I have something stupid like exactly 379 draft posts for this blog. One of them is for Texas French Bread, a longtime bakery and more recent gourmet restaurant in Austin. We lived for about 20 years within walking distance from TFB, and we were there at least once a week, almost always on the weekend for breakfast and bread. We’re also on a first-name basis with Murph Willcott, a fine human being, who, along with his brother, Ben, bought the place from their mother.
We have many good memories of TFB, including one of my favorite personal stories, the time I tried to get them to hang a series of artworks I made with my cat that left Ben thinking I was possibly insane (Alternate Currents later accepted the pieces into a show that soothed my brutal rejection).
We were shocked and shaken by the news that Texas French Bread burned down. Thankfully, and most importantly, no one was hurt (bakers were baking at the time), but the damage is reported at $1.6 million. It’s unclear what the future holds for TFB since the building is a total loss. I’ve heard rumors of Murph opening up a ghost kitchen as part of a transition. I hope he does that and is able to recover.
The community support has been amazing, including, what else, a bake sale to benefit the workers hosted by Easy Tiger last weekend. We’ll probably gain 10 lbs from what we bought at the benefit, but, as the saying goes, it’s for a good cause will all proceeds going to TFB. Given all the outdoor seating at Easy Tiger South (in the old Red’s Porch location), we stayed for a delicious meal with the hallmark pretzel as well as sausage and eggs, a salad, Brussels sprouts, and a couple mixed drinks.
I still may finish that Texas French Bread review; hopefully it won’t be a posthumous one. And, you guessed it, one of the 379 drafts are for East Tiger. I may finish that one too before it burns down.
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