We have one word for the project Chef Brenton Schumacher is about to unveil: finally. In the downtown Red River area – grossly underserved by questionable taco trucks and the like – the winds of change are blowing.
Detroit native Schumacher, the innovative former Executive Sous Chef at Central Market, has thrown down the gauntlet with two projects. In its first year, his new catering company, Pink Avocado, has grabbed gigs with the Independent Film Channel, the Austin Film Society, Project Transitions' Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, the Austin Roller Girls, FronteraFest, Enviromedia, and the We Manage Stuff’s Mobile Art Place – to name a few.
Now he’s getting ready to unleash his newest project, nestled between the Emo’s Lounge and Emo's Inside entrances – Go Bites – which will serve innovative street food to the Red River and Emo’s crowds. An informal tasting gave us a glimpse of what hungry emo kids and scenesters can expect after the inaugural Go Bites launch during SXSW.
We weren’t sure how innovative bar food could be, but Schumacher and his Pink Avocado Executive Sous Chef, Hollace Genereux, had already given us a preview during the Austin Film Society’s 2006 Anniversary party. Schumacher and Genereux, along with Go Bites executive Sous Chef Jesse Burkart, have raised the bar (har har) on bar food.
We started with almost-fluffy hand-cut fries dipped in a green chile aioli, a nice start to be sure. And then came the grilled cheese sandwiches.
We’ve made about a jillion grilled cheese sandwiches in our time, but never have we made any that made us go silent with happiness like the ones we ate at Go Bites: mango and swiss with curry butter, gruyere and onion, prosciutto and fresh mozzarella, and the crowd-stupefying favorite - fresh mozzarella and white truffle oil.
Then came the sliders. Not a southwest staple food – yet – sliders are the miniature burgers northeastern transplants can’t believe you’ve never tasted. We found ourselves shoving handfuls of sliders down our greedy gullets, bleu cheese and leek, BBQ, cheddar. $5-7 price points don’t make us nervous – but sliders and grilled cheeses located conveniently near the bars at Emo’s and DeVille make us nervous about our waistlines.
Photo by Matthew Odam
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There used to be really good sliders from Reido's over at sixth and lamar. Austin even blogged about it if you google austin sliders. Can't add the link here because I don't have a login. They were cheap too!
It's about time someone capitalized on the almost-total lack of decent eats in the entertainment district.
Aside from the Hot Dog King, of course.
Whatever happened to Reido's. he said he was going to re-open. He could make a killing downtown.
Still: Best Wurst, the best mix of nasty and tasty in town.
Great...the sidewalk in front of Emo's will reek of gourmet puke! Ahh nothing like eating gourmet grilled cheese in front of a dive bar and all the transients passing by! Ahh, just like gay Paris! And by the way, I have been in that space between Emo's bars and they had better pull in a Hazmat team to clean that place up before I taste any sliders!(an appropriate name in front of a greasy dive bar). Give me a Casino Burger any day o' the week not to mention Jackalope's fine cuisine! I can just see it now all the kids at Emo's are going to have to decide between a Dashboard Confessional T-shirt or a plate of gourmet french fries...decisions, decisions...ahhh screw it! Go for the Jaegermeister shots that all the minor kids go for at Emo's!!!!
anyone seen El Rapido (Taco Wagon - RR and 6th) lately?
This food is going to rock!
Just checked out the space and the kitchen is spotless. Looks brand new and streamlined. Can't wait to get to taste these eats!!!!
Great location.
Hey Chester...get out much? Geez could you be any more enthusiastic about bar food. My guess is you either work for the chef or Emo's whose leasing the space out to said chef. Get a grip...this is doomed from the start. Once the chef realizes who his target customer is, i.e. drunk, slobbering kids at 2:00am, he will quickly run back to the Driskill or his catering business. It is brutal out of 6th St! People don't really care how much care is put into food as long as it keeps them from throwing up the shots they just did or trying to sober up before that shaky ride home. Trust me...I have known people who did food down there...it is a war zone! Bon Apetite!
So here are the things that strike me odd about whathafuk!'s responses: Is it weird for bar food to be innovative and gourmet-inspired? Because seriously, grilled cheese, no matter how delicious and innovative, is still grilled cheese. Downtown, after a show, yeah, give me a delicious slider that tastes different than Wendy's drive through. There's no shame in liking good music, a bunch of whiskey shots and some kick-ass bar food. That's why we live in Austin and not, say, Tulsa.
But what most strikes me as odd is the hostility. What is it about delicious bar food that you seem to find so personally offensive, whathafuk!? Hmm. I'm almost positive no one conceives and realizes their creative and business choices to piss you off, but you might be important like that. It's a total possibility.
Meanwhile, Chef Brenton was the drummer for the Dead End Cruisers, Ritchie Whites, etc ... I'm pretty sure he knows who his target customers are in the space or he wouldn't have bothered putting the project together. A lot of fratty sixth street types don't know it, but there's a reason the Red River crowd steers a little clear of sixth street, and it's not because they're drunk, slobbering idiots puking in front of, say, Touche Shot Bar or knifing one another in front of the Ritz. Books, covers, blablabla.
As far as the hazmat reference goes, apparently it was called in, because of the bajillion kitchens I've been in, this was not only one of the cleanest, but one of the best organized and calmest.
Driskill? That's David Bull. I'm sure Chef Brenton would be flattered with the comparison.
And what was going on in that space when you were there that made it so hazardous, and why did you go in? Didn't you hear the audience screaming at you not to go in there?!?!
Lastly, and in a sarcastic, soothing, patronizing and semi-petty voice, it's not bon apetite, it's bon apetit.
Hey thesamarmstrong! Wow you got me! Sure am sorry about that extra "e" in Bon Apetit but if you are going to correct me make sure YOU are right..it's actually "Bon Appetit"! ASSHOLE! I may have been wrong but you sure look like an ass correcting my mistake! Wow...you are good! And again, congrats on being a busboy at Chef Brenton's new space. Speaking of which...I know exactly what was in that space as I too played in a bunch of bands that puked...er, played there. So best of luck...I'll stick with Casino's, thank you very much!
Ha! I DO look like an ASSHOLE, and very well may be one - most people are. See above.
Enjoy Casino.
I was at the tasting and not only was the kitchen immaculate but the food was amazing! Chef Brenton is a genius and his treats are a welcome addition to the Red River/6th Street intersection.