While I was in Austin last week, I stumbled over to Congress Avenue in the early morning murk looking for breakfast. Las Manitas wasn’t where I left it. But there was a new place called Annie’s Cafe. And there I spotted my old friend David Norman baking bread. I tapped on the glass and got him to let me in although the place hadn’t opened yet. Norman is a veteran boulanger who has worked at such famous bakeries as Upper Crust in Seattle and the legendary Bouley Bakery in New York. He started at Annie’s around a month ago, he said.
Annie’s Cafe is owned by the folks who used to own Apple Annie’s, which was a great little lunch spot where my friend the late Pat Knight used to work. Annie’s Cafe is a much more ambitious venture. I like the layout of the new place. Who can resist a bakery cafe with a full bar? Norman got my day going with a cup of strong coffee and a fresh-out-of-the-oven cinnamon roll. He also told me to make sure to put some rye flour in my next sourdough starter to get the right kind of bacteria going.
I look forward to going back to Annie’s and eating a sandwich of some of Norman’s amazing bread.
I thought it was the ergot fungus in the rye flour you were supposed to cultivate, not the bacteria. (Note: keep those loaves of moldy rye bread away from the kiddos until they are at least 12 or so!)
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Annie’s is really good[review above]. The burger is a disaster but otherwise I’ve never had a bad meal there.
The Italiano sandwich is the best in Austin.