Little did I know when I wrote the following words nearly four years ago—“Please, patronize Wild Blue before it’s too late”—that my greatest fear would come true. One of the true stalwarts of Texas Barbecue–Wild Blue B.B.Q., located in the near-Brownsville city of Los Fresnos—will shut its doors on
There’s nothing like a bandwagon. No sooner did Food & Wine and Bon Appétit fall all over themselves to give Austin a whole lotta love than StarChefs.com (an online magazine for chefs and culinary insiders) decided to hold one of its four national awards ceremonies in Austin
Modeled on the Manhattan Cocktail Classic, the first ever San Antonio Cocktail Conference is ginning up for next weekend, with four days of drink seminars, guided tastings, and cocktail parties. You can get a buzz just reading the program, which is amazing both in its scope and in
There are two kinds of people in America: pie people and cake people. If you’re a pie person (as I proudly count myself), consider coming to the fourth annual “Peace Through Pie” Social this Saturday, Jan. 14, from 2 to 4:30 p.m., at the Sweet Home Missionary Baptist Church
As the clock strikes midnight, many will be sipping fizzy champagne, kissing strangers standing nearby, or staring at the television watching New Yorkers and Dick Clark ring in the rockin’ New Year. For chefs, these hallowed traditions are rare luxuries – most are confined to their upscale restaurant kitchens, preparing
Were you naughty this past year? Do you need to produce a significant holiday present to get a pass out of the doghouse? Maybe a trip for two in January to Yosemite National Park for the 2012 Chefs’ Holidays series would do the trick, especially since two top Texas
It’s not too late to snag a couple of seats for the twelfth annual Stephan Pyles Celebrity Chef Dinner in Dallas this coming Sunday evening, December 4, sponsored by the Wine & Food Foundation of Texas. This year the line-up of star chefs from across Texas includes Stephan Pyles
In the years since the first Thanksgiving, families throughout the U.S. have created their own culinary traditions, separate from the archetypal choices. Some opt to forego turkey for Cornish game hens, beef tenderloin, or honey spiraled ham. Some would rather buy cheap, canned jellied cranberries than create their
How a food truck scene evolves. First, trucks move around from place to place, in many cases because that’s what city law requires. Then they find a parking lot or vacant lot in which to stay parked all the time. If the landlord has more room to add in
Next week, we celebrate my absolute favorite food day of the year. The turkey’s nice, don’t get me wrong, but I’ve always been a bigger fan of that particular bird the day after Thanksgiving, served between thick slices of white bread slathered with a healthy dose of mayonnaise and
For the grand opening of his new “veggie-centric” food trailer, Soular Food Garden, Hoover Alexander invited attendees to take a celebratory stroll with him around his childhood stomping grounds. The small group began their walk at the trailer’s East 12th street plot, continued to his church’s community garden, and finished
Jeffrey’s, one of Austin’s longest-running restaurants, is soon to get an extreme makeover courtesy of Austin chef and restaurateur Larry McGuire of Lamberts and Perla’s. Half a year from now Jeffrey’s will have a new chef and menu, a new look—and a new lease on life.
I first saw Japanese takoyaki - a delectably ambrosial octopus dumpling that has graced the shops and street corners of Japan for centuries - on an episode of Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations. Immediately I hopped to my computer and conducted a frantic search for takoyaki restaurants in Texas. There had
We heard the rumors that the show was coming (and that producers tried to shut down tweets about it). We've read about the state tax breaks and the lawsuit and the omission of our biggest (and completely food-rich) city,
"Eye of a Barbecue Needle": @hedrives at Louie Mueller, by @psedillo (First place) Allow us to awaken from our meat coma for long enough to finally unveil the winners of our three #TMBBQFest Twitter contests. As you can already see, that is our
“Fred,” (Freddy Krueger?) a monstrous 10-foot long, 4-foot tall armadillo was spotted on Halloween night at the Armadillo Palace and attracted swarms of onlookers. The critter was made with 300 hundred pounds of powdered sugar, 250 blocks of cream cheese, 250 blocks of butter, and 472
The second annual Texas Monthly BBQ Festival was held Sunday, October 30, at the outdoor terrace of Long Center in Austin. Some 3,000 people attended to sample barbecue from 22 vendors (all of whom had been named to our Top 50 Barbecue Joints in Texas in 2008),
The barbecue bacchanal that is the Texas Monthly BBQ Festival is set to be, for the second year in row, an awe-inspiring helping of the very best barbecue in Texas (and therefore the world).
Editor’s Note: Just one more day until the Texas Monthly BBQ Festival! As you surely know by now, we’ve been interviewing all the featured pitmasters, with questions from TM staffers, esteemed BBQ experts, Twitter followers and you, the readers of this blog.Today we’re featuring John A. Fullilove, 38 , of Smitty’s Market in
Make that 22 pitmasters. Since Bertram Smoke Haus made our Top 50 in 2008, a lot has happened with the joint northwest of Austin. Pitmaster and owner Jim Wallace moved out of his original location, a 100-plus year-old former mercantile and lumber store, for a bigger
On Sunday, some 3,000 hungry carnivores will descend on the Terrace at the Long Center in Austin to devour a truly massive spread of meat at the Texas Monthly BBQ Festival. We’ll have 22 pitmasters from across the state serving up brisket, ribs, and sausage as festival-goers enjoy live
Editor’s Note: Just a couple more days until the Texas Monthly BBQ Festival! As you surely know by now, we’ve been interviewing all the featured pitmasters, with questions from TM staffers, esteemed BBQ experts, Twitter followers and you, the readers of this blog.Today we’re featuring Toby Pilgrim, 44, of Country
Editor’s Note: Just two more days until the Texas Monthly BBQ Festival! As you surely know by now, we’ve been interviewing all the featured pitmasters, with questions from TM staffers, esteemed BBQ experts, Twitter followers and you, the readers of this blog.Today we’re featuring Tom Hale, 59, of TC's Ponderosa in
While there isn’t one that features sausage, we’re still perfectly comfortable (and proud) to call these posters by Lubbock artist Dirk Fowler a Holy Trinity. A regular TEXAS MONTHLY contributor, Fowler came up with the motif when he saw the iPhone icon for our
The luminaries of Texas barbecue are justly revered—from Lockhart's century old Kreuz Market, to Taylor's estimable Louie Mueller Barbecue to the ever-popular Cooper's Old Time Pit BBQ in Llano. For the BBQ dabbler these names are familiar, but their pitmasters may as well be Hollywood celebrities
Editor’s Note: Just three more days until the Texas Monthly BBQ Festival! As you surely know by now, we’ve been interviewing all the featured pitmasters, with questions from TM staffers, esteemed BBQ experts, Twitter followers and you, the readers of this blog. Today we’re featuring Abraham Avila, 42, of Wild Blue BBQ in
Editor's Note: The Texas Monthly BBQ Festival is almost here! Each day until then, we’ll be talking to one of the featured pitmasters, with questions from TM staffers, esteemed BBQ experts, Twitter followers and you, the readers of this blog. Today we're featuring Scott Roberts, "north of 55," of
Editor’s Note: The Texas Monthly BBQ Festival is almost here! Each day until then, we’ll be talking to one of the featured pitmasters, with questions from TM staffers, esteemed BBQ experts, Twitter followers and you, the readers of this blog.Today we’re featuring Gary Vincek, 48, of Vincek's Smokehouse in
Editor’s Note: Sweet Leaf’s contest is now over. The other contests mentioned are still on until October 29. Don’t have tickets to the TM BBQ Festival? This contest from festival sponsor Sweet Leaf just might be your last best hope. Check out the comments thread, where
Editor’s Note: Just five more days until the Texas Monthly BBQ Festival! As you surely know by now, we've been interviewing all the featured pitmasters, with questions from TM staffers, esteemed BBQ experts, Twitter followers and you, the readers of this blog.Today we’re featuring Jeremiah McKenzie, 39, of Baby J's
Flickr/Sean Loyless Equipped with cash, personal utensils, and moist towelettes, a peaceable horde of eaters descended on the Gypsy Picnic Trailer Food Festival the minute the gates opened. Employing a divide-and-conquer approach, they dispersed to the forty or so trailers, only to return minutes (not
Editor's Note: The Texas Monthly BBQ Festival is almost here! Each day until then, we'll be talking to one of the featured pitmasters, with questions from TM staffers, esteemed BBQ experts, Twitter followers and you, the readers of this blog.Today we're featuring Lou Lambert of
Editor’s Note: The Texas Monthly BBQ Festival is almost here! Each day until then, we’ll be talking to one of the featured pitmasters, with questions from TM staffers, esteemed BBQ experts, Twitter followers and you, the readers of this blog.Today we're featuring Gerald Birkelbach, 55, of
Editor’s Note: The Texas Monthly BBQ Festival is almost here! Each day until then, we’ll be talking to one of the featured pitmasters, with questions from TM staffers, esteemed BBQ experts, Twitter followers and you, the readers of this blog.Today we bring you Nick Pencis of Stanley's Famous Pit
Editor’s Note: The Texas Monthly BBQ Festival is almost here! Each day until then, we’ll be talking to one of the featured pitmasters, with questions from TM staffers, esteemed BBQ experts, Twitter followers and you, the readers of this blog.Today we bring you Scott Morales, 45 and Vencil Mares, 87,
Famous authors and avid readers will take the place of liberals and conservatives this weekend at the Capitol during the Texas Book Festival. And for all you cookbook hoarders out there, you better start compressing the spines of the books on your cluttered shelves and
Editor's Note: The Texas Monthly BBQ Festival is almost here! Each day until then, we'll be talking to one of the featured pitmasters, with questions from TM staffers, esteemed BBQ experts, Twitter followers and you, the readers of this blog.Today we bring you Aaron Franklin, 33, of
Flickr/Sean Loyless Last year, a massive horde of foodies and families descended on Auditorium Shores for the first-annual Gypsy Picnic. This time around, festival organizers are making tweaks that they hope will ensure last year’s long lines and long waits remain a thing of the past.
To me, the most delicious part of the Texas Book Festival (Oct 22 & 23) is its great round-up of food-related talks and sessions and cooking demos. Rather than slog through the full schedule, focus on food with our easy guide. FOOD SESSIONS FOR SATURDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2011 Elizabeth
Editor’s Note: The Texas Monthly BBQ Festival is almost here! Each day until then, we’ll be talking to one of the featured pitmasters, with questions from TM staffers, esteemed BBQ experts, Twitter followers and you, the readers of this blog. Today we bring you Kerry Bexley, 44, of Snow's
Editor’s Note: The Texas Monthly BBQ Festival is almost here! Each day until then, we’ll be talking to one of the featured pitmasters, with questions from TM staffers, esteemed BBQ experts, Twitter followers and you, the readers of this blog.Today we bring youJoe Duncan, 61, of Baker's
Editor’s Note: The Texas Monthly BBQ Festival is almost here! Each day until then, we’ll be talking to one of the featured pitmasters, with questions from TM staffers, esteemed BBQ experts, Twitter followers and you, the readers of this blog. Today we bring youChad Decker, 38, of
Editor’s Note: The Texas Monthly BBQ Festival is almost here! Each day until then, we’ll be talking to one of the featured pitmasters, with questions from TM staffers, esteemed BBQ experts, Twitter followers and you, the readers of this blog.Today we bring youWayne Coleman, 43, of Coleman's in Clarksville.
I promised I would stop referring to her as “our little Jessica” when I learned that my youthful but quite esteemed colleague, Jessica Dupuy, was going to be the head honcho at a Texas wine dinner coming up at Café Modern, at the Modern Art Museum of Fort
Editor’s Note: The Texas Monthly BBQ Festival is almost here! Each day until then, we’ll be talking to one of the featured pitmasters, with questions from TM staffers, esteemed BBQ experts, Twitter followers and you, the readers of this blog.Today we bring you Wayne Mueller, 46, of Louie Mueller
Editor’s Note: The Texas Monthly BBQ Festival is almost here! Each day until then, we’ll be talking to one of the featured pitmasters, with questions from TM staffers, esteemed BBQ experts, Twitter followers and you, the readers of this blog.Today we bring you Marco Oglesby, 30, of
Editor’s Note: The Texas Monthly BBQ Festival is almost here! Each day until then, we’ll be talking to one of the featured pitmasters, with questions from TM staffers, esteemed BBQ experts, Twitter followers and you, the readers of this blog.Today we bring you Joe Arriago, 33 of
Not to wax nostalgic about the weather, but did anyone else get some ground-drenching rain this weekend? It fell at our house, where we took the opportunity to sit in the front porch, coffee mugs in hand, and watch it come down from the sky. But the rain, as magnificent
Editor’s Note: The Texas Monthly BBQ Festival is almost here! Each day until then, we’ll be talking to one of the featured pitmasters, with questions from TM staffers, esteemed BBQ experts, Twitter followers and you, the readers of this blog. Today we bring you Cliff Payne, 58, of Cousin's
Editor's Note: The Texas Monthly BBQ Festival is almost here! Each day until then, we'll be talking to one of the featured pitmasters, with questions from TM staffers, esteemed BBQ experts, Twitter followers and you, the readers of this blog. Today, it's 29 year-old Tad Honeycutt of