Hi friends, we are deep into the stretch of summer where the heat makes the plans for you. So this week works with it, not against it: a cold, dark dinner on the east side, a movie you watch from a pool, and the one civic thing headed for your November ballot.
Three things, as always. One place to eat, one thing to do, and one thing to know. Here is your weekend.
Eat, this week
East Austin · $$$ · dinner nightly
When it is this hot, the right dinner is somewhere cold, dark, and worth dressing for, and Canje is the best of those right now. Chef Tavel Bristol-Joseph, a two-time James Beard Best Chef: Texas nominee, cooks the Guyanese and Caribbean food he grew up on, and the bar is rum-forward and built for the season. It is a proper sit-down dinner in an air-conditioned room, not a patio you sweat through. Bon Appétit named it one of the best new restaurants in the country, and the New York Times put it on its top 50, so book ahead on OpenTable, though the bar takes walk-ins early. Order a rum cocktail, take your time, and let the AC do the rest.
Do, this weekend
South Congress · Friday, July 24 · $25 per screening
The most Austin way to beat the heat this weekend is to watch a movie from a pool. The Austin Motel runs its Float Films series on South Congress, and this Friday it is The Matrix: doors at 5, the film at dusk, and you watch from the water. Tickets are $25 a screening, and you can add a cabana if you want to make a proper evening of it. Capacity is limited and it books out, so grab a spot before Friday rather than at the gate. It is the kind of plan that only sounds good in July, which is exactly the point.
Know, this week
The city is asking you for money again, and this time it is doing it differently. After voters rejected Prop Q’s tax-rate hike last November, the Council is instead building a general-obligation bond for the November ballot: a roughly $400 million package for parks, transportation, and community facilities. About $65 million of it would go to pools and aquatics, which in a summer like this one might be the part you actually feel. Here is the key difference. A GO bond is repaid out of the debt-service part of the tax rate you already pay, not a new rate-increase election like Prop Q. It is back in front of the Council this week, and the final size, and whether it goes on the ballot at all, get decided in mid-August. It is not a sure thing yet. The mayor has argued for waiting.
Know it is likely coming to your November ballot, watch the mid-August Council vote that sets the final number, and make sure your voter registration is current before the fall.
Worth bookmarking
Where to go when it is too hot to think.
Dish of the week
Sour Duck Market · smash burger
Something new, starting this week. Dish of the week is one standout Austin plate, sent in by the place that makes it and picked by me. First up: the smash burger at Sour Duck Market, which the shop itself calls “the best smash burger in Austin.” They serve it with a paloma, which is the correct decision. Reply and tell me the dish I should feature next.
See you next Thursday. If someone you know is always asking what to do this weekend, forward this to them.
P.S. The fastest way to get more of these is to forward one. When a friend signs up from your link, I send you the one-page Austin cheat-sheet, the kind of thing you can text. Here is your link to share.