Austin

SXSW Supper Suite by STK

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Who doesn’t love a little SXSW. A week long event celebrating film, music, technology, and creativity in a realm like nothing else. It’s one of the annual trade show events that some of the most notable wait for and while the conference itself is undeniable, it’s the private parties accompanying it that really make their mark.

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A Little Bit Of Latte

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A Latte can be a sacred thing. From the perfection of the frothing to the ease of the espresso and the happy marriage that separates it from being an every day cappuccino. A latte is a big deal. As someone who loves the perfect latte with just the right amount of frothing on top and a healthy heart of creamy milky goodness, I’m a bit of a latte critic. Sadly, like many, we are forced to do a Starbucks run for coffee that lacks the heart and nurturing you get from a REAL cup o’joe.

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2014 Austin Food & Wine Festival

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I love the city of Austin. It’s no secret the city won my heart the very first time I visited in 2012. Combine a city of just about everything I love AND toss in the most sensational range of culinary prowess into a week long festival of kickoff events, culinary battles, sweet delights, imaginative parties, and some of the greatest chefs in the US? Um yes. Count me in. This year however, I decided to invite my Austin photographer, Kevin Curtis to go in and capture some of the more notable moments. You can see for yourself that it was nothing short of tasty entertainment!!

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Austin Heats Up in the LiveFire Challenge

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Last year was the 1st year ATOD Magazineâ„¢ attended the LiveFire! Challenge and we were honored to be invited back. This year, our Editor sent in our brilliant Austin #Photojournalist, Kevin Curtis to give readers a visual taste of everything that gets cooked up at the illustrious Salt Lick BBQ (an Austin MUST). We are thrilled to tempt you with the culinary spectrum showcased at this year’s LiveFire! Challenge.

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LIVE FIRE!

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The Live Fire Challenge at one of Austin’s most beautiful outer city locations, Salt Lick BBQ, is one of the highlights in the entire Food & Wine Festival. With its off-the-beaten-path locale and the smells of meat cooking thick in the air surrounding every pocket of air over the surrounding mile, well, one can’t help but find an insatiable appetite looming.

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Austin Food & Wine Fest 2014 Kickoff Luncheon!

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As the notice came in that the Austin Food & Wine Festival was kicking off, ATOD Magazine had the distinct privilege of being among those to get a preview at the Kickoff Luncheon for the 2014 line-up at Austin’s Contigo on Tuesday, January 21. With chefs, Tim Love, Mike Lata, Chris Shepherd and Andrew Wiseheart preparing and serving a collaborative, family-style meal, we felt it best fitting to send in our photographer to show you rather than tell you.

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Tastings with Chef Shawn Cirkiel PART 1

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Wearing his special order bright pink VANS with black eyelets, a soft pink button up, jeans, and a smile that seems to extend to you, Chef Cirkiel is your every day guy with impeccable taste, a hands-on approach to his craft, an eagerness to experiment, a calling to push himself further, a willingness to encourage his staff to be proactive and innovative, and a charm that allows you feel as if you’ve known him for years. Jane readies her camera and we dive right into conversation…

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Carillon with Chef Josh K. Watkins

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Austin is a city I have come to adore. The culinary prowess of the chefs, the relaxed and confident vibe that finds it’s way from kitchen to plate, the absence of arrogance, the curiosity of experimentation – it’s what makes Austin, AUSTIN. A landscape I must admit is one of the most colorful in terms of flavor and innovation. While I have posted about the Food & Wine Festival this year, there were moments outside of the Festival where I was able to sit down with so many remarkable chefs and visionaries and do a private tasting. One such tasting was with the Carillon’s Chef, Josh K. Watkins.

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Andrew Zimmern

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Andrew Zimmern (born July 4, 1961) is an American television personality, chef, food writer, and teacher. He is the co-creator, host, and consulting producer of the Travel Channel series Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern and Andrew Zimmern’s Bizarre World. For his work on Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern he was presented the James Beard Foundation Award in 2010. He also hosts the show Dining with Death, which explains some of the foods that could cause death.

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Heywood Hotel Austin

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The most notable aspect of the Heywood Hotel is something I genuinely believe that every single Hotel around the world would benefit to mirror: their mini-bar. Their mini-bar has an entire selection and nothing is over $4 and even the bottles of wine are normal range. There is no markup or traditional pricing and honestly, as a person who travels and stays at so many hotels all over, this is by far the most refreshing innovation ever. Kathy not only created a hotel that has incredible decor, exquisite brands – everything is Spa related – the mini-bar is stocked with local and edible fare, bottles of water not more than $2, and somehow you just feel like you are family – she took time in developing the look and feel of a place that is thoughtful, pristine, and suffices every need you could have.

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Austin Food & Wine Festival DAY 3

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Today the sun is unrelenting, burning our flesh the moment the yellow burst rises up. As I walk in through the entrance, there sits on the grass a large table with the signature black tablecloth. On it? Stacks and stacks of commemorative glasses for the taking. Shatter-proof and bearing the insignia of the 2013 Austin Food & Wine Festival. Yes, this is the very last day and I look on it with a bit of sadness.

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Austin Food & Wine Presents Rock Your Taco

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The day ends and a different kind of Food Event is about to begin. A culinary world, an incredible global community created to support chefs and their passions and push them to be their best – at all times; Something I wholeheartedly subscribe to. While we are flourishing with the Celebrity Chef nuance, I love to see these chefs dig deep and go back to doing what they love most: COOK.

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2013 Austin Food & Wine Festival DAY 1

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I have been to Austin twice in my life. This April was the 2nd time. This time I was greeted by familiar faces, succulent food, savory sweets, open minds, exquisite talent, momentous friends, and a slew of food, wine, life, travel, and culture lovers to which degree I have quite possibly never encountered before. Passion and a thirst for life was present more so than I can remember on this wonderful trip to Austin all in the name of the 2013 Austin Food & Wine Festival.

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