The Highball

I met a friend for dinner recently at the Highball before another friend's karaoke birthday celebration. If you aren't familiar with the Highball, they are a combination diner/bowling alley/karaoke club/live music venue, owned by the Alamo Drafthouse people. While karaoke isn't really my thing, it was a good opportunity to try out their main dining room, and get the birthday girl a cocktail before they partied into the night.

I had really wanted a 512 Wit beer, but unfortunately, they were out. Our waiter suggested and then brought me a taste of the Avery White Rascal, and then I got a pint. It was good, but not as crisp as the 512 Wit; still good for sipping though. I appreciated that he brought me a taste of it before making me decide.

For food, I ordered the Wedge salad and asked for the dressing on the side, and the Dr. Pepper Ribs. My friend ordered the blue plate special for the day, which happened to be Thanksgiving dinner. There seemed to be some miscues/miscommunication/mistakes from either the waiter and/or the food runners. The salad arrived (fully dressed, but okay, I let it slide), but we had no silverware, so I asked the runner for some when she brought the food.  She sort of made a face and went over to the waiter, who was finishing at another table, and then one of them brought over the silverware. Little odd.

The salad, fortunately not too badly drenched, was quite good. Nice and crisp iceberg, nice twang to their house-made Thousand Island dressing. Some blue cheese would have been a perfect addition!

Then our main plates came. The Dr. Pepper ribs are "spice infused, Dr. Pepper glazed pork ribs with toasted peanuts." What that description doesn't tell you straight up is that they are a sticky mess! To me, ribs are meant to be picked up with your fingers and eaten straight off the bone (my father sits there with a fork and knife.... I don't get it!), so that just compounded the messiness. The flavor of the glaze and the meat was good, kind of a deep caramelization without being too sweet, but the ribs were sort of tough. They definitely need to be cooked longer to tenderize and make more succulent.

(The ribs just don't photograph well; I took a couple pictures, and this is as good as it gets. There were five ribs, stacked log cabin-style)

As we finished eating, the birthday girl came and joined us for a bit, and also ordered the Thanksgiving plate to go along with her cocktail. Same thing happened. The food arrived, and there was no silverware. I *think* it was the same runner who had previously brought our food, but this time, it took a little longer than it should have for the silverware to materialize. I didn't pay enough attention while there to look at other tables to figure out if it's the host/hostess' responsibility to bring silverware when they seat you, the waiter's job, or the food runner's. It didn't seem that either the waiter or the runner were brand new, but who knows. It left a little bit of an off-impression in my book.

I would easily go back and try some of the other items on the menu. But even me, and my love for pork, I don't think I'd get the ribs again if they're prepared the same way. Just too tough. And messy. One other drawback, it got REALLY loud in there when the band started playing. We were sitting at a table by the front windows, on the far side of the room from the stage, and you had to practically yell to talk to your table companions. I expect that at a concert, but not at a dining establishment. Maybe it's quieter on the bowling side. It was interesting to see that the dinner crowd was a total mixed bag of younger hipsters, older couples, girl's night out, and everything in between. That's South Austin for ya.

Bits and Bites

-- The Q Card is hosting a launch party for Sugar Shack BBQ on Saturday, June 25th. Admission is free, but donations are encouraged, which will go towards victims of the recent Texas wildfires.

-- Bon Appetit magazine has declared Franklin BBQ "the best BBQ in America," at least for their brisket. You can read my recent post here..... Franklin was also just featured in Edible Austin. It WAS darn good brisket, and the pork ribs were fall-off-the-bone tender and tasty. But is it the BEST BBQ?

-- Look for the Austin Beer Guide to make its way into stores any moment now.

-- Now calling themselves TenOak Bourbon Bar + Lounge, their back room lounge, Elixir, opens next Friday.

-- Parkside is showcasing their summer raw oysters with bubbly pairings from sommelier Ashley Gaas. Stop in for half price oyster platters during happy hour, Monday - Friday 5 - 7 pm.

 -- Haddingtons (where I still need to check out) is hosting a beer and cheese pairing event on Monday, July 25th; tickets $65/person call the restaurant to reserve. North Coast beers will be paired with cheeses selected by Cathy Strange of Whole Foods, and includes a five course tasting dinner.

-- Sagra is opening their doors to a free family-style feast on Wednesday, July 13th, beginning at 4pm. Guests will be seated on a first come, first served basis, and they will serve until food runs out. The menu includes: insalata misto, porchetta, vegetable tiella, and potato fennel gratin. Sagra has also recently revised their cocktail menu, moving away from simple syrups, and utilizing their bounty of fresh herbs from their own garden!

-- And you know you've arrived when a new hot dog gets it's own press release! From Frank (and I do love their dogs), comes the Sonoran Dog -- a 100% Vienna beef dog, "porked" (wrapped in bacon and deep fried -- something that can be done to any of their dogs), the split down the middle, and topped with white American cheese, pinto beans, grilled and fresh onions, tomatoes, mayo, mustard and jalapeno sauce.

 -- Opening: at 1712 Lavaca Street, Lavaca Teppan, a Japanese grill restaurant. Looks like it's right next door to the Women and their Work gallery.... No links yet functioning on the web page.

-- Closing: The Screaming Goat and the Good Knight. Sorry, I never knew either of you, but heard good things....

Bits and Bites

 -- Tribeza magazine announces their Summer Solstice Chef's Table series, with a variety of local chefs preparing special tasting menus based on the summer bounty, June 27 - 29. It's a fantastic list of participating chefs/restaurants: Haddington's, TRIO, Foreign and Domestic, La Sombra, Jeffrey's, Shoreline Grill, Trulucks, Parkside, and La Condesa. Most of the menus are on the website, and you can buy tickets through the site as well.  It will be a great chance to meet some of your favorite chefs and talk to them about their inspirations for the menu.

-- There's a new FREE iPhone/Pad app out called Texas Monthly BBQ Finder.  And guess who developed it, yes, Texas Monthly. For each BBQ joint, it lists their hours of operation, how TM rated it, and a place to add your personal rating. Can we get an Android version, please?!

El Meson

The second location of El Meson opened last fall, and while it's not that far from my house, last week was my first time going. I was really struck by the interior of the building, with beautiful tile work on the floors and even in the bathroom! Unfortunately, I think because of the tile, noise bounces all around, and it was fairly loud for a little bit. But we were also surrounded by two tables with young children, but good thing they left not too long after our arrival.

My friend was there when I arrived, and also at the table was a fresh melon "ceviche" that was very tasty. Nice amuse bouche palate cleanser, with melon and cucumber diced very finely.

For entrees, I had the chicken with mole rojo, and my friend the chicken enchiladas with verde sauce. Mole is often the standard dish I get at interior Mexican restaurants. I love the complexity of flavors it brings, and having made it before, I appreciate the work that goes into it. Our waiter said it's 22 ingredients, and continued to say that it tastes the same -- consistent -- every day. It was a good mole, I will certainly agree. However it lacked the depth and aforementioned complexity of a great mole sauce (or even my own mole sauce...). So thumbs up, particularly if you're not too familiar with moles. The verde sauce on the enchiladas had the requisite tomatillo tartness to it. Their sides of rice and beans didn't really excite me, not a ton of flavor in either. They actually aren't pinto beans; the waiter said they are a close cousin, but I can't remember the name.

 For dessert, we split a piece of tres leches cake, which was quite good. Not overly sweet.  

The biggest complaint I have heard about the South Lamar location is their pricing; apparently it is higher that at the original Burleson Road spot (I haven't been there either). From their incomplete website, I think Burleson serves breakfast and lunch, whereas South Lamar is lunch and dinner, which may account for some of the price differences. I wish their website would post the menu for the SoLa location. Would I go back? Yes. But given the choice between El Meson and their neighbor one block north, Sazon, I would pick Sazon.

IACP Wrap Up

Last week was the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) conference at the Hilton in downtown. I volunteered on Saturday, and got to sit in on a couple sessions.

-- Cooking from the Edge of Vietnam and Texas, with Chef Duc Tran, a Vietnamese refugee who grew up in Texas, but has returned to Vietnam and opened his restaurant, The Mango Rooms. He prepared some Asian fusion foods -- seared ahi tuna on top of a bed of mango salsa. Students from one of the local culinary schools had assisted by pre-making the mango salsa. Chef Tran then seared the tuna pieces, and they passed out samples -- delicious!

 -- The Science of Baking, with chemist Shirley Corriher. I actually got to chat with her a little prior to the Vietnamese session above. Shirley's class was using the same ballroom, where a demo kitchen had been erected, and she was a touch concerned about the limited amount of time for set up between the two sessions. She and her husband were rather delightful, and had enjoyed their time in Austin thus far. For those who are fans of Alton Brown's Good Eats show, you may recognize her as the food scientist who occasionally shows up to explain the food chemistry. For her session at IACP, she had a nice handout with baking tips, as well as the recipe for an extremely light buttermilk biscuit that was served with raspberry chambord butter. Yes, we all swooned when we tried the tender biscuit!

 -- Let There Be Light! Harnessing the Right Light for Digital Food Photography, with married photographers Diane Cu and Todd Porter. This engaging couple really had some great tips on how to look at lighting when you are photographing something, and they emphasized trying to use inexpensive props to bounce or diffuse light when doing a shoot. I took some good notes, which I need to review and see what I can incorporate.
-- On Saturday evening, there was an optional event for conference participants: Up in Smoke, held at Boggy Creek Farm. The event was co-sponsored by IACP and Foodways Texas, with proceeds benefiting the Sustainable Food Center. Dai Due roasted a feral hog onsite, Hoover's had pork ribs and beans, Trace restaurant had various sides, El Naranjo made lamb barbacoa...and more, those were just the ones I tried! It was a delicious finish in a lovely setting!