Grab a Pencil and Start Filling Up Your Calendar with Sustainable Food Events

It's Austin event season and the calendar is filling up with great opportunities to celebrate local, fresh food.  There is something for everyone so grab your pencil and start filling in those dates!



I've focused on four organizations: Slow Food Austin, The Sustainable Food Center, Texas Hill Country Wine and Food Festival and Slow Money Alliance.  If you know of other events, please post them to the comments to share with everyone else.  Also, follow Austin Food Lover's Companion's Austin Foodie Bits each Monday for a weekly update of upcoming food events in Austin.



I look forward to seeing you at plenty of events this spring!



Slow Food Austin focuses on reconnecting us with our food.  They do that through three main types of events every month: local farm tours, happy hours and Slow Food Sessions that highlight different aspects of home cooking.  Take your pick and join in the fun.



Happy Hours: Scheduled for the 3rd Thursday of every month, Slow Food Happy Hours highlight local restaurants and area farms:  4/15 at Olivia, 5/17 at Green Gate Farms, 6/17 at Boggy Creek

Slow Sessions: These educational sessions are scheduled for the 1st Thursday of each month and have highlighted everything from making cheese to how to cure bacon.  Monitor the website for the next session topic.



Sustainable Food Center in addition to bringing us three terrific farmers markets (Downtown, Sunset Valley and the Triangle), the Sustainable Food Center has two upcoming events to help you celebrate farm fresh food in Austin.



On Sunday, April 11th at 6:00 pm, La Condesa will host another Chef Series dinner with a  multi-course tasting menu featuring fresh meats and produce from the Austin Farmers? Market.  Participating chefs include: Rene Ortiz, executive chef at La Condesa; James Holmes, executive chef and owner of Olivia; Tyson Cole, executive chef at Uchi; Shawn Cirkiel, executive chef at Parkside; Todd Duplechan, executive chef at Trio; Jesse Griffiths of Dai Due Supper Club; and Laura Sawicki, pastry chef at La Condesa.  Tickets are $100 per person, and all proceeds benefit the Sustainable Food Center. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.sfcchefseries.eventbrite.com.



SFC's annual fundraiser, Farm to Plate,  is Thursday May 6th, 6:30-9:30 pm at The Barr Mansion.  The event features tastings from over 20 local chefs, 10 wineries and several local breweries.  It is a great way to explore the restaurants who are sourcing locally and you get to visit with the chefs!  Early Bird tickets go on sale on Tuesday 3/24.



Texas Hill Country Wine & Food Festival celebrates its 25th Anniversary this year with a stellar line up of events Thursday 4/15-Sunday 4/18.  Many of the events include chefs and restaurants from around the state who source locally including our very own Trio, Jeffrey's, Parkside, Fino, La Condesa and Zoot.  I also noticed Bin 555 from San Antonio, a wine bar and restaurant that offers several local options daily on their menu, on the list.



Some events with the potential for local sourcing that caught my eye include the Culinary Masters Dinner on Thursday night hosted by Chef Elmar Prambs of Trio, the Stars Across Texas event on Friday night with tastings from restaurants around the state, the Texas Wine & Cheese Pairing hosted by Whole Foods and their goddess of cheese Cathy Strange, and the Sunday Fair at the Salt Lick which will feature a number of local food vendors organized by Edible Austin.



Some of the tickets are pricey (Culinary Masters dinner is $150), but my previous experience with the festival is that the price is worth the experience.  Events do sell out (John Best cooking class is already full) so if you have your heart set on something, buy early.



Slow Money Austin is a new nonprofit focused on increasing investment in sustainable, local food enterprises.  I heard about Slow Money for the first time at the Texas Book Festival last fall and have been devouring all the resources I can find about it ever since.  I am thankful to Mason Arnold of Greenling and everyone who has helped him get our local organization up and running.



You can find out more about Slow Money and how it can help our growing sustainable food industry grow exponentially at two upcoming events.  



On April 21st, they are hosting a Slow Money Showcase from 12:30-5:00 pm at Austin's City Hall.  The conference will feature Slow Money Alliance founder Woody Tasch as the keynote speaker and include  panels of local experts on sustainable food in Central Texas.



The next evening April 22nd, you can help Slow Money Austin celebrate Earth Day at the Slow Money Dinner, at 6:00 pm at Barr Mansion.  The incomparable Dai Due Supper Club will be preparing a delightful dinner while participants continue the Slow Money conversation with presentations from Bastrop Cattle Company, Coyote Creek Feed Mill and Greenling.  It is guaranteed to be a thought-provoking evening.