Greetings from Japan!

Hello! I am not in my normal South Austin neighborhood -- I am in Japan for a couple of weeks! We are currently in Kyoto, seeing some of the beautiful old temples and shrines, and eating well along the way.

Entering the Heian Jingu shrine.

The manicured gardens at the Ginkakuji shrine, also known as the Silver Pavillion.

Green tea soba noodles.

 The window outside the noodle shop, where you could go and point to what you wanted.

Sweets in the department store; the Isetan Department Store has a whole level of just prepared food items. Unfortunately, I don't know what most of them are!

 Soba noodles in dashi broth, tempura, pickled veg.

Shrimp tempura over rice, soba in broth with seaweed, tofu skin, carrot.

Buddha at the Ryoanji Temple.

 The Rock Garden at Ryoanji Temple.

 Ryoanji translates to Temple of the Dragon at Peace.

Austin Bakes

I have been making buttermilk biscuits for Austin Bakes, a community-wide bakesale that will donate all proceeds to The Austin Community Foundation Central Texas Wildfire Fund,  which is supporting the victims of some of the recent wildfires in Bastrop, Spicewood, amongst others. The bake sale will have seven locations throughout town, and local bakers, both individuals and professional businesses are donating baked goods to the sale.

Austin Bakes was created this spring, with a bake sale that supported Japan's tsunami relief efforts via the AmeriCares organization. With only a couple locations, they raised over $11,500! Today's event is poised to smash that amount! The amazing organizer behind Austin Bakes? The spunky and tireless Kathryn Hutchison, also known as Austin Gastronomist!

Thank you Kathryn for all of your work!  

Mai Thai

Finally had a chance to go to Mai Thai the other night, after a couple previous failed attempts (on my end, not theirs). It's a new Thai restaurant on San Jacinto between 2nd and 3rd, or more specifically, between Max's Wine Dive and Piranha Killer Sushi. The interior has nice clean lines, rich red walls, and some cool looking light fixtures hanging from the ceiling. (They don't really seem like "chandeliers".) I didn't take any pictures of the decor, but there are a few to be viewed on their well-designed web site. There was only one host/server, but it wasn't busy, and he did a great job of refreshing water glasses, and checking in on us throughout the meal.

We started with mee krob, an old favorite of mine that I don't often see. It's vermicelli rice noodles that are deep fried til crispy, and tossed with a tamarind sauce. The one I had growing up in Washington, DC had a really great sweet twangy sauce that was drizzled over, as opposed to tossed all together like this one. I liked the egg strips and little tofu cubes, as it cut back a bit on the sweetness.

Next was somtum, or better known as green papaya salad. What a great summertime dish! Well, really an anytime dish, but there's something about being hot outside and eating a hot but refreshingly cool salad. Along with the green papaya, this had carrots, tomatoes, peanuts, and some cabbage on the side.  I would have liked a touch more fish sauce to really bring out the intensity of the different Thai tastes, but it was a very nice, fresh, presentation.

Followed by lard nar, stir fried wide rice noodles (which you can't see) with a brown soy bean paste gravy and Chinese broccoli. I am a sucker for the fresh rice noodles.... they're made in sheets and then cut into strips for various dishes. While Mai Thai doesn't use MSG, I think there was a lot of sodium in this one. It didn't seem like it at the time, but when I woke up in the morning, my fingers were definitely swollen.

And to finish it off, sweet rice with mango. I was pleasantly surprised by the strong coconut milk flavor in the rice.

Everything was fresh, and the dishes came out from the kitchen well-timed. There are many other dishes on the menu, particularly on the special dish section that I would love to try. They've also got some more mainstream Chinese-influenced dishes, I am sure to keep some of the non-Thai enthusiasts at bay. I should try their pad thai, as it's often a go-to dish when I try a new Thai place, sort of my measure of their abilities. It was a pleasant atmosphere, and I hope the place will succeed; it seems like a good location for an Asian restaurant that's NOT a national chain (PF Chang's is around the block). They've been active in social media, and offer happy hour specials. If you're looking for a new Thai spot, give Mai Thai a try.

Bits and Bites

Last week was not a good one for several area restaurants. Right after I published last week's installment of B & B, the info started spreading via Twitter and Facebook of some unforeseen closures.

-- El Arbol, near 38th and Jefferson

-- The Belmont, on 8th between Lavaca and Guadalupe

-- Hickory Street Bar & Grill, at 8th and Congress 

-- Graze, on E. 6th, near Chicon

In better news:

 

-- Eater Austin reports that a smallish chain called Noodles and Company is expanding into the Austin area. Carbs = good! 

-- Expanding her Rainey Street empire, Bridget Dunlap has opened Bar Ilegal, adjacent to Clive, a mezcal-only watering hole. (No website of their own, as of yet; the above link takes you to Clive.)

Events: 

-- Austin Restaurant Week is underway! 

-- Saturday, at SEVEN locations around town will be Austin Bakes for Bastrop, a bake-sale fundraiser for the Bastrop community that was devastated by fires a couple weeks ago. If you'd like to get involved as a baker or to assist at a bake sale location, or to make a financial donation, go to their website.  I will be making biscuits for sale (all sales are on a donation basis) for the Hotel San Jose location on South Congress. Bring your own gravy.

-- This weekend is the 7th Annual Texas Fall Fest and Wine Auction in Marble Falls.

-- 24 Diner will hold a beer pairing dinner with Real Ale on October 5th, tickets are $60/person. The five course menu sounds amazing; I can forward it to you if you'd like. And speaking of 24 Diner, it was officially announced that Chef Drew Curren is one of the Top Chef contestants this upcoming season along with the long-rumored Uchi/Uchiko sous, Paul Qui. Congrats guys! How awesome to see Austin represent! New season begins in November!

Taverna

Friday night, tickets to Erasure (yes, I still love them after 20-something years!) at Austin City Limits Moody Theater. Needed an easy place to meet my friends for dinner, and thus we hatched a plan: park at City Hall (at only $5, it's a bargain downtown), walk across the street and eat at Taverna, and walk across the street once more to ACL. It worked perfectly!

We arrived just after 6:30 pm, and Taverna had seating availability on their covered front patio. Our table was right by one of the misters, and it was a pleasant atmosphere to people watch. It was sort of like being a tourist in our own town, as we saw the mild hustle and bustle of what's become downtown Austin -- there were concert goers in their Erasure t-shirts, (actual) tourists, people walking their dogs, a group of young women ALL in short black dresses and one in white (bachlorette party?)....fun to watch.


Food-wise, we started with the bruschetta and frito mixto plates. Warning: the photos were taken with my cell phone, as you can't take real cameras into ACL; everything's got a blue tinge to it....The bruschetta was very vibrant, and wasn't over-dressed. The frito mixto had calamari and shrimp, as well as shoestring carrots and zucchini; very well-fried, not greasy, though maybe a touch over-salted for some (not me!).

I had the risotto al vin santo, with asparagus, prosciutto, and pecorino cheese on top. This photo completely washes the dish out, and it tasted much better than it looks! Could have used a hint of acid, perhaps from some white wine, but I ate the entire bowl.

This is the pear and gorgonzola fiocchi (tortellini), with walnuts, arugula, and a cream sauce. It was rather sweet from the pear, but it all went together nicely.

And, linguine pasta with chicken, mushrooms, truffle oil in a cream sauce, very rich!

All of us cleaned our plates, and then went to the concert to dance it off! I had been to Taverna in early spring for drinks and appetizers with friend, but it had been a long time since I had a full meal there. They seem to be doing quite nicely for themselves, and from their website, I learned they have locations in the DFW area, and appear to be part of a larger Italian restaurant family. They do seem to know what they are doing, and they're  positioned in prime real estate downtown to attract whomever is walking by.