May 11, 2009 - Max’s Wine Dive Media Party
The invasion of
Houston eateries continues downtown, this time with the opening
of Max’s Wine Dive on the corner of San Jacinto and 3rd.
Sporting a 180 label wine list and a menu of
“gourmet comfort food,” the upscale yet stripped
down restaurant was filled with local media celebrities on
Monday night for the pre-opening celebration. We never
did find the “underground” private dining space in
the remodelled warehouse space, but we did have a
great time visiting with friends at the
event.
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We chatted at length with
master mixologist David Alan from the Tipsy Texan and
marketing guru Oliver Everette from L Style/G Style Magazine. We spied food reviewer Rob Balon and
media power couple Olga Compos and Kevin Benz, and stopped to
reconnect with Austin arts icons Linda Ball and Forrest Preece.
The staff at
Max’s is quick, friendly, and very knowledgeable about
their wine selections. We sampled several different
labels while snacking on the trays of foods that kept circling
the room. The restaurant’s signature fried chicken
- with its jalapeno and buttermilk marinade - was a big hit, as
were the buffalo sliders and fried oyster nachos. And who
knew that Parmesan-dusted French fries would taste so good with
a glass of Pinot Noir?!
We meet Executive Chef
Steve Super, who talked about the fresh local area ingredients
that his kitchen will be utilizing, including buffalo from San
Antonio and breads from Sandra Bullock’s new downtown
grocery venture Walton’s Fancy
& Staple. And as the
Austin American-Statesman’s Mike Sutter recently reported, Chef Super was a touring
musician for almost three decades - so he will be right at home
among Austin’s downtown late night entertainment and
dining district.