Good Food Award winners from the Meteor Café in Austin
In 2009, the year of our first formally written vision that described our community of businesses—Zingerman’s 2009—two longtime buddies decided to become business partners. One of them, Doug Zell, I’ve known for what seems like a zillion years, since he co-founded Intelligentsia Coffee Company in Chicago way back in 1995. Given my studies of the Russian intelligentsia in the 19th century and my search for great coffee (we wouldn’t start our own Coffee Company here in the ZCoB for another eight years still) I was quickly drawn to what they were doing. His partner in his new venture in Austin was Chris St. Peter, an attorney who’d had enough of the legal world and was ready to do something different with his life.
The pair decided to combine all the stuff they love—bicycles, great coffee, great wine, great food, and great people—into one really cool café. Called Meteor Café, it’s on the famous South Congress strip in Austin. Their tagline brings together three things that are widely loved but rarely connected in anyone’s marketing materials: “Espresso, Champagne, Chain Lube.”
For the last few months, we’ve been stocking bottles of the two El Meteoro sauces that they use for their breakfast tacos in the café. La Cremosa is a mild, creamy, green sauce that tastes good on practically anything. Made with chiles and spices, it is, as per its name, very creamy and quite mellow, and actually vegan. The other, called Pablo’s Smoky Rojo, is spicier (though still not hugely hot). It’s made with Chipotle chiles, tomatoes, onions, a small bit of cilantro, olive oil, and spices.
Aside from tacos, you can use the sauces on sandwiches, in the dressing for egg salad or chicken salad, or poured over the Creamery’s artisan Cream Cheese or Goat Cream Cheese. Packed in bottles, they’re ideal to take on picnics or stock in the kitchen at your summer cabin! Try ’em out—they could soon be as much of a staple at your house as they are at the Meteor!
