Austin American-Statesman, February 2011
“Shawn Cirkiel opened the backspace in December for the very best of reasons: He wanted to re-create Neapolitan-style pizza at home… We had mushrooms light and earthy, sausage bright with fennel and heat, ricotta and mozzarella like velvet spotlights, marinara that deserved a bowl of its own…”

Austin Chronicle, February 2011
“The pizzas are the drawing card and are thought by many to be the best in town…the backspace is about as authentically Italian as you can get without hopping on a plane.”

Austin Monthly, March 2011
“…this restaurant knows how to stand out from your average pizza joint. Chef-owner Shawn Cirkiel of parkside fame makes sure to serve up menu items with the freshest Italian ingredients…You’ll want to add this casual Italian eatery to your list of downtown dining ventures.”

The Hollywood Reporter, Austin’s Hot Attractions, March 2011
“Shawn Cirkiel has opened his second concept, backspace, a 30-seat trattoria serving thin-crust Neapolitan pizzas from an Italian brick oven and handmade charcuterie.”

The backspace Opening Press Release, October 2010
“Inspired by the legendary pizzerias of Naples, Chef-Owner Shawn Cirkiel announces his newest restaurant, the backspace, serving authentic Neapolitan pizza and artisanal antipasti. Hip, casual and affordable, the backspace will offer a selection of pizzas, antipasti, salads and desserts… The star will be the Neapolitan pizza, known for its unique thin, chewy crust.”

Restaurateur and Chef Shawn Cirkiel
Widely recognized as one of Austin’s most creative restaurateurs, Chef Shawn Cirkiel has been impressing area foodies and critics alike since the early 2000s, when he gained the honor of Austin’s youngest five-star chef from the Austin American Statesman. Cirkiel was the first to introduce Austin to the gastro pub concept with his casually sophisticated parkside on Sixth Street. He also recently opened Neapolitan-style pizzeria, the backspace, and continues to inspire diners with his innovative approach to New American cuisine and authentic artisan pizzas.

Cooking fresh and local is in Cirkiel’s blood, having grown up on a farm with a family whose livelihoods were rooted in the food business back as far as his great-grandparents. His training at the Culinary Institute of America provided Cirkiel a more refined cooking style while further encouraging his obsession with seasonal, local ingredients. This passion later led Cirkiel to become a founding chef of the Sustainable Food Center’s Farmers’ Market in downtown Austin. Hoping to instill is his two children and the younger generation a similar passion for fresh, local foods, Cirkiel is also a member of the Nutrition and Health Board for the Austin Independent School District’s Highland Park Elementary, where he has played an instrumental role in building a variety of healthy-eating, exercise and gardening programs.

Actively participating in the community is also important to Cirkiel, who has long been dedicated to improving downtown Austin’s historic Sixth Street district. His involvement as a board member and secretary for the Sixth Street Austin Association has been crucial in helping the preservation organization raise funds to continue restoring the legendary district, enhancing its historic character and better branding the area as a celebrated destination worldwide.

Since opening the award-winning parkside — known for its impressive oyster selections, raw seafood bar and seasonally rotating menu — Cirkiel has received much media attention, most recently noted in Food Arts Magazine. He has also graced the pages of the Los Angeles Times, American Way magazine, Spirit Magazine, and Cooks Illustrated, just to name a few. Texas Monthly magazine named parkside one of the “Top 10 Best New Restaurants in Texas” in 2009, and Bon Appetit Magazine crowned parkside one of the “Hot 10 New American Taverns” and a top destination for pub cuisine.

Despite his many regional and national accolades, Cirkiel remains focused on the delicate details of serving well-crafted food to each and every diner visiting parkside and the backspace.

General Manager Harlan Scott
Harlan Scott has a keen understanding of how to make a restaurant successful from the ground up. As the general manager of popular Sixth Street gastro pub, parkside, and sister restaurant, the backspace, a Neapolitan-style pizzeria, Scott has elevated the restaurants’ service standards to that of their award-winning food — an enormous challenge in a fast-paced, casual-dining environment.

Scott was drawn to the restaurant industry at a young age, initially waiting tables at College Station’s oldest and most famous café. By the age of 24, he had become general manager of the café’s sister restaurant and within another two years’ time, Scott was playing a leading role in the restaurant group as director of operations. He was pivotal in helping the restaurant group open its third lucrative concept, and while managing all three units, took great strides to develop better, more uniform standards for service and operations. Scott’s experience in both consulting for growing restaurants and helping concepts succeed from their outset has gained him a distinguished reputation. For Scott, it’s all about creating highly efficient restaurant-management systems and focused customer-service standards.

Scott’s experience in opening new restaurants, combined with his affinity for structured policy and service, enabled parkside restaurateur and Chef Shawn Cirkiel to open his second concept, the backspace, without having to sacrifice the quality and reputation of parkside. The overall professionalism of the staff and management team at both restaurants has led to remarkable success. parkside’s popularity has increased dramatically as Scott and Chef Cirkiel enhanced the service and atmosphere. In the past year alone, Scott has revamped the restaurants’ training programs, enhanced staff communication with regard to menu updates and service issues, and helped to mature the cocktail and wine programs at parkside and the backspace.

While Scott has helped many good restaurants become truly great, his work with Chef Cirkiel is his biggest accomplishment to date. Indeed, his dynamic caliber of operations and service has become the perfect complement to Chef Cirkiel’s celebrated Austin restaurants.

Sommelier Ashley Gaas
Sommelier Ashley Gaas has always had a passion for the finer things in life. Growing up in Houston, her interests in culture and the arts led her to an education in theater. After majoring in musical theater in college, Gaas headed to New York City, where she began working as a server and bartender at Blue Fin Seafood and Sushi Restaurant. It was there that her love for the world of wine — long nurtured by her stepfather, a dedicated oenophile and wine connoisseur — began to blossom. Learning as much as she could about Blue Fin’s 600-bottle wine list, Gaas became a student of the restaurant’s sommelier, acquiring much of his knowledge through training and taking extensive notes during every tasting opportunity.

A move back to Texas to further pursue her wine education solidified Gaas’ metamorphosis from theater actor to wine specialist after she received her level two sommelier certificate from the International Sommelier Guild through the University of Houston. As the bar manager at Danton’s Gulf Coast Seafood Kitchen and the wine captain at the Houston City Club, Gaas honed her wine knowledge, hosted wine class banquets and food-and-wine pairing classes.

In the summer of 2009, Gaas moved to Austin, where she immediately joined the award-winning culinary team at parkside, and, quickly gaining a reputation for her refined palate, began helping craft the restaurant’s wine list. Later, when sister restaurant the backspace, a Neapolitan-style pizzeria, opened, Gaas helped develop a constantly evolving 40-bottle Italian wine list designed to amplify and highlight the restaurant’s Italian menu.

“I really enjoy talking to our diners and introducing them to a bottle of wine they’ve never heard of before. Then they love the wine and get so excited about it. I like seeing that,” Gaas says. “I think wine is a necessity in life. It’s a whole culture. I’m passionate about it because I know how much love went into a wine to create it.”

Now firmly rooted in the culinary world, Gaas hosts monthly wine classes at parkside and weekly trainings at the backspace for the restaurants’ staffs. But her education is still a priority; she plans to attain her level three sommelier certificate within the coming months, followed by her final level four sommelier designation.