FOOD MATTERS

Bobby Flay throws down, this time over crêpes

At A&M, the jerky wins New York Times nod

Wednesday, August 01, 2007

Food Network star Bobby Flay takes on more Austinites at 9 p.m. Sunday evening in "Throwdown," his television series where he shows up at a site and challenges locals to cook. This time, his target is Andrea Day Boykin and Nessa Higgins, those talented women who run the Flip Happy Crepes trailer at 400 Jessie St. Tune in and find out if he can flip as happily as they. (A year ago, he lost to Austinite author/kitchen diva Angela Shelf Medearis, in a jerk chicken cook-off.)

Italian for chicken, rabbit or veggie eaters alike

Linguine pollo pesto ($12) is one of the dishes flying out the door at Stortini, the new Italian trattoria at 1917 Manor Road (where El Gringo was). Its vegetarian option sells well, too.

Other signature items include a couple of rabbit dishes. One is an entree of rabbit with mustard sauce and rigatoni ($13); another is a rabbit pâte ($7) appetizer, above.

Kristine Kittrell is the chef at Stortini, which serves from 5 to 10 p.m.

Make wine your profession for a day

Want to get a sense of what it takes to become a bona fide sommelier? You can find out Aug. 19 and 20 during a sommeliers conference at the Four Seasons Hotel. The first day of the conference is open to the public, with sessions on Alsace, Rhone, Australian, U.S., dessert and other wines taught by national experts. The sessions are $35 each or $100 for the day (with lunch at the Four Seasons purchased separately).

Although the second day of educational sessions is reserved for those in the wine-and-food business, a grand tasting event will take place at 7 p.m. Aug. 20 at the Four Seasons. Tickets for that tasting are $75 and can be purchased at www.texsom.com. The two-day conference is sponsored by the Texas Sommelier Association and the Wine & Food Foundation of Texas.

Texas A&M knows how to engineer some beef jerky

Where can you find some of the best beef jerky in the country? At the E.M. "Manny" Rosenthal Meat Science & Technology Center — better known on campus as the "meat lab" — at Texas A&M University.

That's according to the New York Times, which featured the dried Aggie beef last week in a story on the renaissance of jerky. This jerky, from the top round, is brined, smoked over hickory ash and dried for days (rather than the usual flavoring with liquid smoke and drying in commercial ovens in a few hours). Orders are pouring in and A&M was "completely sold out" of jerky shortly after the article appeared, according to a staffer at the center. However, you can still order at (979) 845-5651 and get on the waiting list. The next batch should be ready in about two weeks. The cost is $9.99 for a half pound.

Rain you'll want to keep around

Where have you been all summer, Wrigley? We needed your new sugar-free gum called Rain long before August. Rain, whose sticks are wrapped in vibrant green foil like an Andes Mint, is spearmint flavor and comes 15 pieces to a chic black box ($1.49). It is one of three flavors in a new chewing gum line called "5." The other two are Flare (cinnamon, red foil) and Cobalt (peppermint, blue foil). Look for Rain (outside or) in pharmacies, groceries and lifestyle department stores.

One more place to assemble dinner

Names in the news: Dream Dinners, a meal assembly service, will have a grand opening at its new Sunset Valley store, 5207 Brodie Lane, on from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. Everyone who brings in canned goods to the grand opening will receive a complimentary herb-crusted flank steak, a Dream Dinners signature dish. A portion of the sales proceeds for August will be donated to the Capital Area Food Bank . . . The Melting Pot opens a second location today at 305 E. Third St. The fondue restaurant, locally owned and operated by Mike and Kelly Swartz, opened its first Austin location three years ago at 13343 U.S. 183 North. . . Also today, Pluckers Wing Bar, a local chain owned by three University of Texas grads, opens its seventh location at 11066 Pecan Park Blvd. in the Cedar Park area . . . Pronto Italiano, that Bee Cave fast-casual sibling of Hill Country Pasta House, has closed after two and a half years. Timing and economics did not work out for the location, says owner Brian Gilbert. However, some of Pronto's services, including its dine-in and take-out lunches, will be offered at the Pasta House, 3519 RM 620 North . . . Mi Colombia, the homestyle Colombian eatery on East Seventh Street, has temporarily closed and will reopen soon as Casa Colombia, according to a note posted on the door by restaurant founder Emilia Hurtado.