FOODMATTERS

Parkside restaurant and raw bar to open on Sixth Street

New eatery by Chef Shawn Cirkiel goes into former Dan McClusky's spot

By Kitty Crider, Dale Rice
Wednesday, February 06, 2008

Late-night dining is about to hit Sixth Street in a big way. Parkside, the new restaurant of chef-owner Shawn Cirkiel, will be open for dining until midnight Sunday to Wednesday and 3:30 a.m. Thursday to Saturday. The restaurant (301 E. Sixth St. 474-9898) initially will open daily at 3:30 p.m., eventually adding lunch and brunch to its schedule. It opens for the public on Sunday. Cirkiel, who formerly had the five-star Jean-Luc's on Colorado Street, has emphasized the historic nature of the building, leaving much of the brick from the 1880s that was uncovered during the renovation of the space that previously housed Dan McKlusky's. The chef, who made a name for himself locally with exquisite, often complicated French fare, has gone in the opposite direction for Parkside. The menu features a simple, clean style, with entrées such as bar steak with fries and pancetta-wrapped trout and other dishes such as spinach gratin, clam chowder, sea urchin on toast and fried anchovies. He says he is proud of his burger and fried egg sandwich as well. There also will be a raw bar serving oysters and several other ceviche- or sashimi-style items. "It has something for me to eat every day," Cirkiel says.

"I joke that I'm cooking for my chefs and bar people."

Elgin's Southside Market is casing pork

Southside Market of Elgin, which celebrated its 125th year in 2007, is famous for its beef sausage, selling more than 2 million pounds last year at its restaurant and around the country. Now it has dared to mess with beef success and make pork sausage, too. The market began experimenting with an old family recipe for pork with garlic sausage last summer. It also mixed up a pork and beef jalapeño cheese link, including fresh peppers and onions. Available in-house for a few months, these new sausages are now making their way into restaurants and grocery stores. They are not available online yet but are expected to be soon.

Chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate

Chocolate tortilla chips. That's just so wrong. That's disgusting. That's ridiculous. Our usually open-minded tasters shut down. Then curiosity got the better of them, and they tasted the dark brown rectangular chips made by Food Should Taste Good. That's not so bad, they concluded. But it takes a while for the chocolate taste to come through. What do you dip these in? (Peanut butter, the bag says.) Taste them yourself at Central Market's Chocolate Festival Friday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

More chocolate nibs.Central Market Westgate executive chef John Maxwell offers a "Love Bites" party. To be held in a private tent at the Westgate market, the $40 event will spotlight six courses of tempting tapas (cocoa-nibbed duck breast, butter-poached lobster with caviar, etc.) paired with wines. Times are 7 p.m. Friday and 6 and 8 p.m. Saturday. ... Drop by the chocolate show and competition at the Texas Culinary Academy, 11400 Burnet Road, from noon to 3 p.m. Hourly demonstrations will feature savory chocolate dishes, including mole, with samples available. For the kids, there will be chocolate cookie Valentines to decorate. For lovers of the grape, Jane Nickles, academy wine instructor, will pair sweet and savory chocolate items with wine. ($10 per person.)

Carry on with some Austin sweets, ready for traveling

This Box o' Chocolates bundles four Austin sweets into a petite retro-suitcase, tied with a fabric bow. The $40 collection includes things chocolate from Tempt, Fat Turkey, Luxe Sweets and Mary Louise Butter's Brownies, four local chocolatiers who are melting hearts with their work. This Box o' Chocolates is available at Sabia, 1100 S. First St., and AustinGiftBox.com, a new business that creates gift boxes using only locally made food and items.

Four Diamonds for four Austin restaurants

Names in the news: Four Austin restaurants are among the 33 in Texas honored with the Four Diamond Award by AAA. Locals recognized by the travel service are III Forks Steakhouse, Restaurant Jezebel, the Driskill Grill, the Hill Country Dining Room (Barton Creek Resort), and the Four Seasons Hotelrestaurant. ... Chef Stephen Rafferty, Culinary Academy of Austin, sailed on a Royal Caribbean Cruise ship out of Galveston last week, where he served as an examiner for the American Culinary Federation, testing ship cooks and chefs. Rafferty is a certified examiner with the federation. Steve Mannion, co-founder of the Culinary Academy of Austin, is heading to Korea as a guest instructor for the Adopt-A-Ship program for the U.S. Navy. Mannion, who has participated in other ship culinary training programs, says this one will be a shore-duty mission in which he teaches Navy cooks ... Cathy Cochran-Lewis,former director of Central Market Cooking School and Whole Foods Culinary Center, as well as former board member for the Texas Hill Country Wine and Food Festival and former president of Les Dames d' Escoffier in Austin, has returned to the city from those snowy winters of Colorado. Cochran-Lewis has taken a position on the Whole Foods Market Global Public Relations Team.