Austin360 blogs > Dale's Table > Archives > 2007 > September
September 2007
Big beef competition
There’s more upscale steakhouse competition destined for downtown Austin. Perry’s Steakhouse & Grille, a Houston-based, fine-dining establishment, will be opening in the Norwood Tower at Seventh and Colorado streets in the first quarter of 2008. With nearly 16,000 square feet and seating for 350 diners, the new Perry’s should be a high-profile dining destination in the heart of a growing residential district.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Post your comment
First taste of Primizie
The taglitelle alla Bolognese — made with Italian sausage, beef, red wine, parsley, sage, porcini mushrooms and tomatoes — offered a thick, rich bowl of pasta at Primizie, a new Italian restaurant at 1000 E. 11th St. A bit expensive at lunch ($11 by itself), the taglitelle is one of 10 pasta dishes, along with appetizers, salads and paninis, on the menu. A formal review of Primizie won’t occur until it has been open at least three months.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment
Now there are two
Texas just got a second master sommelier. Pappas Bros. Steakhouse in Dallas has hired Barbara Werley, one of 15 female master sommeliers in the world, as the restaurant’s new wine director. She took over the post this week. There are fewer than 150 master sommeliers worldwide in the Court of the Master Sommeliers. Guy Stout of Houston is Texas’ other one.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment
More Italian for East Austin
A new Italian eatery, Primizie Osteria Italian Cafe and Wine Bar, has opened at 1000 E. 11th St. The menu includes pastas, salads and paninis (made with bread crafted in-house). The establishment is owned by Mark and Lisa Spedale, a husband-wife team who have run a high-end catering business locally for nearly seven years.
Permalink | Comments (3) | Post your comment
Hearing set for man charged with vandalism
An Oct. 3 court hearing has been set for Joshua Rosenberg, who was arrested last week and charged with criminal mischief in connection with the vandalism of Restaurant Jezebel. Bail for Rosenberg, 29, who remained in the Travis County jail on Monday, was set at $20,000 on the felony charge. He was arrested Sept. 10 by Austin police.
The charges stem from an incident that occurred in late August, when Rosenberg participated in an anti-foie gras demonstration in front of the restaurant during the evening and then allegedly returned about eight hours later to deface the restaurant windows with acid after cutting power to the building. Video cameras on backup battery power, however, captured the vandalism, and Jezebel chef-owner Parind Vora turned over the information to police.
That damage followed an earlier round of vandalism when someone spray painted slogans on Jezebel and four other restaurants that serve foie gras or veal: Aquarelle, Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse, Ruth’s Chris Steak House and Spaghetti Warehouse.
The vandalism occurred after Central Texas Animal Defense launched an anti-foie gras campaign earlier this summer in Austin, with Jezebel as its primary target. Noah Cooper, coordinator of the campaign, said Monday that it was unfortunate that Rosenburg was tied to his organization. “We tried all along to make it clear that’s an approach we don’t want to take,” he said.
Cooper said the anti-foie gras group intends to continue its protests outside Jezebel, at 914 Congress Ave., every Tuesday and Friday during dinner. Although the campaign hasn’t succeeded in removing the fare from Jezebel’s menu, it has had an educational value among those who walked by the restaurant and learned about the process, he said.
In addition, Cooper said, the fear of a similar campaign may have prompted other restaurants to take quick action. The anti-foie gras effort recently expanded to San Antonio, he said, and two restaurants there already have removed foie gras from the menu.
Permalink | Comments (2) | Post your comment
Calorie counting
It’s a good week — or a bad one — depending on your view of whether fast-food restaurants should be required to post calorie counts on their menus. A federal judge on Tuesday struck down New York City’s requirement that more than 2,000 restaurants that already voluntarily post a calorie analysis somewhere, such as a Web site, put it on their menus. He left room for the city’s health agency to require all restaurants to post calories on the menu, not just the ones that do it voluntarily.
On the eve of his ruling, however, California became the first state to require fast-food restaurants to post calories on their menus. So, it’s a step back in New York and one forward in California, or perhaps the other way around.
My view: Labeling is most helpful when it comes to fat, carbohydrate and sodium content, enabling those trying to control blood pressure, diabetes and other health issues to better regulate their diets by knowing exactly how they might be affected by a product.
Foie gras protests to continue
The Central Texas Animal Defense announced early this morning that it would continue its twice-weekly, anti-foie gras protests outside Restaurant Jezebel on South Congress Avenue despite a new round of vandalism that might involve one of the demonstrators.
Jezebel’s windows were damaged by acid last week. Restaurant chef-owner Parind Vora said his video cameras captured the vandalism on film, which shows it was done by a man who participated hours beforehand in a demonstration in front of the restaurant. Police have issued an arrest warrant for the individual.
“No matter the outcome of the police investigations, there will be no justice until Restaurant Jezebel stops supporting the cruel foie gras industry,” anti-foie gras campaign coordinator Noah Cooper said in a statement sent to the media.
Closing in on the vandal
An arrest warrant has been issued for a man accused of vandalizing the restaurant Jezebel last week. According to Jezebel chef-owner Parind Vora, he caught the latest act on camera when the vandal acid-etched the restaurant’s windows after cutting off power to the building. The information was turned over to the police, who were able to identify him. Vora said the vandal had participated in an anti-foie gras demonstration outside the restaurant on the evening of Aug. 28 and then returned in the early morning hours of Aug. 29 to damage the windows.
Vora said the tactics used by some protesters, who are opposed to the serving of foie gras (the fatty liver of geese and ducks obtained through force-feeding), has grown increasingly objectionable. At least one has called his elderly parents in South Carolina, disturbing them to the point that they filed a police report, he said.
Jezebel has been the target of frequent demonstrations during the past two months. It also was among several restaurants, including Aquarelle, Fleming’s and Ruth’s Chris, that were vandalized with spray paint this summer.
Permalink | |
No second cup
One of my regular dining companions and I were at dinner last night and once again she was not offered a second cup of coffee with dessert. For the past year we have been noting how few servers offer her — an avid coffee drinker — a second cup with the confection. What’s up with that? At breakfast and lunch, servers usually are quick to refill the cup. But not so after dinner. Are they afraid we’ll linger? They can’t be concerned about the caffeine; she’s drinking decaf after 9 p.m. It’s a question we pondered yet again last night, but still have not come up with the answer.
Permalink | |
