Wine bar and restaurant The Rotten Bunch will open in Avery Ranch in fall 2015.[/caption]
Wine bar and restaurant
The Rotten Bunch will open at 14900 Avery Ranch Blvd., Bldg. B, Ste. 100, Austin, in the fall.
Co-owners Arik Williams and Alan Thomas, who also co-own
Bartlett’s restaurant in Austin on Anderson Lane, will offer “wine-friendly” foods at The Rotten Bunch, such as cheese and charcuterie plates, risotto and handmade desserts including chocolate truffles and lemon icebox pie, Williams said. The bar will offer wine and beer, including 10 Texas-made beers on tap.
Austin-based
McCray & Co. is the design firm Williams and Thomas hired to help with the decor of the wine bar and kitchen. The firm has designed restaurants including Ramen Tatsu-ya and Noble Sandwich Co., he said.
Williams said the name of the restaurant is meant to remind patrons to have fun with drinking wine.
“I think [the name] does a good job of explaining that even though wine can be really delicious, it can be really intimidating,” Williams said. “But at the end of the day, it’s just rotten grape juice; don’t worry about it."
Williams, a resident of Cedar Park for seven years before moving to a farm in Georgetown, said herbs and eggs grown at his farm will be used in dishes at the restaurant.
“We want people [at The Rotten Bunch] to relax,” he said. “We take our jobs very seriously, but we don’t take ourselves very seriously. We want people to feel sophisticated but feel comfortable wearing flip-flops.”