More: What I've Been Eating

Greetings from South Austin! I've been doing my best to try to support South Austin restaurants, with a few exceptions. Here's a look at what I've been making and getting for take out in the past two months. Caution: may make you hungry! 😂

Homemade: pasta in light cream sauce with asparagus, bacon, pine nuts and parm.

Homemade: coconut cream tarte

Bouldin Creek Cafe veggie burger

Homemade: chili (with beans!) and skillet cornbread

Vespaio canneloni, arancini, beet salad. These were fabulous and I got about three meals out of this.

A dear friend sent me this Bokksu box of Japanese snacks! So much fun!

Homemade: air fryer churros! Easy and yummy!
 (Though not as good as the nearby Churro food trailer!)

Habana pollo salteado, empanada, tres leches

La Patisserie morning bun, croissant, almond macaroon

La Patisserie chocolate hazelnut cake

Homemade: pasta with corn pesto

Bao'd Up BBQ chicken bao

Slab BBQ pork ribs

Tarka's lamb biryani and chicken korma. I can't not get the korma! 

Homemade: raw beet salad, with fennel, red onion and haloumi

Beet issues 😀

Soup Peddler: grilled cheese + salad

Sugar Mama's carrot cupcake and bourbon pecan bar

El Dorado beef enchiladas with calabazas (squash). This was a fabulous evening, being socially distant with friends in north central Austin. Food and friends were excellent! 

A friend and I both ordered carry out from Fat Dragon, coordinated our pick up times, and sat in the parking lot with our cars dovetailed together so we could eat and talk.  Delicious lamb cilantro dumplings and below, dry fried green beans.

Coffee bourbon browned butter blondies. See my previous post!

Artipasta: bolognese + lemon cream sauces for another evening of social distance with a friend.

Thai Fresh pad thai, tom yum soup, veggies

Elizabeth Street Cafe banh cuon and pesty cat.

Oh my. This Queen Beak (fried chicken biscuit) from Bird Bird Biscuit is one of the finer things I have eaten lately! This is the naked version, as I got my chipotle aioli and hot honey on the side, and as I was eating (and photographing) this from my car, the pics with the sauces on them aren't super. This was messy. But worth every bite.

Dolce Neve gelato

Homemade: pao de queijo (Brazilian cheese balls)

Loro: bavette, corn fritters, won ton chips + dips. The bavette is quite good, but somehow I can't get these lightly seasoned won ton chips with peanut sambal out of my mind.

I've heard the buzz about La Tunita 512, and had to go check it out. The consume with birria is delicious! Should have gotten the torta special to dip in the consume -- next time! 

Hungry? Yeah, me too. Time for my next meal! And I should add (and had mentioned in my May post), I've been doing intermittent fasting, so eating all these lovelies, and I am down 20 pounds total! 

What's on your menu?

Bits and Bites

Really, it's December ALREADY??! Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving, and now on to the next food holiday!

I recently received a Batch box to try; these are gift boxes of locally curated foods available from a couple southern US cities, and now Austin. For $29.99/month, you can give a box subscription to your favorite foodie! (Or yourself!) My box had House Granola, Great San Saba River Pecan Company Praline Popcorn, Royito's Salsa, and Luscious Pastry Chai Tea. Disclaimer: I received the box for free; opinions are my own. And hey, it's a pretty neat and very convenient idea, so check them out! Batch boxes are also available from Nashville, Charleston, and Memphis.

Events
-- Odd Duck is throwing a trailer throwback party, Tuesday, December 9th, 5 pm onward; suggested minimum donation is $25, and proceeds go towards Zilker Elementary's Edible Schoolyard program.

-- Homeslice's Pizza's Carnival o' Pizza was rescheduled to December 13th.

-- Also on the 13th, drive-thru burger chain P. Terry's will donate all of their day's profits from all 9 of their locations to the Austin American-Statesman's annual Season of Caring campaign; last year P. Terry's donated over $21,000 to this cause. Eat a burger on Saturday!

-- Texas Land and Cattle is offering holiday drink specials as well as some limited time menu offerings, Crab and Shrimp Stuffed Mushrooms and a smoked meat board for two people with sirloin, quail, and pork offerings.

-- Celebrate Christmas Eve Italian style with Sagra's Feast of the Seven Fishes, December 22-24, $39.99/person, reservations required and space is limited; additional $25 for suggested wine pairings. Dishes include salt cod, squid ink pasta, shrimp and mussel stew; full menu is here. 

-- The next round of Indie Chefs Week will be January 6-10; tickets begin at $195, and dinners will be held at  Foreign and Domestic, the "home" of the event's founder, Ned Elliot. The event gives up and coming chefs from across the country to showcase their talents in a pop-up restaurant setting.

Misc
-- Delysia Chocolatier won gold at the recent International Chocolate Salon Awards, for their carrot cake truffles in the "Most Unique" category, and white peach balsamic truffle in the "Top Truffle Artistry" category. Delysia's new Chocolate Culinary Center is at 2000 Windy Terrace in Cedar Park.

-- Fresa's will be offering tamales through December, created by Chef Rene Ortiz; varieties include chicken adobado, queso Oaxaca, and hoja santa, and run 3 for $7. 6 for $13 and 12 for $24.

-- Austin Monthly magazine's new food critique is Jolène M. Bouchon, who has previously served as the deputy digital editor for Martha Stewart's Everyday Food magazine.

-- The Statesman came out with a great listing of area gluten free restaurants/dishes.  Keep this list handy!

Open/Opening
-- Peached Tortilla just opened at 5520 Burnet Road.

-- Juniper, a northern-Italian restaurant will open at 2400 E. Cesar Chavez in the spring.

-- Spun Ice Cream is coming to 1912 E. 7th Street with liquid nitrogen-made treats.

Closed
-- A-OK Chinese at 1509 South Lamar... I was sad to see this one go, as I felt they never really hit their stride. On the flip side, Mexican/Korean fusion food trailer Chi'lantro will be taking over the spot in their first foray into the land of brick and mortar.

Bits and Bites -- Austin Food News

I attended a media tasting at Malaga last week; new Chef Mario Medina (formerly of Parkside and Chavez) has revamped the menu and the restaurant is more focused on local and seasonal products. The staff was wonderful and they outdid themselves with the ambitious number of items we sampled! Two of my favorites on the evening:

Gambas al Ajillo -- Shrimp in a garlic broth had the most wonderful tasting liquid. I could have inhaled a whole bowl of just the broth.

Rossejat -- a paella made from fideo rather than rice. Studded with garlic crema and shrimp, this was seemingly simple and delicious.

If you haven't been to Malaga in some time, go check them out! They even have valet parking out front, which definitely helps in downtown.

And on to Bits and Bites!

Events
-- Amy's Ice Cream is holding a contest where the lucky winner will receive free ice cream for life! Enter to win at any of their stores, November 19th - December 31st and the winner will be announced in January.
-- Con' Olio Oils and Vinegars celebrates their 5th anniversary with a special happy hour at each store, Thursday, November 20th,  4 - 7 pm. 
-- Trattoria Lisina is holding a 5 course wine pairing dinner with William Chris Vineyards, Friday, November 21st, $75/person.
-- Jack Gilmore will be signing copies of his new book Jack Allen's Kitchen: Celebrating the Tastes of Texas at BookPeople, Friday, November 21st at 7 pm.
-- The Austin Meatball Festival is Saturday, November 22nd, 12 - 5 pm, at Winflo Osteria. Over 10 area restaurants are competing for top balls! Live music. Tickets $15 in advance, $20 day of event; proceeds benefit Lifeworks.
-- Metier is hosting a release party for the 3rd issue of Sugar and Rice magazine, Sunday, November 23rd, 3 - 5 pm. They are an independent magazine telling the food stories of the Gulf Coast.
-- Wine and Swine is Sunday, November 23rd, 1 - 4pm, at Star Hill Ranch,  $85/person. See their website for the chef lineup! Benefits the Austin Food and Wine Alliance.
 -- Metier will also host a coffee class in conjunction with Casa Brasil, Friday, November 28th, 1 - 2:30 pm where they will teach you to make the perfect cup of coffee using a Chemex coffee maker. Additionally, Metier's neighbor, Dolce Neve Gelato will provide affogatos for participants.
-- Central Market on North Lamar will be offering Gingerbread House workshops, Nov 28th - Dec 6th; reservations required; $65/one adult + one child.
-- A Downtown Abbey Christmas Supper Club will be held December 2nd, 7 pm, at the Camp Lucy event space in Dripping Springs, $149/person. Period clothing is encouraged!

Open for Thanksgiving
-- Fresas is offering Thanksgivings to go, order by Friday, November 21st for pick up after 10 am on November 26th. Thanksgiving menu here.
-- Travaasa's Preserve Kitchen + Bar is offering family-style Thanksgiving, 3 - 9 pm, $55/person, reservations required.
-- Texas Land and Cattle locations will be open, offering an $18.99 meal, reservations suggested.
-- The Statesman also has an extensive list of open places!

 Misc.
-- Salvation Pizza is opening a second location at 51 Rainey Street in December. 
-- Gourdough's Public House has a new fall cocktail menu and new $5 happy hour offerings.
-- Waterloo Ice House has a new menu and is now offering cocktails along with beer and wine, and they continue to source their ingredients from farms across Texas.
-- Easy Tiger has announced plans to expand to The Linc (the old Lincoln Village, across from Highland Mall of IH-35) in 2015.
-- Lulu B's Vietnamese trailer will go brick and mortar next year, at the old El Flaco at 3632 South Congress.
-- Taste of Ethiopia will open a second location at 3801 South Congress. 
-- The former T + S Seafood will reopen at the Chinatown complex with a new name -- New Fortune.
-- El Chile on South First Street is going to rebrand as Alcomar and focus on Latin seafood.
-- New food invention show holding a casting call Dec 3rd - 4th -- could this be you?!

South Austin Food Trailers 2014

It's almost March, which of course brings bajillions of people to our fair city for SXSW, the Rodeo, high school basketball playoffs, and some spring break tourists too! While it can create traffic headaches, it's great for our economy, so welcome! The past couple years, I have taken some time to write a post on food trailers/trucks in South Austin, and here's the 2014 edition.

Please note, this is a reference guide, not necessarily an endorsement of each of these trailers, as I have not eaten at all of them. (But now that good weather is back on our horizon, it's time for me to play catch up!) Ones that I have eaten at and liked are noted. I am also probably missing some in this list, and I do apologize; leave a comment below on what else should be included.

Along South Congress (from north to south)
-- A Touch of Fire (Thai) at Riverside, by Howdy Donut
-- Mrs. P's Electric Cock (fried chicken) at 1101 S. Congress; fabulous fried chicken

-- Burro Cheese Kitchen (grilled cheese), at The Circle by Amy's Ice Cream
-- WurstTex (brats/sausages), at Gibson
-- On the west side of Gibson and South Congress, is a trailer park with Crepes Mille (crepes), Fat Cactus (great fry breads, both sweet and savory; last year's food trailer post has a write up of them), Hey You Gonna Eat or What (sandwiches), and Gemma Love (Jamaican)
-- Hey Cupcake at Elizabeth by Home Slice; the cupcake trailer that pretty much started the food trailer revolution along SoCo
-- SoCo Burgers at Oltorf in the HEB parking lot
-- Angry Egg Roll at the 04 Lounge at 3808 S. Congress

Along South First
-- Bouldin Creek Food Park at 1207 S. 1st at Gibson with Big Bad BBQ, Little Thai Food, and Pitalicious
-- South Austin Trailer Park + Eatery at 1311 S. 1st with Torchy's Tacos (fancy tacos!; other brick and mortar locations of Torchy's all around town), Holy Cacao (cake balls), and Conscious Cravings (vegetarian)
-- at Elizabeth Street, Gourdough's Donuts (Big. Fat. Donuts. as the saying goes), Melizzoz Tacos, and the Original New Orleans Po-Boy + Gumbo Shop (Cajun)
 -- at 1906 S. 1st, The Pizza Shop
--  South First Food Court at 603 Live Oak at S. 1st, with Chaat Shop (Indian), the Mighty Beastro (beast food), Bananarchy (banana-based desserts), Global Sandwiches and Mama Mal's Italian (both opening soon), and Try Mai Thai has just moved in.
-- Just east of South First on Oltorf (next to Church's), The Flying Carpet (Moroccan; previous post here) Maria and Abdu have become friends of mine; their food is unique and delicious, and they have hearts of gold. Also Regal Ravioli (Italian; my recent post on RR is here) -- two of my favorite places!!! Note: Regal has moved to 1309 E. 7th for SXSW.

Regal Ravioli's beet ravioli with pecan pesto

Along Barton Springs
-- at 801 Barton Springs, Short Bus Subs, Lucy's European, snow cones
-- at 1003 Barton Springs, Tac-O's and Nuha's Sinful Desserts

Along South Lamar
-- at Gibson by Gibson Bar, Luke's Inside Out
-- at 1311 S. Lamar by Genie's Car Wash, Brown's BBQ
-- at W. Mary by the Corner Bar,  Tommy Want Wingy and Potato.A both on the Mary side. Update: as of March 6th, it looks like Brown's BBQ has moved here as well, on the Lamar side.
-- at Oltorf, just south of the Office Depot under the big oak tree, LuLu B's Vietnamese; you can get a good sized banh mi sandwich and springrolls for $10, and that will make 2 meals for me. Love their bbq pork!
-- at Bluebonnet, the SoLa Food Court with Lone Star BBQ, Taco Baby, Wasota African Cuisine, Kuxtal Coffee, and Com Bun Yew (Asian)

Way, way down south
-- Native South Food Park at 10106 Manchaca
-- Moontowner Saloon at 10212 Manchaca...both of these have an assortment of trailers!

Other Austin trailer resources:
Austin Food Carts
Austin Food Trucks
Food Trailers Austin
Food Trucks TX

Regal Ravioli

Pasta is quite possibly the ultimate comfort food for me. And while I can make a pretty decent carbonara, homemade ravioli is something I rarely (okay, never) attempt to make. Fortunately, my neighborhood is home to Regal Ravioli, where I have become quite acquainted with the food. Owner Zach Adams has his trailer parked in a lot behind a blue house at 504 W. Oltorf (next to Church's Fried Chicken, just east of the intersection of Oltorf and South First). The house is the indoor seating for Regal Ravioli and my good friends at The Flying Carpet. Order food at either trailer, and they'll happily bring it to you inside the house, or you can dine outside at one of the picnic tables. Credit cards are accepted, and you're welcome to bring your own wine or beer.

I have visited Regal Ravioli a number of times in the past two years, and there is always a nice variety on the menu that would please vegetarians and carnivores alike, not to mention adults and children. Basically, you pick your ideal ravioli and the type of sauce you want to go with it.                      

Zach starts everything out though with homemade pasta, which I happened to catch him making on my most recent visit. One batch of pasta dough will make about eight servings of ravioli, I believe he said, so he makes multiple batches throughout the day. He also makes different doughs for different dishes. It's a very well stocked and organized trailer, and he makes everything right there in the trailer.

Regal Ravioli's logo proclaims they are the king of ravioli in Austin, to which I would add king of gnocchi as well! Their sweet potato gnocchi with bolognese sauce is something I crave and it's hard for me not to order it every time I am there! The individual gnocchi are consistently light and pillowy, and rival any gnocchi I've had at Enoteca or Buenos Aries Cafe, two area brick and mortar restaurants with generally outstanding gnocchi.  (And even if you're not a sweet potato fan, you wouldn't know you're eating sweet potatoes!) The meat sauce is hearty without being heavy, and accompanies the gnocchi nicely. I'd love to see what other kinds of gnocchi dishes they could make!

This is the sausage ravioli with a gouda veloute sauce; simple and clean presentation with outstanding body and flavor.

This is one of their recent specials, a roasted beet ravioli with caramelized onions and a touch of orange zest. Zach's suggestion was to pair it with the pecan pesto sauce, and it was terrific. Earthiness from the beets, a little bit of zip from the pesto, it was a great combination. One special that I've had in the past that's not pictured was a cheese and spinach ravioli with a blue cheese sauce that also had great flavor. They also have a few salads on the menu, including a pear and lentil, which I've tasted and really liked.

As with many trailers, Regal Ravioli is a one-man operation. Zach owns it, does all the cooking, etc. Occasionally I have seen a helper in the trailer, but Zach's the main guy. If he can't go, then the trailer won't open that day; check their Facebook or Twitter accounts for status updates and specials. Zach and his business partner have recently purchased a second trailer that they will use for mobile operations at events, festivals, and the like. He also told me they're working on some new dishes, like roast pork, and they do catering too!

So if you're looking for a great food trailer experience, go check out Regal Ravioli for a big bowl of freshly made pasta and sauce that are as good, if not better (and certainly a better value) than some of the well-known Italian restaurants in town. The ravioli truly is regal!