Emmer and Rye Brings Passion and Freshly Milled Flours to Rainey Street

Nested in the Sky House building on Rainey Street, Emmer and Rye is poised to be a new restaurant darling. "How can you say that before they open?" you might ask. I'll respond with a several qualitative data points gathered from a preview tasting.

These guys are going to rock it.
 

1. They boast an all-star team. With Kevin Fink, Page Pressley, and Tavel Bristol-Joseph, impressive culinary pedigree, you better believe these chefs are going to bring something beautiful to the table.
2. The team's passion is incredible. One of my favorite quotes from Chef Kevin is, "If I ever lost the ability to learn everyday, it would be the greatest travesty." Those are words you want every leader to be saying.
3. Grinding grains from scratch. Not with bare hands, but with a fancy marvel of German engineering. I can't do justice on describing the different grains, techniques, and nuances of making your own flours. That task is best served by the Chefs themselves, but I have tasted the fruits of their labor. A restaurant that goes back to the basic, and I mean that far basic, is building a foundation on quality ingredients.
4. Kevin Fink's Wife, Alicynn. Holy Cow. This woman's resume reads like a Michelin Star, and the way Chef Kevin introduced his wife makes you shed a tear. It couldn't be more blatantly obvious that their hearts and souls are in this endeavor.
5. Somehow, after the tasting, I had a strong urge ride a bike along country roads in Denmark and tickle the flower blossoms as I go by. You probably won't get that same feel simply by enjoying the food at Emmer and Rye. But if you get a moment to chat with any of the staff, get ready to be inspired to do something crazy, like visit another country to taste their cuisine.
6. Two words: preview tasting. I'll leave you with some appetite stimulating photos. Now put on your boots and run over as soon as they open at the end of October.

This is the marvel of German engineering, otherwise known as the miller. My favorite freshly milled grain was the fire thrust emmer. Freshly milled grain has a nuttiness and earthiness that is unforgettably aromatic. 

Our first course was Puffed Fire Threshed Emmer Cracker - Raw gulf shrimp, buttermilk, Springdale Thai chilies, fennel, amaranth blossoms, and puffed Sonoran white wheat berries.

 

And the second course was Fire Threshed Emmer Arrepa - Eggplant chow chow, toasted habanero, Malabar spinach blossom, sunflower, fermented peppers, and fermented apple cider vinegar. Did you know that the malabar comes from Hausbar Farm?

This toast was really tasty. I could survive on this quite well. Red Fife Sourdough Toast - Nixtamilized black eyed peas, golden eye creamer peas, garlic chive, mustard frill, and garlic blossoms.

Fourth up was Rye Garganelli -Windy hills goat, sweet and fermented peppers, hoja santa, papollo, and cultured butter.

Homemade goat cheese.

Dessert was Tres Leches Cheesecake -Three-layer cake with traditional Tres Leches cake topped with New York style cheesecake and a Malabar spinach berry glaze. This eye catching dessert was so beautiful, it was hard to stop looking at it.

Everything about this cake is just perfect, including the flavor.

This cake was on so delicious with the different textures and pop of color. I thoroughly enjoyed it with my eyes and tastebuds!

A Look Back at the 2015 Austin Food and Wine Festival

As this year’s Austin Food and Wine Festival comes to an end, there were certainly some great changes made to the layout of the festival. The addition of more fire pits and more spacious layout of the tasting tents made for a smoother and more accessible experience. 

 A beautiful morsel from Chef Kocurek of Counter3fiveVII.

The addition of more restaurants from the Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio areas was a great move for veteran festival attendees. Let’s take a look back at some highlights from this year. 

Hendrick’s Gin did it again. Not only did that bring that behemoth of a negroni maker (above), they brought the gin hike complete with a punchbowl side car.

Here’s Fred Parent serving up a ginny-punch while on the bike. That’s pretty awesome. 

Best necklace at the festival was this necklace of pork hocks. It is better than my koozie on a lanyard.

Most stylish apron goes to Chef Kocurek of Counter3fiveVII. I love the bold look of leather and hardware paired with the neutral cloth. It reminds me of hanging out with horses, which is pretty awesome. Here he is hanging out with Kristi Willis.

Most awesome cake goes to Walton’s Fancy and Staple. While I didn’t get to eat this cake, it was certainly a head turner. 

Tastiest cake I actually got to eat goes to the avocado cheesecake from Corner Bar located in the JW Marriott downtown. The rich and creamy cake on a tart and eye catching berry sauce was a little piece of spring on a plate.

A little piece of nostalgia shout out goes to Qui for their grilled pineapple shaved ice - the snow version. This reminds me of my childhood Summers. Shaved ice on a humid day, and bike riding into the sunset. Minus the bike at the festival of course. 

And here's Jorge Hernandez of Qui shaving ice. Old World Style.

Three of Austin's shiny stars at the Austin Food and Wine Festival. From left to right, Chefs Page Pressley, Frank Mnuk, and Andrew Lewis. You can visit this handsome crew outside of the festival at St. Philip Pizza Parlor and Bakeshop. Don’t forget to get the Japanese cheesecake in the bakeshop.

The obligatory meat on a stick photo by Chef Shawn Cirkel. No festival in Texas is complete without things on a stick - topped with puffed mustard seeds is optional. These meaty morsels with pop spicy mustard were the perfect bite while enjoying a lovely cocktail and warm day.

Going the whole hog with Jack Allen’s Kitchen is turning into one of my favorites at the festival. This is another Texas thing - whole animals on a stick.

The fantastic display of knife work goes to Wu Chow for their amazing watermelon. Making pretty things out of fruit never ceases to amaze me. Whoever carved this baby has some serious brain surgery precision.

No festival is completely with a little bloody mary for your hangover needs. Luckily for us, Delysia made some sweet bloody mary truffles. That wraps up a pretty awesome Austin Food and Wine Festival.