Arts and Culture

There has been a cooking competition going on right under our noses in Austin, with some of the city’s best line cooks and sous-chefs.

We spoke with CultureMap food editor Jessica Dupuy about the culinary elimination event Citywide 86’d.

Twin giraffes were born this month at a 400-acre wildlife refuge in New Braunfels. The Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch says Wasswa and Nakato are the second set of living twin giraffes in the United States.

Because twin giraffes are rare, the male calf is being fed by hand to ensure his mother has enough milk for the female twin. 

The news of Hostess' return to Emporia, Kan., sparked an ecstatic response in this beleaguered town — even though there will be only half as many jobs.

The new company, formed when investors bought Hostess' snack cake business, has hired longtime snack cake production veterans Pat Chambers and her husband, Bob, to help get the bakery here running again. Pat lost her job at the Hostess plant when it closed last November. Now, she sits beaming on her front porch, wearing a dirty Hostess work shirt.

It’s Memorial Day weekend – the first big weekend of the summer season and plenty of movies are battling at the box office.

Burt alongside the latest “Star Trek” and “Hangover” sequels is another movie: The 1933 Frank Capra film “Lady for a Day.” Film Critic Leonard Maltin is in Austin for its showing tonight at the Paramount Theater, as part of its summer film series.

Neighborhood restaurants, those located in residential areas, are often welcome members of a community. Sometimes they trigger concern over issues such as traffic, as was the case with Épicerie Cafe & Grocery in the Rosedale neighborhood. 

But now that the has restaurant been open for several months, Austin American-Statesman restaurant critic Matthew Odam has had a chance to taste the menu, which is the subject of his latest review.  Odam joined me to talk about Épicerie and share some of his other favorite neighborhood restaurants. Listen to our conversation by clicking the player above.