Recent Eats, part two

Picking up where we left off, the end of March and the beginning of April were a time of LOTS of good eats! Here's a few more tasty spots.

I was practically kidnapped by a longtime friend who insisted we go eat at North up at the Domain. And while they are a small chain (only six locations nationwide), they do make all of their food in-house, including the pasta. Turned out to be a really great meal! We started with the mussels, which have little bits of salami in the white wine and garlic broth; one of the best bowls of mussels I've had in a while.

I had the strozzapreti, a hearty pasta dish with chicken, mushrooms, spinach, and pine nuts. Very filling, I happily took half of this home for leftovers.

And dessert. Their tiramisu had a nice touch with teeny little crispy chocolate caviar balls on the top; it could have had a bit more espresso flavor to it, but the balls and the glass bowl alone made up for it. I LOVE this glass bowl, and would love to purchase some...there were no markings on the bottom of it, and I've started searching online, to no avail. Probably a 10 - 12 ounce capacity, and 4 inches in diameter at the top. If you have suggestions on where to find, please let me know!

Very pleasantly surprised by North. Our server was great, and at 2 o'clock on a Saturday, the place was packed. Also liked the creativeness in serving some of the dishes on wooden boards, which we saw at nearby tables.

One of my blogger friends had commented on one of my recent pictures from Asia Cafe (a place I have been numerous times and really enjoy), and the conversation led to us making a date to go to Szechuan House on Burnet Road, a place she really likes and I have heard good things about. Five of us met for an early Sunday dinner, and after a lengthy time studying the menu, I think we ordered some great dishes!

At the top of the picture, are the #A4 steamed dumpling with pork. They had a nice thin (but not too thin) dough around them with a multitude of tiny pleats!  Beneath it is #F9 fish with fiery sauce; we all thought this dish was okay, but maybe not the best of our assortment. It was a bit more like fish stew, and while tasty, it wasn't extremely hot (as in spicy). A crispy/fried fish would have given the whole thing a bit more body and texture. The #V6 dry fried green beans were yummy! Now they did come with a little bit of ground meat on them (and its not mentioned on the menu), so if you're vegetarian, be sure to ask them to hold off.  In the bottom left is #T1, ma po tofu with ground pork (I remember the server did ask us if we wanted meat with the tofu dish, but I don't think they asked us on the green beans.) This (and the fish dish) had some nice szechuan peppercorn flavor as well as being bathed in chili oil. If you haven't had them before (or maybe you have and didn't know what you were eating) the peppercorns produce a nice tingly, mildly numbing and tastebud-altering affect in your mouth. The #V7 was three kinds of mushrooms in a light brown sauce; the mushrooms had a really nice light smoky flavor and overall was a favorite dish. Not pictured is #P1, the twice cooked pork, which was thin strips of pork belly sauteed with green onions; very tasty, but I would love it a bit more cooked.

You can bring your own alcoholic beverages with you, and that helps keep the total cost down. For five people, we paid $15 each and were stuffed. Based off this first visit, I'd say Szechuan House is pretty comparable to Asia Cafe. I like them both, a lot! Just wish we had one of these down south!

The following week, we had a small blogger gathering at Quattro Gatti, an Italian place downtown (908 Congress Avenue) that's been open a few years, but doesn't get a whole lot of buzz. Blogger Food Fash has eaten there a few times, and arranged with the owner for us to come in and try the food in exchange for some social media mentions. (We paid for our beverages, but the food was complimentary; we were not paid for our opinions of the food.)

Gianfranco started us off with a couple of the different pizzas, and gave us a personal demonstration of how they shape the dough and cook the pizzas. The four formaggi (four cheese) pizza is above, and here he is at the pizza oven discussing how they're made. He was very animated and passionate about his pizza (as well he should!), which cook for only a few minutes in a special wood-burning pizza oven that gets ridiculously hot; the pizza should have a crust that is a bit crisp, but still chewy and toothsome.

This is the saffron risotto, not my personal favorite because I am not a huge lover of saffron, but the color was gorgeous.

One of the evening specials was housemade papparadelle with rabbit ragu, and it was fantastic! I think we all agreed this was the best dish of the night. Supple ribbons of pasta with a sauce that had a lot of flavor, but was not heavy.

And just when we though we were completely stuffed, they sent out five different desserts! From top left: affogato, cannoli, tiramisu, biscotti with vin santo (sweet wine for dipping the biscotti), and a brownie/fudgy tarte decadent combination. And between eight of us, we finished them off pretty well!

Thank you again to Gianfranco for welcoming us. I spied some items on the menu that I'd love to go back and try sometime, like carbonara, paninis and roasted sea bass. If you happen to find yourself downtown, go and check Quattro Gatti out!

I was invited to an open house at Walton's Fancy and Staple on West 6th Street. If you're not familiar with them, they serve breakfast and lunch, and have a beautiful pastry case. But they also do catering and floral arrangements, as they aim to be a one-stop shop for your party needs. I loved this tall floral piece, and they also had fun ones hanging throughout the room.

Their "Hideaway" room was set up for the event; it seats up to 30 guests if you're looking for a place to hold an event. Their catering can of course also come to you!

It's been good pickins! No complaints about any of these Austin eateries!

Copper

Austin Cake Ball has recently converted their shop at the Domain (by Macy's and Zara) into Copper, a full-service restaurant and dessert lounge, open for lunch and dinner with a great cocktail listing to boot! I was recently invited to stop by and try their new menu, so I took my North Austin friend, Epicuriosities along with me. 

I had not been in the place when it was operating as Austin Cake Ball so I am not entirely sure what the decor was like, but I loved the feel of Cooper. Even on an overcast day, the huge front windows bathed the shop in natural light, and also highlighted the impressive glass counters with loads of cake balls to choose from. White, light blue, and of course, copper give it a modern and sophisticated color scheme.

As you head towards the back of the space, there's a divider wall which was entirely done in pennies, as was the floor of the restroom and the entire back splash of the bar, giving the decor a nice sparkle when the light hit the shiny pennies.

We began our lunch with the aforementioned cocktails, Epicuriosities having the Candy Girl (cotton candy vodka and bubbly) and myself the Cosmo-naut (acai liqueur, vodka, cointreau, blood orange and cranberry juices), along with the fried goat cheese balls, which were presented beautifully with an orchid. Perfectly fried, and with a teeny bit of local honey to contrast the creamy goatiness, they were lovely, especially with the drinks. From their website: "Our kitchen combines farm-to-table produce, house-made breads and artisan meats with an emphasis on simple, clean flavors with seasonal ingredients." Always a bonus to be at a restaurant that espouses this philosophy!

When studying the menu, I wanted to be sure we didn't order both the crab cake AND pork belly sliders or the pork belly sliders and the pork belly flatbread, but I should have paid more attention to not getting so many items with white bread! {Perhaps some multigrain menu options would be warranted.} From the left, we went with the crab cake sliders, the pork belly and goat cheese flatbread at the top, and the classic grilled cheese and tomato soup. The crab cake had nice flavor, though it was on a denser bun than what I would call a brioche bun. The flatbread (okay, pizza) and a real nice pop of color from the arugula, though being a pork lover, I of course, would have loved to have had more pork belly present! The grilled cheese fingers were a fun, grown-up twist on the kid favorite, with smoked cheddar, havarti, muenster, and fontina cheeses in the sandwich, and the soup being tomato and roasted red pepper bisque.

We asked our server to pick a couple cake balls for us, and she brought us, from the left: red velvet, tiramisu, salted caramel, and German chocolate -- great choices! The German chocolate was my favorite, as it combines coconut with chocolatey goodness! They use Callebaut chocolate, a Belgian line that is a favorite among pastry chefs for good reason. Copper also offers other desserts like a heavenly sounding peanut butter pie or the hot mess brownie; with their liquor selection or even a cappuccino, it would be the perfect spot for dessert or a break from a day of shopping. And that, is what I am sure the owners of Austin Cake Ball were banking on with their transition to Copper.

There was only one person working the front of the house; Ryan said she had only been there about ten days, but she was the consummate professional -- friendly, present yet unobtrusive. Copper is open daily for lunch and dinner, with happy hour everyday from 4 - 7 pm, including all day on Sundays, all night Tuesdays and reverse happy hour on Saturdays after 9 pm. I think the hot mess brownie and a glass of port have my name on them when I return!