Dan Anderson, Keith Kreeger, Courtney Murphy

Join us for our annual Shots & Pots event on Saturday 5/11 from 1-4.  We have dishes from 3 artists, drinks courtesy of Wahaka Mezcal, bites from East Side King and music by DJ Hear No Evil.  Get there early before the best dishes drinks and bites are gone!

Need directions?  Check out the Google Map here:

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The May issue of Food and Wine Magazine included a story about Paul Qui cooking late night.  Just like at his new restaurant Qui he was serving up his meal on my dishes.  The story is online and the recipes are available on the F&W website.  So…try Paul’s techniques for yourself…just make sure you choose your dishes wisely!

I’m proud to have my work associated with some amazing shops around the country.  The support of the creative community here in my hometown of Austin, TX has been nothing short of spectacular.  I could speak for days about all of the reasons I love to be a maker in Austin.  You can now find a collection of my work at the new Helm Boots Flagship Store on East 6th.  Helm is definitely one of those companies that I’ve admired for a long time…they opened shortly after we moved here.  They now make all of their boots in the USA and those boots…oh those boots!  Let’s just say that my next delivery of work may mean I’m walking in with porcelain wares and leaving with some leather beauties.

When you find yourself in Austin make sure you top by Helm and grab some leather & porcelain…it’s a beautiful combination.

Panorama of the new studio

Not too far…I’ve been in the same studio since moving to Austin but it’s time to move.  Recently, I’ve found an amazing spot within Canopy Austin which is about 1 mile from my current studio.  The build-out is going to have a showroom and office that is separate from the studio.  The studio itself is more than double the amount of space that I’ve been in.  I’m really excited about the new space and am so happy to be growing the business into this new setting.  I’m going to have multiple kilns have much more capacity to produce work than I have in the past.  I’m moving this week and should be all settled in pretty quickly.

The first big studio launch party will be during Art of the Pot on Mother’s Day weekend.  The details are still coming together but it’s going to include food from Paul Qui’s East Side King Trailer and drinks courtesy of Wahaka Mezcal!  Stay tuned for updates!  

Long term plans include more events within the showroom including catered dinners and other special evenings.

I’ve alluded to this story a few times and I’ve spoken about it a bit on my Facebook & Twitter pages but I’m pretty sure this is the first time I’ve writing about it in detail.  So…I guess this is the official announcement about the work I’ve been doing the last few months for Qui’s upcoming flagship restaurant, QUI, here in Austin.  Paul is obviously a local hero after winning Top Chef Season 9 and a Best Chef Award from the James Beard Foundation in the same year.  His East Side King trailers have been featured on Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations and QUI has been named one of the top 5 most anticipated restaurants in the country by Bon Appetit magazine.  He is part of the incredible food scene that has grown tremendously in Austin.  The restaurant industry is a vibrant part of the creative community here and are just one of the many reasons that I’ve fallen in love with our city.

Late in 2012, I started working with Paul’s team to design some tableware for the new restaurant.  I jumped at the opportunity.  It’s been an amazing project and such a wonderful team to collaborate with.

I’ve long preached about the connection of great food and great dishes.  Paul and his team had been looking for a local artist to work with on the tableware.  QUI is going to be a “Workshop for seasonality” according to Paul and that fits in beautifully with how I approach my studio work.  I’ve talked about the foodie movement often and how closely related it is to the craft movement.  I’ve never met a lover of craft who isn’t also a food lover.  Most of my clients are also sourcing their food from a farmer’s markets or perhaps the farm itself.  The “foodie” movement is growing so rapidly and I’ve always wondered if the food lovers think about what they’re serving their meals on yet?  I don’t think that’s universal yet.

I talk a lot about how objects matter…How what we choose to surround ourselves with can enrich our daily lives.  Diners at QUI will see firsthand how the combination of well-crafted food and craft can work together to elevate an experience.  For a bit of info about QUI, here’s a recent article in CultureMap where Paul discusses some details, including our collaboration.

I’m happy to be a part of the Austin Food & Wine Alliance’s Wine & Dine dinner series at QUI on March 21.  It’s a fundraiser and will be the first chance for folks to taste and see what the restaurant is all about.  Tickets go on sale this week and will sell out fast.  Sign up today with the AFWA so you can get yours!

Photo from AFWA Website

You can see the article here.  (If you’re a digital subscriber, you can see it all now.  If not, it goes online next month)

Going in for some camera time!

MSNBC was onsite at the NYIGF and I was asked to go in and be part of Your Business with advice and business question.  That was pretty cool.  I’ll let you all know when I’m on the teevee!