Edible Austin Eat Drink Local Week under way

AUSTIN (KXAN) - The Sixth Annual Eat Drink Local Week is under way, but it's not only about sampling some of the best local produce and meat in Austin. 

Money raised from local restaurants will benefit nonprofit Sustainable Food and Urban Roots.

Edible Austin magazine puts on the event every year. The week kicked off with the Urban Farm Bicycle Tour on Saturday, where people could ride around Austin community gardens and urban farms -- such as Boggy Creek.

Organizers said it wants people to dine out, cook in and celebrate the ingredients, landscape and people behind the food.

“I think it’s so important to celebrate local food," explained Marla Camp, publisher for Edible Austin. "And it’s mainly about the people growing it and what that does for you and your family in terms of your health, in terms of your enjoyment of food, and in terms of helping the local economy."

Last year they raised about $52,000 for Sustainable Food and Urban Roots. It teaches high school students about organic farming.

“It’s a wonderful thing to see, that kids know where there food is coming from. And they taste the freshness, and they taste how sweet it is," said Camp. "They’ll just love their vegetables."

About 40 different restaurants are participating in the week-long event.

Kerbey Lane Café is one of the places that offers certain items on the menu specifically crafted from local farmers. That includes a Greek lamb burger, where the meat comes from Twin County Dorpers.

“It’s always been greatly important for us, and we love supporting local ranchers and farmers," said Joel Welch, executive chef at Kerbey Lane Café. "It means a lot to us. We like the quality of the product and just supporting the local economy."

The restaurant started going local in 1980 because it wasn’t happy with the tomatoes it was getting and switched to local farmers.

Edible Austin also has a  Chef Dinner Auction online, which ends Saturday. The last chance to bid live is on Sunday from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

The winner will get a private dinner for eight, prepared and presented by a chef.

Chef Dinner Auction

• Shawn Cirkiel – Parkside, Olive & June
• Paul Qui – Qui
• David Bull – Second Bar +Kitchen & Congress
• Sibby Barrett – Onion Creek Kitchens
• Will Packwood – La Tavola
• Jesse Griffiths – Dai Due
• Mat Clouser – Swift’s Attic
• Tim Dornon and Philip Speer – Uchiko

There are also pop-up happy hours all week from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

Monday—Treaty Oak Distilling at Urban: An American Grill
Tuesday—Treaty Oak Distilling at Olive & June
Wednesday—Tito's Handmade Vodka at Contigo
Wednesday—Republic Tequila at FINO Restaurant Patio and Bar