April's Eats

Apart from my last post on the new Lunar pizza trailer, what else have I been eating?

The month started with Easter brunch with friends at Chicon.

Chicon -- eggs benny with pulled pork

The Asian food game is getting stronger in Austin, though I continue to wish there were more places down south! I visited Teahaus 101 (Airport and Lamar Blvd) with blogger buddies Girl Eats World and Foodie is the New Forty for a complimentary media tasting. We had a LOT of food! I think my favorites were the bulgogi tater tots, the chicken wings, and the noodles with black bean sauce.

Teahaus 101 -- Asian smorgasborg!

While it was a long drive from South Austin 😉 up to the new H Mart Asian grocery in Cedar Park, I am glad I finally made it. On a weekday, the store was virtually empty and there were no lines at the food court. The KJ chicken and onion rings at Sunday Bird were yummy, and they reheated (as in crispy!) really well in my air fryer for dinner. Don't know what they did to the onion rings (MSG? twice fried?) but they were worth the drive.

Sunday Bird at H Mart 

I revisited ATX Cocina with a group of family friends, and once again I was impressed.  We had a variety of plates that we all shared, and our server was spot on with recommendations.

ATX Cocina -- snapper crudo

ATX Cocina -- fish of the day, branzino with red and green sauce, along with a jicama slaw and fresh corn tortillas

ATX Cocina -- chicken with white mole sauce

ATX Cocina -- carne asada

Frontier Airlines now has a nonstop Austin to Albuquerque flight (something Southwest hasn't had in years), which makes visiting my parents a bit easier. And they offered super-cheap introductory rates, which I took advantage of.  I hadn't flown them before, and yes, they do nickel and dime you, but the $130 I paid for a round trip ticket including a checked bag was well worth it. Fortunately, my parents appreciate good food too. My first full day there, we had lunch at neighborhood spot Piatanzi.

Piatanzi's Ottavio salad with golden beets, goat cheese, pistachios, dried cranberries and balsamic dressing.  Good pizza too.

After checking out the Leonardo DaVinci exhibit at the Natural History Museum, we went to Mary and Tito's for lunch. This true mom and pop spot has been around since 1963, and were recognized as a James Beard award winner in 2010. New Mexican food at its finest!

Mary + Tito's, on the left the carne adovada omelette and on the right, crispy taco, a tamale smothered in Christmas chile sauce (both red and green chile) and a carne adovada flauta. I wish there was good New Mexican food here in Austin!

Frenchish is probably my parents' favorite place, as they have followed chef/owner Jennifer James from place to place over the years (also a James Beard semifinalist for best chef in the southwest). The food here never disappoints, and it turned out that our lunchtime waiter from Mary + Tito's the day before (and grandson of the namesakes) was our waiter at Frenchish. Small world.

Frenchish -- blue crab salad

Frenchish -- pork belly with carrot chutney

Frenchish -- lamb bolognese that just melted in your mouth

Frenchish -- risotto jardinere with pork three ways

Up in Santa Fe, we had another fine New Mexican foods meal at La Choza. We've dined at sister restaurant The Shed (just off the main plaza downtown) for years, but La Choza is a relatively new discovery for us even though it has been around since 1983.

La Choza -- blue corn soft taco (not that you can see it) smothered in red and green chile, with a magnificent side of posole with pork.  Who's got a good recipe for posole??

I treated myself to a spa package and a night at Ten Thousand Waves Spa, where the in-house restaurant is the award-winning Japanese izakaya Izanami.

Izanami -- jamon serrano wrapped asparagus. wagyu beef, chicken meatball, and onigiri rice.

Izanami -- cucumber and wakame (seaweed) salad

After returning from my trip, I caught up with friends for lunch at TLC Austin, where I hadn't been since their media tasting in January, and also still impresses.

TLC Austin -- the Enlightenment, a vegetarian sandwich for me believe it or not!

TLC Austin -- snow crab legs seafood boil

TLC Austin -- 04 Goodness Sake

Finally, lunch at Pho with Us in Southpark Meadows.

Pho with Us -- bun bowl with grilled pork and eggroll and a VERY strong Vietnamese coffee

What have you been eating lately that I should know about? Don't want to wait for a monthly recap? Check out my more up to date Instagram page! 😊

Eating in Albuquerque

My parents have lived in Albuquerque for ten+ years now, so I am out there fairly regularly. As an added bonus, I have two friends from college who also live in Abq so my visits often have dual purpose. One of them got married over Labor Day weekend, so I took the opportunity to stay for a week as opposed to my normal 3-4 days at Christmastime.

Lavender at Los Poblanos Historic Inn + Organic Farm in the North Valley.

Fortunately, I come from a family that appreciates good food -- it must be in the genes! My parents consider Abq's food scene about where Austin was 10 years ago. There are a bunch of up and coming places, but not as much that is truly WOW like Uchi, which is someplace my parents always insist upon eating when in Austin. But there are still a number of good standbys in Abq, many with distinctive New Mexican touches to them, as well as places that are on the rise.

Burque Bakehouse's cruffin, a croissant/muffin combo which was heavenly.
They also did three different pies for the wedding.

I had lunch at the Flying Star, which has six locations around town, open 7 am - 9 pm.  Breakfast all day, salads, sandwiches, and large desserts, there's something for everyone here, kind of like a Kerbey Lane here in Austin. I was too busy catching up with friends that I neglected to take a picture of my Chinese Crunch salad that would practically feed two people.

Our group of six college friends had Sunday brunch at the Frontier, across from the University of New Mexico campus. Built like a barn, you order at the counter, find a seat (there are five dining rooms -- the place just keeps going back and back), and watch the digital screens to see what order number is up. And open almost all day, from 5 am - 1 am, I am sure many a collegiate hangover has been nursed by this greasy spoon's offerings. Though I have to say, it was much less greasy than I was anticipating. A couple of my friends had the huevos rancheros with green chile, and there were a few giant cinnamon rolls on the table too. I had the breakfast burrito with hash browns, egg, sausage, and the requisite green chile; delicious and not greasy! But also not as photogenic, so here's the huevos rancheros. I didn't love the cinnamon roll, though others did; I thought it was too doughy and the frosting glaze was made with margarine, not butter.

Huevos rancheros and the cinnamon roll in the top left.

Another Abq classic is the Range, with four locations around town, including the newest, which is in Old Town, where we had lunch. I had the green chile chicken stew with blue corn tortilla strips, which was a nice lighter meal.

And here's the New Mexico Benny with green chile turkey sausage and chorizo gravy. There's poached eggs in there somewhere!

Wedding guests were staying at the Hotel Albuquerque in Old Town. It's new sister property is the upscale Hotel Chaco, and we ventured to their rooftop bar, Level 5 for cocktails and panoramic views.

Nob Hill could be compared to Austin's SoCo, with it's hip vibe, plethora of eating places and artsy feel. Former James Beard semifinalist Jennifer James opened her new spot Frenchish about a year ago along Central Ave. My parents have been regulars at her previous spots (now closed), and as the name implies this new one has a French influence to the food but doesn't take itself so seriously. We shared the rabbit terrine, where the lightly pickled carrots gave a nice balance to the strong mustard.

I had the 3-course prix fixe, with a tossed salad, 4 oz petit filet with pomme frites, and a chocolate pot de creme. The salad was dressed perfectly and the steak a nicely done medium rare.

Mom's ratatouille, and Dad had a burger, which you can probably guess what it looked like.

Now the pot de creme was good, but the made to order madelines were incredible. Warm, with crispy edges and a soft crumbly interior, it was an ideal way to end the meal.

Bonus coverage! We went to Santa Fe one afternoon, and had an early dinner at La Boca, a Spanish tapas place just blocks from the main plaza. These little boquerones (white anchovies) with olive oil and citrus were quite fresh.

Loved the Spanish flavors of the mussels in a Romesco broth.

And the bacon-wrapped dates, stuffed with a marcona almond and a cabrales blue cheese sauce on the side were delicious.

And finally, sunset over the Jemez Mountains, between Santa Fe and Albuquerque, as taken from the passenger window of the car on Interstate 25.

Yes, it's the Land of Enchantment.