Bits and Bites

Events

-- Contigo hosts a gin tasting on July 11th with Death's Door Spirits, who make gin, vodka and white whisky. $45/person, purchase tickets here.
-- Sagra is having a free food extravaganza, July 13th, until food runs out.

-- The Carillon and the AT&T Conference Center are hosting a benefit for their injured assistant director of food and beverage, Daniel Curtis, also on July 13th, $75/person, with a great local chef line up.

-- Bourbon 101 tasting classes continue on the second Wednesday of the month (yes, July 13th) at tenOak for $25/person.

-- The Austin Museum of Art, Edible Austin, and the Tipsy Texan, David Alan are teaming up for a cocktail tasting and discussion on "Cold War, Cold Cocktails" on July 28th. 

-- If you're in need of some rock 'n roll, and maybe a few bruises, Fado will sponsor a fundraiser for the Texas Rollergirls on August 5th.

Misc

-- Eater Austin lists their top 38 current restaurants around town. Nice to see the Noble Pig at the top.... now I just need to go back up there....

Openings

-- Trace and it's home, the W Hotel, reopened today, after almost 2 weeks of being closed due to falling glass from the high rise. Reportedly, the hotel was paying the salaries of all employees during the interim period, let's hope that was the case.

-- Hopfields, a gastro pub, is coming to 3110 Guadalupe, with lots of beer and French-inspired street foods.

-- Restaurant Jezebel, which was closed due to fire last year, will rise through the ashes at a new location, in the being built building of Cirrus Logic, at 800 West 6th. Look for it next summer.

Closings/Reinventions

-- The Fried Green Tomato trailer in the South First food court (at Live Oak) apparently has morphed into Azafran, a Mediterranean/tapas trailer by the same chef/owner. Need to check it out, but I'll miss the fried green toms!

Hut's Hamburgers

Hut's Hamburgers is one of the first places I remember eating when I moved to Austin in 1994. My friends and I would go on Wednesday nights, when the burgers are buy one get one, provided both burgers are the same variety. So then you'd have to figure out a burger that two people would agree upon, AND there's 20 different ones to choose from. It's probably been at least 10 years since I was last there, and it doesn't look like it has changed a whole lot.

After attending a tasting at Haddingtons (see previous post), just two blocks east, we were still a little hungry, so we wandered over to Hut's.  I was quite tempted by the blue plate special of the evening, which was meatloaf. But after studying all 20 of those burger descriptions, I decided on #7 Hut's Favorite -- lettuce, tomato, mayo, American cheese, and bacon.

It was a decent burger; the bacon could have been a touch crisper, and unfortunately, the fries seemed off. Not stale, but just not crisp either. But it was fun.... a little touch of nostalgia for me, and it's an Austin institution.  I can only imagine what it's like for people who remember it way back in 1939 when they opened!

Haddingtons

In a few short months, Haddingtons has generated a buzz in the local foodie community. Located on West 6th and Nueces, in the home of the former Thai Tara, the building has been transformed into a tavern with different dining rooms. It's been on my short list of places to go and have a meal, but I haven't quite made it yet. But with thanks to the PR/marketing firm of Crave Communications, who specialize in the local food service industry, I was invited to a tasting from their new chef, James Corwell. 

The event was set up in the Fox Tavern room, a dining space complete with it's own bar, where the bartenders worked furiously throughout the event, and the waitstaff were gracious to hold plates as some of us jumped in (yes, somewhat frantically) for pictures. It was a crowded room, and fortunately, I ran into Miss Smart and a friend of hers who was visiting from out of town, along with Aimee Wenske, a local food photographer.  We pretty quickly realized we were on the wrong side of the room, and needed to be closer to the entrance if we had hopes of getting some of the bites of food, much less decent pictures! And while I was able to succeed in the former, the latter was much more difficult (for me at least!). Because we were standing, it was hard to juggle my Moscow Mule and take a picture while other people were grabbing the bites of food that were being passed.

It all began with Miss Smart running back over to the bar with a couple of gougere -- think savory cream puffs, these with parmesan and pepper. From there, we had the corn fritters that had just a tiny sliver of cured salmon and the heirloom melon balls with duck prosciutto and a jellied duck consomme. The fritters were very light, and great by themselves, but that salmon really pushed it to a new level! And a nice twist on a typical melon and pork prosciutto.

Along came peach, melon, and ginger aqua frescas. I didn't really get much ginger essence in mine, and while I liked it, it would be a great summertime refresher had it been really chilled.

Next was a crostini with duck liver mousse and an apple salad. I liked this flavor and texture combo. Then the duck and fois gras meatball, with a dried (or fresh, but poached?) cherry on top. My first one didn't have the cherry, but the second piece did, and the cherry gave it a nice pop. (And a photographic failure, unless you'd like to see the dark, blurry image.)

The plate in the back had the fantastic lamb merquez sausage bites on a little savory cream puff; I don't think these were the same as the gougere. Loved these, but I do love lamb! The plate in front are chunks of fried green tomatoes, done with a wonderfully light breading (panko?) and a chili soy dipping sauce. These two dishes I'd say were the stars of the evening, along with the corn fritter and melon ball.

There was also a tuna tartar, done in little cucumber cups; the menu for the event said it had a meyer lemon creme fraiche on it. It was a small little bite, and something texturally didn't work for me, nor did I get a lemony flavor. (Sorry, no decent picture.) And the strawberries with a honey gelee, which were interesting, but consensus in our little group was the gelee was too thick.

Finally, the milk punch capped off the tastings, a combo of brandy, nutmeg, and frothy milk, not unlike eggnog, except milk, not egg. I think of milk punch as a very southern drink, so I am not totally sure if I'd call it a tavern drink. Ahhh, but the chef is most recently from New Orleans, so there's the connection!

I briefly met the chef, though didn't get a chance to talk with him, but nice he was out of his chef whites and milling about the packed room. So I still need to get to Haddingtons for a real meal, though I now have a much better sense as to what all the fuss is about. Thank you to Haddingtons and Crave for a tasty evening!

El Greco

I've always enjoyed Greek food, but it's not something I've ever eaten a whole lot of, and there aren't a lot of Greek places in Austin. I have heard good things about El Greco, at 31st and Guadalupe, and it was finally time to go check it out with two of my girlfriends.

The place is a little more casual inside than I expected; they have a counter with a register, and perhaps they use that for order taking during lunch or busy times. Otherwise, it's a seat-yourself place, and there was once hostess/waitress managing the floor. She was warm and friendly from the start, and was patient with us as we chatted and looked at the menu. We all had a different glass of wine, and we started with the tiropita appetizer, phyllo dough filled with feta cheese. Unfortunately, I could tell from the moment they were brought out that they were anemic. They were undercooked, so there was not a great deal of flakiness to them, and the layers on the bottom were more raw than those on top. One of us commented that it needed a drizzle of olive oil. We noticed later that most of the other tables did in fact have a bottle of oil on them, but ours did not. We did eat the whole thing, but it needs some more time in the oven, for certain.

 

We decided to get a couple different dishes and just share everything. First came the pastitsio, also known as Greek lasagna. It's tubular noodles with seasoned ground beef, in a bechamel sauce. Not overly rich, it had nice flavor, and we got a Greek salad with it. Maybe a little disappointed that their Greek salad doesn't have nice chunks of feta cheese, but rather a sprinkling on top. The pita, while not necessarily necessary with a pasta dish, was very nice and soft.

Next was the Greek meat plate for two along with a bigger Greek salad, and  an order of "Greco peas" -- English peas in a very light and mild tomato sauce; quite tasty too.  Let's cut to the chase though, the meats were fantastic! From left to right in the picture you have: beeftekee, two lamb chops, pork souvlaki (kebab) and chicken souvlaki. 

The beeftekee is ground beef, mixed with herbs and spices, shaped into a loaf, and grilled. Well seasoned, and just a bit of feta on top. The lamb chops, while well-done, still had great lamb flavor, and I had no qualms about picking the bone up and eating it with my fingers. Both of the souvlakis were tender, moist, and grilled perfectly. Again, the meats are by far, the star of this show. On their website is a video segment on how they prepare the lamb chops -- cut them, soak (brine?), drain, marinate, grill, with the soak, drain, and marinate taking a couple hours each. Tasty though!

For dessert, how can you pass up baklava, especially when billed as "Chef Jake's grandmother's recipe"? This was in a spiral, with a lot of sweet syrup poured over top, so it kind of lost it's flakiness. It's interesting how many different forms baklava can take! I think I prefer mine with nice crisp layers, lasagna style, rather than rolled up or even shredded.

I would hope El Greco would update their website to accurately reflect the prices now being charged on the menu, and that the prices redacted on the printed menus at the restaurant would be filled in with the current rates. Also, I heard the waitress talking to the table next to us, saying they no longer serve breakfast because they didn't have enough business. It's still listed on the web, as is a coupon for free coffee with breakfast.  It is nice, though, that they have a gluten free menu online, as well as plenty of vegetarian options. Would be a shame though, to miss out on those meats. 

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.