Taste of ATX

t a s t e of [ AT X ] austin | texas

ezinefall 2020

"You don't needa silver fork toeat goodfood."

- paul prudomme

t abl e of cont ent s

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meet theeditors! abrief introduction totheteambehindthethemagazine

aguidetodimsum asianaustin byashleyfeng

foodtrucksof austin thefoodserviceof thefuture byjoerobison

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8mexicandishesjust for you Fanfavorites bysophialimotte

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best takeout rameninaustin newtakeout star bycoleross

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pandemicplaces stayingstrongduringthepandemic:the concealedstrugglesof therestaurants byjustinkwon

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meet t he edit or s we hope you enjoy our magazine!

ashl ey f eng Ashley Feng is a f reshman at LASA. She has lived in Austin for almost her entire life. She likes drawing, cello, and her cat Amber. While she grew up as a very picky eater, she has slightly gotten better at trying new foods. Her favorite things to eat in Austin are dim sum., noodles, and barbecue.

j ust in kwon Justin Kwon is a f reshmen at LASA High School. He moved to Austin f rom California in 2nd grade. He enjoys playing music, reading, and building custom keyboards in his f ree time.

Justin doesn't have a food that he particularly likes over other foods, but will def initely eat anything spicy f irst.

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j oe r obison Joseph Robison is a 15-year-old f reshman at LASA. He has lived in Austin, Texas his whole life. He likes to travel and see the culture f rom around the world. His favorite restaurant is Uchi and he love movies and TV.

sophia l imot t e Sophia Limotte is a a f reshman at LASA. She likes to bake, play tennis, and spend time with f riends.

She moved to Austin a year ago and used to live in N ew York. Her favorite thing to do in both Austin and N ew York is horseback riding.

col er oss Cole Ross is a f reshman at Liberal Arts and Science Academy in Austin, Texas. He likes playing video games with f riends, biking/ hiking, and computer/ technology. He was born and raised in Austin. He has two sisters and one brother and a very large extended family. His favorite foods are ramen and breakfast food.

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A guide t o dim sum Asimple introduction to the world of dimsum by a shl ey f en g If you haven't been to a dim sum restaurant before, you're missing out! This branch of Chinese cuisine popularized in the Guangdong Province of China features many small dishes and is eaten as a breakfast, brunch, or lunch. It's impossible to not like dim sum, because of the variety there's something for everyone!

x iao l ong bao Xiao long bao, also known as a steamed soup dumpling in English, is a delicious bao with pork and soup inside. It is one of the most popular dim sum dishes. They come in a bamboo steamer, and are very hot and steamy. Make sure to slurp the soup out before biting in!

cha siu bao Cha siu bao, or BBQ pork buns, are another staple of dim sum. It consists of a f luf f y bao outside, with a barbecue pork f illing.

The inside of these buns is sweet and sticky, and the outside is plump and sof t.

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x ia j iao

Xia jiao, which is also known as har gow in Cantonese, is a shrimp f illed dumpling wrapped in rice f lour.. The outside is slightly sticky and are usually served in a bamboo steamer, similar to xiao long bao. It is also common to eat these shrimp dumplings with spicy chili sauce.

ZhiMa Qiu Z hima qiu, or sesame ball, is a rice f lour ball covered in sesame seeds and f illed with red bean paste. The texture is both crunchy, sticky, and sweet, and it is one of the most popular dim sum dessert dishes..

They are typically f ried like a f ried doughnut.

dan t a Egg tarts have a crispy pastry dough outside with an egg custard inside. They are baked in the oven on mini pie tins creating tiny pie shaped pastries. Egg tarts are a part of both Hong Kong and Portuguese cuisine, and are almost always found at dim sum restaurants as a dessert dish.

Information provided by The Food Ranger, Dim Sum Central, and The Spruce Eats..

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asian aust in The impacts of Asian cuisine in Austin and beyond

by ashley feng One ten-minute drive in Austin can take Austinites to a whole new world of cuisines such as M exican tacos, barbecue brisket, sashimi sushi, and food trucks, which all contribute to the culture and identity of the city. The modern world is becoming more and more diverse, and as a result, the average American can taste a new culture without even leaving their country.

Within the last decade, many Asian restaurants have been opened across Austin. These restaurants and their founders aim to provide the authentic Asian taste along with delicious cooking from Asia to the Western world.

H owever, it can be tricky to create ways to distinguish their restaurants and dishes from the rest. N ot only that, the idea of authenticity is important to many customers

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Sage Lee is a Korean American who graduated LASA and is currently attending Cornell University. Her family owns a local Japanese cuisine restaurant in Austin called Tsukimi. Photo Courtesy of Sage Lee.

who connect to the culture, but it can be a very vague concept to define and work around.

Sage Lee is a Korean American whose family owns a local Austin restaurant

called Tsukimi. Founded in 2018, Tsukimi features Japanese cuisine, specifically sushi, teriyaki, rice bowls, and other assorted rolls. Lee said that while not much has changed since their original

founding, they have been able to further develop their menu into what it is today. ?The restaurant has found its own pace and ironed out a lot of the details that were up in the air at time of founding, such as its menu and certain policies,? Lee said. ?One really recent, big change was the introduction of the All You Can Eat (AYCE) sushi option, which we began in February of this year.?

By providing a sushi AYCE along with a traditional menu,

Tsukimi was able to expand the business and customers can enjoy the variety of sushi dishes for just one price.

With the diversity of Austin, it isn?t surprising to see so many new Asian restaurants start to form around the city. Lee said that Tsukimi had previously faced challenges in its attempt to solidify itself as a quality restaurant that stands out from other Japanese cuisine restaurants in Austin. ?Building a name for ourselves was a big struggle,

especially since Japanese cuisine is sort of a saturated genre of restaurants in Austin,? Lee said. ?We were always looking for something to make us stand out from the rest. Introducing AYCE was only one of the tactics we tried to find our niche, and I think it really worked out for us in the end.?

One of the main struggles of restaurants serving diverse cuisine is the topic of authenticity. To suit the taste buds of Americans, many

A display of various types of sushi served at Tsukimi, a local Austin restaurant owned by Sage Lee?s family. Photo courtesy of Tsukimi Austin/ Vicky N .

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The interior of China Family, a local Austin restaurant which caters to tastebuds of both Americans and Chinese Americans through their two separate menus. Photo courtesy of Johnson Wu.

Chinese restaurants serve ?Americanized Chinese food?, such as the style of Panda Express. Shu Li was born and raised in Shenyang, China, and has been living in the United States for fourteen years. She said that American Chinese food is cooked like fast food, and doesn?t have as much flavor as the authentic Chinese dishes do. ?American Chinese food, right now they make it more like fast food,? Li said. They put in a lot of soy sauce, and it?s not really spicy compared to real spicy Chinese food.

American Chinese restaurants have limited choices on the menu. Actually in China, we have a large variety of

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different food. We sometimes have ten page menus of different dishes.?

Li further explains that while soy sauce is a great addition to a dish, too much of it can drown out other flavors. A balance between different kinds of spicy and savory flavors in both meat and vegetable is what makes Chinese cuisine unique from the rest. Lee provides insight on the idea of authenticity, saying that this new style of American Asian food can be thought of as a different branch of its original Asian cuisine counterpart. ?American Chinese take-out food: by this point, it's

basically a staple in American cuisine,? Lee said. I wouldn't say it's 100% authentic to Chinese cooking, but even that is something I can't say with confidence. I don't know much about authentic Chinese cooking, and the term ?Chinese cuisine?envelops a plethora of regions and methods of cooking. So maybe it's not authentic to China, but I might dare to say that it's becoming authentic to the Asian-American identity.?

Like Li, Lee also agrees that she prefers authentic Asian cuisine as opposed to American Asian cuisine. Both mention that culture is a big part of their identity, and food makes them feel more

connected to their background. ?I grew up eating Korean food probably more than eighty percent of the time, so I associate Korean food with a feeling of home,? Lee said. ?I live in my own apartment here on campus without a meal plan, so I'm in charge of making all my own meals. I've been using this opportunity to experiment with more Korean cooking, teaching myself recipes, trying to recreate what my mother used to make for me when I was at home. I get homesick often, especially when I'm stressed out or sick (and especially during this virus), so it's my way of overcoming that pain of separation.?

authentic, spicy and tasty. The restaurant is located in N orth Austin and they don?t provide delivery options. There aren?t really any authentic Chinese restaurants that I?ve seen in South Austin, so usually when I eat out with my family I try new cuisines and culture.s?

While it?s hard to determine the qualifications for food to be considered authentic, and there isn?t a specific person who can accurately judge authenticity, the most important part about food is how it brings people together.

The United States as a whole

has gone from the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, to Chinese takeout being a popular meal option for many Americans. Food can keep people connected to a culture and connect others to new cultures and backgrounds they otherwise would never have known about. The complex web of unique identities and backgrounds in Austin can see themselves being represented through the diverse range of local restaurants that flourish in this city.

While Li is also the most familiar with the taste of Chinese food over any other type of cuisine, she mentions how authentic Chinese restaurants are hard to come by in South Austin. N orth Austin features Chinatown Square along with many authentic restaurants. ?One of the most authentic Chinese restaurants in Austin in my opinion is China Family,? Li said. ?They have two menus, one with Americanized Chinese food and one with authentic Chinese food, so I usually order from the latter menu and the dishes are very

The orange chicken dish f rom China Family, one of the restaurant's most popular dishes. It features chicken with an orange sauce made of a variety of ingredients such as orange zest and soy sauce. Photo courtesy of China Family.

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Food Tr ucks of Aust in Aquick look at food trucks in Austin, Texas. And where the best food trucks in town are.

The Picnic This food truck park is located at 1720 Barton Springs Rd, Austin, 78704. This park includes 9 food trucks ranging from burgers to seafood.

The Peached Tortilla The Peached Tortilla is located at 5520 Burnet Rd, Suite 100 Austin, TX 78756. The Peached Tortilla is a very popular food truck in Austin. They also have a restaraunt and a bar.

East Side Food Park East Side Food Park is located at 2207 E Cesar Chavez St, Austin, TX 78702. This food park serves a wide variety of foods such as Italian, Filipino, and M exican.

Rainey Street Food Truck Lot The Rainey Street Food Truck Lot is home to a large amount of food trucks. It is located at 82 Rainey St, Austin, TX 78701.

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Side view of the Austin City Skyline Courtesy of Manuel Velasquez

Barton Creek

East Side

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Food Ser v iceof t heFut ur e One of the fastest growing food services in the world ByJosephRobison

People sit around a table passing food around getting ready to eat.

Courtesy of the Peached Tortilla.

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Food trucks don?t just serve food, they provide an experience. They are one of the fastest growing sections of the food service industry. Some trucks serve more than 90 customers a day. There are food trucks all around the world. Some people travel hundreds of miles to eat at some of America?s nicest hotspots. It?s safe to say that food trucks aren?t just a fad, they?re the future!

Food truck owners have to be hard at work to keep their trucks open seven days a week.

There are many parks all around Austin and the US serving food. M any truck owners start out as food trucks as a way to build up to having a restaurant. There have been trucks in A ustin for over 10 years now, and more pop up every day. They might be one of the most popular food 17 services in the future!

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COVID- 19 COVID-19 has affected small businesses heavily, meaning that food trucks have to change the way they serve. ?As a small business, COVID has definitely hit us. We continue to strive for great quality cupcakes and a fun experience when our customers

visit our food truck. We were one of the first food trucks in Austin more than ten years ago?. said M att Garcia from H ey Cupcake!.

The Peached Tortilla had to close down their bar location and only serve take out, eventually opening their location back up with a limited capacity. When asked

about the effects of COVID on Silverstein's business, he said, ?It really just depends, but the biggest impact is a loss in sales because of the reduction in capacity. It's been difficult to bring people back to work after such a long hiatus.

Obviously the biggest thing for us is our catering and events division which has been decimated by covid.? said Silverstein.

Along with the end of COVID will come a new age of food trucks!

Friends and family gather in f ront of the Peached Tortilla eating, or waiting for their food. Courtest of the Peached Tortilla.

The PEACHEDTortilla The Peached Tortilla is a very popular food truck located at 5520 Burnet Road Austin, Texas. It started in 2010, and now operates at multiple locations. They are a catering company, a brick and mortar

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restaurant, and have multiple food trucks. A brick and mortar restaurant serves food, traditionally, face to face, as opposed to online or over phone. Their menu consists of various food

types, such as Asian food and barbeque. Eric Silverstein, the owner of the Peached Tortilla, grew up in Japan eating lots of

food which ultimately inspired him to own a restaurant. ?Growing up in Japan.

Growing up with my mom who?s chinese. Those are the two biggest influences,?

Silverstein said when asked where his cooking had been shaped the most.? ?I wanted a change in career, and really wanted to be an entrepreneur,? Silverstein said. ?I was going to try and open a restaurant but at the time we had a big recession in 2007-2008 and so then I pivoted to a food truck.?

Silverstein had been a practicing lawyer for 3 years when he wanted a career change. H is father was previously in the food industry and he was inspired to start a restaurant.

Silverstein?s career change ultimately resulted in a successful restaurant and catering company.

as a way to serve food, but a way to gradually build up to owning a restaurant. In Silverstein?s case, he made Peached Tortilla from a food truck into a restaurant, food truck, catering company, and a bar. ?Pre-Covid I would run from unit to unit. I work from out of my office at the Social H ouse, but then I?d go on catering events and help out if needed.

I work shifts at restaurants.

M onday?s there are always manager meetings, but then Tuesday through Saturday I kinda bounce around going to airports once every three

week. N ow I'm focused on the businesses that are still working. I have some new projects in the fire. Usually I spend two nights a week at some of my businesses whether it is restaurants or catering events or whatever.

During the day I work out of my office visiting with managers, that kind of thing. ?N ow Silverstein is very involved with all Peached Tortilla locations, and works very hard to keep everything running smoothly. H e works hard to keep serving the food we all love!

?When We started the food truck we kind of morphed into this event and catering business. When we opened the restaurant, the restaurant served kind of like an elevated food, from the food truck. We didn't go into the restaurant as a fast casual restaurant, we went into the restaurant as a full service restaurant.?

Silverstein said.

A bowl of untouched food sits in the middle of a set table.

Photo Courtesy of the Peached Tortilla.

Food trucks don?t only serve

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8 Tr ad it ional Mexicandishesjust for you

By Soph ia Limot t e

W

hether you are celebrating Cinco De Mayo or just

having dinner with family, here are eight authentic Mexican dishes that create a party in your mouth.

EmpAnad as These crunchy empanadas, featuring shells made with masa, lard, and salt, are filled with tender shredded beef tossed in a spicy salsa.

Tor t a A Mexican sandwich typically served hot? grilled or pressed.

With some combination of meat and veggies on a bolillo or telera (two of Mexico's most iconic breads).

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CHILAQUILES Avocado is an unlikely but delicious pairing for smoked whitefish, and this guacamole is a smokier, creamier spin on classic whitefish salad.

sh W h i t ef i e ol Gu a c Am

kely b u t li n u n a is Avo cad o sm o ked r o f g in p air d eli cio u s acam o le u g is h t , an d in w h it ef ish am ier sp e r c , r ie k is a sm o salad . h is f e it h w o n classic

POZOLE

Photo courtesy of Shutterstock

The foundation of this soup is maize, which is simmered with red chiles, aromatic spices, tomatoes and pork shoulder. The Aztecs believed maize was a sacred plant.

Fav a bean s oup The secret to this soup is a flavorful aromatic base of tomatoes, garlic, and onions? called a recado? that is pureed and fried before the beans go into the pot.

SHRIMP TACOS

Cemit a pobl ana

Every element of this taco is amped up, from the red rice simmered in a blend of chicken stock and purĂŠed tomatoes to the quick-marinated shrimp.

Mexico's overstuffed cemita poblana brims with queso blanco, chipotle, pepper, avocado, papalo and crisp milanesa (a fried cutlet).

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Fan Favor it es Everything you need to know to have an amazing experience BySophiaLimotte You take a deep breath, and a fantastic taste and flavor hit you. An explosion of flavors in your mouth. A smell that makes your mouth water. You savor each piece that you eat.

In Texas, M exican food is a variety of different things.

Enchiladas. N achos. Tacos. The range and variety are impressive. There are many M exican restaurants in Texas, so to help you narrow it down, we have compiled a list of M exican restaurants worth making the trip for.

Austin's best M exican restaurants "The best M exican restaurant is Gueros," Claire Robichaux says "it has an old school, funky

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Austin feel to it, the food is delicious, they have vegan & gluten-free menus, and it's on a fun section of South Congress (yet somehow they're rarely on a wait). They have a fascinating history and are 30 years old! The walls are covered in really amusing pictures & decor (kind of like M aria's Taco Xpress).

"El Alma on Barton Springs Rd. is by far the absolute best CenM ex in town, the dishes are authentic, the ambiance is cozy, and the margaritas come with serrano peppers in them", Gassle says. "The rooftop dining area is lit. There's a view of downtown, and the string lights up there make it very special. Also, the flavors aren't watered down like they are with many of the TexM ex trying to be CenM ex

restaurants in town."

"Comedor is the M exican restaurant to be at; it is delicious and has adventurous flavors," says Karina Crain.

"They have a modern take on M exican food, reminiscent of something you'd find in M exico City. Comedor has extremely talented chefs that take the best of M exico to an elegant new level."

"Vivo has the best Tex M ex, and this Austin staple has relocated at the Linc, where you'll find more of the same good food and plenty of flowers; every lady who enters gets a rose," Sharon Rouse says. Tex M ex restaurant Curra is one of the hottest places to be. "Some things never go out of style, and this South Austin

Lupe Tortilla Mexican Restaurant - photo courtesy of Lupe Tortilla.

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spot is always buzzing with neighbors, out-of-towners, and pretty much everyone in between," Alex Kromsov says.

About the founder "El Alma is owned by the same group that owns El Chilito.

And I mean, those tacos are money, so I'm not surprised," Gassle says.

"The owner at Comedor donates to causes that help with addiction. The chef grew up in El Paso but had a M exican background and excellent training in Telum & Copenhagen. H e recently opened Dai Due Taqueria," Crain says.

"The owners of Gueros are Cathy & Rob Lippincott. In 1993, they bought the Central Feed & Seed Store on South Congress when it closed to expand their taqueria from their modest location on East Oltorf. It's now run by their daughters, Lyle & Bette Lippincott," Robichaux says.

The must-order "If you go to Gueros, you must

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Shrimp Tacos - photo courtesy of Christy Denney.

order the cashew queso and enchiladas de verduras, which create a party in your mouth," Robichaux says. "M y favorite dish at the restaurant and the one they are famous for is the same. Bone marrow tacos are the unique and delicious food at Comedor," Crain says.

"The must order at Vivo is the shrimp tacos with M onterey Jack, shredded cabbage, and chipotle cream on corn tortillas," Rouse says, "But the dish they are famous for is the pollos de gueros."

Rated services "If I had to rate Comedor's

service out of 10, I would give it a solid 9," Crain says, "the waiters are quick and speedy."While these services are not as good as Comedor, they are better than El Alma. "I would rate it an 8; the waiter's take a while to come to get your order," Robichaux says.

Unfortunately, not every restaurant. While El Alma is excellent in many categories, it falls short in this category. Gassle says, "The service is the most lacking aspect. Once you're in, you're good to go, but the wait can be nuts. So if a ten on the service scale is like Commander's Palace in N ew Orleans, and

a 0 is like that place Chuy's, then El Alma gets a 6."

Rated ambiance "Gueros is a funky place, but as long as you love that, you would probably rate it a 10 out of 10," Robichaux says.

great food, and practically had the place to ourselves," Robichaux says.

Crockpot Mexican Chicken Soup photo courtesy of N atasha Bull.

"The ambiance at El Alma is rad. As long as you can get a seat up top (and it's not 110 degrees outside), I'll give it an 8," Gassle says.

"The ambiance at Comedor is amazing, a 10 out of 10 definitely, it is modern yet cozy too", Crain says.

Favorite experiences "M y favorite experience," Gassle says, "was after a running race downtown. We had a large gang with us and thus had to wait a long time to get a table. Enough serrano margaritas went around that they started giving them to us for free while we took over the bar waiting for a table. When we finally got seated, we ate everything on the menu, including insanely tasty tres leches for dessert."

"M y favorite experience at Gueros was after Thanksgiving when all of my family was in town. We sat in the back inside at a huge table, ate

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best t akeout r amen My Top Four Favorite Takeout Ramen Places During Quarantine ByColumbusRoss

1. Har u Ramen Haru Ramen is the best take-out ramen in Austin mainly because how f resh the ingredients are, how salty the broth was and how simple preparing it was.

2. Ramen Tat suya Very rich creamy broth, not quite enough meat for my taste, the noodles were good though.

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3. KomE/ Dar uma Excellent tasting broth, pretty f resh ingredients, the noodles are the only reaso that put it here on this list, although I orders the precooked noodles instead of the self cook noodles which I have heard is a lot better.

4. Michi Ramen Broth and noodles where both pretty good, my only quibble was with the pork belly, which was too fatty for me.

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New Takeout St ar Restaurants innovate ramen delivery Ramen is the pizza of Gen-Z. It is the comfort food of Friday nights with friends. But there is a problem with it. M ost ramen places won?t do take-out because the hot bowls of soup are tricky foods to keep tasting good.

Photos Columbus Ross

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Ramen broth spills. The noodles become mushy quickly. You can drop ramen that has been sitting for half an hour and there will be no noodles on the floor, only broth. The noodles will have dissolved.

ByColumbusRoss But COVID has changed take-out ramen status.

One of the few silver linings of the pandemic is restaurant innovation. They need to be more nimble and change their ways of operating to survive.

M ost Japanese restaurants are offering take-out ramen.

Ramen has entered the mobile app age.

Restaurants have developed some tricks to make the ramen taste better on the go. M ost of the places that do take-out ramen deliver the noodles in a separate container from the broth so they will not overcook. According to N ikkeiAsia magazine, in Osaka, Japan, Kura Sushi, a revolving sushi chain operator, invented a gelatinous broth for ramen that turns into a liquid when warmed up. The more solid broth doesn?t spill as easily in transit.

Elizabeth H yman, Director of Operation at KomĂŠ Sushi Kitchen gives some insight into the history of ramen. ?Ramen was made to eat quickly,? H yman said. ?H istorically it was the ?working man's?meal.

Construction workers and laborers would eat ramen for lunch on their break.

They didn't have a lot of time so they ate it very quickly, drinking the broth at the end, in order to keep them full and ??energized? for the rest of their day.?

Assistant Professor of H istory at N ew York University George Solt published his dissertation, The Untold H istory of Ramen: H ow Political

Crisis in Japan Spawned a Global Food Craze on the lowly noodle. It documents how the Japanese borrowed ramen from Chinese tradesmen who came to the island in the nineteenth century as well as the 1972 hostage standoff in Japan. Almost ninety percent of the population in Japan watched the drama unfold on television and noticed policemen eating new instant cupped ramen in freezing temperatures as they waited out the situation. Traditional Bento boxes would?ve frozen. But cupped ramen, well, it worked, and it remains a comfort food in times of disaster in Japan. N ow, the US is taking solace in the broth.

To ensure the best tasting bowl of soup, KomĂŠ, a Japanese restaurant in Austin, includes written directions on how to prepare ramen in its take-out bag. The restaurant suggests you order the ?cookit-yourself,? option where you reheat the broth (don?t let it boil), boil the noodles in a pot of water for 90 seconds (give them an occasional stir so they don?t clump), drain the noodles and put them in a bowl. Pour the broth over the noodles. Then put your

toppings on. Eat immediately. Slurp loudly. ?When the dining room was open, people would spend so much time taking pictures of their ramen, the noodles would get soggy and overdone,? H yman said.

One of the best takeout ramen at Kome

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Since ramen is a comfort food for many people, sales of it and other Japanese fare have been brisk. Komé has been so busy that on Friday and Saturday nights they have to turn off online ordering for 15 minutes at a time. ?You don?t think of it as an issue until you get 60 orders in 15 minutes and you realize that there is no limit to the number of orders that can come in.

When you?re operating a full-service dine-in restaurant the orders are ... limited to the tables in the restaurant,? H yman said.

All of this isn?t to say that restaurants have not struggled. Fifty-six percent of restaurants in the US have at least $50,000 in new debt due to COVID, according to the Independent Restaurant Coalition, a non-profit group of chefs and restaurant owners. M ore than 100,000 restaurants have closed nationally in the last six months, according to the N ational Restaurant Association.

About 38 Austin restaurants have shut down, according to Eater Austin. Both ramen restaurants, Daruma and N i-Komé, which are in Austin permanently closed their doors this summer.

Daruma and N i-Komé

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were part of the same restaurant group as Komé.

Cole Towns, general service manager of M ichi Ramen, said they have had to be flexible and creative with their dishes. ?So the pork market crashed, it crumbled, because of COVID.

rough, so what I had to do was go through multiple, multiple sources to try to find the products that we needed so we could continue selling,? Towns said. When Towns couldn?t find an ingredient he shifted the menu.

Takeout ramen f rom Komé. N oodles in a bag for cooking separate.

The manufacturing plants could not produce, and so it was very hard to get product,? Towns said.

The meat wasn?t the only ingredient affected. N oodle plants shut down. Eggs became scarce. ?It was

M ichi ramen never closed during the lockdown. They went from in-person sales on Friday, M arch 13 to take out only on Saturday, M arch 14. Sales have continued steadily.

Ramen makes up ninety percent of M ichi?s orders. ?Certain fried items, they just don?t travel well, so it would be a disservice to the customer to sell them a fried item that would be mushy by the time they were able to eat it, so we canceled all of our fried appetizers,? Towns said.

Interestingly, the average online take-out check is twenty-three percent larger than in-store checks, according to Toast, a publication for restaurant people. And thirty-three percent of consumers say they are getting more takeout than before the pandemic, according to Restaurant Business, an

online food magazine.

Take-out is big business and has helped keep restaurants afloat. Unfortunately, it can be hard for restaurants to work with the several take-out apps out there. ?Using third-party providers has not worked well ? we still do it, but it is about 80% less reliable and 90% more frustrating dealing with drivers who do not read the simple rules we provide,? H yman said.

Like so many other things in life that have shifted due to COVID, it looks like take-out ramen is here to stay. Restaurants have found take out containers that hold broth well and are recyclable. They?ve

developed procedures to create enjoyable delivered ramen. For restaurants that didn?t do take-out ramen before COVID, this could be an additional revenue stream once quarantine is over and they are allowed to open in-person dining again. COVID has decimated the restaurant industry. M any restaurants have closed during quaratine and won?t re-open when quarantine is over. Others will be on shaky ground. But the pandemic has spurred many innovations, including refining ramen delivery, so perhaps take-out ramen is here to stay.

Animation EJ Hassenf ratz

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Pandemic Pl aces Is that one restaurant you like still around? How did they get affected by the pandemic?

ByJustin Kwon

THESEARETYPESOFRESTAURANTSTHAT YOUWILL SEEINTHEPANDEMIC!

1- Thecor por at egiant Unless something terrible has happened to the giant corporate entities, for good or bad, these will be around. pretty much forever. They will always find out some way to continue and strike deals for funding.

2 - t heol d family r un These are restaurants you see around when looking for a nice little place to eat.

They won't be usually affected by the pandemic, because of their built up customer base, but even these have been affected.. An example is iconic 40 year old vegetarian restaurant, Mother's Cafe.

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3 - Thenew r est aur ant There is a lot of luck that comes when you are looking at these restaurants. If they are able to find a large audience that is interested in their food and have a place to advertise, they will be hopefully be able to succeed.

4 - Thein bet ween A restaurant that's been around for some time. That new place you saw open a few years ago. These will probably be good. A few years will give business's good time to prepare and build up their customer base.

However, if they are caught unprepared, the pandemic would be a deadly event.

5 - t HATONEFAMOUSONE That one restaurant everyone comes to your neighborhood for? You[ll see them stick around for sure, unless their is some crazy accident. Go ahead and grab a bite there to support it! There will most definitely be other people there also!

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St ay ing st r ong The concealed struggle during dur ing t he ofCOVreIDs-taurants 19 pandemic ByJustinKwon

The tables lay empty? H and sanitizer sits on every countertop. Dark windows, barren parking lots, this is the reality that some restaurants are facing after the pandemic.

Places that have been around since you were born are gone.

Blank signs and dusty rooms replace the restaurant's cheerful presence. This is the reality of the pandemic.

Counting from the start of the pandemic in M arch 2020, over 100,000 restaurants have closed, amounting to a total of almost 1 in 6. From being completely shut down, to having to move to completely online orders, to having shortages in almost everything, restaurants have been beaten relentlessly until they are forced to shut down. Since people have been worried about health issues in these restaurants, they have been receiving less customers even after the government has allowed for them to reopen.

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Terry Black?s Barbeque was started back in 2009 when Michael Black and his brother took their family barbeque and started a restaurant. Photo courtesy of Michael Black

Every restaurant has gone through it?s own unique struggles and a journey to survive in the harsh destruction left behind by the pandemic.

Since 2014, M ike Black and his family have run their famous barbeque joint, Terry Black?s

Barbeque. Older, more well-known restaurants like this are usually more prepared for things like the after effects from a pandemic, but almost everyone was caught unprepared.

supermarkets were struggling.

So, for the first few months, ?It was a lot of our suppliers, a Black said that he lost ?100k lot of packaging plants and one month, 200k the next Black said in the beginning that the manufacturers, they were month. We did have a fund set a lot of the challenges his shutting down,? Black said. aside for emergencies so we restaurant faced were ?kind of ?So when we were able to stay were able to kind of lever that knowing what was going on. open and eventually go to 25 but that was a big issue.?

There was so much uncertainty and 50 percent, which we did, going around, what was the food cost was extremely For other restaurants that were acceptable, and what wasn?t high.? caught less prepared, such as acceptable, before they came the Jan Chi Korean Restaurant, out with any real guidelines or The result of this was the price which started late 2019, the 6 feet.? of beef and other meats they pandemic was even worse of a use tripling. To run a business, blow.

Another big issue that the food they cannot just triple all of industry as a whole had was the prices on their menu out of ?The people with cases rose that it was facing its own nowhere and expect their very high, and the people were hidden, internal, issues. N ot customers to keep purchasing afraid to come out to eat and be just the restaurants and and returning. in a confined place like a restaurant,? Jihyun Woo, the owner of Jan Chi said.

Woo said that when the pandemic hit, her restaurant was really starting to reach peak performance, with lots of regular customers and newcomers. Even though newcomers were a little bit more hesitant to come.

Brisket such as this was created with beef that was easier to get and cheaper before the pandemic. Af ter the pandemic, their initial stock went to waste, then suppliers began to dwindle and have higher prices. Image courtesty of Michael Black

?A lot of the customers that were there at the opening still come around during the pandemic,? Woo said. ?If they came before the

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Woo started this restaurant late last year and tries to give people their own unique take on traditional Korean cuisine. Image courtesy of Jihyun Yoo

pandemic, they felt more comfortable coming.?

For smaller and newer restaurants such as Jan Chi, the tiny leads and growth they had been able to experience crumbled when the pandemic hit. After gathering momentum, a couple months of complete shutdown made any type of progress screech to a halt. If they were still standing after the start of the restaurant reopenings, an online system was essential if they wanted to regain or try to rebuild their growth.

H owever, even with this online reopening, it seemed that most restaurants were not seeing the sales or profits they had been experiencing in the past.

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?We didn?t have an online order system,? Black said. ?So we got an online system in place and I think people were just so scared, that we had an online order system in place, but people were so scared to kind of get out and about. We weren?t really doing very much. The governor also said that, ?H ey, you can do alcohol sales to go.?We barely did any.

We sold a few packaged

drinks. M ost of the restaurant people that I talked with didn?t sell much either, so that wasn?t very helpful. It was a nice gesture but wasn?t very helpful to the bottom line.?

The shutdowns were one of the more controversial topics among restaurant owners and customers. Some people think that there should have been a quicker response, with harsher rules, while others think that there should have been more lenient rules during the initial shutdown.

Photo courtesy of Michael Black

?It certainly seemed necessary from what I know of what we?ve been told by the CDC and other people.? Wayne Alan Brenner, a long time food critic from the Austin Chronicle with over 20 years of experience said.

H e also said that he thinks that if it had been done ?sooner and more harshly, we wouldn?t have been in the mess we were in, and we wouldn?t be as bad off now.?

right now, and how the economy will fare in the future. This creates a very split opinion that comes from the people, and causes not everyone to agree. For now, only time will tell if the decision was appropriate.

Exactly what the right course of action was is not completely agreed on, however everyone agrees that this pandemic will leave a large lasting impact on the restaurant and food

industry as a whole.

The sadder side to this story is, the smaller independent restaurants are what will be mainly affected. Small businesses without as many connections will slowly falter and die. This will hurt the food industry in Austin, and take away some of that special shine you feel when walking down a street in downtown Austin and seeing the flashing lights and welcoming signs of all those restaurants.

From the views of customers, the shutdowns may seem like a precaution that can do no harm to take. H owever, the restaurants being affected tell a different story. ?There needed to be maybe not a full shutdown, maybe to go only,? Black said. ?We wouldn?t have gone to to-go only, it shut down the dining rooms, because I think the trickle down effects are going to be really, really bad and they have been bad, so many people out of jobs and it?s not just people in the restaurant industry losing jobs, but it?s also all of our suppliers.?

When making decisions, lawmakers have to take into consideration, both the physical health of the citizens

Terry Black?s Barbeque of fers some of the best options for barbeque in Austin. With many dif ferent options for meats and af fordable prices, it is a well known stop. Phot courtesy of Michael Black

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t a s t e of [ AT X ] imagescourtesyof vsco,workdesign machine,shutterstock