New Year’s Eve Champagne Tips, A Look at Iron Works BBQ, and More A.M. Intel

— Drink.Well's and Backbeat's Jessica Sanders gave away her champagne secrets to Camille Styles. This includes the difference between bubbly wine, label exploration, how cold a bottle should be, and more.

— Kreuz Market pitmaster Roy Perez loves the Dallas Cowboys so much, he donned a wrestling mask with the football team’s logo while working the pits.

— Iron Works BBQ is usually a non-Austinitie's first taste of the city's barbecue, according to Texas Monthly barbecue editor Daniel Vaughn, and it still stands strong. He revisited the restaurant last week, where he found reliable smoked meats with general manager Aaron Morris. He came back to the family business after working for Salt & Time.

— Statesman critic Matthew Odam shared his favorite dishes of the year in Austin, including the distinctly not-fish bite from Kyoten Sushiko, Emmer & Rye's lauded cacio e pepe, poke, and more.

— Caffeine trailer Machine Head Coffee has a new home in the Mueller Trailer Eats food court.

— In order to implement downtown Austin changes, mayor Steve Adler suggests the city team up with restaurants and bars in the area to help fund improvements to the Austin Resource Center for the Homeless and other related projects.

— Food Republic grades the best vodkas found in the country, which includes Tito's in the fourth slot.

— Austinites will soon be able to partake in Rutte, a gin from Netherlands, when the liquor launches in the city next month.

— If real estate website Trulia is to be believed, Austin residents will party very hard for New Year's Eve this year.

— Delish and Foursquare determined each state's best and most frequented date restaurant. For Texas, this means Uchiko (though the chosen quote misidentifies the owner and chef of the restaurant).