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Local Food Family Brings International, Affordable Gourmet Option to LakewayPosted on: 2009-03-19The Buonocore family is at it again. Ever since husband and wife team Jessica and Rodolfo moved to the Austin area to start a family, they’ve been offering the incredible cuisine they perfected in California and Argentina to central Texas residents.
After growing up surrounded by great food (Jessica’s mother is acclaimed California cookbook author Amelia Saltsman; Rodolfo worked in his father’s Buenos Aires bakeries and pastry shops for years), Jessica truly honed her food service and business skills under the mentorship of Nancy Silverton, working with Silverton at Campanile and La Brea Bakery in Los Angeles for several years. Armed with their experience, the couple moved to Austin and almost immediately began “The Daily” – a gourmet sandwich delivery business for local corporations.
As “the Daily” sandwiches became known and loved around town, the Buonocores were asked to cater both corporate and social events, and grew their business accordingly. But now with an infant daughter in tow, they strove to develop a food business that was convenient and practical for a young family. Within a year, “The Daily” matured into “Ate Foods,” which offered home delivery of gourmet meals for the whole family.
For 18 months, “Ate Foods” has been delivering three courses of three meals (for a family of three or four) every Monday, varying the menu widely with recipes that incorporate a rich Argentine and Mediterranean heritage and a generations-old history of experimenting with simple but delicious dishes.
Now, along with the continued “Ate Foods” dinner delivery service, the Ate team is offering Lakeway residents and visitors ate.cafe, a casual eat-in or takeout restaurant offering everything from gourmet sandwiches, empanadas, savory tarts and seasonal salads to decadent desserts and pastries, marrying the addictive food the Buonocores have offered for years with a what-you-want, when-you-want-it convenience that they have not been set up to give their followers until now.
“Our family has always dreamed of bringing our passion for food to a café somewhere in central Texas,” explains Jessica. “When the Lakeway opportunity arose, it was perfect for us. We’re thrilled to become a part of the Lakeway community and offer everyone who lives or visits a convenient and tasty alternative to the stress and monotony of getting meals on the table themselves.”
Ate Café opened in the Lakeway Town Center Phase II shopping center at Lohman’s Crossing and 620 on March 4. Hours for takeout and dining in are from 7:30AM to 4PM Monday through Saturday, 9AM to 2PM on Sunday. The menu is available on the www.atefoods.com website, along with other helpful information about both the café and the delivery service, or call 512-300-4252 for more information.Website:www.atefoods.comEmail:jessica@atefoods.com - BEE CAVE ROAD IMPROVEMENTS UPDATEPosted on: 2007-03-08Can you give us a completion date for the Galleria road improvements?
TXDOT is not even giving us an opening date for Bee Cave Parkway, much less Hwy.71. It is a very frustrating situation that reminds me of the highway leading to the airport that seems finished to most rational people but remains unopened long after that. I am reassured knowing that the Galleria cannot open as scheduled in September or October without completion of the roads unless Bee Cave lets them (and that, Bee Cave does control). The question is whether this is fair if it's no fault of the Developer!?! I am hoping it does not come to this fork on the road. TXDOT is dragging its feet because it can. It doesn't want to finish the connections to the parkway at 620 and at 2244 because it contracted to do all the work simultaneously with Hwy.71. That, in turn, is held up by interfering utility lines expected to be buried (now mostly resolved) and obtaining additional right of way for road expansion from McDonald's. Both were time consuming fiasco's involving life-size corporate egos and power trips (McDonalds, AT&T, SWBell, Time Warner, TXDOT). These are now mostly resolved by agreement but the work is still in progress.
What does TXDOT pay for and what does the City pay for?
TXDOT pays for nothing; they are simply a party to the construction contract since they own 71, 620 & 2244. Bee Cave is not a party to the contracts. The Developer (Opus West) is paying ALL money up front for ALL road improvements per our agreement and Bee Cave is paying them back between $18-$21 million over 20 years via a portion of sales tax rebates (50-55%). This rebate also pays for $3.5m of City Hall construction plus the land beneath it, the $2.5 million in money to buy additional mitigating land (which we mostly have spent on about 9 acres adjacent to central park), all roadwork, burying the utility lines on the North side of 71, additional right of way to expand 71. In addition, Robert Baldwin (the original landowner at the Galleria) donated 50 acres for a Bee Cave Central Park that is currently in the design stage. Not bad really, if you consider this was done with no debt to our taxpayers and no increase in property taxes to the tune of what I believe has a higher market value even today than what we'll end up paying.
Did TXDOT in some way go back on promises made thus causing this major change of plan?
Not really. TXDOT's contracts read the way they read and we could not have changed a thing, even with this hindsight. They don't incentivise for quicker construction completion AND they allow the contractor to walk out if they're ready to work and the project isn't (their standard contract even says they must pay the contractor in this situation even if he does not return). Let's remember, it's not TXDOT's money! In this case, it's OPUS's money and this may be why they're trying to value engineer the aesthetics and who knows what else! The delays due to the utility lines and McD's could have been handled long ago as they knew this was coming down quickly but they have not put on the necessary pressure they could have (especially with the utilities).
What about McDonald's?
The local franchisee is a good and reasonable person simply trying to protect their interests, which I understand, especially with regard to their ingress/egress and signage. They solicited the help of their attorneys and McDonald's Corporate (reasonable standard procedure & probably required by McD's) and that is where things slow down tremendously. The taking of additional right of way for the road will require their sign to relocate and their detention pond to disappear (their water quality requirements will be combined with the Galleria). The beautiful tree next to the sign will be relocated within the Galleria project.
Will the traffic lights be turned on upon the opening of Bee Cave Parkway?
Once again, this is up to TXDOT. The lights at the intersections are also delayed because TXDOT will not install them without doing their own warrant study to justify their presence. Of course, they could have done this long ago, but they're seemingly never in a hurry (with other people's money). Our plan was always to open Bee Cave Parkway prior to destroying Hwy. 71, but it fell dead on its tracks due to no fault or control of our own. Our Staff and the Mayor have met with TXDOT repeatedly, even with Senator Watson, Representative Bolton, and Commissioner Daugherty. This is simply the way TXDOT state bureaucracy works and we're in the eye of that at this time. Bee Cave is working and paying to dramatically improve the roadway system at this hyper-growth end of Travis County, and we can't even get this expedited or even on time completion to mitigate congestion and safety concerns. I feel like we're trying to push a big fat elephant uphill quickly to get away from the fire.
I feel better knowing that this will eventually finish this year, but I no longer feel comfortable giving a date. Thank you for your patience and understanding if at all possible.
ZELDA AUSLANDER
Mayor Pro Tem
zeldabeecave@aol.com
767-6600
