The Driskill Hotel in downtown Austin has seen its share of ups (hosting several governors’ inaugural balls) and downs (the threat of demolition in 1969). But one happy-making constant at The Driskill dates back decades.
The hotel restaurant’s 1886 Chocolate Cake—named for the year cattleman Jesse Driskill built the hotel—originated with famed Texas tastemaker Helen Corbitt, who oversaw The Driskill’s culinary operations in the 1950s. The cake was an instant hit (it’s been said the cake is even more famous than the Romanesque-style hotel).