"austin" news and stories

A weekly look at the draft selections in beer-friendly bars across the country.

How does a business go from a "straight up, honest-to-goodness, white trash convenience store" to one of the best beer destinations in the state of Texas? Well, bringing in a little outside perspective and a personal touch never hurt.

When Austin's Whip-In opened up back in 1986, now General Manager Dipak Topiwala would have used the quote above to describe his family store -- selling "crappy foods" and gasoline, competing for business with the Texaco across the street.

During those early days, though, one major deal helped seal Whip-In's fate. "Gas wasn't doing us any good," explained Topiwala. So his family made an agreement with their cross-street rival: "We'll give up gas, but you don't sell any beer."

Read on about Whip-In and find their recent draft list, after the jump...

"My bacon is better than your bacon!" was the mantra heard repeatedly at the Bacon Takedown held on Sunday, March 14 at music venue Emo's in Austin, Texas.

The event, sponsored by Hormel and Le Creuset and organized by Matt Timms, saw 22 contestants go pork belly to pork belly for judges' prizes and/or people's choice awards, winning Le Creuset griddle pans and either a year's supply or six-months' supply of Hormel bacon. Some dishes were intensive, like Taco Town's award-winning crack bacon tacos (blueberry-maple glazed bacon wrapped with made-to-order bacon-fat, queso fresco and blueberry habanero salsa).

Of course, food competitions are nothing new and they're growing in popularity. In New York City, much of this is due to Timms, who for six years has held culinary contests in Brooklyn. Capitalizing on the Takedown series' popularity, Timms has taken it on the road. South by Southwest was the second stop (the first was in Boston with the Lamb Takedown).

Tacos are as synonymous with Austin, Texas, as the South by Southwest Festival. The breakfast taco, the energizing early rising big brother, is to Austin what the bagel is to New York. A breakfast taco is required eating in Austin, available at regional fast-food chains and mom-and-pop shops to mini-empires and trailers. They are Austinites' go-to, on-the-fly morning meal.

Just don't confuse them with breakfast burritos, those bursting-at-the-seams paramours of Californians. They might have similar components, but breakfast burritos are all-in-one leviathans of a tortilla envelope found only in a few Austin restaurants. They are clearly in the minority.

A breakfast taco can include bacon, egg, cheese, potato, refried beans, chorizo, barbacoa and migas, all hugged by a flour tortilla. Of the myriad amalgams, bacon, egg and cheese as well as chorizo and egg are big crowd-pleasers. Migas tacos, fried corn tortilla strips with eggs, chiles, tomatoes and cheese, are also much adored. But eggs aren't sacrosanct. "Our biggest breakfast seller, the Otto, doesn't have eggs in it," says Roberto Espinosa, owner of Tacodeli. It's made with refried black beans, bacon, avocado and Monterey Jack.

• Texas apiarists predict backyard beekeeping will be big in the coming year.
• Austin's "Biscotti Man," who annually makes more than 2,000 biscotti to the tune of Handel's "Messiah," shares recipes for two favorite varieties.
• Sharon Ely's locally famous posole is now available in a jar.
• Bread-baking is the kitchen equivalent of massage or meditation -- especially when the bread's baked in a Dutch oven, a fail-safe way of producing calm-inducing crispy crusts.

Austin's unofficial motto, "Keep Austin Weird," should be changed to "Keep Austin Eating Local." It's a locavorism hot spot surrounded by the verdant Texas Hill Country. Restaurants like Olivia and Cipollina have made a name for themselves by supporting area farms and offering seasonal fare. Is it a stretch that there is an annual celebration of local foods? Surely not!

The festival, Eat Local Week, is a series of functions spearheaded by Edible Austin magazine, which aims to raise awareness of the abundant Central Texas victuals. For seven days (Dec. 5-12), folks sample eats from participating restaurants, can tour farms on bicycles and raise funds for Urban Roots, a youth charity. Herein, a recap of events.

Already event-goers have munched on grass-fed, beef-stuffed chard rolls at Eastside Cafe, duck eggs from Learning Pear and Loncito's lamb tacos at Tacodeli. "We are actively trying to expand eaters' palates to try things they might not have ever eaten before (like bacon-wrapped lamb heart at Olivia)," says Marla Camp, publisher of Edible Austin.