Outdoor Bed-Centered Movie Theater Pops Up in Austin

Pop-Up Bed Theater Lands in Austin
Bed Cinema, a pop-up outdoors theater where attendees sit (lie down?) on air mattresses placed on the ground, is coming to Austin this summer. The bed setup includes pillows, blankets, and tables. The nightly event will include a yet-to-be-named food truck, plus free all-you-can-eat popcorn. It’ll take place from Thursday, July 9 through Sunday, July 12 at a location to be disclosed later. There is a pre-register link to find out when tickets will actually go on sale.

H-E-B South Congress Updates
The H-E-B on South Congress and Oltorf isn’t closing just yet, as reported by Austin 360. While it was supposed to close on Sunday, March 22, the shutter date has been indeterminately pushed back because of construction delays. This also means that temporary H-E-B that’s meant to open across the street in the Twin Oaks Shopping Center (where CVS used to be) isn’t opening anytime soon either. Eventually, the South Congress/Oltorf location will be replaced with a larger new store complete with a food hall, beer garden, and underground parking, originally pegged to open sometime in 2022.

Uchiko’s Female Chef-Fronted Dinner
For International Women’s Day (Sunday, March 8), Japanese restaurant Uchiko is hosting a female chef-centered dinner on Friday, March 6, benefiting nonprofit Girlstart. The ten-course dinner, dubbed Hai for Her, features female chefs from various restaurants within Uchiko’s parent company Hai Hospitality. This includes head sushi chefs Shannon Kennedy and Kelsey Urbanczyk, Uchi Denver executive sous chef Dina Butterfield, and Uchi Houston sous chef Stephanie Lara, Loro sous chef Kaity Price, and pastry chefs Britt Castro and Ariana Quant. Dishes will include oyster-grapefruit tepache, fish curry, nigiri (including a smoked brisket one), and a smoked milk dessert. There are two seatings: one at 5:30 and the other at 9 p.m. Tickets are $175, which includes drinks.

Asian Food Festival Canceled
Austin Asian food festival Far East Fest, which had been set to take place on Sunday, March 29, is now canceled. Organizers the Austin Asian Community Health Initiative decided to cancel the event “due to the growing public safety concerns surrounding the COVID-19 coronavirus.” Tickets will be refunded, and there are plans to reschedule the festival for a later date.

Highlighting Women-Made Wine
Nonprofit Wonder Women of Wine rallied a bunch of Austin restaurants, bars, and Texas locations of Twin Liquors into highlighting wines made by women during the month. Participating places include East Austin wine bar Apt 115, Hyde Park cheese shop Antontelli’s, pizzeria and sneaky great wine restaurant Bufalina, South Congress Wine restaurant June’s, and others. South First restaurant Lenoir is also hosting a paella and wine party benefiting the nonprofit on Saturday, March 7. The events are meant to lead up to its conference being held on Saturday and Sunday, March 28 and 29. These wines will also be featured during the conference’s tasting event on that Sunday.

San Antonio Bakery Expands Into Austin
San Antonio bakery Capcakes is bringing its custom-designed sugar cookies and cakes to Austin via delivery, as reported by CultureMap San Antonio. The co-founders intend on eventually opening a bakery in the city too.

Tito’s Opens Downtown Austin Shop
Austin distiller Tito’s is opening a store in the downtown area that will not sell alcohol. Instead, The shop, called Love, Tito’s, will sell branded merchandise (apparel, barware, pet toys, etc.) and the space will host events and concerts. Net proceeds from everything sold at the store will go towards one of the participating nonprofits of the customers’ choosing. The space also includes an interactive map highlighting downtown bars that serve Tito’s. It opens on Saturday, March 7 at 215 Lavaca Street. Its hours are from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and then from noon to 5 p.m. Sunday.

Vegan Documentary’s Texas Premiere
Director Mahesh Kothamangalam’s documentary, Slice of Life, which highlights vegan food in the world, is making its Texas premiere on Thursday, March 5, at the AFS Cinema from 7 to 10 p.m. As part of the screening, there will be vegan pizza and vegan queso nachos. Tickets are $20. Partial proceeds will go towards rescued farm animal nonprofit Rowdy Girl Sanctuary.