A friend was in from out of town and staying near Guadalupe and MLK, so we had lunch at Lavaca Teppan, a Japanese spot next to the Women and their Work gallery. The interior decor is your typical minimalist Japanese style with clean lines, though for some reason to me, this place almost had an unfinished look to it and they've been open over a year. There seemed to be a mix of clientele, young professionals, couples, a family with kids, and the guy at the table next to us, who quickly ate and was in and out in about 15 minutes.
I'll be honest, it wasn't memorable food. I was there two weeks ago, and am just now remembering to write about it! We shared some steamed edamame, and I had the beef udon noodle bowl with some veggies in it, and my friend the chicken udon. The noodles were a bit chewy (or shall I say chewier than normal for udon), and the beef was okay, marinated a bit in a soy or teriyaki sauce to give it a bit of flavor. They do serve the udon bowls with a side of pickled ginger, which did add a really nice flavor -- if you like ginger, and I do -- to the dish.
Maybe
it's just what I ordered... some of the other menu items, like the
donburi rice bowl sounds good, as are some of the offerings on their
menu that begins after 2 pm. Would I go back? Maybe? There's just other
Japanese places at similar price points that I know are really good.
-- 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.
-- 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!
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!
-- 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.
