Alimentum Austin

alimentum austin 13

the hottest restaurants in austin

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want to start your own business in austin?

what is the secret to a successful business?

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Photo by Charli Zern

Alimentum Austin 1st Issue December 2016

Photo by kjokkenutstyr.net

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Table of Contents

4 5 6 8 12 18 24 26 30 32 38 40

Letter From The Editor Contributors’ Page Enacting Change Creating a Successful Business Starting a business in the Austin market is challenging; this ariticle will help you navigate those challenges.

Top 10 Hottest Restaurants in Austin Right Now Quack’s A coffee house with local roots and a cultured past.

7 Things That Create Comfortable Atmospheres The Secret to Success What it takes to become successful in Astin as a small business.

By the Numbers Exploring the Food Rainbow Where nutrition lies on the mindsets of young athletes.

The History of Grain Bridging the Gap Terry Cole helps bring homeless youth and Austinites together to cook Chicken Fajitas and destroy stereotypes.

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letter from

The Editor Photo by: Charli Zern

Food can bring you anywhere and to anyone. In this issue, you will experience the life of Austin’s homeless youth, athletes, and various entrepreneurs through the food they eat and prepare.

We will journey through the deeper meanings of food, beyond sustenance. This issue focuses on motivation. The meal featured on the cover is Chicken Fajitas that Terry Cole, founder of Austin’s Street Youth Ministry, made in his annual “Cookin’ it Up” event, where the homeless street youth work alongside volunteers to create a meal from donations provided by volunteers and local grocers. For him it was uplifting to see the homeless in real time achieve something they thought they couldn’t. This event is a sort of dress rehearsal to believing in yourself, to things like getting jobs and moving off of the street. It’s just a little bit of hope to help them through the next few months. That is the intent for our readers as well. We want this issue to inspire you to set down this magazine (be gentle, we worked hard!) and go feed your soul, whether that means providing for others in your own restaurant that Kael Suggs has helped you start, treating your body to health foods for athletics like Lucas Abounader, supporting local businesses that Owen Edgington and Evan Sayer promoted, or volunteering with me at Terry Cole’s Street Youth Ministry. From all of us at Alimentum Austin, Happy Feeding!

Regards, Charli Zern

Contributors

Austin 4

Owen Edgington,

despite his apparent French charm, has a Scottish food holding the key to his heart. And stomach. He tried Haggis first when he was six, and only acquired the taste when he “matured� five years later. Owen looks forward to his next liver filled trip abroad.

Kael Suggs

is an avid foodie. He spends his free time playing guitar, racquetball, and tennis. Kael’s favorite food is sushi and he loves to eat it at Musashino, his favorite restaurant in town.

Lucas Abounader

participates in many swimming competitions, so his diet has to work around his active lifestyle.

He has learned to enjoy eating healthy meals, such as lean meats and nuts for protein, immune to the bland flavor.

Evan Sayer

has tried food from across the world after living in India for three and a half years.

He loves the chocolate milkshakes in New Delhi, and misses them, as well as the connections he made while living there.

But honestly, mostly the milkshakes, which is why he makes his own every Friday afternoon.

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take...

Helping the homeless can be done in many ways. Two of the most directly beneficial come from policy change and changing what you give.

action

Story by: Charli Zern

Anti Homeless Laws In 2005 the city of Austin passed the No Sit No Lie ordinance (NSNLO) which prohibits people from sitting or lying down on the sidewalks of Austin.

This law clearly targets members of the homeless population, which receive two thirds of tickets issued. For approximately half of Austin’s homeless population, sitting is a necessity, as they suffer from serious health conditions that keep them from working and that require long periods of rest. The problem of just trying to get rid of the homeless remains, and those who cannot pay the tickets sometimes find themselves in jail. “If we think they’re criminals, then I think we should spend enough time to get to to know them, to catch them at doing things that criminals do.” Terry Cole, the founder of Street Youth Mininstry says. He feels that lying down or sitting on the sidewalk is hardly a crime and that creating an ordinance that treats it as such is disingenuous. “I really think it’s a convenience that doesn’t serve our community very well.”

Austin 6

give...

Terry Cole and Dr. Jean Brender share the items they wish they had more often. Dr. Jean Brender is a retired registered nurse who first met the street youth when she worked in an ER in her 20’s. Today she volunteers at Street Youth Ministry and provides needed input on the health of their clients. Terry Cole started the Street Youth Ministry in 2008, and you can learn more about him on page 40.

Street Youth Ministry Meals

For a complete list of needed items for Street Youth Ministry, visit www.streetyouthministry.org/needs

healthy and tasty ingredients to donate

-Animal proteins for B vitamins -Foods like leafy greens that contain folic acid for pregnant women

-folic acid helps prevent birth defects

-Dairy products

-The least common product available to

the homeless, a real treat

Food banks bank on your help!

Things Needed: -Fresh, nutritious produce -Healthy non-perishables -Frozen, lean proteins

!

Yes Can y

ou sto

p thes

e prob

lems?

Things to Avoid: -Food high in sodium

(Many canned goods) -Sugar sweetened beverages -Anything opened or expired Thanks go to Bethany Carney, the Food Sourcing Manager of Central Texas Food Bannk, for this information.

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“Most restaurants fail.

Austin is an oversaturated market and competition is fierce. Of Austin’s top 20 restaurants, five have closed in the last year - we’re a medium-sized city with a lot of choices,” says Tom Thornton, a local Austin food writer.

Image of Austin Lakefront Skyline

Creating a Successful Business Story by Kael Suggs

By Kael Suggs

Starting your own restaurant in the Austin market is challenging, and this article will help you navigate those challenges Image By: Wikipedia commons

“Most restaurants fail. Austin is an oversaturated market and competition is fierce. Of Austin’s top 20 restaurants, five have closed in the last year - we’re a medium-sized city with a lot of choices,” says Tom Thornton, a local Austin food writer.

According to the 2016 United States Census Bureau, the Austin-Round Rock area is the fastest growing city in the United States and currently has a population over two million people. This means there is a rapidly Photo BY expanding uchirstaurants.com population of customers looking for great restaurants.

Creating, maintaining, and owning a successful restaurant in the Austin market is remarkably difficile, but with the rapid growth of the city, leading a career in the food industry could be very profitable. However, restaurants are risky. To maximize your chances of having a successful food business, read on.

“It’s very easy to start a restaurant but very hard to keep up”, says Bombay Express owner Falguni Kapadia. Since restaurants are so hard to maintain, one must first consider the main problems in running a food business. Many restaurants are failing due to the lack of effort and time an owner wants to commit to the restaurant. According to Kapadia, one must work very hard, be fully committed to the success of the restaurant, and be prepared to work long hours. Restaurants are not for everyone. They require immense effort and dedication to succeed, but if you are willing, they can be extremely profitable and entertaining. “There is always something interesting going on and I can honestly say that I am surprised by something every single day,” says Ken Hatten, the owner of Austin Pizza Garden. “Never a dull moment!”

However, even if you spend all of your waking hours working for your restaurant, you still might not succeed. A central ingredient to success in a great restaurant is great service. “Good service consistently is tough. There is currently a shortage of servers and front and back of house talent in Austin and in other cities.” says Tom Thornton. “Getting good people and getting them to stick with you is a challenge. Many chefs and owners cite attracting talent as their number one problem presently.” As talent can be

Austin 10

hard to come by, it is important to seek out staff and attempt to keep them whenever possible.

Another critical factor for success of an exceptional food business or restaurant is the quality of the food itself. “The main reason for Bombay Express’s success is consistency in the quality, the simple formula for success.”, says Kapadia.

While every other aspect of your restaurant may be exceptional, your restaurant will not succeed if your food isn’t good because the food business market is huge in Austin, and there are a large variety Photo of agedashi tofu at uchi of restaurants that you must compete with in order to obtain loyal customers. If you cannot match their quality of food, you will gradually fall behind in profits.

“Something can be expensive but be good value (perhaps

“There is always something interesting going on and I can honestly say that I am surprised by something every single day” because the ambiance is special or the ingredients are quite expensive), but you need to leave feeling as though what you paid seems fair”, says Tom Thornton. Having great value for your restaurant is essential for the customer! Without great value, you will lose the majority of customers that would have come to your restaurant otherwise.

Advertising is another key aspect in a restaurant. Advertising is something businesses use to increase customer interest. “We

do use some advertising, but not as much as others. I believe in making lasting impressions and forming solid relationships with my customers. Word-of-mouth is some of the best advertising around! We still do limited advertising though”, says Ken Hatten.

The main types of advertising are word-of-mouth, television, radio, billboards, newspaper ads, online advertisements, etc.

The most effective, cheapest, and easiest form of advertising is word-of-mouth. Usually, if you like a restaurant, you tell others.

Just like in home sale, location is everything. The best way to choose your location is to access the demographics of the city and find the area where your restaurant would have the most customers for its price range. Also, you want to take into account what other restaurants and types of restaurants are near, being sure that you aren’t in competition with a more established business. If you want to open an Italian restaurant, you won’t right next to another Italian restaurant because your business would be competing with the other restaurant. Finally, you should pick a specific building that complements the type of food that you are serving, and style or mood that you are trying to create in your restaurant.

According to Thornton, local restaurants do better than chain restaurants in Austin. Customers in Austin like to dine at local, Austin-based restaurants because they want to support local farmers and ranchers from which those restaurants buy their food products. “I like seeing local businesses that thrived in other markets expand to Austin as their second or third city.

Poke Poke on South Congress is a great recent example, as is Cane Rosso in Sunset Valley”, says Tom Thornton. Seeing this in restaurants is also widely accepted, because the fact that they succeeded in other cities means that they had to be doing something right, but they most likely also buy from local farmers and ranchers.

“I have worked in restaurants my whole life.” says Hatten.

“I love it! So, you could say that I am addicted to the pace, environment and all that the industry has to offer.” Restaurants can be very fun, and even though restaurants may be difficult at times, they are very rewarding when dedication and time are spent on them. z

Photo BY https://salttraderscc.com/

Photo of Salt Trader’s Coastal Cooking, the newest creation of Jack Gilmore “Allen“

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CREDIT Wikimedia Commons

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CREDIT salttraderscc.com

Photo of Via 313 Detroit-Style Pizza

he Top 10 Hottest Restaurants Right Now Story by Kael Suggs

Left Above: Open aired casual restaurant in Paris Left Below: Fancy restaurant in Barcelona

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Your guide to the in restaurants of Austin dining.

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Austin J

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3100 S. Congress Ave Ste A

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oke-Poke

This humble retaurant is the work of Austin residents Jason and Trish, and brings Hawaiian-style sashimi, or poke, to the mainland. Haven’t tried poke? Poke-Poke has plenty of quick, affordable and customizable plates to help you get better acquainted.

CREDIT poke-poke.com

Above: Poke from Poke-Poke

B C D

801 S. Lamar

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chi

Located just south of the river, Uchi, meaning “house” in Japanese, is a sleek, refined sushi restaurant featuring delicate hot and cold dishes from chef Tyson Cole. Uchi only uses the freshest, most-sustainable, in-season ingredients to challenge gastronomical boundaries.

500 W. 5th #168

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u Chow

This modern restaurant combines authentic and traditional Chinese food with influence from local farmers and purveyors. Rated one of Zagat’s most anticipated restaurants, co-owners Stuart Thomajan and C. K. Chin work to bring an Austin spin on Asian cuisine.

2406 Manor Rd

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nit-D Pizzeria

Tucked away in a building from the 1950s, Unit-D proudly serves wood-fired pizza made from scratch. this pizzeria serves neapolitan style 12-inch pies made with Doppio Zero (00) grade flour.

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1400 S. Congress Ave

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F

opdoddy Burger Bar

This upscale burger joint serves the freshest ingredients.

These delectable burgers are made from house-ground beef and freshly-baked buns. You can finish that off with a stack of hand-cut fries topped with parmesean and green onions.

1203 E. 11th St

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aperboy

Come sit on the cozy pation of Paperboy, a local trailer serving humble breakfast food and coffee. Using fresh produce and dairy from local farms, and bread from local bakeries, Paperboy serves an Austin-influenced English breakfast in downtown Austin.

CREDIT Paperboyaustin.com

Above: Fried Egg Breakfast from Paperboy

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4805 Burnet Rd

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oble Sandwich Co.

This Sandwich Shop isn’t just a reastaurant, it is a culinary experience. Serving every type of pork imaginable, owners John Bates and Brandon martinez work to bring fine dining to Austin.

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6705 W. Hwy 290

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ia 313

Brothers Zane and Brandon Hunt opened up Via 313 with one purpose in mind--introducing Austin pies to the Motor City. Their classic Detroit-style pizzas serve their purpose--you’ll be reeling in delight after trying one of their signature plates, the Cadillac or Carnivore.

6555 Burnet Rd #400

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arley Swine

Barley Swine opened in 2010 and has been serving quality dishes ever since. This restaurant serves classic American cuisine in large portions designed to be shared. Offering multiple feature courses and a large selection of food, Barley Swine is perfect for all Austinites.

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6705 W. Hwy 290

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huy’s

Chuy’s was formed in 1982 and has been serving Tex-mex food with portions “As Big As Yo’ Face” ever since. Owners Mike and John take recipes and ingredients from across Mexico and the United States.

CREDIT San Antonio Express-News

Above: Entrees and beverages from Chuy’s Restaurant

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uack’s

A coffeehouse with a history

By Evan Sayer

T

he soothing clinks of plates and mugs ricochet throughout the cool dining area where the dimly-lit, local works of art hang from wooden walls. The bustling staff create mouthwatering pastries in the back of the shop. Their sounds blend with muffled conversations, creating a comfortable and pleasant environment for people to work, chat or simply enjoy a pastry. This small bakery near the corner of Duval and 43rd street, dubbed Quack’s, has thrived since 1988.

Quack’s was the first espresso coffee house in Austin, originally located on Guadalupe. Previously Quack’s held the name Captain Quackenbush’s Intergalactic Espresso & Dessert Company. A second Bakery opened in Hyde Park in 1988. The original location was later closed due to a rent increase on that stretch of The Drag.

Heather O’Connor, the managing director of Quack’s, says they decided to change the name of the new restaurant to avoid confusion between locations. More recently Quack’s opened The Cakery at Quack’s. It is a 750 square foot workspace dedicated to designing cakes and cookies

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A cappuccino is a great way to warm up your morning.

Photo by Evan Sayer

A snickerdoodle cookie is a delicious chewy delight.

Photo by Evan Sayer

“Lead by example and earn respect in the commu-

nity and from your employees by reaching out and offering transparency and honesty whenever possible. Never make demands and always ask forgiveness. Humility, Honesty, Integrity and Passion are the ingredients for a successful life.�

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Most Popular Items:

Photo by Evan Sayer

Salty Oat Cookie: This great cookie combines the sweet taste of oatmeal and raisons with a hint of salt.

Photo by Evan Sayer

Marvelous Morning Muffin: If you want a healthy, tasty snack in the morning this muffin is a great choice.

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for customers. The laundromat adjacent to Quack’s was also purchased in hopes of future expansion. With 47 employees at hand, O’Connor says their goal is to “provide our customers with a quality baked good that [is] made from scratch and affordable.”

To understand what it’s like to run a small, but successful business in Austin I interviewed three people. I interviewed O’Connor first. O’Connor has been employed by Quack’s 43rd Street Bakery for five years. She began working for Quack’s as the assistant front of house manager and has since become the Managing Director. She discovered her obsession for pastries in college. As she describes it, “In college I realized that I have a passion for great customer service that is unpretentious and from the heart. I didn’t ever want to be a fake customer service person.

Also, I love cookies and cake and coffee and wanted to learn more about them.

Once you find something that you love to

A beautiflu cookies and cream cake.

Photo by Evan Sayer

do, you never actually ‘work’ another day in your life.” She says that you should “Do what you love and love what you do.”

O’Connor gave some advice on business coordination to help me grasp a better perspective on Quack’s as a business establishment: “Lead by example and earn respect in the community and from your employees by reaching out and offering transparency and honesty whenever possible,” says O’Connor. “Never make de-

Quack’s 43rd St. Bakery since he was two years old. “I think I will be going there in mands and always ask the not too distant future,” says Dillon. He forgiveness. Humility, honesty, integrity and says what makes Quack’s stand out from passion are the ingredients for a success- other bakeries is “The taste of the food.

None of it is sugary, and I know a lot of ful life.” bakeries that use tons and tons of sugar.

Because customers are an exAlso Quack’s is in the neighborhood and tremely crucial piece, needed for mannot making fancy cakes in the big city.” aging a business, an interview with one

Dillon loves the location and says was required. So, I found Oscar Dillon, a long-time customer at Quack’s, and a high “It’s convenient and it’s right there. It’s a few blocks away. It’s so easy to go there school student. Dillon has been eating at

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and get something instead of having my parents drive me to some restaurant.”

Quack’s provides a comfortable atmosphere for people to relax or get some work done. To go deeper Dillon says “I’d much rather stay there. It’s really nice, it’s convenient, there’s no [other] good place to sit down in the area; it’s filled with restaurants that wouldn’t be okay with bringing your food into their restaurant. It’s really convenient to just stay there and eat.”

As a business Quack’s is either a high-end, formal place to visit or, an easygoing location for friends and family.

To answer this Dillon says “You’d definitely meet your friends or people you know from school,” he says, “You wouldn’t meet your interviewee or someone who is interviewing you for a job. It’s too casual.” Dillon says, “It’s all fresh, and it’s not a lot of sugar, and it’s a great place to hang out.”

To clench one final perspective on Quack’s, Olivia Font, the office manager and wholesale lead at Quack’s provided some more information. Font has worked at Quack’s since August 2015. “I am surrounded by some of the most liveliest people I have ever met, I love it!” says Font, “I loved the idea of working in a neighborhood like Hyde Park and for a place that held its ground for over 30 years.” She has absorbed a lot from her experiences at Quack’s. She says “I was used to tight structured jobs so to work for a place where you can let loose and still give 100 percent in your work has taught me to enjoy my day job.” Font believes Quack’s has been able to survive for so long due to dedicated customers. She says customers value Quack’s because “We are constantly trying to improve while sticking to what we do best and I truly believe they appreciate that. They know how much we love them.”

Font also divulges that since moving from the drag the clientele has gone from mostly college students to now include more families and people of all ages. She thinks this is because “Quack’s has such an inviting presence that always makes me feel like I am walking into my second home!

You see smiling faces all around especially because there are always people here, always. Never a dull moment in this place.”

For fun I wanted to include each of my interviewees’ favorite items at Quack’s.

O’Connor loves the Triple Chocolate Cake and the Cream Cheese Danish, saying “Both are a regular staple in my life.” Dillon says that “Some people can call me old fashioned, but I just like the plain chocolate chip cookie and some milk.” Font says “My guilty pleasure go to is an Everything Croissant that features a creamy cream cheese filling and an iced vanilla latte. Mmmm.”z

This lovely mural on the side of the Quack’s building is amazing.

Photo by Evan Sayer

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The Quack’s logo.

Photo by Evan Sayer

“Do what you love and love what you do.”

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7

Things That Create Comfortable Atmospheres in Restaurants

Comfortability in restauants is a large part of customer service. If customers do not feel at home, they will not enjoy their experience.

Designed and written by Evan Sayer

Bathrooms Clean bathrooms with quiet “elevator music” can really give customers a higher quality visit. Bathrooms can be unique with pretty faucets or sink bowls. To keep preserve their comfort, the bathrooms should be well maintained and cleaned regularly.

Tables and Seating Chairs should be comfortable and colored like the rest of the restaurant, fitting the mood. They must be at a good height compared to the tables. All tables should be small enough so it is easy for waitors to move about them, but large enough so that many plates can have on them.

Service and Staff

The staff should be kind, friendly and understanding of customers and their complaints. Fast service, and getting food out to customers as quickly as possible must be a high priority. Straight away customers should be given “free” appetizers i.e. breadsticks, chips and salsa, peanuts, etc.

Lighting and Sounds Lighting should be dim but not so dark that you can’t see. Lots of natural light should be available to help customers feel warm and comfortable. Quiet music should be playing that is fitting to the mood of the restaurant to help add background noise.

Air Conditioning Air temperature must be cool but not cold. The average comfortable room temperature is 64 degrees Fahrenheit to 75 degrees Fahrenheit.

Walls and Artwork Walls should be colored to match the mood of the restaurant. Local artwork can be hung from the walls to add interesting features. Many windows can also be present to allow natural light in the area.

Wifi High speed internet makes customers happier, and they will stay longer. Internet must be fast and well maintained.

The Secret to Success

What does it take to run a small business in Austin?

Story by Owen Edgington

Posing for a picture, this Peached Tortilla food truck stands alone in the hot sun, waiting for new customers. Photo credit: Peached Tortilla

A

ustin is the fifth fastest growing city in the United States. In order for small food businesses to succeed in this changing city, they must use their own unique skillset to keep bringing in customers. Three people involved in the Austin food scene share their views on what it takes to be successful as a small food business in this city.

Brandon Watson, a well-known food editor

Austin 26

at The Austin Chronicle, has experience in what it takes to run a successful restaurant. “There’s a lot of passion behind restaurants,” says Watson. “Chefs and owners can be stubborn. If a concept is not working, they need to be open to changing it -- no matter how much work they put into making it the way it currently is.”

After writing articles concerning LGBT justice, Watson became a food editor for

The Austin Chronicle in July of 2014. In his editorial role, Watson assigns articles to freelance writers, edits the final products, and determines the overall direction of the articles. He has reviewed notable restaurants and food events including the famous Dee Dee, a northern Thai food truck, as well as the annual Austin Hot Sauce Festival.

“I eat at restaurants at least twice per

Stiles Switch stands alone to serve quality barbeque to its customers.

review.” Watson notes service, environment, cuisine, and the experience in general for each of the places he inspects. This careful examination of Austin’s budding restaurants has changed the way Watson views his job.

“It has made me think more about the effect of my words. If you are a food critic, you are in the position to cause trouble for waitstaff and chefs. You have to be fair, even if you have a terrible dining experience,” he says.

This is an important lesson for anyone in power to understand, and it’s one that countless restaurants appreciate.

Watson is also an avid supporter of food businesses that have local roots. “Austin is unique in many ways in that the concept of local is so important to us. The folks who are tuned into those Austin values tend to do better than the out-of-towners who think in one-sizefits-all terms.”

This concept has allowed many small

Photo credit: Stiles Switch

Brandon Watson is a food editor for the Austin Chronicle.

Photo credit: Austin Chronicle

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businesses in Austin to survive against larger companies. And smaller companies need all the help they can get against better connected, larger chains. As a result, the fact that more and more people are beginning to appreciate food that has a unique twist or style is immensely beneficial for small companies.

Another person who understands the “secret ingredient” that makes Austin foods so unique is Chris Jackson, a house manager at Stiles Switch BBQ. “Barbeque has a big role in Texas culture,” says Jackson.

“Specifically in central Texas. Everyone who helped start [Stiles Switch] has had a passion for barbeque.” This carries a heavy impact for working as a strong unit to make their food. “Stiles Switch is a twenty-four hour operation,” Jackson explains. The employees start cooking brisket the day before it’s going to be served. Once the evening rush ends, there is work that needs to be done for the next day. This lifestyle isn’t easy, but like everything, there is a silver lining. Stiles Switch went from four employees to twenty

in a relatively short amount of time. With its popularity growing, Stiles Switch has to work much harder to keep up with the higher demand. But at the end of the day Jackson meets these hurdles with an open mind. “The thing that I most enjoy about working at Stiles Switch,” he says, “is serving Texas barbeque to someone that has never had a chance to experience it. The expression on their face followed with a simultaneous head nod really makes me enjoy my job.” This is the reward that Jackson understands makes These integral complications to running a business have also never stopped Eric Silverstein, owner of Peached Tortilla. The Peached Tortilla serves southern comfort food with an Asian influence from the comfort of a food truck. This unique blend of food stems from Silverstein’s background having lived in Tokyo for the first eleven years of his life. Silverstein’s one of a kind food truck has introduced many people to Asian food, through the more familiar southern comfort cuisine that is offered.

“When we opened people just poured in.” Like Stiles Switch’s

A heaping plate of Stiles Switch’s signature barbeque tempts the taste buds.

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Photo credit: Stiles Switch

“Make the right connections, don’t be afraid to accept constructive criticism, and have a passion for whatever you’re doing.”

-Chris Jackson

growth challenges, Silverstein and his employees had to figure out how to handle a high demand for their food.

“I think we’ve helped shape the food scene,” says Silverstein. “When I started in 2010 there were very few food trucks. We paved the way for all the trucks that came after us.”

As Silverstein knows, managing a growing business in Austin isn’t easy. “Running a business is a marathon not a sprint,” says Silverstein. Silverstein and his employees understand that in order to be successful a business has to be in for the long haul. No one can spontaneously make exceptional food. It takes dedication and hard work as well as a genuine passion for food.

Making great food in Austin is no small feat. This city is a mixing bowl of incredibly vibrant cultures, and that’s part of what makes Austin so unique. There are so many small food businesses that exhibit food from the heart.

It’s food that’s alive and distinctive. It takes a special kind of talent to create food like this.

This bowl of Laksa noodles is just waiting to be eaten.

Photo credit: Peached Tortilla

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BY THE NUMBERS

by Owen Edgington

Small Food Businesses in Austin

Annual food truck revenue is

$1.2 million

624,000 restaurants in America

In Austin alone there are over 1,400 food trucks.

1400

Entire worldwide income from restaurants is

3,482.5 billion

59% Austin 30

of restaurants fail in the first year of opening.

Across America and the world in general, there are thousands of restaurants that each serve a unique cusisine. And with those restaurants comes responsibililty whether it be sales, customers, profit, or taste. Here are some of the statistics shaping the food of today.

Restaurant Sales

$782.7

in billions of dollars $239.3 $42.8 1970

$379.0

$586.7

$119.6 1980

1990

2000

2010

2016

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Exploring the Food Rainbow

Maintaining a proper mindset towards nutrition in the active lifestyles of young athletes

By Lucas Abounader

O

NE TENTH OF A SECOND. In the time it takes to blink, seven beats of a hummingbird’s wings, Jamaica’s Merlene Ottey crossed the finish line behind Gail Devers of the United States in the 100-meter final..

While Devers would receive the Olympic gold medal, Ottey finished off the podium, in fifth place.

The historic Olympic race from the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain embodies the extreme competition in competition. This level of close opposition, down to the fingernail (or the hundredth of a fingernail), isn’t new. In Tokyo 1964, after almost 200 kilometers, just sixteen hundredths would have given Sture Pettersson of Sweden the road cycling gold, moving him up from 52nd place.

Being an athlete means dedicating hundreds and thousands of hours each year to conform the body in pursuit of these precious fractions of time, yet many young athletes aspiring to compete on a stage such as Devers’s--where every fraction of a second is held in the highest regard--lack a great baseline of nutrition to effectively develop during the extremities of workouts.

“If [young athletes] try to train like an hour and a half, two hours and not pay attention to their nutrition, towards the end of those workouts they’ll start to falter a little bit while teammates that might be paying attention to their nutrition can stay strong,” says Robert Kunz, cofounder of sports nutrition and supplement company First Endurance, stressing the importance of a topic consistently overlooked or neglected by young athletes.

The path to great nutrition, though, is a line firmly established by commitment and preparation, yet not necessarily a black-and-white division between.

While modern competition has been around for centuries, the idea of nutrition is a sea whose fluidity many times turns off younger, more skeptic athletes who have been well accustomed to highly-processed

foods which go straight from the rack on a grocery store aisle to a microwave and then into the body.

An example of this fluidity is given by Jimmy Bynum, the head USA Swimming coach at Western Hills Athletics Club in Austin, Texas. Bynum, who has been coaching young endurance athletes, such as swimmers and triathletes, for over 30 years, recalls one of his first jobs:

“[I] sold ‘health food ice cream,’” says Bynum. “It came from Europe and it was sold as ‘health food ice cream.’ Guess what the name of the ice cream was: Haagen-Dazs.”

Chances are, the image of Haagen-Dazs doesn’t entice ideas of proper nutrition today, but it is interesting to think that at one point, advertisements like this were featured in dieting plans across the country.

Bynum attemps to avoid indescretions similar to Haagen-Dasz by stressing certain points above others.

As a coach, it is difficult to give specific guidelines on what to eat, because nutrition is a very personal topic. Factors like religion and vegetarianism restrict the range of what an athlete may be able to eat, so he instead points to the intense caloric incineration that occurs during workouts. Swimmers, for example, can burn up to 1,000 calories per hour of workout.

“Sometimes I think the parents don’t appreciate how much that an be, and I also think that, with a good heart a lot of parents feel like they need to maybe restrict the diets,” says Bynum. “The only thing we ask them to consider is to up the volume.”

In fact, deficiencies are one of the biggest predators in the field of athletics, and if an athlete feels as if it is their food choices which are holding them back from performing, it may be the lack thereof which simply isn’t delivering enough of the right nutrients.

Bynum does stress a group of these “right

nutrients”--electrolytes, which he describes as ingredients which end in “ium”--such as potassium, calcium and magnesium. Especially in the heat of the summer in Austin, “make sure you’re taking your ‘iums,’” says Bynum.

While a respectable coach gives some distance between what they expect and what is plausible under certain circumstances, young athletes certainly have the power to ask for suggestions about their dieting needs.

The aforementioned VP of Research and Development at First Endurance stressed the importance of taking charge of a young athlete’s nutrition: “I think as early as 11, 12-years-old, if athletes at that point are training competitively then they should already start taking charge

“

The only thing we ask parents to consider is to up the volume.”

of their nutrition at that point,” says Kunz, who studied both physiology and nutrition in graduate school.

To combat the superfluous ignorance some may have about nutrition, and resolve the issue of every body being different, nutritionists like Kunz bolster extensive research and data collection on every product line. “That allows us to make better products that have clinical backing, clinical studies, and then the products go out in a real setting and athletes can use them and know they are going to get a benefit,” says Kunz.

The benefits he speaks are are the same which many athletes may be looking for--replenishing of key electrolytes and maintaining of glycogen levels in the body. Glycogen storages--chains of glucose which function as energy repositories--are easily depleted after intense excercise. If an athlete is able to know how much energy they need to power through a workout, they will have higher quality practices.

This is where supplementation can assist practice

Cover Photos Left to Right: Row 1; Red Delicious Apple, Mango, Cherry Tomato, Bowl of Strawberries, Apricot Fruit Strip, Fuel or Fire Sweet Potato Apple Protein Pack. Row 2; Orange, Numi Rooibos Organic Tea, Yellow Bell Peper, Bustelo Ground Coffee, Hinz Yellow Mustard, Yogi Tea. Row 3; Bananas, Green Apple Fruit Strip, Lime, Jalapeno Pepper, Leaves of Swiss Chard, Cucumber. Row 4; Sparkling Water, Chocolate Chip Clif Bar, Quic Disk Simply Carbs, Raspberry Fruit Strip, Shallots. Background Images Left to Right: Leaves of Swiss Chard, Cutting Board.

All Photos by Lucas Abounader

quality, but those looking towards artificial intake sources to balance their needs first must have a solid foundation.

“In other words, if they are resting enough, and if they have a very good diet: fruits, vegetables, high nutrients, that’s going to get them most of the way to where they need to be,” says Kunz.

Once a foundation is taken care of, a supplement does just that--supplements. If an athlete has been motoring what they eat and paying attention from a young age, this step becomes much easier, as the athlete will be able to figure out if it is a certain mineral, electrolyte, or energy level which is holding them back.

The last thing to think about on the path of great nutrition is the psychological effects food has on the body.

Because sports have almost as much to do with mentality and mindset as they do with physical form, “feeling good”--though not a physical science--can be almost as important as what a nutritionist may say.

It was the understanding of how certain foods affected him that led Olympic swimmer Ian Crocker to look back on his younger days.

“I kind of feel that as I got older I noticed the way certain foods made me feel,” says Crocker, who won over 20 international medals representing the United States. “Like if I have a really good chicken salad or salad with chicken in it for lunch than I feel like satisfied but I don’t want to take a nap but now if I have pot roast for lunch than I want to take a nap and I didn’t really start to figure that out until I was older.”

From an athlete to an athlete, figure out what

“

That’s one thing I kind of regret--I didn’t quite understand nutrition until I was done competing.”

you like, what makes you feel good when you race, and what gets you through practice when sets or reps get tough. The athlete who best uses nutrition to aid their performance is the one who remembers that the same

4 Great Snack Ideas so Simple they don’t need Recipes: 1. Caprese Salad: This Italian-flag snack is made with stacks of Tomatoes, Basil and Mozzarella. Add Balsamic Vinegar for a tasty twist! 2. Ants-on-a-log: A classy take on Celery, Peanut Butter, and Raisins. For a fruity supplement, use bananas or apples. 3. Quesadillas: Delicious Quesadillas only require minimal stove experience to make, and the ingredient options are seemingly endless. Use pork, chicken, or simply cheese and beans, and don’t forget to pile them high with Salsa, Sour Cream and Guacamole. 4. Cheese, Crackers and Jam: It is inspiring to newcomers on the culinary stage how well high quality crackers, cheese and jam just snap together for the perfect bites.

nutrition choices which are powering their limbs are also powering their mind. z

Image Below: Ian Crocker poses in front of his photo on a banner at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center in Austin, Texas All photos by Lucas Abounader (right and below)

Austin 36

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-IUMS: Electrolytes to help you replenish

Electrolytes are ions which assist in fluid flow between cells. When dissolved into liquid, they obtain electrically conductive properties which speed muscle contraction signals throughout the nervous system.

Potassium

K is for koalas, kangaroos, and potassium. Bananas are the cultural face of this abundant electrolyte, but higher concentrations can be found in white mushrooms, avocados, and white beans. Potassium holds the answer to the fast -firing neurons that athletes strive for.

K

+

Ca

2+

Sodium

Sodium levels have a direct effect on disorientation, cramping and nausea, so deficiencies of this electrolyte are not favorable for those looking to perform on big stages in athletics. Products such as First Endurance’s EFS Drink have high concentrations of sodium. Proper measurement of sodium loss and balanced hydration can yield big rewards in training and competition.

Na Mg

Even though phosphate is not a true “ium,” it still functions as an essential electrolyte in the body.

While deficiencies are rare, one can replenish phosphate levels after excercise by eating foods such as cheese, salmon or Brazil nuts (pictured left).

can be found in milk and fortifies our bones, but it can also be found in seafood, legumes and some fruits. Even though it is so abuundant, calcium is one of the most underconsumed electrolytes-studies have shown that only 16% of females ages 20-29 receive the suggested 1000 milligrams per day.

+

2+

Phosphate

Calcium From a young age, we are taught that calcium

Magnesium Depletion of magnesium levels leads to muscle inflammation and soreness, which may affect an athlete’s next workout. Leafy greens, such as swiss chard (pictured right), are some of the biggest magnesium providers and can help effectively maintain the enzymes needed for muscle protein synthesis.

PO

34 37 Alimentum

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CORN

Corn would not be what it was today without the development of a wild grass teosinte. Interestingly, this grain was developed in the New World, long before European colonization. Also known as maize, corn is increasingly becoming the primary grain in many modern foods because of its profitability.

SORGHUM Althogh introduced to the Americas from Africa in the seventeenth century, grain sorgum was not extensively planted until the 1800s, when the settlement of semiarid regions created a demand for droughtresistant forage crops. In fact, if you aren’t from the West, you probably might not even know about this humble grain.

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By Lucas Abounader

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A short history of the grains you eat (and the ones you don’t).

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Story by: Charli Zern

Austin 40

GING

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AP How Street Youth Ministry is helping Austin move on from the steryotypes surrounding the homeless youth 41 Alimentum

K

nives frantically bang against the cutting boards,

pot lids clang over boiling broths and the heat of the stove is filling the kitchen as a team of volunteers make a fresh vegetable stew in the close quarters of the kitchen. No, this is not the bustling back kitchen of a popular Austin restaurant-- this is the small kitchenette in the church basement, home to Street Youth Ministry

After working for a year in a small community kitchen, which Cole says operated impersonally, with volunteers just passing plates through a window to those in need, Cole struck out on his own, and in 2008 started the Christian outreach program, Street Youth Ministry (SYM). The ministry focuses its efforts on youth, as they are the most likely to get off the streets.

The clients, as he calls him, that Cole works with often had to leave their families, feeling estranged from their homes and society at large.

“They really just want to be seen and heard and not feel invisible,” Cole says. “They just want to feel wanted somewhere...

I just wish people would stop and see them as human beings. I

think if you have a faith, as I do, you see them through the Maker’s eyes instead of society’s eyes.”

According to Cole, working with the homeless requires a lot of trust between both parties. When first starting out, Cole delivered sandwiches and water down Guadalupe, the drag and San Antonio circle every Friday for a year before he felt there he had built up that trust. He began to run into people on the way who would introduce him to new clients, and the ministry grew.

While the ministry started with just Cole, making sandwiches in his kitchen and handing them out on the street, he eventually started taking on volunteers to help cook and deliver various food items. As SYM has grown, Cole has taken on extra help, and today the group has 800 volunteers yearly. High school student Jared Dale works as an intern, often leading events on such as Food Recovery on his own.

“The street youth are some of the most caring and awesome people I have met,” Dale says. “I would strongly suggest to throw out all of the stereotypes one might have for homeless youth.”

“You see them through the Maker’s eyes instead of society’s eyes”

Photograph by: Charli Zern

Last year at the Cookin’ It Up event, volunteers and homeless cooked together to make chicken fajitas.

When Cole isn’t around, Dale runs the weekly Food Recovery event. Food Recovery is a program within SYM that takes ugly and molding vegetables,which are still safe and edible but are often thrown out, from grocery compost programs, to the SYM church basement, where volunteers prepare dishes to be eaten during bible study meetings. For years before this, at each of these meetings, and throughout all of the ministry, only simple meals were offered. A sandwich, bag of chips, a sweet and water, until one of the clients asked for something more nutritional.

Cole started by buying organic foods for once a week until he got a hold of a grocery that could donate. Now, with two meals a week being unprocessed, Cole is helping to fill in the gaps in many of his clients’ diets. Without much fresh fruit and vegetables, Cole hopes to set better standards for those who he works with.

Better diets aren’t the only thing facilitated by SYM. An important aspect of the ministry is the connection between the volunteers and the clients. To bridge this gap, SYM puts Cole’s favorite event, “Cookin’ It Up.” Volunteers and the homeless cook a meal together, starting with ingredients from food storage, and anything bought to compliment it. Last year, the meal was chick-

en fajitas and peach cobbler. He loves the event because, at the beginning, most participants aren’t confident in the possibility of a good final product, or even of an edible one, but year after year it ends with a meal eaten side by side.

“The reason it’s my favorite is when we bring in the box it just doesn’t look like much,” Cole says. “But pretty soon, a meal is starting to come together, and by the time it’s over with, somebody almost always says, ‘wow, I can’t believe that we really did this, and it looks this good,’ so whatever it is, that’s really my favorite, and it often means somebody’s eating something new to them, somebody’s having a new experience.”

Cole says he’s constantly inspired by the strength and resilience of his clients. Even today, he still hears from clients he helped long ago.

“In terms of day to day interacting with clients, I think [the most rewarding part is] seeing them do something they didn’t think they could do; whether that’s controlling anger, staying sober, not stealing, or going to college or graduating or getting a job or holding a job, I mean, it’s seeing the, achieving things by themselves,” he says. z

After every Food Recovery shift, volunteers are asked three questions Jared Dale has answered these below with his own impressions of Street Youth Ministry after his first shift _________________________________________________ What did you like?

I liked seeing how SYM provided for the needs of the street youth

without just giving the street youth everything they wanted.

What surprised you?

I was surprised how I felt so alone in a room full of people. Being my

first SYM event I had no idea what I was doing.

What was hard for you or that you didn’t like?

It was hard for me to see how very different living standards can be

seen within a mile or two away from where I live.

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Photo By: Herryway