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Easy Tiger owners David Norman and chef Andrew Curren. Photo by Vanessa Escobedo Barba.
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The Hill Country Board: pain au levain, rye, quail and herb sausage, wild boar and green chili rillettes, smoked venison summer sausage, and house pickles with mustard. Photo by Vanessa Escobedo Barba.
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Easy Tiger is divided into multiple sections, with a bake shop upstairs, eatery downstairs, and beer garden outside. Photo by Raymond Thompson.
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Patrons seated at the coffee bar can overlook the operations of the bake shop. Photo by Raymond Thompson.
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Easy Tiger’s drink menu features over 30 draft beers. Photo by Karin Dreyer.
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The New Yorker Board: German-style pretzel, rye, pastrami, corned beef, sauerkraut, and house mustard. Photo by Vanessa Escobedo Barba.
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Easy Tiger, located on East 6th Street in Austin Texas. Photo by Sheila Lam.
Easy Tiger Austin
A good mix.
On the quiet end of East 6th Street in Austin, Texas sits Easy Tiger: a bake shop, eatery, and beer garden. The multi-purpose establishment, cloaked in wild ivy and overlooking quaint Waller Creek, invites in those curious about its seemingly contradictory offerings and encourages them to relax, stay awhile.
At street level, co-owner David Norman helms the bake shop. Norman, whose bread has been enjoyed by diners at Michelin-starred Bouley in New York, lures customers in with the smell of fresh, rustic loaves, pastries, and German-style pretzels. Downstairs, his business partner chef Andrew Curren—who counts industry figure Jonathan Waxman of Barbuto as one of his mentors—produces housemade sausages, corned beef, and pâtés. Both divisions lead by example, adopting traditional, unhurried, and labour intensive techniques to produce their specialized goods. Loaves of rye, sourdough, and semolina are wholesome. Danishes with rotating seasonal fillings and pain au chocolat are airy in texture and dense in taste. The corned beef is well-seasoned and moist. The smoked venison sausage and wild boar rillettes are rich in flavour.
The care and attention paid to the assortment of food carries over to the drink menu as well. Craft beer selections from local brews, such as Real Ale Brewing Co. and Austin Beerworks, along with global taps are curated by master sommelier Craig Collins. In the café, baristas serve up Easy Tiger’s signature Texas Coffee Traders blend, made from a mix of locally roasted Brazilian, Ethiopian, and Sidamo beans.
Though unexpected, seeing the artisan bakery and beer garden at work together makes sense, both focused on the art of leisure and fresh fare. Norman and Curren’s decision to undertake this space in a relatively unoccupied part of the city may have been an initial risk, but with Easy Tiger’s food, service, and atmosphere, it’s not surprising that it’s drawing crowds away from the boisterous stretch nearby.
