State Fare: Smoking a whole steer at Vaca y Vino, near Austin, this weekend
This weekend, the gods will be smiling on the Bridges Ranch, near Austin, and on Austin chefs Emmett Fox (of Fino and Asti), Lou Lambert (of Lamberts Downtown Barbecue) and Larry McGuire (of Perla’s and Elizabeth Street Café). Why? Because the gods love barbecue and sunshine and the smokey goodness that comes from an 18-hour, cooked-all-night roast beast.
It’s called Vaca y Vino, and with a weather forecast of blue skies and breezes, a cheffy crew is gonna serve up an entire slow-roasted steer on Sunday, April 22, from 1 to 6. It’ll be a blue-smoke blast.
The heritage steer will be roasted over oak coals on a crazy cantilevered, parilla-style contraption constructed just for the ‘cue. Every half hour or so, the chefs will swing the grill off the heat (it looks like a panini press made with hog panels and a sheet of metal), baste it with chimichurri sauce, flip the beast over, then return it to cook some more.
If it turns out as good as the dress rehearsal held a few weeks ago, we’re all in for an Argentinian treat. If not, there’ll be plenty of empanadas, cheeses, cured meats, potato salad, grilled escarole and veggies and tres leeches cake to soak up all the wine that they’ll also be pouring. (Since these guys are chefs, they always have a backup plan: the tenderloins and ribeyes get cooked separately, so we’re guaranteed to get something good.)
Naturally, since it’s the Hill Country, there will be live music (Latino-funk masters Brownout and classical Argentine tango maestros Glover Tango).
EscapeHatch friend (and Texas Monthly senior editor) Pat Sharpe attended the dress rehearsal a few weeks ago, and wrote on her TM blog,
“I have to say that although my hair, clothes, eyelids, shoes, socks, fingernails, and iPhone were completely and totally smoked before it was all over, I can’t remember when I’ve had more fun.
“I privately thought there was less than a 50:50 chance the meat would be cooked halfway evenly, much less be tender…but the results were perfect: tender, smoky, juicy, and amazing.
We sat down to eat family-style at long tables covered in checked tablecloths under the live oaks. Everyone proceeded to baste themselves in Malbec, overload their plates, eat until they couldn’t see straight, and wonder why no one ever thought of this before.
Hope to see you there. A few tickets are still available here, but with a perfect weather forecast for Austin, they’re gonna go fast.