FOOD MATTERS

Roaring Fork let's menu changes flow

Also: new cookie company and lunch is served

By Addie Broyles, Dale Rice
Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Roaring Fork's refined lunch menu is quite refined

Most popular fine-dining restaurants do not achieve success by creating menus and never altering them. Dynamic eateries, such as Austin's Roaring Fork (701 Congress Ave., 583-0000), constantly produce new dishes to tempt diners. New items on the upscale restaurant's lunch menu include a chicken cobb salad, a smoked trout salad and a salmon BLT served with a side of fries. An old staple, the green chile macaroni and cheese, also got a summer makeover — to a more creamy version that resembles the dish that was served there when the restaurant first opened in Austin. The seasonal dessert, though, might grab all the attention. It's a luscious peach cobbler, served warm and topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

— Dale Rice

Woodland, Starlite get an earlier start

Lunch options have increased with two Austin favorites, the Woodland and Starlite, which have added midday hours and lunch menus. "We have seen the daytime traffic increase in this neighborhood, and in the 18 months since the Woodland has been open, the demand for lunch offerings has really grown," says owner Michael Terrazas. The Woodland, 1716 S. Congress Ave., is now open for lunch with burgers, sandwiches and salads Tuesday through Saturday beginning at 11 a.m. 441-6800. Meanwhile in the Warehouse District, Starlite is offering lunch from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday with sandwiches, salads and fancier fare. 407 Colorado St. 374-9012.

— Ed Crowell

Wine tastings galore

Cannoli Joe's, a buffet-style Italian restaurant on U.S. 290 West owned by the County Line, is celebrating its first birthday in August by hosting wine and spirit tastings on Wednesday and Thursday nights from 6 to 9 p.m. Wines will be sold by the glass, and 100 percent of the sales will go to local nonprofit organizations. Several Texas wineries, including Messina Hof, Fall Creek and Llano Estacado, will be represented, and there will be live music as well.

Thirteen Twin Liquors stores in Central Texas are also hosting wine tastings on Friday afternoons from 4 to 7 p.m. Each Friday, two different wines are featured; you can find out which stores are participating at www.twinliquors.com.

— Addie Broyles

Big Apple's loss is gain for Austin cookie lovers

Soft, moist, rich and downright heavenly. A New York City gal has mastered the art of baking treats and is wooing Central Texans with Alexandra's Cookie Dreams, her new line of gourmet cookies. Alexandra Bruskoff spent the past seven years teaching young kids in New York City and, after her husband got a new job in Texas, decided to move to Austin, where she's started her own baking company. She hasn't forgotten about the kids; A portion of the company's profits goes to Austin and NYC schools through DonorsChoose.org. The cookies, in six flavors (with such fun names as New York Cow-girl, Double-Stuffed Chocolate Nightmare, White Chocolate Cranberry Walnut Wish, Toffee Doodle Dream, Peanut Buttery Bliss, The All-Nighter), cost $28 per dozen and are available at www.alex

andrascookiedreams.com. My favorite? The All-Nighter, which combines espresso, walnuts and red cayenne pepper to perk you up with a glass of milk.

— A.B.

Names in the news

The Hilton Austin, the city's largest hotel, has a new executive chef: Ravi Nage, who most recently was executive chef and director of food and beverage at the new Hilton Baltimore BWI Airport. Nage succeeds Mark Dayanandan, who was promoted to director of food and beverage for the Hilton Austin. ... Dan Haverty, the longtime executive chef at the Shoreline Grill, has left the downtown restaurant. "I'm looking for new challenges," says Haverty, who hopes to stay in the Austin area. ... The American Culinary Federation picked the River House Tea Room in Gruene as one of 16 restaurants nationwide to receive its annual Achievement of Excellence Award. Executive Chef Carol Hill is in Las Vegas this week accepting the award at the federation's national convention.

— D.R. and A.B.