Best bites and restaurants at Austin Food and Wine Festival
As far as major festivals go, it doesn't get much more chill than the Austin Food & Wine Festival . For the most part, this one has short lines, a loose schedule, and crowds that aren't too dense. People are fed and the wine is flowing.
Even better, guests can enjoy the fruits of the fest long after they've left the grounds on Auditorium Shores. The main events from November 2-3 got folks acquainted with chefs and restaurants around town, introduced them to new favorite beverage brands, and taught them useful cooking hacks. (Just about every chef has opinions and tricks on how to use salt.)
There's nothing like tasting for yourself, but here are a few of our favorite things we saw or tasted. Everything on this list is something you can follow up on in Austin, whether it's checking out a local restaurant, ordering a cookbook, or getting inspired to attempt something new in the kitchen.
Here are 9 highlights and some bonuses from the Austin Food & Wine Festival:
White wine supernova With the sheer volume of wine options at this festival — and the amount of nuance in personal preference — the best move for wines is just to try as much as you can. But here are two takeaways: First, I asked each vendor to pour me their favorite wine, and about two thirds of them chose whites. Perhaps that might inform readers' dinner party choices. Second, my favorite ended up being the Mâcon-Villages Chardonnay by Jadot. This unoaked wine was nonetheless smooth, with refreshing grapefruit notes. Of everything I drank, it was the most interesting that still remained easily drinkable. — Brianna Caleri, Austin editor
Jadot wines featured at a tasting booth as well as in a larger guided tasting "tour."Photo by Charles ReaganCheese choux with bacon jam from Serenade Serenade is a French brasserie that just recently opened in Austin , and they've already made a good impression — at least on this CultureMap writer. For the festival, Chef Johnny Ray Stinebaugh (previously of Contigo Catering and Geraldine's) served up a savory cheese choux — a very light and airy type of pastry — with bacon jam. The jam was rich, garlicky, and somehow sweet; the type of deliciousness you couldn't really eat a whole lot of, but in a small dose and paired with the light, puffy pastry, was just right. — Natalie Grigson, contributing writer
Tuna skewers by the Dirdie Birdie It is probably safe to say most people don't expect culinary greatness from a mini-golf venue. Regardless, the Dirdie Birdie , which is new in Austin since late 2022 , presented one of the festival's most elegant bites. The tuna crudo skewers featured one tender cube of tuna paired a slice of raw serrano pepper, a slice of strawberry, and a leaf of basil, plus a sprinkling of ground pistachio and flaky salt. These were a creative way around having to cook, and the well-balanced garden flavors were both refreshing and interesting. — BC
Tomatillo chicken and dumplings by Licha's Cantina Although Austin is a few days deep into a very muggy heat, this comfort food dish whispered a promise of cooler days to come. The tartness of the tomatillos was tamed in this shredded chicken stew, but more moments of brightness were added in via pickled onions. Firm masa dumplings offered a focal point and the sense of a home-cooked meal. Chef Daniel Brooks is always one of the highlights of this festival, but this was an especially good effort. — BC
"The Old School" by Cruzteca Cruzteca , which was born from a food truck several years ago, is located in South Austin off of Brodie Lane. Their menu is filled with Tex-Mex flavors that feel hearty and wholesome, and "The Old School" was exactly that. This dish, made of ground beef, tomato, and cheddar, was meant to be served in a homemade crispy shell. By the time we got to them, they ran out of shells, but eating the Old School with a fork may have been an even better experience. It was like a classic Texas chili; mild on the spices, but warm and comforting all the same. Chef Joseph Galindo nailed it, and the name was very fitting for this nostalgic dish. — NG
Okonomiyaki waffle by Equipment Room It is hard to go wrong with a scallion pancake, but what about a waffle? This bite by Chef Nicholas Erven at Equipment Room tasted like a dressed-up scallion pancake — thanks to bonito, scallion, mayo, and "Japanese BBQ sauce" — but was fluffier and almost more akin to a dumpling. Those all sound like strong flavors, but they held up well against each other. And both at the festival and in the waffle's home setting (a very fancy cocktail bar) strong flavors are needed to make a cocktail snack memorable. — BC
Texas Butternut Squash Pie by Tiny Pies A tiny pie might sound like the wrong choice for a hot and humid festival day, but Tiny Pies ' butternut squash pie, served alongside sage ice cream, was both rich and refreshing. The pie itself was filled with spiced butternut squash, topped with sorghum whipped cream and popped sorghum, which had the texture and taste of tiny caramelized popcorn bites. It was delicious, and not cloyingly sweet. The ice cream was creamy and light, and the hint of sage was refreshing. I heard several festival guests raving about this delicious dessert; a real accomplishment from Chef William Ankeney. — NG
Tiny Pies brought these little ice cream-and-pie duos.Photo by Dusana RisovicCooking for disaster with Ashleigh Shanti Chef Ashleigh Shanti 's cooking demo was also a lesson in culture and current events. The Asheville, North Carolina chef made chow chow, an easily improvised condiment that calls for 2 pounds of any vegetable, brined. The practicality of the canned relish was fitting; Shanti's restaurant, Good Hot Fish , is still closed in the wake of Hurricane Helene a month ago, but she's been offering her skills to provide free meals via a pop-up called Sweet Relief Kitchen . She says chow chow was the first thing she reached for in the larder. Her brand new (and gorgeous) Appalachian cookbook, Our South , just became available October 15, and she encourages people to visit Asheville as soon as things are open again, to keep local businesses afloat. — BC
Making larb and heckling the crowd with Tim Love Tim Love is the owner of Austin's Lonesome Dove Bistro along with several restaurants outside of town; he's the official chef of Austin City Limits; and he is a co-founder of Austin Food and Wine Festival. He's also, apparently, hilarious. He immediately greeted the crowd with a McConaughey-esque accent and confidence as he walked us, step by step, through the process of making larb, a Thai dish with ground meat and fresh herbs. Love assured the crowd it's "gluten free and low carb... Not that I gives a s***." This "20-minute dish" took Love about an hour because throughout, he pulled people up on stage to take shots and essentially heckle the crowd, who responded loudly and often with "F*** yeah, Tim!" What a legend. — NG
Tim Love showed the audience how to make larb.Photo by Roger HoHonorable mentions:
