How to Eat Internationally in Austin 🥘
Jan. 30, 2025
Hi Y'all!
One of my favorite things about food and restaurants is learning about history, family stories, and ingredients I've never heard of from other countries, while getting to experience another culture just through their hands and my plate — even if we don't speak the same language, there is a connection. When I went to UT, all we really had was Tex-Mex, BBQ, and Whole Foods, which is why I set sail to NYC to learn about cooking, restaurants, and all the dishes and diversity I'd never get in Austin if I stayed. Now, in 2025, I see the growth in cuisine here, and I'm ecstatic to be able to eat real Paella from a chef from Barcelona, Hot Pot from a Chinese family, and Mexican food from different regions. Do me a solid and watch and let me know what you think about my post on the 4 Best Restaurants with International Cuisines here — ALL from chefs that came to Austin from other countries. I'd really love to support them right now and keep our food city growing and vibrant!
~AR
NEW RESTAURANT REC
El Raval
It took me too long to visit this Spanish tapas restaurant because I don’t typically crave traditional Spanish dishes, but I recently met the owner, Laila, who’s half-Filipino and half-Brazilian and moved to Austin after cooking in Barcelona. She told me all about the El Raval neighborhood there, an area full of immigrants from Italy, Pakistan, France, and more, so the food is melded together with ingredients from all over the world, and the menu here reflects this culture with so many different dishes that you wouldn’t expect from a “traditional” Spanish restaurant. I loved the variety of paella and seafood! On a Saturday night with four of us, we chose the “Feed Me” Menu, which is essentially a chef’s choice that, to my surprise, actually included the perfect amount of food. I’m not usually a tasting menu fan, but this was just the right amount with perfectly-timed delivery. The Gambas al Ajillo came sizzling with plump and flavorful shrimp, and the Paella de Pato included a duck leg with meat so tender, it fell off the bone as soon as I picked it up, and with rice on the bottom that was as crispy as it should be. Other favorites were the mussels in a curried lobster sauce, the octopus, and the ceviche, but I’d skip the meatballs next time only because I was more impressed with the seafood! I did request the cabbage with labneh, pistachio and pomegranate because I’m me, and when we cut it, the cabbage was so soft that it felt like cutting into a cake. Usually, I think of restaurant experiences as 60% taste and 40% how I feel with the room’s mood and my company, so between being caught off guard by how memorable the food was and the restaurant being packed — I was blown away. Every dish was better than the next, and although I don’t really believe in the concept of “hidden gems” in Austin, I do think people should be talking more about El Raval. There’s so much to enjoy here so I can’t wait to go back.
SUSHI REC
Craft Omakase
Chefs Charlie Wang and Nguyen Nguyen and partner Tim Boyer, all previously of Uchiko, opened the discreetly-located Craft Omakase near Chili’s in the old Steeping Room space just a year ago, and they’ve already earned one Michelin Star! When my cousin invited me to join her, I was amped to go and see how it differed from all the other new ones in town. The 22-course experience feels less “hoopla” than some other omakases, as it’s a very simple, sleek environment without name plates or blow torches. You don’t answer any “get to know you” questions, and the chefs are truly there to do their craft. Although I haven’t been to Japan, the precision, look, and quiet feel made me think it’s similar to dining there. It’s more about having great nigiri bites with a few plated crudo or hot dishes — like the ocean trout over a broth with root vegetables that I couldn’t get enough of — and then getting back to your conversation with whoever you came with vs. hearing the chefs share stories about their lives or going on about the ingredients. You can talk to your companion without being interrupted by the chefs hushing you down or chatting over each course, so if you are looking for an omakase to just straight up toss back bites with your plus one in a casual and brighter light setting, this is it. To see what the experience was like, watch this! The best dishes for me were the Tuna Tartare draped over a nori tart, Japanese Mackerel, Otoro with wasabi and caviar, and Ocean Trout. Each tasting holds 12 seats, costing $175 before tip and tax so it ultimately ends up at more than $200 after adding those costs. They announce their reservation releases on their Instagram so follow along there to get a res soon. Charlie told me their waitlist is about 6,000 people so good luck!
HOBBY REC
Laguna Gloria Art Classes
Because my January schedule is usually lighter, and I paint often with oils, pastels, and acrylics at home, I wanted to take a class to learn and level up my art skills. I haven’t taken oil painting since I was little so I signed up for the drawing class at Laguna Gloria because the painting and watercolor ones were already full. I had been told this is probably the best place to take classes in town. Unfortunately, it’s at 9 a.m. which is early for me to be out and about, and it’s three hours long, which I was kind of worried about, but it’s been a chance for me to turn off my brain from business and really be there to focus on the present. After a few weeks, I have to admit that it’s SO hard, and I wish I was painting instead, but even though I've been frustrated every time, by the end of each class, I somehow power through to make something I’m a little bit proud of! The teacher doesn’t give us much direction — kind of like throwing us into the pool and letting us figure out how to swim with a few starting words. However, this week, we learned how to draw with different size pens and I much prefer this to pencil! I brought a photo of nigiri to draw one day, and it took me two hours to draw this one piece of sushi that isn’t even fully shaded. The class includes seven sessions for $300ish, and I’m learning a lot about different types of shading and all the types of pencils you can use — ebony is cool! Join the Laguna Gloria membership program to sign up for a class, and they have all sorts like printmaking, sculpting, watercolor, and beading. I have to be better than I started and am having fun taking class with my cousin. I look forward to trying a watercolor or acrylic class next because I love color. 😉
ART SHOW REC
RF Alvarez Show at Martha’s
I met one of my favorite local artists, Robert (aka RF Alvarez), a couple years ago at his Preacher show for the launch of his swimming collection, and then I ended up buying a piece of his months later when we ran into each other at De Nada and he invited me to his studio. A big reason I love Austin is that everyone is supportive of each other and collaborative with one another. So many of my friends are entrepreneurs and artists who have created a full life for themselves, which can be difficult to do in other cities. For example, my friend Mackenzie shoots a lot of photography for Robert to paint, including for this new collection of gorgeous floral paintings of bouquet’s arranged by Robert’s husband and some of his past dinner parties. I love following his work because I feel like I’m at that dinner party when I look at it, and apparently many other people feel the same way because after he posted about his new solo exhibition’s opening party on Instagram, it was packed. As a publicist, all I could think was, “Wow!” There’s clearly a need for connection through art, and this event proved that. You can truly feel how much love he has as a friend and a husband through his brushstrokes. His “The Minotaur Bar” show is open until Feb. 8 at Martha’s so you have another week to check it out!
GROCERY REC
Local Pastures
Farmer-owned grocery store Local Pastures has a trailer by my house that I’ve somehow never walked into, but I visited their new, larger brick-and-mortar on North Lamar and saw all types of crazy cuts of meat, local honey, dates, produce, and eggs. I honestly wanted to see if the chicken here was actually better than the air-chilled poultry I typically buy at Whole Foods and HEB. When I checked out with 1.7 pounds of chicken breast (it's a one size bag) and a bottle of kombucha, I was shocked to see that my total was $40. I was embarrassed to ask how much the chicken was, but I did get a receipt emailed to me, and it turns out that the chicken was $20 per pound so my meat, which comes with two breasts that are sealed frozen, was $34! Now, I will say the chicken was so juicy and delicious, and I cooked it the same way in my cast iron pan like I always cook chicken, so I did taste a difference in the end. It probably lasted me for four meals so maybe it wasn’t as crazy-priced as I thought, and all the meat at Local Pastures comes from Shirttail Creek Farm and Belle Via Farm, both family-owned and pasture-raised farms close to Austin that feed and treat their animals well. I do recommend checking this place out if you’re looking for fresh food as we don’t have many local butchers, and this is an awesome option for high-quality meat.
PR + MARKETING
Chefs Margarita Kallas-Lee + Phillip Frankland Lee on Pursuit of Wellness and Off Menu
With the December launch of Sushi by Scratch Restaurants in downtown Austin, we’ve been working on a lot of partnerships and fun video content for Chefs Phillip Frankland Lee and Margarita Kallas-Lee, starting with their episode on Mari Lllewellyn’s podcast, “Pursuit of Wellness,” where they were the first chefs ever to appear as guests. Mari is the founder of Bloom Nutrition if you’ve seen the bright, new billboards around town, and it’s very commendable to see what she’s building in the world of wellness. On top of that, she’s garnered more than 1.5 million followers on Instagram, and her podcast consistently gets hundreds of thousands listens per episode. Phillip and Margarita discussed the concepts of health and wellness in the kitchen, the world of Michelin stars, how they met, and more in their episode here, so thanks to Mari for having our clients on to share their story!
Second, we had a fun kitchen appearance on Brita Cooks’ brand-new YouTube series, “Off Menu” with Margarita also being her first guest! Brita is a recipe creator and home cook with nearly 500K followers who love her simple and yummy soup and pasta recipes, and when she called me to talk about an idea for a series she wanted to launch, I loved the idea. “Off Menu” feels like a classic cooking show, and it’s a great space for chefs to share recipes they like to make on their own time for us to learn, and also to show their personalities in a casual setting. I even made Margarita’s soup last weekend, haha.
ON THE BLOG
Best Healthy Restaurants in Austin
As a restaurant publicist (and writer here), I eat out all the time, but I do have my safe spots that I’ll go to solo or with a friend to get a healthy, nourishing meal when my body needs it. I find myself craving these meals and bowls — a lot happen to be Asian because I love veggies, brown rice, and a chicken or tuna topping on repeat. I’m sharing them with you if you’re looking for the same (p.s. sadly, Malibu Poké has since closed!) There’s longtime favorites of mine like Koriente, Oseyo, Swedish Hill, and Casa de Luz, plus some places you might not think of all the time, such as Kinda Tropical, Aster’s Ethiopian, and FoodHeads. I’ve given you all the best orders and details you need to know, so read here for all the intel!
PODCAST RECS
Liz Moody Podcast + Is It Okay to Work All The Time?
I’ve been listening to Liz Moody’s podcast and a recent episode with Simone Stolzoff, author of “The Good Enough Job,” was so fascinating as he shared tips for separating yourself from work and how important it is to remove yourself from your work identity, which is why it’s been cool to take a drawing class where no one asks me where to make a dinner res! His insight also goes into the differences between working alone and working with lots of people. The episode and the book hold so many reminders about how to think about work, extra tips, plus affirmations for if you’re doing the right thing, and that it’s okay to do something you love every day, just like it’s okay to have a job that you don’t love, but allows you to do what you do love after. Some other powerful Liz Moody episodes I think are worth your time are “10 Best Health Tips from 2024,” and “A Plan for When You Get Sick.” The Search Engine podcast’s episode, “Is It Okay to Just Work All The Time?,” was sent to me by a passionate creative director I just met, and I love the way the guest talked about his career trajectory in radio and TV. It made me think about how I've gotten to where I am, how I started writing on my blog every night in NYC at age 22, and the idea that if I hadn’t started my own brand all those years ago, I don’t know if I would be here helping other people with their own brands solo vs. at another PR firm. They also discussed how it’s okay to just enjoy things, and everyone’s different — some people feel destined to have families, some people don’t, and I loved hearing a man talking about being a parent, as that’s not something I hear much from a man’s perspective on podcasts.