Rob and Lauren’s Reports from the Texas Hill Country Wine and Food Festival

I was not around for the inception of Texas Hill Country Food and Wine Festival over twenty years ago. But the brain child of Ed and Susan Auler of Fall Creek Winery and Kevin Williamson of Ranch 616 had become a fixture on the national food and wine circuit, right up there with Aspen and South Beach. When Saveur Magazine became the main sponsor though the festival lost, in my humble opinion, much of its local focus and became a showcase for national chefs and wines. Patrons would recognize me and ask, “Rob, have you seen Bobby Flay?” Or, “Do you know where Emeril is hanging out?” Or, “Where is Anthony Bourdain holding forth?” After a while it got to be a bit much. Eventually Saveur backed out as the primary sponsor.

So I was quite pleased to see the entire festival reigned in a bit this year with more of a focus on Texas and particularly Austin and the surrounding Hill Country.

Here in no particular order are some reflections on the events I visited and what was heard and overhead.

The Reserve Tasting at Sullivan’s. We got a chance to sample six very interesting ’04 selections from Provenance, Beaulieu and Sterling in this horizontal tasting. My favorite of the bunch was the Beaulieu Georges de la Tour Cabernet. My favorite wine maker was Tom Rinaldi of Provenance. He was forthcoming with his answers and seemed to relish in his role as wine maker and historian. He got a chuckle from the audience as he tried to explain maceration in laymen’s terms. But I liked his take on the forthcoming war between twist off caps and corks.

He acknowledged that Provenance has had to cater to the traditionalists vs. the pragmatists by making some wines that offer both options.

Personally, I think that sheer financial imperatives will eventually force all wineries to abandon the cork and go to some form of twist off. Imagine the money that wineries and restaurants would save without having to worry about “corked” wines (about a 1 in 20 risk).

Then there is the flip side to those who claim that each cork imports something inherently wonderful and unique to each bottle of wine. That is undoubtedly true, but can the industry afford that luxury?

Stars Across Texas. This was a fun event as always, held for the first time at the Long Center. Aside from the $16 valet parking fee, all was well. The idea is that each restaurant has a small booth where they make one item to nosh on while you move around sipping and nibbling.

I loved the new VIP lounge. It was set up like a cool lounge in a New York disco with tasting tables surrounding the room, a DJ, and two very functional bars. There was also a comfy seating area in the middle of the room to which we quickly gravitated.

Our first stop was at Sean Cirkiel’s Parkside. Cirkiel, the former owner of Jean Luc’s bistro stopped traffic with a tuna tar tar with fresh sorbet and a leaf of cilantro. Next was Aquarelle which had a lovely bite of quail accented with bread and a fleshy potato skin. Very tasty. And then there was Stuart Scrugg’s Zoot, long a fixture on the culinary scene. Zoot has recently given up its Hearn St. location for Westlake and Bee Caves Road. Zoot served a grilled and chilled Szechuan beef in a fried won ton which was later voted “best beef of the show.”

Then, single malt scotch in hand and with Marge sipping on a Moet, we ventured forth into the rest of the event. Saw Eddie V’s events director Peggy Duran long enough for a brief hug. She is one of the best looking women in the central Texas hospitality industry: and damned good at her job. Onward through the fog to Hudson’s on the Bend. It doesn’t matter what Chef Jeff Blank and his staff produce, each year it is exquisite. And then on to NoRTH. The head chef Peter Lindquist prepared a Short Rib Oso Bucco with a white corn meal polenta. No what else? Lindquist bears an uncanny resemblance to Penn Jillette of Vegas magic duo Penn and Teller.

Next time you’re at NoRTH see if he can make your bill disappear!

Saw Howard Kells of Latin Café fame and his wife Claudia. They have a very engaging dish on the menu called Eva Longoria Pasta. I had believed that somehow Howard had connected with Eva and that’s how the dish got on Latin Café’s menu. Wrong. Kells was at a Spurs game and had tickets in the row behind the Spur’s bench. Tony Parker, Spur’s guard, was being interviewed after the game. The interviewer asked him if wife Eva was a good cook. And that’s when Tony started rambling on about the virtues of this pasta dish Eva made with ropa vieja and Criolla sauce.

That was enough for Howard. He raced back to Austin, got the ingredients together in his kitchen at home, and soon had one of his most popular new menu items. Now that’s what I call seizing the moment!

Ran into former Driskill Chef David Bull who is working with former Driskill GM Jeff Trigger and is serving as the exec chef of Bolla at the Stonleigh Spa and Hotel in Dallas. He’s also working on an interactive on-line cookbook called “Bull’s Eye.” I have great respect for Bull who took the dying Driskill Grill and completely revitalized it about 8 years ago, turning it into one of the top two restaurants in Austin.

Saturday afternoon was the Mini Swirlwind event at Malaga on 448 2nd St. The always gracious Alejandro Duran (chef and owner) noticed my empty plate and provided me with some tapas that went beautifully with the Cabs and Syrahs that were being poured. I was most impressed with the new location of Malaga-formerly on W. 4th across from Saba. You’ve got to try the El Pato (duck) sandwich. What a treat!

Notes from Lauren Balon who attended the Sunday Fair at the Salt Lick

Damien Mandola

I joined Daniela Marcone, GM of Andiamo Ristorante, among several other friends, and we made the gorgeous drive out to the Salt Lick Vineyards in Driftwood to attend the 24th Annual Texas Hill Country Wine and Food Festival. Our first stop was to meet Damien Mandola, founder of Mandola Estate Winery, Co-Founder of Carrabas, and Owner of Mandolas and Trattoria Lisina. What a funny guy! Trattoria Lisina was serving a Quattro Formaggi Ravioli with a cherry pichino sauce, very good on my empty stomach!

Right next door, Mandola’s was serving a delicious sausage pepper sandwich. Damien plans to open another Mandola’s at the Galleria in Bee Caves sometimes in May. Can’t wait for that!

Next, we began wandering through the various tents, sipping wine and bumping into different friends. I got to meet Brian O’Neil, former GM of the recently sold Belmont, and GM at Max’s Wine Dive, a new restaurant serving “gourmet comfort food” that’s set to open May 12th at 207 San Jacinto Avenue.

Sullivan’s Steakhouse is where we ate our last sample, they were serving Angus Beef accompanied with Mashed Potatoes and seasoned Green Beans. And who would drive all the way out to Driftwood without stopping in at The Salt Lick to grab a quick bite? After all the wine I slammed down my three meat combo plate, and had some peach cobbler for dessert to top it off. Best Peach Cobbler in Austin! What a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon!