and benefited so much from others that I wanted to help build some way to give back to an industry I love show appreciation to the up-and-coming leaders. The World Media Awards will culminate in a 1-day event in San Francisco that will celebrate the best in blogging, forums, publishing and media from around the world.

So if you are a world-class blogger, why should you enter?

1. Get Recognized- You Deserve It :)

You put a lot of work into making your blog amazing. You know it and your readers know it. The World Media Awards is a way for you to get authoritative credit from other bloggers and industry experts. That recognition will help you grow your readership, make fresh collaborative connections, and hopefully have great moments that make all the late nights even more rewarding.

2. Meet Other Bloggers Who Care

Blogging, forums and most other on-line media is about conversation and interaction, but sometimes it’s easy to end up trying to hide away behind a monitor in your office or home all alone. Meeting other bloggers and publishers keeps the fire lit and the conversation going. When you enter the World Media Awards, you’ll be listed alongside other bloggers and publishers who put the same level of delight, attention and effort into making their blog top notch.

3. Expose Yourself to New Partners

If your blog or forum is part of your company, being part of the World Media Awards will increase your exposure by putting your name in front of the thousands of visitors to our site and the award ceremony. That means you can find out who else is doing very good work, strut your own stuff, and expand your network of contacts and collaborators.

4. Make Yourself Irresistible to Clients

What helps your chances at winning that next pitch more than growing your network? Telling that network that you just won a World Media Award. Winning an award shines a light on your accomplishments, and it serves as an example of the commitment, engagement and exacting standards you apply to your work. 

5. Be Part of the Beginning of Something Big

Because 2012 is the first year for these awards, you have the one-time chance to be the inaugural winner and set the standard for the World Media Awards in your category. Getting in on the ground floor of these awards will open opportunities for you as a blogger and a publisher.

The bottom line is, the World Media Awards will shine a spotlight on the year’s most prosperous bloggers and publishers, and on the businesses and companies that serve and interact with them.

Now is your chance to be one of them.

The sponsors include Growmap, Pace Lattin, VigLink and Trancos. Media partners include Adrants, Bloggeries, MediaVision, The Affiliate Marketing Awards, Read Write Web, My Blog Guest, Web Traffic Control and FeedBlitz.

World Media Award judges include Steve Hall, Sarah Austin, Chang Kim, Julie Wohlberg, Pierre Zarokian, Ivka Adam, Cheryl Contee, Krystyl Baldwin, Adrian Harris, Jeremy Wright, Rob Bloggeries, Dave Duarte, Tanya Alvarez, Dana Oshiro, Tom Foremski, and Judith Lewis.

hashtag #wmads on Twitter.

Murray Newlands is author of How to Make a Blog Book and Online Marketing; a User Guide. He is also founder of the Affiliate Marketing Awards. Born in the UK, he now spends his time in San Francisco and New York. Murray works for Audience Mindshare and consults for Trancos Ins as well as being an advisor for VigLink. Actually he is working on his new book: The Email Marketing Book.

***thisislifeinaustin.com is officially entered! I know many readers also write their own blogs, so please enter! We’ll have a community crossing its fingers for everyone!

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May 17, 2011

Austin Food & Wine Festival

… just another way Austin and Aspen are uniquely synchronized:

The Austin Food & Wine Festival

C3 Presents with Chef Tyson Cole, Chef Tim Love & Jesse Herman are creating the Austin Food & Wine Festival March 30-April 1, 2012 in locations throughout Austin. It is presenting sponsor Food & Wine (yep, the same as Aspen)’s first festival involvement in Texas.

Austin Food and Wine

“Our passion for food is integrated into each of our festivals—with the influence of culinary ambassadors Graham Elliot at Lollapalooza and chef Tim Love at Austin City Limits helping keep the local flavor of each event on par with the entire festival experience,” said Charlie Jones, founding partner of C3 Presents. “It seemed only natural that we expand this passion to host a culinary destination festival in Austin, Texas dedicated solely to food and wine, where the food scene continues to surprise and delight us.”

The popular Texas Hill Country Wine & Food Festival will turn into a 501 C (3) nonprofit organization called the Austin Food & Wine Foundation and be the designated beneficiary of the Austin Food & Wine Festival.

www.austinfoodandwinefestival.com / facebook.com/austinfoodwine / twitter.com/austinfoodwine

*Aspen just released its one-day Food & Wine tickets for $395.

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April 28, 2011

Austin: Two More Brunch Options: Zed’s & TRACE

Zed’s, the new North Austin dining destination serving modern, casual Austin-American fare, recently introduced an expansive Sunday brunch buffet (which, as you know, is what I think ALL brunches should be). Zed’s brunch is served from 11am to 3pm every Sunday.

The kid-friendly menu includes made-to-order omelets, a meat-carving station, waffles with assorted fruit toppings, and biscuits with homemade gravy. For grown-ups, there’s a build-your-own Bloody Mary Bar ($5) with tomato juices, spices, and pickled vegetables. Mimosas are just $2. Zed’s will also offer its regular a la carte lunch menu, featuring popular dishes including Wild Boar Gumbo, Apple Wood Smoked Bacon and Sausage, Specialty House Salads, and Scalloped Potatoes. Brunch buffett is $17 per person and $11 for children 12 and under.

Zed’s is at 501 Canyon Ridge Drive, south of Parmer Lane and I-35. Opened in December 2010, the restaurant is set upon three acres of land, complete with spacious decks and innovative water features, and brings an independent presence to North Austin. For reservations, call 512-583-0060 or visit http://www.zeds.bz for details.

TRACE, the W darling of the social dining scene, now serves brunch from 10:30am to 3:30pm every Sunday. The á la carte menu features everything from Fried Chicken and Waffles to the Lavaca Omelet, an egg dish with tender fried beef and a tomatillo sauce. The menu still offers TRACE’s signature Market Snacks and Charcuterie Board as well as new hybrid “breakfast desserts”, including the Cinnamon Roll Bread Pudding and the Drunken Doughnuts topped with a bourbon dulce leche.

Brunch at TRACE also features innovative cocktail creations like the “South Austin Eye Opener”—fresh lemon and lime juice, egg white, bitters, simple syrup, fresh grapefruit juice, St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur and Saavy Vodka.

“Austinites love brunch and we are happy to provide a relaxing atmosphere where guests can enjoy their meal outside on the plaza while they listen to some music and sip a mimosa,” says Food & Beverage Director Sean Bradshaw.

TRACE / W Hotel / 200 Lavaca St. / 512.542.3660 / traceaustin.com

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April 11, 2011

Austin: Easy Tiger (or, another 24 Diner post)

I leave for a just a bit and return to a dino bone parking lot under 35 and more bars and food trailers in Rainey than I can count. Downtown is sprawling, and come May, there’ll be this year’s Eastside Showroom, a bakery and beergarden called Easy Tiger, sure to be the foodie-and-mixologist crowd’s new fave. At 709 E. Sixth Street, the two-story 1890s building played host to a few SXSW shows, but its final buildout will include a coffee shop, artisan bakery (retail and wholesale), sidewalk seating (so Euro, but on the east side …), with a beer garden and huge outdoor patio downstairs overlooking Waller Creek.

The folks behind 24 Diner (seriously, could they stop doing awesome things so I could stop incessantly blogging about them??) are largely responsible for all this goodness, plus famous artisan baker David Norman. 24 Diner executive chef Andrew Curren’s Easy Tiger menu will include smoked and fresh housemade sausages, house-cured corned beef and smoked pastrami, as well as homemade krauts, relishes, and peperonata.

Billy Caruso oversees wine and beer (local, natch), and designer Veronica Koltuniak (clients include Madonna and J. Lo) describes the look and feel of the space as “turn-of-the-century building meets end-of-the-century kitsch.” The Royal Tenenbaums are her inspiration.

Who else can’t wait for the gluten-goodness of beer and bread in May??

twitter.com/EasyTigerATX / www.facebook.com/EasyTigerATX

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March 22, 2011

[Updated Date Change] Austin: Revamped Austin Restaurant Week + App!

The sixth season of Austin Restaurant week is upon us, and it might be lucky season six: new this year is the addition of brunch, wine pairings, gluten free options, the first bi-annual Austin Restaurant Awards, and smartphone app!

April 10-13 and April 17- 20, over 75 A-list restaurants serve up stellar prix fixe three-course dinners ($25 $35),  lunches ($10-$15), and (new!) brunch ($15-$20).

To help navigate, graphic designer Bart Kibbe of Rival Creative and Austin-based Big Momma Apps created a smartphone app. Austin Restaurant Week Executive Director and Founder Tyler Perkins says, “We looked at what we thought would activate more people with Austin Restaurant Week, and an app was a no-brainer. We are very excited to be going digital.” Diners will also be able to create their own profiles,  invite friends via forwarded invitations,  book reservations, read reviews, read menus, and map out locations for all of the participating restaurants.

To conclude this flavorful week, the city’s favorite chefs, restaurants, and restaurant owners will be honored at The First Annual Austin Restaurant Awards on May 8.

For reservations (if you already made ‘em, you need to change them), a complete list of restaurants, and the chance to win gift certificates onFacebook and Twitter, visit www.restaurantweekaustin.com.

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February 20, 2011

Austin: New Elizabeth Street Cafe

They’ve successfully done barbecue and upscale seafood, so why not add Vietnamese? Lamberts and Perla’s co-cwners Larry McGuire and Thomas Moorman have launched a new restaurant group (McGuire Moorman Hospitality) and announced a new restaurant called Elizabeth Street Café, a casual eatery serving simple Vietnamese cuisine in an environment inspired by a cozy French neighborhood café.

Housed in the old Bouldin Creek Coffee House space, Elizabeth Street Café is scheduled to open this spring. McGuire Moorman Hospitality has designed Elizabeth Street Café to evoke the feel of French Colonial Hanoi, bringing it to life in a completely rebuilt space designed by Jamie Chioco that emphasizes landscaped outdoor seating areas and an intimate interior. Open from the early morning hours to midnight, the café will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Elizabeth Street Café’s breakfast menu will include freshly baked croissants, pastries and breads, from Pastry ChefAlexandra Manley, as well as a selection of teas and gourmet coffees including Vietnamese drip coffee, a dark-roast brew combined with sweetened condensed milk.

The moderately priced lunch and dinner menus will feature classic Vietnamese meals highlighting locally sourced proteins: McAllen Ranch Beef, Niman Ranch Pork, and San Miguel Seafood from the Gulf of Mexico.  Daily specials will include Vietnamese curries, crepes, and rice wraps.  Elizabeth Street Café will serve beer, wine, and sakes to complement the light and fresh menu offerings.

Yum, I absolutely cannot wait to try it!! Since going happy-meat-only, I haven’t had much Vietnamese food, but I love it. I’m so excited!

1501 South First St.

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