Stop and smell the rosés

Austin Food + Wine Festival pops the cork on big return for fall 2021

Cheers to the festival's return!

Austin Food + Wine Festival/Instagram

Let’s all raise a toast to the fruitful return of one of Texas' most enticing culinary events. After its pandemic-forced cancellation in 2020, the Austin Food + Wine Festival returns this fall for a weekend packed with food, wine, and spirits offerings from some of the area’s most noted chefs and brands.

The 10th annual Austin Food + Wine Festival will take place at Auditorium Shores and the newly refurbished Republic Square Park in downtown Austin November 5-7.

Tickets for the festival went sale September 1 at www.austinfoodandwinefestival.com/tickets.

This year’s festival will feature all the favorite elements foodies crave, from food competitions and cooking demos to interactive fire pit presentations, live music performances, book signings, and yeah, a whole heck of a lot of samples from local chefs and restaurants, and wine, beer, and, cocktail tastings.

While additional programming announcements will be made as the event nears, here’s currently what’s on tap for the festival:

On Friday, November 5, the fest kicks off with Grillin’ and Chillin’, chef Tim Love’s hands-on grilling dinner party at Auditorium Shores. The interactive and informative party will include grilling, drinks, and dinner beneath the Austin skyline. Grillin’ and Chillin’ attendees will share a charcoal grill with a partner and prepare their own dinner as Love guides them through the menu while offering tips for how to become a grilling expert. (Note: The Grillin’ and Chillin’ event is exclusively included with All-In tickets.)

On Saturday, November 6 and Sunday, November 7, the festival pops into high gear with cooking demonstrations, book signings, and an interactive area where chefs and pitmasters will cook over fire pits and offer samples to attendees. Current chefs planning to share their live-fire cooking expertise at the fire pits showcase include:

John Bates, InterStellar BBQ
Sonya Coté, Hillside Farmacy and Store House Market + Eatery
Lance Kirkpatrick, Stiles Switch BBQ
Tom Micklethwait and Ren Garcia, Micklethwait Craft Meats
Marco Oglesby, The Switch

Attendees can also get to sampling signature dishes from some of the Austin area’s favorite restaurants and chefs, including:

Christopher Andrews, TLC
Jeff Balfour, Southerleigh Fine Food & Brewery
Daniel Brooks, Licha’s Cantina
Jeff Brown, Old Thousand
Jo Chan, Eberly
Krystal Craig and Ian Thurwachter, Intero
Nick Ervan, Wax Myrtle
Jacob Euler, Le Vacher
Reed Faitak, Austin Daily Press
James Flowers, 1417
Rachelle Fox, Wicky’s Walkup
John Gocong, Salty Cargo
Mark Grimes, Creekhouse
Wade Guice, Juliet Italian Kitchen
Victor Ibarra, Andiamo
CJ Jacobson, Aba
Andrea Juarez, Walton’s Fancy & Staple
Andy Knudson, Tillie’s
Geronimo Lopez, Botika
Jason McVearry, Poke-Poke
Margarita and Nestor Mendez, Pueblo Viejo
Josh Neises, Lonesome Dove Austin
Daniel Olivella, Barlata Tapas Bar
Matthew Perez, The Beer Plant
Chris Rios, The Vegan Nom
Ryan Samson, Vespaio and Enoteca
Jam Sanitchat, Thai Fresh
Carmen Valera, Tamale House East
Ling Wu, Lin Asian Bar + Dim Sum

Chefs and authors who will share their expertise during cooking demos and convos include Dawn Burrell (Late August, Houston), Helene Henderson (Malibu Farm), Fermín Núñez (Suerte), Yoshi Okai (Otoko), and Jam Sanitchat (Thai Fresh).

Many festival foodies will delight in the return of Saturday evening’s signature tasting event, Rock Your Taco at Republic Square Park. Chefs will square off against one another to create the ultimate taco, as deemed by a people’s choice award.

Rock Your Taco competitors include Tatsu Aikawa (Ramen Tatsu-Ya); Nicola Blaque (Mi Roti, The Jerk Shack, San Antonio); Dawn Burrell; Tyson Cole (Uchi); Diego Galicia and Rico Torres (Mixtli, San Antonio); Sarah Heard and Nathan Lemley (Foreign & Domestic), Helene Henderson; LeAnn Mueller (la Barbecue); Ryan Pera (Eight Row Flint, Houston); Jam Sanitchat; and Charles Schlienger (Sway).

“The Austin Food + Wine Festival has always been such an incredibly fun and delicious experience,” says Uchi chef and owner Tyson Cole. “We are thrilled to be back and ready to Rock Your Taco again!”

Two ticket options are available to attend this year’s Austin Food + Wine Festival:

All-In tickets ($625), which include Saturday and Sunday festival access; access to interactive cooking demos and book signings; beer, wine, and cocktail tasting sessions; wood-fired culinary creations from the fire pits; samples from Austin chefs and restaurants; Friday night’s Grillin’ and Chillin’ with Tim Love; and Saturday night’s Rock Your Taco competition.
Weekender tickets ($250), which include Saturday and Sunday festival access; access to interactive cooking demos and book signings; beer, wine, and cocktail tastings.

Festival-goers must be at least 21 years old to attend. Detailed health info and entry policies will be released closer to the event date.

The event is presented by Food & Wine Magazine and Austin-based C3 Presents, and benefits the nonprofit Austin Food & Wine Alliance, which works to foster innovation in the local food and wine community through grants, educational programming, and a variety of events. Austin Food + Wine Festival has contributed more than $1.1 million to the alliance in support of these efforts.

Hummus News

Revered family-owned Mediterranean restaurant debuts in North Dallas

Samantha Marie Photography

Zon Zon food spread

An upscale Mediterranean restaurant is coming to North Dallas from a trusted name: Called Zon Zon, it'll open at 5455 Belt Line Rd. #130, in the Work/Shop center, and it's hospitality group Yela Concepts led by Yaser Khalaf (Darna, Baboush), together with his son Mak Khalef in their first collaboration.

According to a release, it'll open on December 22.

Named for Mak's sister Zaina (“Zon Zon”), the restaurant will be open for lunch and dinner with a refined take on Mediterranean dining, rooted in tradition but with modern influences.

"We tried to merge what embodies Mediterranean cuisine with dishes that people in Dallas love," Mak says. "A lot of the dishes we have on menu are Mediterranean but have American and Texan influences."

Mezze favorites include hummus topped with green shatta and extra-virgin olive oil; baba ghanoush with charred eggplant, tahini, dukka, and pomegranate; crispy cauliflower with saffron labneh; tuna neya with tahini, mixed pickles, and Aleppo pepper; and kibbeh with ground lamb, onions, pine nuts, and dill labneh.

Salads include seared tuna salad with freekeh and golden beets; Tahini Caesar with tahini–Caesar dressing and za’atar croutons; and roasted beets with burrata, oranges, and pistachios.

Entrées include roasted chicken with garlic-batata and pomegranate jus; chicken shish kebab over saffron rice with almonds and raisins; hanger steak shawarma frites — a clever twist on steak frites with hand-cut fries; ZZ’s Wagyu cheeseburger with smoked provolone and house pickles; Prime ribeye with za’atar chimichurri and heirloom carrots; and apricot lamb couscous.

The beverage program complements the menu with a Mediterranean-focused wine list and creative cocktails such as the coffee-kissed Midnight Istanbul and ZZ’s Margarita, with burnt pineapple and ras el hanout.

Designed in collaboration with Dallas-based Coeval Studios, the restaurant features a 2,130-square-foot interior with an expansive 735-square-foot patio that seats 76, for a total occupancy near 100.

The restaurant boasts an open kitchen, while decorative finishes include modern woodwork, rich textures, and Middle Eastern-inspired details — stylish yet inviting, with a setting that feels like home.

“The inspiration behind Zon Zon came from wanting to create the kind of place we’ve always wished existed — a neighborhood Mediterranean spot that feels both familiar and exciting - we wanted to create a comfortable space where guests can meet up with friends or neighbors on a regular basis,” says Yaser in a statement.

Mak went to college to sudy biomedical engineering, but says he couldn't resist the lure of the restaurant world in which he grew up.

"Zon Zon is a reflection of everything we love about food," Mak says. "What makes this especially meaningful is building it with my dad — bringing our family’s story and passion to the table."

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