Heaven is a French bistro in Austin, Texas.

I’m currently reading Danny Meyer’s Setting the Table, admittedly for the first time. With each page, my vocabulary distinguishing hospitality from service.

To wake up the news of Texas French Bread’s destruction from a fire prompted me to list out the things that make Murph and the team’s work worthwhile with the above in mind.

Texas French Bread is the first to come to mind when I think of Austin staples. Founded in 1981, the restaurant ties West Central Austin (property west of Pease Park) to North Campus. It ties Hyde Park to the Drag. It ties the quickly developing land around it to an understanding of Austin’s unpolished, elegant culture. 

Texas French Bread makes me question why many other restaurant concepts exist. 

It’s thoroughly harmonized and utterly tranquilizing. Not to mention Murph’s regular newsletters, heartfelt and warm. A newsletter that’s influenced the way that I write, actually.

People go to Texas French Bread to feel like they’re at home and in Austin and flirting with the idea of moving to the French countryside, if not already there. They’ve pivoted and pivoted and pivoted since the beginning of the pandemic, with the aim of upholding the highest standards for those who desire a comforting experience (something they’ve done for years prior). Hospitality is at the forefront of what they do, and they back it up with top notch wine, Milanese, steak frites, and a BLT.

It’s easy to ask “Why them?”. My hope is that this disaster rallies longtime Austinites and new ones to do just that for our community. Let’s support a restaurant that does so much to preserve Austin’s culture by welcoming all.

Here’s the link to their GoFundMe. $108k raised by the end of Day One!

#EatWell