Bits and Bites + Recent Eats

A bunch of miscellaneous food stuffs!

For this week's Bits and Bites

-- Sagra is hosting a Father's Day Sunday Supper, that's tomorrow, June 17th, five courses with wines.

-- Coming to Round Rock this fall (at IH-35 and Old Settler's Blvd) will be a second location of Jack Allen's Kitchen.

-- In the South Lamar Trailer Park just south of Red's Porch, we currently have Collie's Burgers, Tri Mai Thai, Honky Tonk Hot Dogs, and two others that I am not sure yet what they are. So far, I can't find a whole lot of info (websites or Facebook pages) on any of these three. Anyone tried them yet?

Recent Eats and Events
-- Back in May (April?), a few of us went to Jessie Street Eats one evening; it's a food trailer park just off Barton Springs Road. Unfortunately, Fatback Boucherie was closed that day, but I did get to try Bahn-Bahn, a Vietnamese trailer, that features banh mi (not sure why they spell their name differently than the sandwich name!). I had the barbecued pork banh mi... very fresh and tasty, but I didn't love the pork. I prefer the pork at the LuLu B's trailer, I have to say. I have heard their chicken lemongrass sandwich is good, so I would probably try that on my next visit.

-- When my parents were here in May, we ate out at a bunch of places, all of which have been written about here before! I will say we had outstanding meals at Elizabeth Street Cafe, Uchiko, and Lenoir.  The one newer spot we hit was Thai Fresh, on West Mary and South 5th. It's been a long while since I had eaten there, because the food was pre-made and then packaged up for you when ordered. Now, they are making it fresh, made to order and it makes a difference! I had the pad ke mao, also known as drunken noodles. It was really good, and a large portion! Nice fresh bell peppers and mushrooms, with a spicy brown sauce. I can see myself returning!

-- My blogger friend Sugar Foot Eats and I dined on Cajun at Evangeline Cafe. I failed to get good pictures (I will blame it on the bright light streaming in the windows and an otherwise dark cafe), but my soft-shell crab po-boy was really good, their very thin crispy fried onion strings are always delicious (especially in the remoulade sauce), and a new discovery there, the pecan praline pistolette! It looks like a meat pie, even when cut, but it oozes ooey googey pecans and caramel sauce that was truly yummy. Would have been extra special with a bit of vanilla ice cream, you know?
-- I previously posted about my visit to Jax, aka Artz Ribhouse North. After we ate, I was persuaded by my friend go to across the street to Texas French Bread for dessert, where I had a gorgeous piece of key lime pie. Good graham cracker crust, and I liked that it was whipped cream on top instead of meringue, but I would have liked a little more tartness in my key lime. Very good, but not twangy enough for me! :)

-- A bunch of us bloggers went to eat dinner at Vivo Lake Creek last weekend. I've been to the Vivo on Manor Road, but given that Lake Creek is far northwest Austin from me (183 and 620), it's not an area I frequent! But it's always great to get together with friends, no matter where the location. While located in a strip mall, the inside of this Vivo definitely does NOT have a staid, homogeneous appearance like you might expect. Half restaurant, half night club (DJ, lounge seating areas with gauzy curtains?) it features some rather graphic art work that I would say isn't X-rated, but it's not necessarily family friendly either. As for the food, we all agreed their queso was really good. Not from Velveeta! I had the brisket tacos, and the meat was outstanding; you could really taste the smokiness. I probably ate too many chips and queso, so I ended up taking one of the tacos home for the next day's lunch but that was fine! The beans and rice were nothing spectacular, but the brisket is really where it's at. Two people had the marlin special, which they both loved, and the scallops in watermelon gazpacho also got high marks. Their cocktails are very colorful, and come adorned with a fresh orchid bloom.

-- Last Sunday, I saw Bernie (hilarious!)  at the Violet Crown downtown, and because we still had time left on our validated parking for the theater, we hopped over to Jo's for an early supper. I had never been to the Jo's downtown, and I was immediately struck by the ceiling height -- very high --  somehow, I wasn't expecting that! My friend and I both ordered burgers, and asked for them medium rare. Unfortunately, what we both got were medium to medium-well done burgers. And the ice tea had been freshly made, so it was slightly warm, and the ice just melted immediately.  So I'd say cute place, but not the most outstanding food experience. There's potential in the burger, and my friend who has had there before swears they're usually good!

-- An acquaintance of mine has opened Capital Kitchens, a commissary for caterers, food trucks, or whomever needs the space! They had an open house on Thursday, which featured food from some of their clients. Please spread the word if you know of anyone looking for kitchen space! They are at 1606 W. Stassney, a couple blocks east of Manchaca. 

-- Also Thursday evening was a fundraiser at Springdale Farm for Colleen Sommers of Pie Fixes Everything, who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. MANY local food people donated their time and talent for this event, including pig roasts from Salt and Time and Three Little Pigs, as well as a pie auction, with desserts made by local chefs and celebrities, and a silent auction as well. I haven't heard the total dollar amount raised, but it was a great evening from this participant's standpoint. You can hear more about Colleen on Cecilia Nasti's Field and Feast podcast.

Salt and Time's pig, cooked in the Caja China

Slicing it.... they stuffed it before cooking.

Bola Pizza, with pulled pork, fresh peaches and I think it was adobo seasonings -- delicious!

Pie silent auction

4 + 20 blackbirds, baked in a pie! Most creative pie, from Taff Mayberry of Olivia/Lucy's.

One of the farm's residents!

Stick a fork in me! I am done with this post, phew! :)

Bits and Bites

-- Do you miss the old Texas Hill Country Wine and Food Festival? (Rhetorical question, but yes.....) You can now get a little piece of history, the Austin Food and Wine Alliance will be selling past year's merchandise (t-shirts, wine glasses, etc.) at the Barton Creek Farmer's Market this Saturday, May 19th, from 9 am - 1 pm. Questions on what you might find? Email them directly at info@austinfoodwinealliance.org

 

-- Max's Wine Dive celebrates their 3rd birthday with a 4-course farmer's market dinner on Sunday, May 20th at 5:30pm, $75/person. Proceeds will also benefit the Settlement Home for Children.

-- Olive and June will be hosting two gluten-free dinners in honor of Celiac Awareness Month (May), on May 23 and 24 at 7:30 pm; click here to purchase ticket, 5 courses, $80/person.

-- For the last pairing event of the season, Jack Allen's is hosting a dinner with 4.0 Cellars, June 4, $65/person. Reservations: banquets@jackallenskitchen.com

-- Paggi House has updated their menu to encourage diners to try more smaller plates (prices also adjusted) of their New American cuisine, and are shifting to a bit of a more casual setting.

Jack Allen's

Way tardy on writing this one up! (Twenty lashes with a wet noodle!) I had been to Jack Allen's for happy hour once before, where we had decent food, and fairly mediocre service. I've had a number of friends who have been, and all reported good things about the food, but spottiness regarding the service. So three of us met for a 4:30 pm happy hour on a Friday afternoon; I hoped that it wouldn't be too busy on a Friday at that hour, and it turned out to be just fine.

Our initial reception by the hostesses was mixed though. The two younger 20-somethings seemed very affable, but the other 40-something was more terse. Two of us were there, and the 3rd was 5 minutes out, so we said there would be 3 of us, and said the 3rd person wasn't there yet. The hostess replied a bit snidely, well then, I guess there's only 2 of you, and we don't seat incomplete parties. But then proceeded to lead us to a table. So I don't know if she was politely trying to say, hey, I know you're waiting for another person, and while we don't normally seat incomplete groups, we'll happily take care of you for now. It's all in the tone, and hers was not the most welcoming.

Fortunately, that was all about to change as our fabulous happy hour waiter, Seth, immediately greeted us, reminded us that appetizers were half price, and he'd give us a few minutes to look things over. He couldn't have been more friendly and efficient during our time there. A little after 5 pm, there was one of those brief, but very heavy Texas-afternoon downpours where the sun is still shining. The staff, including a manager rushed to shut the side flaps along the back side of the patio where we were sitting against; he got fairly wet doing it, but it kept us dry! Five minutes later, the deluge stopped, and the sun was back out in full force, and the flaps went back up.

We had the Red Chile Fries, which are lightly battered, fried, and sprinkled with cotija cheese. Perfectly crisp, and incredibly addicting with the garlic aioli!  The Blue Crab Gratin, with spinach & artichokes, and a nice ciabatta bread, it was softer, so the crust didn't tear up the roof of your mouth. I wouldn't say there was a ton of crab in the gratin, but it was incredibly tasty, and I am sure low fat! (Ha.)

We also had the Spinach Gorgonzola Ravioli...that walnut cream sauce was killer! And opted for the "Wedgies" Salad, their spin on the iceberg lettuce wedge with blue cheese. Very artful presentation on the salad! And, they are sourcing a local (well, Dallas-based, but still pretty local!) blue cheese as well. JA's seems to be making a killing on happy hour specials, as the apps are half price, and there are drink specials too. Cheers to them!

As our various dishes of food arrived, we also noticed that the table of ladies next to kept expanding. I think when we sat, there were 3 of them, and before too much longer, 2 tables were pushed together, and it was a group of 9 or 10 people. So really, they don't seat incomplete parties? Doesn't matter, because we had wonderful food, and great service from Seth. Jack Allen's obviously is doing well for themselves, and I think the curse of that location may finally be over (it's been a couple different things in the past few years). As we were leaving about 6:30 pm, the valet parking guys (yes, they do have valet parking!) were a little harried and backed up, and they said a group of about 65 had been arriving for a wedding rehearsal dinner. There's obviously a private room somewhere inside, and it's now my mission to get back for a "real" meal and not just happy hour. Hopefully, Seth will be my waiter!