Bits and Bites

-- Along South First Street, longtime mainstay La Reyna at Mary Street has recently closed. New management took over within the past year, but I guess that wasn't enough to save this notch along the "Mexican Mile."  I live nearby, and will be incredible curious to see what happens to the property in what's becoming prime real estate. Sway, a new Thai spot at Elizabeth Street (from the La Condesa restaurant family) is still not open...


-- California Pizza Kitchen at the Domain location only will donate 20% of your check to Stiletto Stampede, an organization that promotes breast cancer awareness, on Wednesday, October 17; you must have a flyer to present to CPK. If you're interested in the flyer, please email me at southaustinfoodie@gmail.com, and I can forward it to you. 

-- I Spy Pie will take place at Central Market on North Lamar on Saturday, October 20 from 12 - 3pm. Local bakeries will be competing for best pie, as picked by both judges and audience. The event benefits Creative Action, formerly the Theatre Action Project; pie tasting tickets are $5, and it's a family-friendly event.

-- Tuesday, October 23rd, Lucy's Fried Chicken will have a pig roast in the parking lot beginning at 6 pm,  $17/person. These pigs have been feed a special diet, which includes (512) Brewery's brewers mash; southern side dishes and (512) beer will be served. 

-- Two upcoming events at Easy Tiger, a five course pairing with Ommegang beers on October 23rd, $70/person, and the Real Ale brewmaster will be present on October 25th with six casks of beer from their collection.

-- Uncle Billy's Brew and Cue will have a five course beer and food pairing at the Barton Springs location on November 4, 6 pm, $50/person.

-- Already a huge list of restaurants who are donating soup to this year's Empty Bowl Project, where your $20 donation gets you a one-of-a-kind ceramic bowl made by a local artist, you get it filled on the spot with a bowl of soup, and proceeds go to the Capital Area Food Bank and Meals on Wheels. Stop by Marchesa Hall (in Lincoln Village, across from Highland Mall) on Sunday, November 18th from 11am - 3pm.

-- You may have seen my recent post on dinner at The Carillon, which was absolutely fantastic. They are continuing their 3 course, $29 prix fixe menu during October when you dine before 6:30 pm. The courses: grilled Bandera quail with miso, Broken Arrow Ranch antelope with butternut squash, and sweet potato beignets. They are currently my new favorite fine-dining restaurant!

The Backspace

Last week was the conclusion of Austin Restaurant Week, where a number of area restaurants offer a three-course prix fixe menu, no more than $37 for a dinner. It allows patrons to perhaps try some places that they haven't been before or that are generally priced above their budgets. Restaurants in turn donate a portion of the proceeds to a designated non-profit, which was Meals on Wheels.

A friend and I went to The Backspace on San Jacinto between 5th and 6th; I believe the name comes from the fact that it is located behind sister restaurant Parkside, whose entrance is on 6th. It's a long, skinny spot, dominated by the bar that runs almost the entire length of the restaurant; I'd say the whole place seats about 40 people tops. I liked the decor -- the old (not sure if it was genuine or faux) tin ceiling, the stained glass, and the "modern farmhouse" look of the bar stools. The women's restroom was plastered in wine and water bottle labels!

The value of The Backspace's ARW menu was quite good. They priced it at $54 for two people, which included  shared dished of an appetizer, a pizza, a dessert, AND a bottle of wine (the bottle we had normally retails there for $30).  We started with the oven-roasted green beans with pancetta, guanciale, a bit of chile flakes, Parmesan and some little crispy fried onions on top. For me, the beans were cooked perfectly (I think overcooked green beans are the scourge of the earth!), and the flavors of everything together was really good, though I don't think I could distinguish pancetta from guanciale in this case.

For our pizza, we picked the squash blossom, with ricotta, mozzarella, pesto, and scarto (apparently, a homemade sausage, I had to ask, as I was unfamiliar) that was crumbled on top. It was delicious! It's a yeasty crust, and thick around the edges, but still manages to be thinner in the center; I wouldn't call it crisp in the middle part, but it wasn't soggy either. Fresh cheeses. Great flavors. Now I am realizing now as I study the picture and the menu description that "squash" was not on the ingredient listing, and I am wondering if they were low on squash blossoms, as there weren't many of them on the pizza, so maybe they compensated with squash. Doesn't really matter, we ate the entire thing!

The choices for dessert were a hazelnut chocolate budino (pudding) or a ricotta cheesecake; nothing wrong with cheesecake, but I am a sucker for hazelnut anything, and fortunately my friend was more than willing to try the budino. Again, not disappointed. The toffee on top was like crack, and the pudding was silky smooth.

I am only disappointed that I have not been to the Backspace sooner, as the regular menu sounds yummy too. I also wish it weren't downtown, just because parking is more of a pain as is the whole 6th Street scene. But for early dinners, this is perfect, and I look forward to a return trip. Our waitress was friendly and knowledgeable, which always helps too. Cin cin!

Bits and Bites

-- The official ribbon cutting ceremony for the new Jack Allen's Kitchen in Round Rock (2500 Hoppe Trail) will be October 9 at 3:30 pm. (But they're actually already open for business!)

-- On October 20, the Cedar Park Farmer's Market will hold a local artisanal cheese and wine event to help celebrate National Cheese Month. The event is 10am - 1pm, and features five area cheese makers.

-- There will be a vegan bakesale on October 21st at Counter Culture (2337 E. Cesar Chavez) to benefit the SARA Animal Sanctuary.

-- On Halloween, Restaurant Jezebel will reopen, this time, a 32-seat prix fixe eatery located inside of Bar Mirabeau, in the new Cirrus Logic building at 800 West 6th Street, both facilities operated by Parind Vora.

-- The First Annual Austin Oyster Festival will be November 9th, $30/person at the Shoal Crossing Event Center. 

-- The Burnet Road and Lake Austin Blvd. locations of Mangia Pizza have been upgraded to The Pizza Bistro, with different styles of pizza and a whole new menu. (Thus far, the Spicewood Springs location on Mangia remains the same.)

-- Capital Kitchens near Manchaca and Stassney is available for commissary rentals.

The Carillon

Not that one needs an excuse to visit a fine dining establishment, but it helps when you're in the company of fellow food bloggers, and when one of them is a regular and knows the chefs. Such was the stage, or rather, table, as I joined Epicuriosities, From Maggie's Farm, Girl Gone Grits and Tequila Tracker at The Carillon (at the AT+T Conference Center on the University of Texas campus) to celebrate the birthdays of two of our foodie crew. 

Through September, the Carillon was offering a $29 three course prix fixe menu from 5:30 - 6:30 pm, and they are continuing it in October, with a different menu. We decided on a 6 pm reservation to take advantage of this special. And we would have been fine with this menu alone, but Patrick Jones, the Beverage Manager took good care of us. He selected a bottle of Domaine du Piaugier Gigondas 2009 from the southern Rhone Valley, a Grenache-based wine that complemented every dish extremely well.

The food started with an amuse bouche, a corn soup that was so smooth and buttery, we all wanted to stick our fingers inside the glasses to get to the bottom.

The first course was the seared scallop, with jazz apple, fennel jam, goat cheese. That's a fennel chip standing up in some goat cheese in the back. The sweetness from the sauteed fennel "jam" and the goat cheese were perfect with the large scallop, which was seared nicely, but not overdone, leaving the sweet ocean flavor intact.

The next course was a complete surprise -- a complimentary course from the kitchen! -- and one that we all swooned over: foie gras with whiskied cherries, mushrooms and toast points. Totally divine. A perfect size, perfectly seared, and sheer perfection with the sweet/tart of the cherries to cut the fat/creaminess. (The Carillon offers one of the best deals in town off their bar menu -- a hamburger with a nice piece of foie for $12 -- shhhhh, don't tell!)

The main was pork jowl croquettes with sauteed jazz apples, fried lobster mushrooms, and the little creamy dots are pawpaw pudding. What is a pawpaw? It's a fruit native to the eastern US, including east Texas, with flavors of mild banana and mango. It has an interesting flavor, not bad at all, though I don't know if it lent a great deal to the dish.

The dessert on the prix fixe menu was a feta cheesecake. However, since we were celebrating birthdays, they switched it up. On the right is a pannacotta and on the left a browine/cake concoction with a fruit sauce with chipotles, I believe. Totally elegant.

It's always a trip going out to eat with fellow food bloggers, because we all sit there and photograph everything! I feel like I get better food shots because we're all doing the same thing; I am not rushing a photo because others are waiting on me to take my pics so they can eat! So with apologizes to my other friends, I need to be more patient like this for future endeavors, because I am happy with how all these photos came out. I don't think I will ever be one who carries a tripod or my own light source, but being able to shoot a few frames from different angles was really helpful. Otherwise, we had such a good time talking and eating that I have forgotten the details of what all was on the dessert plate!

Again, a wonderful evening, and thank you to Patrick and the chefs for serving up a delicious meal!

Bits and Bites

-- The Fall issue of the Austin Beer Guide was released on September 27;, which highlights the area's growing craft beer movement.

-- The HOPE Farmer's Market will be celebrating their meat producers with a special meet and greet at the market on October 7. HOPE will also have a presence at the Austin City Limits Music Festival, where they will have representation by several of their vendors in the form of picnic basket and salads as a healthy food alternative! Look for them next to the main food court.

-- Fonda San Miguel will host a book signing in honor of Marilyn Tausend's new book, La Cocina Mexicana: Many Cultures, One Cuisine. October 7 from 12 - 2pm. She has previously authored a cookbook with chef and Fonda co-founder Miguel Ravago.

-- The Austin Food Fight, an online silent auction benefiting Les Dames d'Escoffier for culinary scholarships and other garden-to-plate initiatives, will take place October 8 - 19. Auction items include a sweets sampling from area bakeries, dinner for four prepared by Hillside Farmacy's (and a Dame!) Sonya Cote, and a trip to Cypress Grove Creamery in California.

-- Jack Allen's Kitchen and Pepe's Tequila are hosting a party on the JAK patio, October 16, 5-10 pm with $5 tequila specials.

-- The Austin Food and Wine Alliance is hosting their second Wine and Swine pig roast event, November 2 from 1 - 5 pm at Pioneer Farms. Local chefs will prepare a pig in their own style, and guests will vote on their favorite swine eats! Tickets are $75, and available here. (Early bird tix are already sold out!)

-- Wine Enthusiast Magazine is sponsoring a contest with Tito's Handmade Vodka. All you have to do is enter via Facebook or email for a chance to win airfare for 2 to Austin, a tour of the distillery,a private meet and greet with Tito himself (and yes, his real name is in fact Tito Beveridge!), a weekend stay at the San Jose Hotel, and a variety of area restaurant/bar gift certificates worth $500, so tell your friends who want to come and visit!

Open
-- Bar Mirabeau from Parind Vora

Closed
-- Arkie's on east Cesar Chavez, which has been "closed for remodeling" for months. Apparently it's been bought or the property is being taken over by the people who did Hillside Farmacy and East Side Showroom. 
-- Maria Maria on Colorado Street, a victim of the constant construction and road closures downtown.