Chinese Restaurant Old Thousand Is Serving a Red Lobster-Inspired Menu This Weekend

Red Lobster-Chinese Pop-Up
Chinese-American restaurant Old Thousand’s 11th Street location is running a special menu inspired by seafood chain Red Lobster from Thursday, April 1 through Sunday, April 4. On decks are Cheddar Bay scallion pancakes, shrimp scampi lo mein, and XO lobster and crawfish fried rice, among other dishes. To-go orders can be placed online and the restaurant is open for dine-in service. The restaurant also created a special shirt with apparel company Fine Southern Gentleman, of which all sales will benefit nonprofit Save the Food Austin. The restaurant’s Burnet location had run an emo-themed pop-up dubbed Jimmy Eat Sandwich, with Italian sandwiches on Thursday, April 1.

New Texas Cooking Shows
There are two new YouTube cooking shows highlighting Texan home cooks, courtesy of two of the producers of United Tacos of America: one of Austin’s taco journalists Mando Rayo, along with Dennis Burnett. Their new YouTube channel, Identity, highlights BIPOC communities in Texas when it launched in early March. Now available are:

• Tex-Mex Queen: South Texas recipe developer Vianney Rodriguez, who runs food blog Sweet Life Bake, covers Tex-Mex cuisine through her family recipes. It streams every Tuesday at 10 a.m.
• ATE (ah-teh): The show, which is the Filipino word for “big sister,” stars Houstonian Isabel Protomartir, who shares Asian cooking techniques and shortcuts. It streams every Wednesday at 10 a.m.

“We’re excited to bring these shows to life that reflect BIPOC stories, experiences and represent an inclusive, accurate portrait of America,” says Rayo in a release, “a land that was made for you and me.” Each show is 18 episodes long. The YouTube channel is also streaming the second season of United Tacos plus plans to develop additional shows and podcasts.

Chef Medical Fundraiser
Japanese restaurant TenTen’s executive chef Yasuo Fujimori suffered a stroke last fall. To help him and his family financially, the restaurant’s parent company Nova Hospital launched a GoFundMe campaign. Also along those lines, the restaurant will donate all proceeds from dine-in and takeout orders from Monday, April 5 to Sunday, April 11 to the crowdfunding campaign, aiming to raise $10,000.

Chef Shuffle and Pop-Up
East Austin French restaurant Justine’s Brasserie has a new executive chef now. Justin Huffman previously worked at Contigo, Uchi, Otoko, and Los Angeles burger pop-up Kronnerburger. This is a return for him, too: he had served as Justine’s sous chef from 2012 to 2015. In Huffman’s new role, he plans on further developing Justine’s seafood offerings, from the raw bar to adding dishes from the southern French coast. Just before rejoining the restaurant, he launched an Austin burger and natural wine pop-up, Le Beef, which will continue. Previous executive chef Taylor Chambers is leaving the French restaurant for East Sixth Mexican restaurant Suerte.

Texas Brewery Collaboration Beer Sale
Members of the Texas Craft Brewers Guild are hosting what the nonprofit is calling the Liquid Bake Sale. Over 28 participating breweries across the state will brew up beers using Texas-grown malt from Fort Worth-based company TexMalt to help raise money for the nonprofit. The breweries started brewing the beers in early March, and a few are available right now or soon, including Jester King Brewery’s imperial babka stout and Red Horn Coffee House & Brewing C.’s peanut butter chocolate stout. The beers will feature labels by Austin artist Lauren Dickens; there are also T-shirts and stickers for sale.

Food Writing Class
Nonprofit Austin Bat Cave is offering a food-centric writing class for adults starting later this month. The class, called Writing About You, History, and Culture, will be taught by writer Sarah Rafael García. After the six-week class ends, the nonprofit will publish a chapbook made with the students’ works. The class is $395, and there is a discount for BIPOC & LGBTQIA+ writers as well as scholarships. Funds from its adult classes go into the nonprofit’s youth programming.