Community · Est. 2020
Field Notes
Notes from the trail and the kitchen — how we got here, and why.
The Encounter
Emory Peak. Big Bend. A mountain lion in a tree.
They had just summited Emory Peak and were making their way down — legs heavy, a long day behind them. Earlier on the trail, a mother bear and her cubs. The father, further back. Another in a tree. The park had been theirs for a while. Then Marlon stopped Ericka cold. A mountain lion was crouched in a tree right along the trail, locked in. They were among the first hikers back in the park after a long pandemic closure — the animals had reclaimed the trails and were living on their own terms. The lion jumped down and followed for several switchbacks. A group of hikers coming down the mountain joined them — strangers becoming a unit. They clanked water bottles and shouted into the trees. That’s what you’re supposed to do — make noise, stay together, don’t run. Marlon, the largest in the group, took the front. First line of defense if it came to that. They made it down. Everyone did. Rangers later confirmed — sightings like that are rare. Shortly after that, they decided to open a food trailer serving fried mushrooms.
The Winnebago
It started on four wheels.
A 1973 Winnebago Chieftain, found deep in West Texas. Undriveable. But the kitchen inside was fully outfitted — everything still in place, like it had been waiting. It needed a lot of work before it was ready for anything. The tow back to Austin was nerve-racking. Nobody was sure that big Winnie would make it. It did. That was 2020. East Austin. The beginning.
The Chef
The food found him first.
Marlon learned to cook from his mother — Southern food, made with love, the kind that fills a room before it fills a plate. When he started following a plant-forward lifestyle nine years ago and lost 140 pounds, he didn’t abandon those recipes. He reimagined them. Ericka was so impressed she insisted he offer it to the world. Ericka had been holding onto family recipes of her own. They went in too.
The Mushrooms
They grow, not graze.
Lion’s mane and oyster mushrooms. Not plants, not animals — a kingdom of their own. Lion’s mane has been used in traditional medicine for centuries. Fried, it goes crisp on the outside and tender all the way through. Oyster mushrooms are cholesterol-free, protein-rich, and fry up better than almost anything else. Sourced from local farms. Close to home.
Big Bend
Far from everything.
Big Bend National Park sits at the edge of Texas, far from any city, far from any crowd. More species of birds, bats, and cacti than any other national park in the country — and one of the least visited. They’ve hiked The Window — a narrow V-shaped notch in the Chisos Mountains where all the water from the basin funnels through one opening and drops into the desert below. Easy going down. A thousand feet back up. At night it gets dark in a way most people have never experienced. The Milky Way visible with the naked eye. Stars all the way to the horizon.
Uncharted
Before the Park Service, they were sent in first.
Assigned to patrol Yosemite and Sequoia in the 1890s — before there were rangers, before there were rules, before anyone thought to protect what was there. They were the Buffalo Soldiers. Black cavalry regiments sent in first, long before the National Park Service existed. They built the trails. They enforced the boundaries. They kept the poachers out. Their names aren’t on the maps. But those parks exist in part because of what they did.
The Library
Always open.
The books on these walls aren’t decoration. Marlon’s mother devoted her life to education. She showed up for her students the way she showed up for everything — completely. The kind of teacher you remember your whole life. Ericka’s grandfather, Virgil C. Lott, was the first African American to graduate from UT Law School — a prominent Austin judge in the 1960s. The road to get there wasn’t easy. The books on these walls are part of that legacy. The books, the trails, the parks — all part of the same belief. There is always more to learn. Always more to explore.
Day Ones
The ones that make it all worth it.
Some people have been around since the Winnebago days. Same smiles, same excitement, same order — give or take. They didn’t just support the food, they made it mean something. Every time they walked up to the window it was a reminder of why they do what they do.
The Tetons
A bowl of chili after Phelps Lake.
Phelps Lake Trail, Grand Teton National Park. One of those hikes where the view at the end earns every step. Spent, and ready for something warm, they walked into a Jackson Hole restaurant — the only plant-forward spot in town — and sat down to a bowl of chili that stopped everything. The owner was kind in the way that only people who truly love feeding others are. Comfort was the whole point. That stuck.
The Cabin
This is what they come home to.
Marlon and Ericka live surrounded by nature, on a property where the trees are close and the quiet is real. A pond filled with fish. Two pet goats — Cookie and Tater, a mother and daughter — deer that wander through, birds everywhere, and a Yorkie named Kyoshi who answers to no one. The cabin life isn’t an aesthetic. It’s Tuesday. It’s where they retreat, recharge, and test the next dish. More than a few favorites on the menu started here.
The Table
Our love language is food.
Over the past five years, food has been how they show up for people. The goal was simple — create a place that feels like home. Somewhere warm, welcoming, and worth the trip. A place where trying something new doesn’t feel unfamiliar. Where plant-forward isn’t a compromise — it’s a discovery. Where a first bite becomes a favorite.
Welcome home.
Community Kitchen + Taproom · Tarrytown, Austin