The Weekend

It really was such a lovely weekend, I feel compelled to share, even though I've written about all these eateries before!

Saturday started off with lunch at Hopdoddy. I had the Greek burger, a lovely lamb patty, cooked medium rare, with a nice topping of feta. Their french fries aren't too shabby either. And what really pushed the whole meal over the edge is their caramel + sea salt milk shake. O.M.G.

That evening, was Lobster Fest at Asti, in celebration of their 11th anniversary. Two dear friends are the mother and aunt of Executive Chef Jason Donoho, and along with some other food-loving friends, we ate very well.

It started with stuffed mushroom caps, with a light goat cheese and just a touch of truffle oil.

A roasted ruby and golden beet salad with fresh chevre and pickled onions.

Caprese salad. While it may seem cliche, it really is the perfect summer bounty. And that moz was amazing.

Pizza bianca, with prosciutto and another perfect little amount of truffle oil. I do not like heavy amounts of truffle; both of these applications were sheer perfection.

And NOW, we finally get to the lobster. They prepared it two ways: in a corn risotto (the plate in back) and a fra diavolo (spaghetti with tomato sauce and toasted breadcrumbs). Both were great, but I particularly loved the risotto. 

Dessert --  tiramisu, with an almond brittle sprinkled on top, and a watermelon granita -- so light and refreshing!

Our waitress, Claudia, was fantastic, and she also recommended the La Bambina rose wine we had with dinner, after our prosecco starters. Cin, cin to the food, wine, and company!

I was expecting Sunday to be a quiet day,  and probably just do stuff around the house. Well, friends called a little after 11am, wondering if I wanted a ticket to the Davis Cup tennis match at the Erwin Center that started at 2 pm. Um, YEAH!!! Davis Cup is the tournament of countries, as opposed to individual players, like Wimbledon. This round has been the US versus Spain, and the first team to win three matches advances to the next round. Spain was up 2-1 after Friday and Saturday; this match was David Ferrer (ranked 6th in the world, so not too shabby) and Mardy Fish (ranked 8th).

It was a LONG 4 set match, with Ferrer winning after almost 4 1/2 hours, 7-5, 7-6 (3), 5-7, 7-5 (5).  I hadn't been to the Erwin Center in years, and was almost immediately reminded how uncomfortable the seats are because of their narrowness! But it was a fun, raucous crowd, and a great event for Austin to play host to. Former US great Jim Courier was the team coach, and had Fish won, Andy Roddick would have been able to play on his home court, but it was not meant to be.

Both guys played great, but Ferrer was able to capitalize more when it counted.

After the match, we went to Hoover's for dinner. While I somehow missed on their menu that the meatloaf was covered in tomato sauce, it was still very tasty. The gravy on the mashed potatoes was certainly made with bacon fat!

And thus concluded the weekend excitement, and now, yes, Mom, on to some meals with vegetables! :)

Bits and Druthers

Friday night, we took a walk on the East Side, starting with East Side Show Room for happy hour, followed by dinner at the East Side Drive-In trailer park. Contentment was found by all! 

A dear friend was visiting from out of town, and we picked ESSR as the spot to meet up with two other friends. When we arrived at 6 pm, there weren't many people inside, but by 6:15pm, the place was hopping! The bar got a little backed up making our cocktails, but they do make all of their concoctions from scratch, from the simple syrups to the infusions. I had a Moscow Mule, which may be a new favorite! We also got the artfully presented cheese plate, with three lovely local cheeses and homemade jams and mustards to pair with each other; wish I had caught the name of the cheeses, but I think Dirty Goat was one of them. We also got the fried beets, which were served with a pesto and a chiffonade of something fried on top -- little thin crispy green strips. Quite tasty. 

I've been to ESSR one other time to meet up with friends; only had a drink then. I really would love to have a full-on meal there sometime; they are really committed to local and seasonal, and the menu sounds interesting. Someday.

We then walked across the street to the food trailer park, where there should be something for everyone: the No. 19 Bus, Local Yolk, Ugly Banjos, Vegan Yacht (closed that night), Pig Vicious, Pueblo Viejo, Love Balls, and a tapas place I didn't catch the name of. I think that's all the trailers there! But it's a perfect place for people with different tastes -- we took up shop at one of the tables, and then everyone could go pick food for themselves, like a food court at the mall, just a million times better. 

I was itching to try the fish and chips from Bits and Druthers (British pub grub), having recently heard their praises. I got the large order ( $7, vs. $5 for the small), and figured my friends would want to try. It's presented to you in a piece of white butcher paper, wrapped up in a cone. Back at our table, a bounty of food had been found, from a grilled veggie sandwich from the No. 19 (cheesesteaks, American food) to the Jimmy Crack Chicken at Ugly Banjos (homestyle cookin') and the takoyaki (octopus) balls and yaki-onigri (rice balls) from the Love Balls Bus  (Japanese street food).

You can sort of tell from the picture, that was a HUGE piece of fish (turbot, in fact)!  And it was delicious! It was a touch greasy, but I think only because they didn't give it time to rest on paper towels after frying. Great batter on it, made with locally made Real Ale, and a very tender fish. The fries are a nice size, and both go well with the homemade tartar sauce. And I used my Go Local card for a free drink. Win win! I had bites of everyone else's food, and except for the tako balls, everything was really good. The tako balls were a bit of an odd texture -- yes, it IS octopus -- but unfortunately, didn't sit too well with the primary eater. The garlickly rice balls were quite good though. 

It was also just the perfect night for sitting outside; the weather cooled off a bit, and there was a bit of a breeze. And, it's nice to see that East Side Drive-in is getting people, and in fact the place was rather busy. Lots of kids, families. And, for future reference, you can BYOB. Plus, they've got on-site recycling going on for the plastic and glass bottles. Hopefully, the SoFi food court can start attracting some of this kind of business.

Sidebar: My friend who was visiting used to live here, but hadn't been to ATX in 5 years. She was stunned by all the changes, like the growth of downtown and the food trailer culture. We had 2+ days of great eating! 

Friday (the food listed is what we both had, not just me!):

La Patisserie -- almond croissant, morning bun and toasted almond macarons

Ruby's BBQ -- pulled pork sandwich, Elgin sausage plate

Opal Divine's -- 512 Black IPA and Divine Peach Lemonade

East Side Drive-in -- detailed above

Saturday:

Curra's -- breakfast tacos, Oaxacan coffee, oj

Frank -- Jackalope, porked plain dog, corn up, poutine and waffle fries

The Gingerman -- 512 Wit and Pyramid Apricot
Asti -- calamari,  margarita-esqe pizza, carbonara, risotto, pasta special (ditalini with pancetta, white beans in light tomato sauce), cauliflower and spinach sides, tirimisu, affugato, cheese plate. And yes, this is a lot of food for three people; I am friends with Chef Jason Donoho's mother and aunt, he saw me come in, and sent the pizza and two of the desserts over! Overly generous and delicious!

Sunday:
Magnolia Cafe -- french toast, omlettes

I am well-fed.

Notes from this past week.....

A couple things to mention:

Got take out from the new Im Thai (still signed as CK Thai) in the shopping center at Brodie and 290, where Kohl's & Petsmart are located. It's owned by the people who used to own Thai Tara on 6th Street, which was regarded by one of my Thai co-workers as one of the best Thai spots in town. She also didn't particularly care for CK Thai, and I haven't yet asked her about Im. So after running errands one day last week, I was hungry for lunch & got carry out. After pondering the noodle dishes, I picked the Kua Gai, listed right under Pad Thai, and described identically to it, except for using flat rice noodles; I chose pork as my meat. The dish came fast, and 10 minutes later, I was home. It was okay, but not outstanding. The noodles were all very choppy -- none were longer than three inches in length, no nice long strands. The pork was a little tough, and while some of the chile paste added some flavor, there wasn't a whole lot going on; no real sweet & sour flavors to it. It was certainly made fresh, and the lettuce/carrots were a nice touch. The jury is still out though. I'll talk with my Thai friend, and see what dishes she recommends, and I'll go back and dine at the restaurant.

On Saturday, I had brunch at the 1886 Cafe at the Driskill Hotel. I've had a couple really good brunches there before, but this, really unfortunately, missed the mark all around. I am not quite ballsy enough to send my comments directly to the hotel management, but I am hoping someone there is checking up on what people are saying about their facilities. So here's my brutally honest reporting. My friend and I were seated out in the lobby; we both ordered the same skillet, the "D" Texas Two Step, with eggs, biscuit, sausage gravy and cheddar cheese grits; I asked for my gravy on the side. 

The eggs had no flavor. The biscuit dough was overworked, making a dense, tough biscuit. There was very little sausage in the gravy (that's gravy in both those ramekins). And the grits were awful; I think they used water, not milk in making them (think instant cream of wheat texture), and to me, "cheddar cheese grits" implies there's cheese mixed into it, not just on top. What we were served just had cheddar on top. When our waitress, Callie, came by to check on us, I told her the grits were extremely bland. She immediately apologized, and quickly offered to bring something to replace both of our grits. We both decided on the fruit cup, which had pineapple & fresh mixed berries. However, they didn't take the eyes out of the pineapple, and not just one piece, but all of my pineapple still had the eyes in it. Sometimes you can't win!

The one saving grace was our waitress, and while she looked young, she handled everything extremely smoothly and without missing a beat. I can only hope she told the kitchen that the grits were being refused, but who knows.

Saturday night dinner was another story. I had the pleasure of 1) dining at Asti, and 2) dining with friends I hadn't seen in a very long time. I have written about Asti before, but it continues to be an interesting and inspiring menu, with great service to boot. I had the homemade pappardelle noodles with lamb sugo; it was fantastic. While you can see the lovely wide noodles under all the ricotta salata in the picture, the generous sprinkling of fresh mint leaves was perfect with the little pieces of pulled lamb. Friends had the linguine with white clam sauce and the scallops with pancetta, all of which was exemplary. We split the affugato dessert (shot of espresso poured over vanilla gelato, and cinnamon sugar donut/beignets to dip in it), which was the perfect finish.

The place was packed, and while we were sitting in the back of the restaurant, it was a little warm in there. Dishes came fast; we started with the mixed appetizer plate, which arrived just moments after we ordered it.  I asked our waitress if the "Next Food Network Star" contestant, sous chef Brad, was still working there, and yes! She pointed him out along the open air kitchen. He's tall, that's about all I could tell. Anyway, happy to know that Asti is alive and well!

1886/Driskill....anyone paying attention, or do you just think you're feeding out of towners?

Asti

Asti , and it's sibling FINO are owned by local chefs/restauranteurs Emmett and Lisa Fox. They first hired local chef Jason Donoho as a Sous Chef for Asti; he soon moved to FINO, and quickly earned the Executive Chef title. He's now Executive of both spots, splitting his time between the two and elevating the menu at Asti as he goes. Formally known as Asti Trattoria, it's an Italian place in Hyde Park with a focus on clean, simple, seasonal food. The interior has a sleek modern feel, but still a neighborhood comfort spot. There's a small bar area, and the open-air kitchen is there for all to see what's on the stove. The Chef was not at Asti last night, so it was a good test to see what his kitchen could accomplish without him there.

My evening was spent with two dear friends whom I haven't seen in ages. We are all food people, so our evening at was spent laughing and going "mmmmmm" over all of the food. We shared everything, and experienced friendly, attentive, but unobtrusive service throughout the meal.

Things started with vermouth cocktails; a combo of sweet and dry vermouths, club soda, with an orange twist on the rocks. Yum! Asti does not serve spirits, but I don't think they need to if they can come up with nice vermouth drinks. I am not a big vermouth drinker, but in my book, it complimented everything we ate.

First up food-wise was a white bean puree on a crostini; velvety smooth, it practically melted in your mouth. Next up was the suppli, rice balls with mozzarella in them, rolled in breadcrumbs & fried; these were served with a spicy tomato sauce, large flakes of parmesan, and fried basil leaves. I am well-familiar with the suppli at Enoteca, which are more creamy; these had a really great crunchy crust on them, and the tomato sauce was very vibrant.


The lamb pie (pizza) was next. As I have written before, I love lamb, so for me, it could have used a touch more lamb in place of some of the bountiful black olives. But it was delicious. Their crust was crisp on the bottom, with a touch of cornmeal or semolina, and the edges of the pizza still nicely chewy. It went nicely too with the infused olive oil (fennel & sundried tomatoes) they had brought with foccacia bread. The lamb itself was pieces from the leg or shoulder, that were slightly crisp on the outer part, but still tender.


The seared scallops with handmade pasta followed. A regular order has 3 large scallops; they split the dish amongst 3 plates, so we each had our own extremely tender pasta on the bottom, the most perfectly seared scallop ever, scallions, a touch of lemon, and a hint of truffle butter. Called mandilli pasta (not a pasta style I am familiar with), it's something between an extremely wide papparadelle noodle and a long, ribbony sheet of pasta. All the flavors balanced each other perfectly.

Two side dishes arrived with the scallops, the Swiss chard with pine nuts & currants, and large white beans with guanciale (like panchetta), both well done, and the chard certainly adding a nice pop of green color. Lastly, we had the butternut squash risotto with brown butter, chestnuts & fried sage. The kitchen also split this 3 ways for us. This was the only dish that faltered a little; the risotto was underdone, so it was a bit more crunchy than creamy, but the flavors all together were fantastic. What's not to like about butternut squash and sage with a toasty butter sauce?

Okay, so we weren't totally done. There was a tiny bit of room left for the Affugato with beignets. The concept of affugato is a small cup of vanilla gelato and a separate cup of hot espresso that you pour over the gelato so it gets all melty. You then dunk your beignet into the warm espresso sauce. (I guess I'd consider it more a donut because it was round with a hole in it, whereas I think of a beignet as square. Semantics for fried goodness!)Now we were stuffed, and pretty much rolled on out of there. We had arrived at 6:30pm, and not long after, all the tables were filled, and people were waiting it out. Not bad for a neighborhood place that's been there for 9 years. And I would happily go back for lunch or dinner.

Confession time: my dining companions are the mother and aunt of Chef Donoho. In his absence, we were treated royally, but it appeared that the tables around us were getting fabulous service and food as well. My friends are extremely proud of the work Jason has done, and he should be proud of his staff who executed everything to almost near perfection.