Austin’s New Sipping Chocolatier

Austin is bursting with enthusiasm for food. Even better, our city fosters innovative startups that add to the richness and experience of the food scene. Foodies, food trucks, and fans of food in general have thrived and grown over the last twenty years, driven by the mix of musicians, college students, and artists seeking cheap and delicious food. Thus the food truck phenomena hit Austin first, giving our city a reputation for being a scrappy player in the food scene. The recent surge of interest Read more [...]

Miles of Mysterious Chocolate

“No cakey-ass brownies here,” declares Miles Compton about his baked chocolate dessert. In a food culture that insists on knowing the farmer who grows its corn and the exact percentage of butterfat in a cookie, how is it that Miles is so successful with his somehow unknowable chocolate dessert? Long-time Austin food columnist, the late Katie Crider said that Mile’s dessert is “anything you want it to be.” And she was right. Virginia Wood, another Austin food writer said the dessert was Read more [...]

Rough, simple, and fresh — and small

Melissa Brinckmann runs her small pastry business, Cake and Spoon, behind an unmarked door on the outskirts of Austin. But her fragrant, handmade pies are remarkable in every sense. Upon entering her kitchen, your senses take in the smell of buttery pastry dough, subtle spices from savory quiches, and sugary halos atop her ginger scones. For the past two-and-a-half years, Melissa has made her mark not only in the local farmers markets but also with her followers, including one shy customer who depends Read more [...]

Likeable, Lickable, Tarragon

If you think that bacon belongs with breakfast then you’d find Austin’s new source for ice cream a nightmare. Anthony Sobotik and his partner Chad Palmatier, owners of LICK, scoop Breakfast Bacon, any time of day, especially not at breakfast. An artisan of the artistic kind, Anthony dreams of new flavors, creating not only bacon flavored ice cream, but other equally inspired combinations, such as Thyme and Honey, Cilantro and Lime, and Caramelized Carrots and Tarragon. Flavors like these are Read more [...]