People

Painter of Cakes

Danaë Smale is a palette knife- and paintbrush-wielding abstract painter who happens to use buttercream as her medium and sponge cake as her canvas. “My customers are often bohemian brides and ...

Kirk Watson

Some may not know it, but I’ve been Kirk Watson quite a bit. What I mean is that I portrayed him in the Austin-definitive original production of “Keepin’ It Weird” at the ZACH Theatre. ...

Rachel and Matthew Buchanan

A decade ago, Rachel and Matthew (“Matt”) Buchanan opened The Leaning Pear—an ambitious farm-to-table café in Wimberley, Texas. Despite the long odds of opening a successful restaurant in ...

The sunrise over the Strohmeyer family’s citrus groves in McAllen tinges the tiny white blossoms with pink and gold. Between the trees, the air is thick with the fragrance of the blooms: sweet and ...

Broth Range of Ingredients

When stocking up on ingredients for her Simmering Soup Co., Ruthann Royal buys vegetables, a little meat, and bones…lots and lots of bones. That’s because her chicken and beef bone broths have a ...

Gimme Some Lovin'

After years spent perfecting his pickling, meat-curing and jam-making skills, Chef Jonathan Mayfield thought banging out a little flavored tonic water would be no sweat. He hardly even used the stuff ...

Chocolate Unplugged

When Christina (“Weena”) Hedrick set out to start a raw-chocolate company, she nearly named it “Weena’s Good for You Goodies,” but soon nixed the idea. “Some people don’t think ...

In Line with Marcelino

My family has been in the Texas Hill Country for at least five generations. While my Central Texas roots run deep, it wasn’t until I moved to Chicago for college that I began to fully appreciate my ...

Tien Ho

Tien Ho has a double grill on his patio and he’s not afraid to use it. You can’t keep him away from the twin flames, even on this sweltering, early-fall Saturday in Austin…in the direct ...

A&K Woodworking And Design

If woodworkers Amanda McKeever and Khiem Nguyen were to open a restaurant, there’s no doubt that the decorating theme would be a fusion of midcentury modern and Asian. “We love to cook,” ...