“I’ll take one these, oh, and three of those...”
When life gives you lemons do a shopping field trip in Austin. As one of my first planned inspiration trips for Denim Jelly I had scheduled a long weekend in Austin to hit the city’s Food & Wine Festival. But due to heavy rains leading up to the festival, the grounds became too saturated to host the event and it was canceled at the last minute. No worries. It gave me the opportunity to explore the city's hot food scene as well as visit some of the local purveyors that are heating up the the food and design communities in Austin.
Ok I went a little nuts. To be fair, the Food & Wine Festival refunded my ticket so I had some extra cash to throw around. I had no game plan other than I knew I really liked the South Congress area of Austin from the last time I visited for my friend's bachelorette party. So I hit the strip and started browsing the shops.
MÉTIER COOK'S SUPPLY
My first find was Métier Cook's Supply. Nestled among the taco trucks, shops, tattoo parlors, and restaurants of South First Street, the charming bungalow beckoned me in. Inside was a curated selection of cookware, handcrafted knives, local cookbooks, glassware, and cook's tools that would make any foodie's eyes sparkle with delight. The handsome storekeeper, Matt, showed me around the shop and helped me pick out a few cookbooks (we're basically dating now - not really). He also gave me some great restaurant recommendations as well a tip to visit the next store on my stop, Kettle & Brine.
By the way I am obsessed with "The Love & Lemons" Cookbook I scored at the shop. I didn't realize it was a vegetarian cookbook when I bought it but I am loving everything I am making out of its pages. Future post to come on this!
KETTLE & BRINE
My next stop was this awesome shop called Kettle & Brine. I immediately took notice of the gorgeous store associate who also happens to be the store's owner and creative director, Tarica Navarro. I think she and I are kindred spirits because I fell in love with a line of plates she designed in collaboration with Foxware's Ceramics. The mix and match Mira collection is a hybrid bowl and plate shape that comes in various sizes and styles. They are perfect to catch stews and high piled salads (that's the bowl part) or my morning toast and fried egg or steak at dinner (that's the plate part). Tarica said she designed the low sloped edges to allow you to still cut a steak (which many bistro styled bowls make it hard to do). They are one of those amazing super finds you can only dream about. I love that they are casual enough for everyday use but stylish enough to double as serving dishes for nibbles at a party. They are absolutely my favorite dishes to eat off at home. I scored three pieces but already plan on ordering more. The rest of the store is equally as amazing. The chic curation of goods evokes both an earthiness with its palette of woods, marble, and ceramics as well as a stylish pops of metallic, watery blue linens, and glass. Definitely one of my new favorites.
MOCKINGBIRD DOMESTICS
The next place I went to was Mockingbird Domestics. I saw a write up of the shop in a local design magazine that was on the nightstand of my Airbnb room. It is really more of a showroom for all their amazing furniture. The Texas craftsmanship featured sturdy yet modern wood furniture, large mirrors, and elegant lighting. The store also boasted lots of fun provisions like candles, pillows, jewelry, and other unique finds. They had a great collection of milk glass items - cake stands, mixing bowls, cups, and salt & pepper shakers. While I couldn't fit a dining table into my suitcase I did manage to snatch a small cake stand and mixing bowl in mint green milk glass to add to my now budding collection. Some trivia for you. I did a little research and it turns out milk glass was created in Venice in the 16th century during a time referred to as the fin de siècle. This era is widely thought to be a period of degeneration as people began to reflect on and reject the decadence within civilization. I guess there is a little irony in that this is shopping post. Oh well. History fail. Shopping win!
I ended up having to buy an extra bag just to get all my loot home.
“Oh and I got this beer tray.”
