Eater Austin talked to Parkside's Shawn Cirkiel (also of Backspace fame) last week about his acquisition of the former El Arbol space in Bryker Woods, but now Austin360 expands with even more details: the new restaurant will be called Olive & June, so named for family matriarchs, and it's an Italian joint.
Like many chefs, Cirkiel’s travels to Italy have influenced his cooking, but the roots of his love of Italy go back to the Italian American hub of Arthur Street in the South Bronx, where his dad grew up and where Cirkiel remembers enjoying jovial family dinners as a kid.Olive & June won't serve pizza--why step on Backspace's toes?--but they'll be turning the third floor office space of the building into a private dining room. Cirkiel says they'll aim to open before the South By Southwest crowds hit Austin in the spring.The focus at Olive & June will be Southern Italian menu, “with a little Northern mixed in,” he says ....
· Parkside's Shawn Cirkiel To Open Olive & June [Austin360]
· All Shawn Cirkiel Coverage on Eater Austin [-EATX-]
· Parkside Purchases Former El Arbol Spot [-EATX-]
The former El Arbol, future Olive & June. [Photo: El Arbol/Facebook]