Two Exciting Austin Barbecue Pop-Ups Combine Smoked Meats With Pastries and Pita

Barbecue Collaboration Pop-Up, Part One
Bakery delivery service Vivian’s Boulangerie is teaming up with new-school barbecue truck LeRoy & Lewis for a barbecue-filled pastry pop-up this weekend. The pop-up is overseen by Vivian’s chef Kendall Melton and LeRoy’s director of operations Sawyer Lewis. The menu consists of the Frank (a croissant stuffed with pork sausage, American cheese, dijon mustard, and sauerkraut), the Brian (a puff pastry with macaroni and cheese, brisket, and barbecue sauce), the Francophile (a galette with hash browns), whole hog meat, leeks, creme fraiche, and even caviar), and the Bonjour Y’all (a barbecue kolache with chimichurri). It takes place on Saturday and Sunday, April 17 and 18, starting at 11 a.m. each day until everything is sold out. The pop-up menu is only available for in-person walk-ups from LeRoy at 121 Pickle Road at Cosmic Coffee (read: no preorders), and the truck’s usual menu will be available as well.

Barbecue Collaboration Pop-Up, Part Two
The Austin chapter of Les Dames d’Escoffier is throwing a barbecue pita pop-up with Dripping Springs bakery Abby Jane Bakeshop with barbecue restaurant Franklin Barbecue. The resulting Pretty in Pita event pairs Abby Jane’s pitas with smoked meats from Franklin. There’s one pairing Franklin brisket with lettuce, tomato, red onions, and tzatziki; another consisting of pulled pork rib with cabbage, pickles, and barbecue sauce; and the third, a vegetarian-friendly falafel with spiced chickpeas, lettuce, tomato, red onions, and tzatziki. Orders can be placed now, with pickups at the bakery on Sunday, April 25 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Blue Hat Cease-and-Desist
Downtown bar Little Brother received a cease-and-desist letter from athleisure brand Outdoor Voices over its bright blue Eater Austin-recommended parody hat. Co-founder Matthew Bolick tells Texas Monthly: “We’re a small guy. We made a silly hat. They’re the big guy. Everyone wears their hat. Why would you not see this as funny? Old Austin would have found this funny.”

Chef Shuffle
Dripping Springs restaurant Tillie’s has a new executive chef with the arrival of Andy Knudson. The chef, who is from Texas, had worked at acclaimed restaurants around the country, including two-Michelin-starred Las Vegas restaurant Guy Savoy, Aspen hotel the Little Nell, Bobby Flay’s Caesars Palace restaurants in Las Vegas and the Bahamas, and Marc Forgione’s New York restaurants. The restaurant, found at Camp Lucy, is still requiring masks when not seated at dining tables and social distancing measures.