Recent Eats

I spent Saturday, January 25th at Travaasa for Edible Austin's Jam and Jive, benefiting the Sustainable Food Center which featured local presenters discussing ways to use seasonal foods.  Thank you to Giant Noise PR for the media pass!

The first session I attended was with Travaasa's own executive chef, Ben Baker, who talked about fermenting and sprouting grains for breads, as they breakdown the cellular structure and make them easier for digesting. He gave us pieces of three different sourdough breads, a traditional, one with red wine and thyme, and one with rye, all outstanding in their crust, crumb, and most importantly, flavor.

The second session was from Hip Girl author Kate Payne who gave us four different ways to use grapefruit, apart from eating it! You can make a shrub (or drinking vinegar) from the peel, an infused salt from the zest, cleaning solutions from the pith and peel, and a natural thickener from the seeds. No waste!

After a happy hour a featuring some of the items made in the classes, we had dinner prepared by Chef Baker and his team. Pickled cauliflowers with hydroponic watercress, preserved trout and deviled egg. Pork tenderloin wrapped in ancho-cured pork belly. Pickled strawberries, chocolate bacon, and zabaglione. All delicious, and much of it grown there on the Travaasa property.

Other recent eats....if you follow me (and of course you should!) on Instagram, you may have seen some of these before.

-- A pleasant brunch at the Steeping Room (the one at 45th & Lamar). A quaint modern tea house that happens to serve an array of food. This was "the Morning Tea Service," one of the brunch options and quite a lot of food, and included tea, coffee, or chai. The ginger scone was outstanding (as was the crispy bacon, duh!), and yes those are miniature cookies on top of the fruit salad, along with a generous serving of clotted cream.

-- Barbeque from the Lone Star BBQ trailer, located at South Lamar and Bluebonnet. While I drive past this practically every day, a recent sunny Sunday during the farmer's market was the first time I had stopped, and the whole place was packed. The service was super-friendly, and I got my food to go. As you can tell, it's a bit on the greasy side. The brisket had a decent smoke ring, but was a bit bland in flavor; the sausage was good, nice medium-coarse texture and if I had to guess, I'd say the potato salad was pre-made from a grocery store. Not bad barbeque, but not outstanding.

 

-- Quite a number of people attended the soft opening/media preview for Chavez, Shawn Cirkiel's latest project, which replaces the TGI Friday's at the Radisson Hotel at Congress and Cesar Chavez. The food is a spin on modern south western cuisine, and the new interior is stunning! The evening featured very hard-working staff members cranking out drinks and passing trays of a number of appetizers which were miniature versions of menu items, including these lovely smoked cherry margaritas.

 -- The impeccable staff at Uchi and Uchiko should be the gold standard for which all other restaurants strive to achieve. The food and service is always flawless. One of my good friends and I went early on a Monday night to celebrate her birthday; we had a 5 pm reservation, and the place was essentially full by 5:30. The bacon steakie with the watermelon radish was pork belly perfection (so good, we ordered a second one, right before the end of social hour), and we were treated to the jizake creme caramel -- browned butter sorbet with a gingery flan and light simple syrup poured on top. I generally don't care as much for their desserts (a little too "modern" for me!), but this was a winner in my book.

-- I had lunch plans with a friend who is the parent of a toddler, so she doesn't get out much. She said "I want ramen! I've never had ramen and I hear you guys all talking about." So I opted for Kome (I really want to get back to Ramen Tatsuya, but I wasn't willing to stand in line, as this was on one of our recent "wintery" days.) Well, needless to say, she loved it (as did I)! She ordered the tonkotsu (pork broth) ramen bowl with pork belly and soft-boiled egg, and I had the chicken kara-age, their take on fried chicken, with an ultra-light batter. While the chicken looks a little washed out in the picture, it was piping hot, devoid of any grease, and very juicy! We also got the tsukemono (pickled veggies) and a longhorn roll (with steak) that were also perfectly prepared. Kome has different menus for lunch and dinner, and now having been twice for lunch, I think dinner there is in my near future.

 -- Yes, I've been on an Asian kick (though I almost always am!), and just days after ramen at Kome, I had dinner with a friend at Michi Ramen, which was better than I remember it from last summer -- maybe because it was colder outside now and hot broth just warms you up! We split the tempura which had a perfect batter on them and the gyoza, which were some of the best-seared dumplings I've ever had at a restaurant. I had the michi ramen bowl (pork broth) with the stout (or heavier) broth, with an extra topping of veggies. The broth has a nice porky flavor and the noodles had just the right firmness; because we had ordered appetizers, I ate about half my bowl, and took the rest home for lunch the next day. My friend ordered the Texas BBQ bowl with a tomato-based broth, which comes complete with pork ribs in it!

-- And finally, I was very excited to receive this in the mail the other day! It's CHOCOLATE! It's my "thank you" from local business Piq Chocolates for donating to their recent Kickstarter campaign, which allowed them to purchase a 3D printer that makes personalized designs on chocolate! I got to custom design my bar, and while just putting a logo on it is pretty basic, I think it's genius for many businesses out there! See their website for more details. Oh, and the dark chocolate tastes good too! After shooting this picture, I took a bite, and it's a nice bittersweet chocolate with some light fruity undertones, and good texture! Not chalky or dry.

What have YOU been eating lately?

Bits and Bites -- Food News

Events
-- Trailer Food Tuesdays at the Long Center resumes on March 26th; the list of tasty truck at this month's event can be found here.

-- Sagra will have an Easter Buffet for $25/person on March 31st.

-- Texas Veg Fest will be April 6th at Fiesta Gardens. 

-- Edible Austin is sponsoring a Children's Picnic and Real Food Fair, on April 7th at the French Legation. 

-- Austin Restaurant Week returns April 7 - 10 and 14 - 17. Check out their pages for what spots will be participating. 

-- The CultureMap Tastemaker Awards will be April 11th at the Driskill Hotel, $50/person, which benefits the Austin Food and Wine Alliance. 

-- On April 14th, the Sustainable Food Center's Chef Series Spring Bounty dinner will be held at La Condesa, $125/person, benefiting the SFC. The multi-course dinner will feature chefs from Congress, La Condesa, Lenoir, Olive + June, Salt + Time, Smoke + Chicken Scratch, and Sway.

-- And the iconic food trailer park on South Congress Avenue has gotten a brief reprieve, and the trailers are there through May, though I hear some are already moving out. Hey Cupcake has migrated about a block north, next to Homeslice. 

Openings
-- Smashburger, part of a California burger chain, has opened in Southpark Meadows.

-- Arro, the latest project (this one being French-inspired) from 24 Diner and Easy Tiger's Drew Cullen and his pastry chef wife Mary Catherine, will open in the former Haddington's (601 W. 6th) later this year. (Yes, Haddington's closed last weekend.)

-- Searsucker, from Top Chef and The Taste's Brian Mularkey, will open in the former Maria Maria (415 Colorado) later this spring.

 

Meet Me at the Market: Sustainable Food Center + Cocoa Puro

As a member of the Austin Food Blogger's Alliance, we've been asked to help spread the word about the Sustainable Food Center's (SFC) capital campaign and one of their farmers' market vendors. So I present to you, the SFC and Cocoa Puro!

The Sustainable Food Center (SFC) was founded in Austin in the early 1990s, as an offshoot of the Austin Community Gardens program. Their mission is to cultivate a healthy community by strengthening the local food system and improving access to nutritious, affordable food. The SFC offers opportunities for the community to learn about farming and gardening, as well as to become educated on cooking and nutrition. They also work with area farmers and growers to present several area farmers' markets, where they connect the farmers to additional urban resources. The irony of the center is they've never been an actual "center," in that they've never had a facility that people could come and visit. That's about to change with their capital campaign in full swing.

Their new facilities will offer 2.3 acres of garden plots, where approximately 70 area families will be able to grow their own food; classroom and meeting space; a teaching kitchen; greenhouse, and much more to continue to let the community grow.

Another ongoing effort of the SFC is the coordination of four area farmers' market. SFC Markets Manager Suzanne Santos says that the new permanent facility will greatly help with the coordination of the farmers' markets. They will have storage space for the items they haul to the weekly markets (water jugs for drinking water, brochures at the information booth, etc.) and farmers will be able to use the commercial kitchen to prepare their bumper crops -- turn fresh tomatoes into freshly canned tomatoes that have a much longer shelf life, but are still "made" by a particular farmer. SFC can offer classes to farmers on utilizing social media to spread the word about their products (The Carlsons of Swede Farm are an excellent example of using Facebook and Twitter to market themselves!) The meeting space will be utilized for annual farmer and vendor meetings, as well as the quarterly SFC Farmers’ Market Committee meeting.

One former SFC Advisory Council member is Cocoa Puro founder, Tom Pederson. He started experimenting with cacao beans in 1999, and in October 2004, he and his family founded the company. Their creation: Kakawa beans, an item so unique, it was named one of Saveur magazine's Top 100 food items of 2006. 

Tom takes a whole cacao bean, lightly toasts it, and enrobes it in white, milk, and dark chocolate, followed by a roll in cocoa powder. What it creates is a slightly bitter and sweet flavor combination, and as he best describes it "pure bliss."

Photo by Kent Lacin for Cocoa Puro, used with permission.

It's a labor intensive process to create the Kakawa beans, of which Toms says "It takes me four to five hours of continuous labor just to lay the chocolate layers on a batch of Kakawa Cocoa Beans. There's also considerable prep work and roasting of the beans prior to them being enrobed in chocolates. In all, it takes the better part of a day to make a batch, sometimes more. Then we bag and label them all by hand."

Tom Pederson at SFC Farmers' Market Downtown, November 2012

They've also created some other products, exclusively available at the farmers' markets, such as chocolate bars, pictured above. My absolute favorite is the dark chocolate with cayenne, cinnamon, and nibs. Cocoa Puro also has hot chocolate mix, a lip balm, and delicious caramelized cacao nibs. The original Kakawa beans are also available through their website. 

Tom was invited by Suzanne Santos to be a part of the SFC's Advisory Council, something he was part of for several years. He appreciates SFC for their support of farmers, small businesses, and artisan food makers as they are doing good work to support food security in the Austin community. Which is exactly what SFC's mission is all about. So visit the SFC's website, and consider donating to their capital campaign. We can't all give large amounts of money, but the SFC is truly a grassroots effort, so every little bit counts. 

And when you visit the farmers' markets, remember they don't just have locally grown produce. Look for Cocoa Puro and their little bites of pure bliss, and appreciate the time and effort that went into making these extraordinary products! Support local.

Bits and Bites

Openings
-- Austin Java is opening a new branch in Tarrytown at 3110 Windsor Road on November 26th (today!).

-- Lucky Robot (formerly Zen, at 1303 South Congress) will have their official grand opening on November 28th, and will have food and drink specials throughout the day, including $2 Asian tacos, sashimi specials, along with drink specials.

-- East Side King will open their first brick and mortar at the former Hole in the Wall, on the Drag, 2538 Guadalupe, on December 4th. 

-- New Indian grocery store, Gandhi Bazar, at William Cannon and Brodie Lane, by Cafe Malta.


Events
 -- The newly formed Texas Farm to Table Food Caucus holds their kick-off celebration with number of notable local chefs all preparing locally sourced foods, November 29th at Boggy Creek Farms. From the press release:  "The Texas House Farm-to-Table Food Caucus was formed in the spring of 2012 to educate members of the Texas House of Representatives on issues relating to the growing, harvesting and consumption of Texas foods. The bipartisan Caucus is the first of its kind in the nation and was founded and is chaired by Rep. Eddie Rodriguez (D-Austin) and vice chaired by Rep. Lois Kolkhorst (R-Brenham). "
 
-- Edible Austin's Eat Drink Local Week kicks off on December 1st; the week-long activities support the Sustainable Food Center and Urban Roots. Events include: Urban Bicycle Tour on the 1st; a screening of the movie Sideways on the 3rd; and from December 1 - 8, dine at one of over 50 participating restaurants that will feature locally sourced entree specials. (And the restaurants in South Austin: Homeslice Pizza, Jack Allen's Kitchen, Kerbey Lane, Lenoir, Olivia, People's Pharmacy, Snack Bar, Thai Fresh, and Wholly Cow Burger.) The SFC is also in the midst of a capital campaign to build their new facility. Stay tuned for more info on that in an upcoming blog post!

From the City of Austin's Small Business Development Program
-- There's a new website promoting small, locally owned businesses -- Locally Austin!!! Tell all your favorite local businesses to register with them -- it's FREE to register! Great tool, especially with the holiday shopping season now upon us!

Bits and Bites

How did it get to be November already? 

-- Beni di Batasiolo Barolo Wine Dinner at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, Monday, November 5th, $100/person.

-- Looking for a fun happy hour? Try the new Warehouse Wednesdays! From the press release:  "Every Wednesday beginning November 7, the Warehouse District welcomes guests to enjoy a mid-week night on the town with discounted drinks, reduced cover charges, live music, and parking and valet specials. Participating establishments include TenOak, Speakeasy, Imperia, Six, Hangar, Lavaca St. Bar, Fado Irish Pub & Restaurant, Truluck’s, Lucky Lounge, Haven, Avenue on Congress (opening soon) and Peche."  

-- One of my favorite spots in town, Travaasa Spa, is hosting a farm to table harvest dinner with four local chefs and ingredients provided by farms associated with the Sustainable Food Center. November 11th, $95/person; great looking line up!

-- Thanksgiving comes early this year -- November 22nd! I've received a few emails from places that will be open on Thanksgiving Day, which so far include: Lakeway Resort and Spa ($50/person, 11am - 3pm) and Bar Mirabeau ($30/person, 1 - 9pm).

Bits and Bites

-- Lots of our local beer gardens/pubs/breweries are having October Beer Month/Halloween specials:
   -- Bangers is holding "Beer College" now through October 28 and it will teach you about the craft beer community and different beer varieties each day.
   -- Hops and Grain will have different daily beer specials and tastings.
   -- drink.well will have special Halloween night drinks

And two beer-related openings:
   -- October 25 -- Pinthouse Pizza, at 4729 Burnet. Beer + pizza.
   -- October 31 -- Public House, from the Gourdough's trailer folks, in the old South Lamar Kerbey Lane spot. Beer + donuts!


-- Olivia will host a dinner October 25, $75/person that matches Eric Texier French wines with James Holmes' "haute Texan" cuisine.  Five courses, each with a wine.

-- The Sustainable Food Center will hold their Haunted Ball at the Mansion at Judges Hill, October 28, 6:30 pm, $60/person, costumes encouraged!


 Re-Openings:
-- Zen, the Japanese fast food spot on South Congress is closing and reopening as Lucky Robot, which will be a full-service restaurant.

-- Odd Duck Farm to Trailer, Bryce Gilmore's precursor to Barley Swine that closed last year, will reopen as a 120-seat brick and mortar restaurant in the same location as the previous trailer -- 1219 S. Lamar, in the still-being-built mixed use building, Gibson Flats.

Moving:
-- The trailers on South Lamar next to Red's Porch, as we make way for yet another apartment/condo project (boo!). Honky Tonk Hot Dogs and Collie's Burgers will be at 415 Jessie Street, and Trai Mai Thai will be at Manchaca and Prather.

Closing:
 -- Though temporarily, The Highball, November 17th, as the Lamar Plaza complex redevelops.

Bits and Bites

-- Uncle Billy's Brew and Cue on Lake Travis will be starting a Sunday gospel brunch series, beginning May 27. Check their website for details, and the buffet brunch doesn't sound bad either!

-- Sagra's Sunday Supper Series is back this Sunday as well, five courses with vino, $55/person, reservations required. Umbrian truffle lasagna, anyone?

-- On May 30th, the Sustainable Food Center breaks ground on a new building and 2.3 acres of community garden plots, all located at the MLK Metro Rail Station, on MLK Blvd., one mile east of IH-35. Ceremony with Mayor Lee Leffingwell, Senator Lloyd Doggett and other dignitaries begins at 10 am.

-- While on the Italian topic, Silver Whisk in Lakeway will begin a month-long "Escape to Italy" cooking series in June.

-- Cannoli Joe's will be hosting a gluten free dinner with their Executive Chef Quirino Silvio on June 8th; $45/person, including wine pairings. 

-- Local tea house/producer Zhi Tea has developed some small plates created from locally sourced ingredients, as they look to create more food and drink memories for their clientele.