Austin Restaurant Weeks (ARW) has begun! Yesterday, 8/16, marked the beginning of the inaugural two-week long event (ending 9/3). What is ARW, you’re wondering? Over 80 restaurants in town are offering carefully curated prix fixe menus and beverages where a portion of the profit is donated directly to the Central Texas Food Bank. Heavy hitters like Contigo, Central Standard, Olive & June, Via 313, Sway, and many more (see the list in its entirety here) will be serving up epicurean deals all the in name of supporting our Central Texan community.

Photo by Rick Cortez.

Prix Fixe Menu Options:

• Lunch for $25 (2-3 courses, provides 16 meals for our neighbors in need)
• Dinner for $35 (3-4 courses, provides 20 meals for our neighbors in need)
• Dinner for $45 (3-4 courses, provides 28 meals for our neighbors in need)
• Cocktail for $8 (some establishments may offer a cocktail option, provides 8 meals for our neighbors in need)
• Beer for $6 (some establishments may offer a beer option, provides 4 meals for our neighbors in need)

If you dine out often, consider peppering in some of the 80 + restaurants partaking in ARW during your weekly prandial excursions. If dining out is more of a rarity, think about treating yourself, your loved ones, or a special friend to a fun, new establishment! Ever tasted Rosewood’s grilled peaches with pan de campo, beef bacon, house-made ricotta, and Malabar spinach or their drum ceviche with pico de gallo, avocado, and corn furikake? How about Le Politique’s escargots with garlic, parsley, and puff pastry or their hanger steak with french fries and beurre de Paris? Get reservations now! It never tasted so good to give back to the community.

Image of grilled peach glory, courtesy of Rosewood's instagram.

Why is this important?

Well, 1 in 4 people in Austin and neighboring areas are or have been food insecure, or lacking dependable access to sufficient amounts of affordable and nutritious food. That's 25% of our Austin community. Depending on the area, up to 40% of people do not have easy access to fresh and affordable food. In neighborhoods where busy thoroughfares inundate the cityscape and sidewalks are lacking, folks who do not have vehicular access risk their lives daily to purchase groceries to feed their family. Plus, with the rising cost of housing, our neighbors in need often have to make painful choices on whether to spend money on food, medicine, or housing. Central Texas Food Bank works ceaselessly day in and day out to provide nutritious food to the diverse array of folks who find themselves in emergency need of food or supplementing their regular meal planning.

Donations to CTFB. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

We are elated to work with these community rockstars on a regular basis and contribute to their fresh food distribution. Every Tuesday and Thursday the huge CTFB refrigerated truck arrives at our Hergotz Packing Shed to load up on vegetable donations. These donations usually contain product that doesn’t meet the rigorous grocery store standards, think misshapen carrots, slightly wilted greens, and scarred eggplant. You’ve probably heard us say this before, but we like to call these vegetables our “Inglorious Produce” - not so photogenic, but equally as nutritious and tasty as their A-grade counterparts. This produce oftentimes gets wasted because of its less-than-pleasing aesthetic and the stringent market specifications; thus, CTFB is saving this produce and also feeding folks nutritious food in the process.

Last year alone, we donated 56,970 lbs of food to the food bank. That’s over 68,000 meals worth of fresh, organic, and local produce - ingredients that unfortunately aren’t as accessible to all Austinites as they arguably should be. (More about some of the Austin programs aiming to increase access to healthy foods here).

Weekly donations. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Needless to say, CTFB is a hero in the community and we are thrilled to be partnering with CTFB on this event by offering ARW restaurants hefty discounts on wholesale vegetables and even bigger discounts off of inglorious produce! We hope that you relish this gourmet adventure in the next couple of weeks. Get to eatin' and let's give back!