Austin, Texas is the live music capitol of the world and the location of a number of exhilarating Crave SXSW parties in recent years. The culture-rich town is also a culinary mecca, the foundation for a world of unparalleled quality in barbecue, food trucks and local cuisine. For the last several years, it’s where Chef Sonya Coté – executive chef and co-owner of Hillside Farmacy and founder of Eden East – has built a locally-sourced oasis.
A Rhode Island native, Coté branched from her beginnings as a Whole Foods marketing maven to Fredericksburg, where she ran the Hoffman Haus hotel before moving to Austin to study with renowned local-focus chef Jesse Griffiths of Dai Due. Soon after, Coté was promoted to chef at the East Side Show Room, where she could continue to advocate for the burgeoning local food movement.
A stylistic cornerstone of her locavore mindset, Hillside Farmacy sports a casual, new-American cuisine with a full bar, and an oyster bar designed as an active art piece.This farm-to-table eatery was once the Hillside Drug Store in the 1950’s, and its history is evident in original cabinetry and antique pharmacy displays. They serve offerings from many local farms, including Springdale, Richardson, JBG, Countryside, Rainlily and Hausbar, drawing locals as much for ambience and gorgeous decor as for their spirit of local support.
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The restaurant is more of a “supper club” than a fixed establishment, as Coté explains, focusing on farm-to-table cuisine that shifts courses each week, often sourced with produce grown on-site, a magnificent expression of sustainable urban farming.
