- Today on "Austin Insight", a new feature called Authentically Austin, starting with a profile of a beloved East Austin bakery.

- Plus some Texas wine recommendations, the perfect pairings for the holiday season.

"Austin Insight" starts right now.

- [Announcer] Support for Austin Insight comes from Sally and James Gavin, and also from Suerte, Este and Bar Toti Restaurants, bringing Austin together around culinary excellence to celebrate creativity, conservation and culture in Central Texas.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) - Hello everyone, and thanks for joining us on "Austin Insight", I'm Laura Laughead.

- And I'm Danielle Banda.

Well, no matter how long you've lived in Austin, you've probably found yourself in a conversation, maybe even a debate, about what old Austin is versus new Austin.

A lot of talk about both the positives and the negatives of change and how to still keep it weird while keeping up.

- In this show, we're launching a recurring series we're calling Authentically Austin.

For those of you who've lived here a long time, it's a celebration of the places and people keeping the best of old Austin alive and well.

And for newcomers, it's some insight into what came before you that's helped make our city unique.

Kicking off this series, a look at local favorite, Joe's Bakery.

It's a local family-run restaurant that's been serving up authentic Tex-Mex for more than half a century, now nationally recognized by the James Beard Awards.

But for residents of East Austin, it hardly needs an introduction.

For our first edition of our series Authentically Austin, we're taking you inside Joe's Bakery.

(crowd chattering) (phone ringing) - Yes, Joe's Bakery, how can I help you?

- [Laura] The sizzle of beans and bacon, (ladle clattering) the plop of homemade tortillas on plates.

It's been a symphony for the senses at 6:00 AM, six days a week at Joe's Bakery, (bell dinging) since 1962.

- Their food has been constant, so, that's what keeps me coming back.

Plus, homemade tortillas, you know, you can't get those everywhere in Austin.

(Rose Ann speaking Spanish) - [Laura] These days, Rose Ann Maciel and her daughter, Regina Estrada, run the bakery/restaurant.

- Age before beauty.

- Hm.

- [Regina] Christian, do me a favor real quick, sweetheart.

- [Laura] A community hotspot for generations of customers on the east side with generations of Rose and Regina's family at the helm.

Each photo on the wall is a memory of their family's history and of Austin.

- When I look back, I get very emotional, so she put it all in, love of family.

- There's no crying in baseball, I've told you that.

You want a napkin?

- [Laura] Though they'll be the first to say, working with family isn't always easy.

- Mom didn't answer me, Mom ignored me.

Mom.

- I'm the worst employee.

- Yeah, right.

(laughs) - [Laura] Rose first started working here when she was 11, when her parents, Joe and Paula Avila, ran the place.

- I mean, I grew up here, I used to sleep behind the counter 'cause my parents would come to work like two or three o'clock in the morning.

- [Laura] But you can't tell the story of Joe's Bakery without of course the story of Joe.

- So my grandfather was kind of who everybody fell in love with.

People come in and they're always looking for Joe.

Where's Joe?

- [Laura] Joe's boyhood dream was to be a baker.

His parents ran a baking business in Austin in the '30s and he dropped out of grade school to help them out.

Though the restaurant bears his name, Joe's story begins and ends with women, especially his mother, Sophia, one of the kids in this photo.

- It's that picture right there.

It shows my great-grandmother, my grandmother and her friend crossing the Mexican border at 17 years old.

- [Laura] Joe later served in the Korean War, coming home with a Purple Heart and symptoms of PTSD.

It was his mother, Sophia, who found a way to bring a sense of peace back to his life.

- She sold the business to him for a hundred dollars and said, "You decide, do you wanna take care of your family or continue the road that you're going?"

And so, of course, he chose his family.

- [Laura] And their business thrived.

But Rose and Regina didn't plan on following in his footsteps.

- This was not our destiny.

I mean, it is our destiny now, but it was not what we set out to do when we were younger.

When I was in college, this is not what I said, "Oh, I'm gonna go, you know, to my family business."

No, it's not.

- Nor I.

- [Laura] Rose worked in insurance for 30 years, but after her dad had two heart attacks, she came back to help.

Joe died in 2011.

(people chattering) Today, his 62-year-old restaurant is so popular, sometimes customers can wait an hour to be seated for their famous huevos rancheros, migas, and more - Makes my heart swell with pride when I see an 82-year-old senior come in by themselves when they used to come in here with their other half.

- [Laura] That's the story of Ediberto Benavides whose wife died in March.

- Well, it kind of reminds me of she and I being here in the mornings and had our favorite little booth and a lot of happy memories.

So I'm still gonna continue coming here, forever, I guess.

(laughs) You gotta keep these old places open for as long as possible.

- [Laura] But keeping this old place open has gotten harder.

Regina says rising costs in Austin have put a strain on their small business.

- How are we protecting the very life that is breathed in, the culture, the essence of what makes Austin, Austin?

How are we protecting it?

- [Laura] Joe's is a community constant, now rare in a changing Austin.

Enjoyed by a carousel of notable customers over the years from Darrell Royal, Cesar Chavez, musician Ruben Ramos and former governor Rick Perry.

Last year, the nation took note.

Joe's Bakery received an America's Classics Award from the James Beard Foundation.

- But she told me, I said, "No."

I said, "Maybe you meant the other Joe's, there's a Jo's on South Congress."

I even took one of those little James Beard luggage tag.

- Little luggage tag, it's a luggage tag that they had.

- I went and put it on his grave.

I said, "We did it."

- [Regina] Yeah.

- [Laura] But if you look hard enough, you can still find Joe at Joe's anywhere in his photos, his recipes, his beloved bakery.

- The marran, the red, the besitos are yellow with the pink sugar.

- [Laura] And in his daughter and in his granddaughter, now taking the reins.

- And my favorite thing to tell them is, "My grandfather didn't have any sons or he didn't have any grandsons, nor did he want them 'cause he said that boys were too much trouble, so all he wanted were girls."

(gentle music) - The restaurant also makes a point to keep their prices reasonable, and customers say the flavors take them back to their childhoods.

Speaking of great food, Austin's restaurant scene stunned all of Texas a few weeks ago when seven local establishments were awarded the prestigious Michelin Star, more than any other city in the state.

From barbecue to tacos to southern cuisine, Austin's food scene stood out.

- So much extraordinary local culinary talent, like Amanda Turner, chef de cuisine at Olamaie restaurant, her creative take on southern cooking earned her an appearance on Bravo Network's "Top Chef", plus so many other awards.

I had a chance to drop by her Olamaie kitchen where she cooked up her favorite holiday dish, just like her grandmother showed her.

- My name is Amanda Turner, and we are at Olamaie in Austin, Texas.

It's the holiday season and I'm going to be making my grandmother's very famous dressing.

To start, you're definitely going to need some cornbread, I have homemade, but store-bought is fine, just like Ina Garten.

(laughs) All right, we're in the Olamaie kitchen and we're gonna start making my grandmother's dressing.

She has passed this year, so it's pretty personal for me.

You're gonna start with some cornbread, I have some already baked here, you can totally use store-bought, however.

I'm just gonna loosen it out of the pan, so I'm just gonna turn it out.

In the south, we call this dish dressing because it dresses the table.

In the north, they call it stuffing because sometimes they put it inside of a bird.

I do not recommend that, it does not make for good eats, please don't put stuffing inside of a bird.

(laughs) All right, this is all gonna go into a bowl.

Feel free to scale this recipe down if you're only feeding a few people.

(bright music) You're going to want to dice some onion and celery.

I also have some brown butter here that we're just going to sweat these in.

Sweating means to cook without adding any color.

So we're going to put this on low-ish heat and cook it until these ingredients are completely tender.

So I have a pot here, celery goes in, onion, and I also have some brown butter.

To make brown butter, you just need to put it on the stove until the solids turn into this caramelized color.

(bright music continues) Great, and we're just gonna get this on the stove.

And then, that just needs to cook for a moment, probably about five minutes or so.

So we're gonna go ahead and start mixing everything together.

Get a big bowl.

Here, I have parsley, thyme, and sage, just chiffonade.

Chiffonade is a fine mince.

And here I have salt, sage powder and black pepper.

This is chicken stock, we make our own, but you can totally use store-bought.

And then, the most unusual thing about my grandmother's dressing, and I think this is just from her German heritage, is hard-boiled eggs, we're gonna add those in.

We have our brown butter with the onion and celery.

This is really just gonna soak into all the cornbread.

So I'm just gonna go in with my hands to start mixing it all together.

And I'm breaking it up because you want your cornbread to hydrate evenly.

So I'm just breaking up the biggest chunks with my hands.

And then, finally, I have a raw egg, the raw egg is just going to bind everything together.

Stir this all together.

(oven banging) Our oven makes that sound.

(laughs) You have to edit that out.

(bright music continues) Once we're fully mixed here, we're just going to go into a hotel pan or a baking dish, and this will bake in the oven at 350 for about 30 to 40 minutes or until it's cooked all the way through.

(bright music continues) And, again, you're not looking for perfection here, it's supposed to be kind of crumbly but not dry, definitely not dry, Ina never likes her dressing dry.

Great, then we're just gonna put this in the oven for about 40 minutes.

(bright music continues) So it's just as easy as that, and I hope that you enjoy this with your family for the holidays this season, it's something that we have every year and it's always a heartwarming occasion.

(bright music continues) - A delicious holiday classic made with love, thanks again to Chef Amanda Turner for sharing this amazing recipe, the heartwarming story behind it, and the story behind her path to chef stardom.

It's definitely compelling and we're gonna share more in a future "Austin Insight" feature, so stay tuned for that.

(upbeat music) Whether for sipping or gifting, wine is often part of holiday celebrations and it's easier than ever to keep it local with Texas wines, which have grown in quality and stature in recent years.

We'll get some great wine advice for the holidays in just a moment.

But first, a few quick facts.

- Did you know Texas is actually the fifth largest wine-producing state in the country?

And the number of active winery permits in Texas has nearly tripled since 2013.

- [Danielle] The Texas Hill Country is the third largest viticultural area in the country with more than 1,000 acres devoted to grape growing at more than 100 wineries.

And Wine Enthusiast Magazine even recently named the area, "An up and coming wine region."

- Plus, and this is my favorite, grape growing in Texas, apparently started nearly 100 years before grape growing in California.

According to Texas A&M's AgriLife, in the 1680s, Franciscan monks brought over grape cuttings from Mexico and set up vineyards for wine production near El Paso.

So take that, California.

- I love that.

Joining us now is certified sommelier and wine educator, Denise Clarke with some recommendations and wine wisdom.

Denise, thank you so much for joining us.

- Thank you all for having me.

I mean, as you talked about, it's an old industry, the Texas wine industry, but the modern Texas wine industry really got reinvigorated again, after prohibition and all of that, in the 1990s.

And over even the last 20 years, our growers have learned and winemakers the grapes that do well in Texas, like you said, those grapes from Spain, from Italy, from Southern France.

And when you look at Texas, it's bigger than the country of France.

So you would expect to have that kind of diversification in our grapes.

- And it's so beautiful.

Like, I love that Texas is finally getting the respect in the national wine space that it deserves.

Everyone thinks California is where it's at, but, no, Texas, everything's bigger here, apparently now the burgeoning wine industry.

- Absolutely, Texas continues to win awards at all of the major international wine competitions.

I'm the director of a group called Texas Fine Wine, and as the name states, Texas makes fine wines.

Wines that really express their terroir, the culture and spirit of Texas, and they're ageable wines, it's not just wines you drink, you know, in the next couple months, these are some of the big reds that are made in Texas, you can put down and age.

And that's a sign of a industry that continues to grow and make those kind of quality benchmark wines that people can expect to enjoy for years to come.

- And for this holiday season, speaking of supporting local, we love supporting local wines.

- Always.

- What are some of your suggestions for local wines that might be a good gift for that special someone this holiday season?

- Absolutely, again, what's fun with Texas is the diversity of the grapes.

Yes, we make chardonnay, we make cabernet, merlot, your more common grapes.

But there's a lot of great wines that are good substitutes.

For example, this Pedernales Cellars' viognier.

Viognier is one of the top white grapes in Texas and if you like chardonnay, you're gonna love the Pedernales viognier.

- Okay.

- Good start already.

- Same with big reds, if you're a cabernet, yes, you can find cabernet and merlot blends here, but you're also gonna find big bold reds, like tannat, like Aglianico, sagrantino.

So for me, giving a gift of a Texas wine, of a grape that maybe somebody's never had before is a great way to introduce them to what's happening in Texas, and see, oh, this is as good as the cab I usually drink.

- Exactly, especially for like one of like those difficult people, we all have one in our lives.

- Yes.

(laughs) - That maybe they have everything and I feel like they're not gonna have a Texas wine.

- Exactly, another popular grape in Texas is tempranillo, and a lot of people are familiar, and tempranillo is such a good pairing with a lot of our cuisine as well.

You know, we always talk about, you know, what grows together goes together.

And when you think about our southwestern cuisine and whatnot, a tempranillo like this, a good guide, this is a blend of Tempranillo with some cabernet and other grapes in it, it's a big bold red that'll stand up to our spicy foods, to our big beef dinners, all of that.

And same with, you know, your holiday tenderloin, tannat is another big grape that does really well here in Texas.

Bending Branch Winery makes many different tannats, including this sparkling tannat that you're gonna have to try, it is a beautiful wine.

- It's beautiful.

- To kick off your holiday meal as an aperitif.

- Ooh.

- Or just to pair if you're maybe also having some kind of spicy foods.

- The aroma already sounds delightful.

Laura, you just sniffed that, it's sweet, but also?

- It was so beautiful.

I wish I could bottle that and put it in a perfume.

- Absolutely.

- It's elegant, timeless, classic, and I'm sure, you know, for research purposes, exclusively, it's probably gonna taste even better than it smells.

- Absolutely.

- Why don't you put it to the test?

- Okay, yes.

- Yes, have a little taste here.

- I will happily take one for the team, you know, Danielle, you can be our designated driver.

Okay, I'm good with that.

- Which one should I start with?

- Yes, let's go with the- - This one?

- Yeah, sparkling tannat, again.

- You're supposed to go like this, right?

- Yeah, give it a little swirl because that releases the aroma, see what you smell and then taste and I am curious to see what notes you get.

- I saw all the bubbles when you poured it too.

- Ooh.

Very refreshing.

- Yes.

- I love it, notes of strawberry, of raspberry.

- Yes.

- And no, we totally didn't prepare this immediately before the interview, so I would sound like an intellectual, but this is good.

And even if you're not a big wine lover or a drinker in general, I feel like this is good.

- That's a crowd pleaser, 100%.

- Absolutely.

- Yes, it's hard not to enjoy that pretty sparkling wine.

And Texas does a really great job with rose wines, so when in doubt, pick up a Texas rose and they will be made from all different grapes.

It might be a rose of tempranillo, rose of tannat, in this case, of sangiovese, of your more traditional grapes, like grenache and cinsault.

Cinsault, always a good choice.

- My goodness, and you have some others here.

- Yes, another popular white grape that's doing very well in Texas as well is roussanne.

And roussanne is a grape that hails from Southern France.

And this is gonna be a kind of a nice combo between, again, chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, pinot grigio, if any of those lovers would love a roussanne.

But I think you need to try this viognier we talked about earlier.

- Oh yes.

Might as well, I tried one, can't be unfair.

- A viognier is so versatile.

It pairs really well with really so many different foods, including vegetables, which can be hard to pair with.

- Oh, that's nice.

- Yeah.

- Okay, I could see my family having this at a very nice like Christmas Eve dinner.

- [Denise] Yeah.

- Especially if, you know, depending on the topics that come up in conversation, I love my family.

- Exactly, but probably you can tell that richness and the roundness of the fruit.

- Yes.

- It has so much going on, but it's not gonna conflict with your meal.

- Exactly.

- That's a good point.

- Yeah.

- If you had to choose, I know it's really hard.

- Don't ask me this question.

- Okay, tell me a different scenario for each one, this one for?

- Oh, okay, let me think, let me think.

So this, it's a classic and I feel like it's very dignified, I feel like this would be great, like I said, at a holiday meal, very refined, she's giving a little bit lighter, refreshing, she's giving- - [Danielle] More energetic.

- Like a night out, like the holiday Christmas party, you know?

- Yes.

- I like that.

- You know, if you're trying to work up courage to, you know, get someone under the mistletoe, this lady right here is what you're looking for.

- I think you nailed it, that's pretty perfect.

- All people are gonna hear.

They're not gonna hear the wine facts, they're gonna hear that.

(all laughing) - Yeah.

- No, I love it.

No, again, what's really fun is if you go out to the Texas Hill Country, which as you mentioned is the third largest AVA in the country, you go down Highway 290, and there are so many more wineries that have popped up.

- Absolutely.

- And you can stop into wineries along Highway 290 and you'll enjoy a different wine at each winery, that's the beauty of going out to our wine country in our own backyard.

There's so much diversity of grapes and wines to try.

- Well, thank you for bringing it from our own backyard to our studio, we appreciate you sharing your wine wisdom.

- Absolutely.

- Laura, you can go ahead and finish that off.

- Oh yes, while I close us out.

- While you close us out.

- Shall I cheers you?

- Oh yes, I love it.

Well, if you would like to learn more about these beautiful local wines, you can visit TexasHillCountryWineries.org.

(upbeat music) Well if you're still on the hunt for that perfect Christmas gift and you're hoping to look local first this holiday season, the Blue Genie Art Bazaar is back and makes your holiday shopping simple.

That's where we are now and we are joined by one of the founders, Dana Younger.

Dana, thanks so much for joining us.

- Thanks for having me.

- So, Dana, I wanna know this year, what are some of the most quintessentially Austin gifts and finds here for maybe the naughty and the nice in your life?

- Oh, I like that question.

You know, I think to bridge between the naughty and the nice, I would look at the printmaking and graphic design.

- [Laura] Whoo.

- [Dana] We have some very fun quirky things, some of it is a little blue and some of it's good for kids.

You can find a lot of really interesting things that are handmade by people.

- And even just walking around in here, I think this really epitomizes Austin, you've got like Santa themed stuff, there's like a Taylor Swift throw pillow and like saint candle I've had my eye on.

You can find truly anything here.

And over the years, do you have anything that really stands out to you as a favorite artist or a favorite gift you've seen?

Even if it's super weird.

- Wow, super weird.

You mentioned pillows, we did have an artist that made a Tom Selleck pillow with the mustache and I thought that was brilliant.

- That is brilliant, and I'm gonna need more information on that, I might have to add that to my collection.

That is hysterical.

And so, this is your 24th year.

First of all, congratulations.

- [Dana] Thank you.

- So you started with just a little over a dozen artists, and now over the years, this has grown into 200 artists this year.

So I wanna ask you, why do you think people keep coming back and this keeps growing like it does?

- You know, it's a really important time of year for families and tradition, people love to come every year, get their picture taken with Texas Santa, and this event sits at the intersection of creativity and commerce and community.

And so, it's a really great opportunity for people to come out and see what the creative community is up to.

- Exactly, and it's just simply fun.

It's fun for young kids and adult kids, like ourselves.

After this, I'm gonna be milling around.

I have my eye on many a thing.

- That's good.

- All my Christmas shopping done here.

And if you come on Mondays, 10% of proceeds go back to Make A Wish Foundation?

- [Dana] That's right.

- [Laura] And you are open every day now through Christmas Eve.

- [Dana] That's right.

- [Laura] Is there anything else people need to know?

- We have a bar, we're open 10:00 AM to 10:00 PM and it's very easy to get here.

- Well, Dana, thank you so much for joining us and happy holidays to everyone watching.

- Yeah, happy holidays.

(upbeat music) - In the spirit of spreading joy, Danielle and I would like to end today's show by sharing some of our favorite holiday memories.

I'll kick things off.

I'm about fourth grade in this photo, you can tell by my very avant-garde bob.

But it was one of the best Christmases because I got to bake with my grandmother, like you see here, and it was one of the few Christmases that all of my family from all over was together and it got even better because, my neighbor, who's kind of like a godmother in a way to me, she did a bonus Christmas because we had Christmas morning with the immediate family and then she came over later and was like, "Oh my goodness, all these gifts were delivered to my house by Santa by mistake."

So as a kid, two Christmases for the price of one is an absolute dream come true.

- That's amazing, Laura, thank you so much for sharing.

Well, my favorite holiday memory is from 2004 in the Rio Grande Valley.

I left midnight mass with my family, and on the way home, told my dad that I wished it would snow for Christmas.

He told me snow is extremely rare in our region, but miracles happen when we believe.

I prayed for it all the way home and then told my dad that it will happen because I believed.

My dad later woke me up to witness the magic of real snowfall.

I remember my dad saying, "Look, Dani, I didn't believe it."

And I told him I did.

I got what I wished for, plus a really cool dollhouse, as you can see there, it was a true Christmas miracle that I will never forget.

I love you, Dad.

- That's so sweet.

Don't make me cry at the end of our show, I love that.

And a true Christmas miracle indeed, like Houston, you know where I'm from.

- Yeah.

- The RGV I know does not snow.

So your prayers, they worked.

- Yeah, I will never forget it.

(laughs) - Well, that's our time, thank you again for watching.

We're taking a break for Christmas and New Year's, but we'll see you right back here on Thursday, January 9th at 7:00 PM.

- And don't forget, you can stream each episode on the PBS app.

We do appreciate you and we send you the best wishes.

Until then.

- [Both] Happy holidays.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) - [Announcer] Support for "Austin Insight" comes from Sally and James Gavin, and also from Suerte, Este, and Bar Toti restaurants, bringing Austin together around culinary excellence to celebrate creativity, conservation, and culture in Central Texas.

(cheery music)