Special Dinners, Birthday Cakes, & Todos Santos! 🌹
Feb. 13, 2025
Hi Y'all!
Happy Valentine's Day and birthday month to all my February friends! It's truly shocking how the shortest month of the year is somehow filled with a birthday party everyday with multiple people I know. Thank you for all the birthday wishes on Sunday! Because of the Super Bowl, I decided to hold off on a big party and fled to Todos Santos to relax and check out Hotel San Cristóbal for some sun, hiking, and fish tacos before a few of my restaurant openings and SXSW kick into gear. I've added more services to my PR company, which you'll read about below, and in honor of the made-up holiday, I'll leave you with this fun interview I secured for my husband-and-wife chef clients that's a fun read into what love is like in the kitchen.
~ AR
SPECIAL DINNER REC
Lutie's
Located in the prestigious Commodore Perry hotel, owned by Auberge and designed beautifully by Ken Fulk with green plants hanging from the ceiling, the restaurant Lutie’s is definitely a special occasion place. I think it used to be difficult to get into — possibly because they reserved seatings for hotel guests — but now, it isn’t too tough to get in on a weekday should you fancy dinner there. The cheeky menu has dishes that leave the plating up to your imagination until you see what you get when your meal arrives, such as the Green Dish with Roasted Carrot and Goat Feta or Chickpea, Green Corn, and Lime Yogurt. The restaurant is quite an experience, and it’s the almost high-end Alice in Wonderland decor that keeps you looking up in awe. My favorite dishes on the menu right now are the Barbecued Shrimp with Daikon and Celery, Tuna Crudo with Apple and Wasabi served in this unbeatable fish dish, and Swordfish with Creole Curry and Green Beans. You’ll want to share, but you could get by with ordering a starter and an entree for yourself, and I think you’ll be OK. The waitress was a little pushy about the fact that we wanted to order our Estate Bread and Butter first. She told us at least three times that we’d want to wait for our later dishes to sop up the sauce, so we finally had to tell her we wanted it for the butter, and we knew we could always order more. Funny enough, we ended up ordering the Sourdough that we saw on another dish instead of the Estate Bread at the end of the meal, and that Sourdough is the one that they should be screaming from the rooftops!! Whatever you do, do NOT miss the soft serve. Chef Susana really creates a memory for you before you leave Lutie’s with the Pistachio Matcha Soft Serve in a silver dish. I loved it so much, and I guess that was actually my favorite part of the meal! It’s not that big of a surprise because my favorite part of their brunch that I tried a couple years ago was also her soft serve with granola and bagels. Save Lutie’s for a special occasion, and maybe toward the end of the week when it’s more crowded.
DATE REC
Emmer & Rye
I consider Emmer & Rye to be one of the restaurants that put Austin on the map (aside from Bryce Gilmore or Tyson Cole) as Chef Kevin Fink was named one of Food & Wine's Best New Chefs in 2016, the year after they opened. It’s the only real restaurant on Rainey — RIP— and recently won a Michelin Green Star for sustainability. On a date, we sat at the Chef’s Counter, which I had never done before. I was very impressed as I didn’t even know it existed, and it was a completely different experience for me. It’s almost like an omakase, but you get to order whatever you want and watch the chefs as they move through courses, from bread to pasta and dessert, in their different stations. I loved noticing that the kitchen and the executive floor positions were run by females, and the food truly tastes better eating up here while interacting with the whole scene. It was mesmerizing and distracting, but ended up being the best part of my date — ha! What I think Emmer & Rye does best is their vegetables and pasta. Everyone talks about their Cacio e Pepe with Paddlefish Caviar, but the vegetarian dishes are the most elaborate and exciting dishes to me. The Pappardelle with Ragu was incredible with plenty of ragu and meat, and my favorite dish of the night ended up being a vegetarian Sweet Potato Tamal with mushroom chorizo, corn relish, and pecan salsa macha. They do such a great job sourcing from farms, hence the Green Star, so don’t forget about this place just because it’s on Rainey. The chef’s counter will heighten your senses and take you to another place!
ON THE BLOG
Where to Order Birthday Cake in Austin
Every year, around this time and in the summer, so many people ask me what the best birthday cake to order in Austin is. I’ve always recommended Gati for gluten free and Russell’s Bakery for something more traditional, but this year, I tasked myself with finding more elaborate options to choose from. I made it my mission to find this for you, aka us!! On this dedicated exploration, I tried 10 pieces of cake and found out that my favorites were from at-home bakers who operate as a side hustle. If you missed it, you can watch my results here with all the ins and outs of the textures and incredible cakes I found around town by Butter Days, Side Piece, Cake Bae, and Scull House Sweets. It's important to say that these bakers are making flavors and textures that you can’t find anywhere else, and thanks to people who have already ordered from them, they have received so many inquiries, new Instagram followers and are so excited! Look what yall did! Woo! For more recommendations than these four, read my full article on all the spots you can get cake in town for your next celebration.
PARTY REC
Cosmic Clem Astrology
As we are in my season (Aquarius), my good friends Clementyne, Alex and I co-hosted a dinner party at my house to showcase Clementyne’s, aka Cosmic Clem’s, astrology readings. She offers 1:1 personal chart readings and creative astrology offerings for events, and I wanted y’all to get a look into how it works. Invite her to read at your event, whether it's a wellness retreat, brand activation, or special celebration like our BYOB (Bring Your Own Birth Chart) dinner. Since we planned ahead, everyone sent in their birth information, giving Clementyne time to deep dive into everyone's natal birth charts. For our group, we started the night talking about the collective energy of the year with numerology, the significant planetary shifts of 2025, and how each of us would be individually impacted. Using a blend of Western Tropical Astrology, therapy tools, and intuitive insights, she walked each of us through our personal focus for the year ahead. We had a lovely dinner with a disco ball tablescape done by Alex Looney, plus I tried some new recipes like banana pudding andsalmon nori cups, and we ate an incredible purple coconut cabbage soup made by my friend, Mackenzie. I hosted a group that didn’t know each other well — my favorite thing to do. At the end of the night, I asked everyone to reveal their individual gifts we all have that people flock to, a question I love to ask, plus what we’re all working on this year. Overall, it was a lovely night as we really went all out and had the cutest gift bags from Janet St. Paul with hair goodies, Kinship Milk Tea, and a complimentary Y7 class. You can add some cosmic sparkle to your next event or book a one-on-one reading with Cosmic Clem by visiting her website here!
WELLNESS REC
Ceremony Spa
This massage and sauna/cold plunge combo is right near my house, and I never noticed them until their recent yellow exterior paint glow-up. One night, after my cake indulgences, I felt so full that I couldn't do anything else but check out Ceremony Spa to enjoy a relaxing night. What started as a massage place now has an outdoor cold plunge and outdoor sauna, and in December, they added an even bigger indoor sauna and cold plunge that feels very homey. The whole space has colored tiles and plants and complimentary electrolytes to add to your water after your experience. If Casa de Luz had a sauna and cold plunge, it would be exactly this vibe and clientele. It’s a peaceful environment where people aren’t talking about the gym and macros and tech, but are asking you your name and joining in on the convo. I met a couple, and ironically the gal used to do restaurant PR in NYC at one of my favorite places, Becca PR, and also has a birthday close to mine! We had such a genuine connection and conversation, which is what I'm looking for at a place like this. They have all different types of massages, acupuncture, tinctures, and more for sale. It felt very old Austin to me, so I recommend it if you want to escape the intense wellness and cold plunge culture found elsewhere.
PR + MARKETING
New Services in 2025
As journalism and all things media continue to change, we’ve introduced some new services for clients that I’m highlighting below, like a short-term consulting program with hourly calls and facilitated connections should you need some inside help! While my bread and butter remains working with clients to nail down their stories and share them effectively with the general audience to increase their revenue and growth, here are a few new things you can hire me for:
Storytelling through Content Creation: Execute social media video series and photography to complement our PR strategy by creating long-form storytelling on Instagram and providing messaging through strategic content to increase sales.
Consulting: For any brand that wants to level up, book hourly calls with me to help with marketing ideas, social media campaigns, and partnerships. I work with all kinds of brands, like fitness, CPGs, fashion, events, personalities, and even businesses trying to break into Austin in a way that supports our community.
Sponsored Newsletter Content: With a 70% open rate (thanks to y’all!) and an audience of Austin and NYC chefs, restaurant owners, editor-in-chiefs, and top media, you can be a sponsor here to tell your story or share your service. I’ll welcome all, such as: restaurants, realtor, hotel, AirBnB, spa, product, and anything else!
If you want to work together, reply to this email and we can chat ideas — my favorite thing!
ON THE BLOG
Hotel San Cristóbal in Todos Santos
For my birthday this year, I booked a trip with friends to Todos Santos to stay at Hotel San Cristóbal, operated by Bunkhouse, which is one of the most incredibly-designed hotels I’ve ever seen. Most Texans flee to Cabo San Lucas for vacation, but Todos Santos is the spot I desire for my getaway with all of its culture, local shops, natives speaking Spanish, fish shacks on the beach, an incredible hike located on property, sunsets, and zero commercial hotels or chain brands. This place puts you at ease truly no matter what is going on in your head or in your life back at home. That’s what vacation is all about, right? The bliss here comes in seeing so much natural movement, like whales shooting water into the air, birds chirping, surfers catching a wave, fishermen speeding on their boat, dirt roads leading to who knows where and then it all repeats the next day. I felt so at home, inspired and taken care of at Hotel San Cristobal, and you can read about my itinerary, tips, and my favorite meals, activities, and details on the blog here so you can book your own trip!
NETWORKING REC
Kindred Events Dinner
After discovering that there wasn’t a community for C-suite women moving to Austin from out of town, my genius neighbor Lillian started this initiative, Kindred Events, to help female executives connect and have a space to network casually. She hosts invite-only dinner parties at no cost for guests, and I was flattered to be invited to the last one, which included 13 people. I had no idea what to expect, but it was a nice, gluten-free meal cooked by a private chef at someone’s house, where we seamlessly got to know each other over good food and hilarious personal stories, yet still talked about our business with purpose. Some guests had just moved here, some were from Austin, and everyone represented a different industry. I felt like I was one of the youngest people there, and everyone was so interesting and inspiring as so many of these women had started companies and sold them. I spend a lot of my time in the creative industry with artists, event teams, musicians and restaurateurs, but here, I met people who work for healthcare companies, SXSW, kid brands, and other huge companies. I was so impressed by the work these people have done in industries I know nothing about! In the end, you can pay it forward by covering the next person’s meal and suggest someone to invite. This experience reminded me that if you’re looking for some type of connection, you can create something yourself. For example, before I even attended this I had recently seen some dinner parties on Instagram that looked fun and after wishing I was invited, I made my own! I encourage you to create your own thing if there’s something that you’re looking for, and support other people across industries. You can join Kindred here if it sounds interesting to you!