For the past several years, XL and now Michael Barnes at his Austin360 Out & About blog posts the Fortunate 500 lists of Austin's social movers and shakers. There are several categories, one of which is food. Every year, I ogle the fancy people who have been recognized, and of course I recognize many of them from the industry I work in. There are a lot of repeat attenders--chefs like Robert Rhoades, Jeff Blank and Alma Alcocer-Thomas; food movement gurus like Larry Butler and Carol Ann Sayle and Suzanne Santos; restaurant owners such as Peggy and Ron Weiss. But I have never seen professional booze hounds honored, until this year. And the honor goes to none other than your Tipsy Texans, David Alan (Tex) and Joe Eifler (Tipsy).

Tex shakes it up at Z'Tejas
Photo by Ricardo Brazziell for the Statesman

This list is an interesting one, and a very Austiny one, because it is not just the glossy society types who make the list, though many do and rightly so. One of the criteria for this list is frequency of appearance--how many times have these people been seen on the scene this year? Based on that criterion alone, Tipsy and I did our time last year. We set up cocktail bars at many dozens of events, including every major food & beverage event I can think of. We were at Dolce Vita, Food For Thought, Texas Wine and Song Festival, and Farm to Plate. Throw in a couple of Dai Due Supper Club events and fundraisers, and a few guerilla appearances at events we weren't official sponsors of, like the Hill Country Wine & Food Festival and Maker Faire. We did numerous "guest appearances" at bars and parties across town. And we did every event that Marla Camp of Edible Austin could con me in to, which is a lot--no wonder she and hubby Jeff made the top of the Food list, that woman was everywhere this past year.

Tipsy with his giant shaker at Z'Tejas, where we did the weekly Art of the Cocktail event from November through April

We poured drinks everywhere from private residences and ranches, to landmarks such as the Charles Moore House and Laguna Gloria, to the Music Hall to City Hall. We literally traveled across the state--from Houston to Fredericksburg to Marfa--shaking drinks that we designed for Rebecca Rather's upcoming book, Pastry Queen Parties.

Rebecca pouring my pitcher of margaritas at Cibolo Creek Ranch photo shoot outside Marfa

Writings by and about us appeared in Edible Austin, L Style/G Style, the Austin American-Statesman, CondeNasteTraveler.com, Rare Magazine, and numerous local blogs and Web sites. We have either judged, competed in, won, or hosted so many cocktail contests we've lost count. We have hosted talented mixologists "on tour" in Austin. Our catering business has grown and I have taken on the job of Bar Manager at Annie's on Congress, where I have finally been able to put some of my ideas to the test at a regular venue. We have been so busy that our own blog has suffered, which is a bittersweet reality. I am thankful to Michael Barnes and all those folks who contributed to the Fortunate 500 project. I am thankful to all the people who have joined us for a drink or two this year. It has been fun this morning to reflect on the past year and all of the fun we had. In a business as crazy as this one, it is great to know you have so many friends. In case we're too busy to write, go "Out & About" in Austin and I'm sure you'll find us, shaking drinks somewhere in grand fashion.