Voices of the
BIG BEND
Jim Glendinning recreates some of his popular radio interviews from “Voices of the Big Bend,” an original production of KRTS,
Marfa Public Radio, which is broadcast throughout the region at 93.5 FM.
by Jim Glendinning
KRISTA BORK
“Krista’s food adds substantially to
the Lannan Foundation’s Reading
Program,” says Douglas Humble,
Lannan’s Marfa residency manager. He
was referring to the regular readings by
Lannan residency fellows, which are
always followed by a superb buffet pre-
pared by Food Shark, of which Krista
and her husband Adam are partners.
News paper accounts across the country
have also extolled the Marfa success that
is Food Shark.
Krista Hubbard was born on Feb. 10,
1971 in Lubbock, Texas, the younger
daughter of Mike and Geri Hubbard.
Her mother remarried Les Craver four
years later, and the family moved to
Taos, then to Austin. Krista describes
her stepfather as a fearless entrepreneur.
Sadly he didn’t live to see Food Shark
take off.
Teen years for Krista were not happy
ones at Huntington-Surrey High School
in Austin. She was anxious to get on
with life. Things improved at the
University of Texas, where she enrolled
in 1989 in film production and criticism,
a subject she loved. She graduated in
1994 with a B.A. in radio, television and
film.
She married Olen Steinhauer, whom
she met in Austin, in 1995. The couple
moved to Boston, where Olen pursued
graduate studies at Emerson College.
Here, working in a specialty store, Krista
developed a love for food, in particular
cheese. “I adore cheese, particularly
Basque cheeses,” she exclaims. At the
same time, she learned commercial food
production as a prep cook.
In 1999 Olen was offered a Fulbright
Scholarship to Romania, where the cou-
ple spent 11 months. Olen researched a
14
Photo by Adam Bork
KRISTA BORK
Marfa
book, and Krista learned about seasonal
produce, great soups and Balkan food,
which she loved. In 2001, she enrolled
in a 12-month fine arts program in pho-
tography in Florence, staying on a fur-
ther two years, discovering how simple
Tuscan cooking really was. Her mar-
riage to Olen ended during this period.
Returning to Austin in 2004 due to
her mother’s health, she met Liz
Lambert, owner of the trend-setting
Hotel San Jose. She worked briefly at the
San Jose, where she met Adam Bork, a
musician, photographer and filmmaker.
The couple took a job at Lambert’s new
project, the Thunderbird Hotel in
Marfa, which opened in January 2005.
By 2006 they were ready for a
change. Someone noticed a 1974 deliv-
Cenizo
First Quarter 2011
Photo by Jim Glendinning
LINDA HEDGES
Fort Davis
ery truck for sale. On impulse they
bought it, installed cooking equipment
and hand painted the name Food Shark
on the side. The timing was right, and
success followed.
The daily menu is served from the
truck by the tracks in Marfa over
lunchtime Tuesday through Friday. The
Mediterranean-based and mainly vege-
tarian menu offers sandwiches and plates
from diverse origins in addition to daily
specials. The Marfalafel, incorporating
nine items, including fried falafel balls in
a tortilla, is the best known. Krista cooks,
and Adam serves. In addition, the two do
custom catering around the region.
Krista sees it as an art project, with
Adam as the artist. Others credit her
intuitive cooking and excellent presenta-
Photo by Jim Glendinning
ELIDIA POLANCO
Alpine
tion skills. They were married in
December 2010 and honeymooned on
Easter Island.
LINDA HEDGES
Growing up in leafy Independence,
Mo. and sharing many youthful camp-
ing and hiking adventures with her
father seems like an ideal start for some-
one who would later become one of
Texas Parks and Wildlife’s few interpre-
tive specialists. Linda Heman was born
on Nov. 18, 1958, in Independence,
Mo., the first daughter of Leonard and
Frances Heman. A second daughter,
Frances, was born three years later. She
is now a professor of biology in New
York, while Linda’s career has followed a
more outdoor path.