Recent Eats

A few of the places I have been this past month. I was extremely fortunate to have been the plus one to a media tasting dinner at laV, the newly opened French restaurant at 1501 East 7th. It was fabulous all around!

Best sparkling rose I've had because it wasn't too dry for my tastes, Cremant de Limoux, Cuvee Rose, Domaine Collin NV, and it paired wonderfully with the chicken liver pate. As managing partner and lead sommelier Vilma Mazaite said, the pate is filled with butter and cream, so what's not to like? Accompanying it was brioche toast points, berry preserves, cornichons, and mustard. LaV and Winebelly probably have two of the best pates in town.

The next course was a sweet pea agnolotti, filled with ricotta, with a pea puree on the bottom, and pressed strawberries and pea shoots on top. It was as beautiful and tasty as it looks.

Roast chicken isn't something I would normally order at a restaurant, but this one is special. Executive Chef Allison Jenkins said they salt the chickens the night before, and then roast at 600 degrees, breast-side down, for an hour. Served with perfectly-roasted fingerling potatoes, on the regular menu, this dish serves two and runs $48. And worth every penny.

The bouillabaisse was chock full of head-on blue shrimp, clams, squid, and had a distinct orange flavoring to it's broth. And no, that's not French's mustard on the rustic bread, but rather rouille, a saffron and garlic sauce, similar in texture to an aioli (I was unfamiliar with rouille before this!).

Dessert was lemon and mascarpone budino with local Poteet strawberries, and brioche doughnuts. I could have licked the lovely blue ceramic bowl clean of its velvety contents!

LaV has it all going for themselves -- beautiful decor, superb service, and most importantly, outstanding food. They also have a very extensive wine list (several thousand bottles are housed in the private tasting room we were in) and highly knowledgeable staff. Surely this place will be ranking high on the top places to eat in Austin. Make a reservation and experience for yourselves.

And a few other meals of note. Dinner with a friend at my neighborhood Elizabeth Street Cafe. This is the #20, house specialty banh mi, which they gracefully let me substitute the roast pork for the marinated. They make their baguettes in-house, and it's the perfect consistency for this sandwich.

A media tasting for the new summer menu at NoVa. This was the Parmesan risotto, which several of us shared, and it was hard not to eat it all myself!

We then moved a few doors down to Bangers. It was a rainy evening on Rainey Street, so we sat inside. Extremely loud! And as this was my first visit to Bangers, I was a bit overwhelmed by both the food and drink menus. Ended up with the bockwurst (they make all their own sausages, and even have fresh ones available to take home) and Crispin pear cider.

The movie Chef (see previous blog post) made me extremely hungry for a Cuban sandwich. This one from the Texas Cuban trailer on South Lamar hit the spot!

And finally, after watching a friend make pasta, I decided to dust off my pasta maker, and give it another try. The dough recipe couldn't be simpler: 1 cup of all purpose or double zero flour to 2 eggs. That's it. No salt in the dough, but salt your pasta water liberally. It all came together easily, and after repeated passes through the pasta machine, I had dough, which I cut (imprecisely) into pappardelle.

Which then became dinner with fresh fava beans, pecorino romano cheese, fresh mint, and just a little bit of bacon. I am pretty proud of this dish!

So, just a little peek into my food world. Some of these pictures I previously posted on Instagram. Where have you been lately that's good?

South Lamar Trailer Bazaar + Bits and Bites

-- The South Lamar Trailer Bazaar sponsored a media tasting this week. It was a great way to check out all five of the trailers that sit on the lot just south of Red's Porch.  

     -- Collie's Burgers -- 1/2 pound hamburgers with very freshly ground meat! The apple fries were unique and really amazing! Nice burger variety on the menu.

    -- La Guera's Tacos -- inexpensive breakfast tacos, with a ton of possible combinations. We had two samples, a beef fajita meat with egg, and an al pastor with a red sauce. Their creamy green salsa was fresh and had a big kick to it!

   -- Boxcar Bistro -- a REALLY nice, almost light, chicken salad with tarragon, green apple, and walnuts. You can get it as a salad or sandwich. Also had a croque monsieur one of their signature dishes.....what's not to like about fancy grilled cheese?

  -- Tri Mai Thai made an incredible tom kha soup, one of the best things I tasted all night! I have always been a fan of this coconut milk soup from Madam Mam's/Sap's, but the broth on this one was less coconut milk-y, but still tons of interesting flavors -- kaffir lime, galangal, straw mushrooms, chicken, shrimp....Also on the plate, from left to right are a crab rangoon and pork dumpling, pad thai noodles, and pineapple fried rice. To me it's sort of curious that a Thai trailer is making Chinese-style apps with the rangoon and dumpling, but the rangoon (made with real crab), particularly was delish.  Also offering free beer!

  -- Honky Tonk Hot Dog uses nice all beef Vienna dogs, and they toast their buns! This was the Scott Dog, their take on a Chicago dog, and named after trailer owner and local musician Scott Angle. It's a fun looking menu with the various dogs named after honky tonk musicians. Scott and others will play music from time to time, which increases the South Austin vibe.

So go check these fine trailers out! They've done a real nice job fixin' up the area, enclosing it with a fence, adding a play area for the kids, a small stage, covered seating, and most importantly, good food and real friendly people! 

 Other upcoming events:

-- Roll On Sushi Diner celebrates their first anniversary next week with drink specials and promos. On August 16, there will be happy hour specials all day, and for each item sold containing produce from the Grow Together Community Gardens, Roll On will donate $1 to the Gardens. August 17th has $1 drink specials and a portion of the proceeds goes to the Flatwater Foundation. On August 18th, more drink specials and proceeds will benefit the Health Alliance for Austin Musicians (HAAM).

-- Olivia's next special dinner from Chef de Cuisine Andrew Francisco will be August 22, $110/person, with 11 courses and wine pairings.

-- Con Olio will be hosting Tom Mueller who wrote Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil for a book signing on August 25th. Arboretum location, 11a - 1pm, Lavaca location 2:30 - 4:30 pm.

-- Zhi Tea will celebrate their fifth anniversary in early September with some special classes and events. For more info, check them out here. 

-- Tickets for the Texas Craft Brewers Festival, to be held on October 6 at Fiesta Gardens, have gone on sale.

-- Very excited to see that LuLu B's has (finally!) extended their hours! The Vietnamese trailer at Lamar and Oltorf is now open  on Saturday evenings from 6 - 9 pm, and they appear to be offering some specials then as well. Hope this dinner thing will work out for them!

-- And finally, congrats to both Lenoir and Elizabeth Street Cafe, two hot spots that both opened right around Christmas, have both been recognized by Bon Appetit magazine as top 50 new restaurants.

Also excited to be going to a tasting for a possible new kabob trailer tonight! Stay tuned!!

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Elizabeth Street Cafe

When Bouldin Creek Cafe announced last year they were moving a few blocks south, I wondered what would become of their old home (it's actually the house that my friend's grandparents used to own many years ago) at the corner of South First and Elizabeth. I was excited when I heard it would become Elizabeth Street Cafe, an upscale Vietnamese boulangerie, brought to us by the folks from Lambert's and Perla's. And then even more excited when I heard rumors (and I think they have been substantiated -- renovations and parking lot paving are underway) that the long-vacant building on the north side of Elizabeth would become a Thai spot, from the La Condesa people. ESC opened about two weeks ago, and I was giddy with excitement -- as were my three companions! -- to go eat dinner there on Friday night. We were not disappointed!

I had heard good things and long waits at ESC through the foodie rumor mill. I anticipated a lengthy wait on a Friday, and was almost shocked when the hostess said it would (only) be about 30 minutes. Fortunately, it was a beautiful, warm January night, so sitting on the front patio to wait with a cocktail was no issue at all. We had the champagne punch, which comes in a large beaker with a strainer and stirring spoon; it's comprised of champagne, Lillet Blanc Passion Fruit, some lime, grapefruit and bitters, and had strawberries and blueberries in it. It needed a good stir to get the passion fruit flavor, but once I found that, I was happy. 

We had remarked on how nice it would be to eat outside for our dinner, as we noticed tables on the north side as we waited. Lo and behold, that's where we were seated! About six small round tables dot the patio. A little tight for a table of four, but we're a cozy bunch, and had planned on sharing items anyway. Starting with a few apps, we had the #16 Niman Ranch Pork Belly Steamed Buns. I promise, there was some very tasty pork under all that cilantro! The bun part was a little doughy, and I can tell now from the picture, they are a little uneven in thicknesses; pretty sure I had the thicker one on the right.

Followed by the #10C Ginger Marinated Tofu with Radish, Thai Basil, and Serrano. These could have used more "oomph" to use a technical term. However, the dipping sauces are killer! Peanut (heavy on the coconut milk) on the right, sweet chili vinegar the clear one, and ginger-jalapeno the green. The green one I think may have some avocado in it, because it's very creamy...it was hard for all of us to resist not licking the little bowl!

And the #27 Kaffir Lime Fried Chicken Bahn Mi. Loved the presentation on the newspaper! To start with, this the most perfect baguette for this sandwich, and they make them in-house. It's got a nice crust to it, but it doesn't tear up the roof of your mouth, nor is it too thick. The chicken was nicely fried, but I thought it lacked in kaffir flavor. Would I eat it again though? Yes.

We then got the #31C Pork Belly, Pork Meatballs, and Soft Boiled Egg bowl of Pho, done in pork broth, of course. We had been smelling the pho as it had been delivered to other tables, and it was really tasty. It has a fairly strong scent of Chinese five spice powder, or at least the star anise, but the flavor of it is not over powering. There were a few slices of pork belly, which was nice, but what was totally amazing was the meatball -- so tender and flavorful. (They actually do a bahn mi with the meat balls....hmmmm....) I have some runny yolk issues, so my friends split the soft boiled egg in their bowls, and they said it really made it even more amazing, so next time, I will have to try it!

And the #40 Grilled McAllen Ranch Flank Steak Bun (noodle) bowl (pronounced boone) -- look at those vibrant colors! There was a small bowl of nuoc cham (seasoned fish sauce) that we poured over, but next time, I would ask for an extra bowl of it. The meat was a little salty (and you know, I LIKE salt!), and a little bit on the tough side, but it was cooked beautifully, and had good flavor, once you got past the saltiness. I just think the dish in general needed a bit more contrast from the fish sauce. Now, each table does come with a tray of condiments -- chile paste, sambal soy, hoisin,and  fish sauce, so you can do some doctoring on your own.

Though we were ALMOST at our tipping point, there was just a little room left for Puffed Rice Profiteroles, with Vietnamese Coffee, Dark Chocolate, Creme Anglaise, and Candied Hazelnuts. Hell yeah! These were perfect, and when split amongst four people, it's just right.

Our server Kathleen was great. Very open with the suggestions, but totally understanding when our pregnant lady didn't show as much enthusiasm for the recommended octopus dishes (#18 grilled octopus salad and #48 octopus bun -- apparently the octopi is very nice and tender) or the bahn mi with pate. All the waitresses were in cute retro-ish print dresses. And what I will assume is a Vietnamese rice basket for a trashcan in the women's room, along with some Asian prints and an orchid on the counter to round out the Asian feel.

We also had one more round of punch cocktails, the Sake and Plum Wine Punch, which was maybe a little more cucumber than I was expecting. But all told, four people had Friday night dinner and drinks for $108 before tip. That's $27 each, and I really don't think that's at all unreasonable. We didn't leave feeling hungry, but Gourdough's and Izzoz's are in the lot next door if anyone was.

And then we walked back to my house, a mere five blocks away from Elizabeth Street Cafe. Very excited for such a great addition to the Bouldin 'hood! Oh, and they're open for breakfast!

J Mueller's BBQ

Pepper. Lots of pepper.

That's certainly how I would sum up the new J Mueller BBQ trailer on South First. As expected, the meats were delicious, and for a BBQ joint, the sides were okay. Fortunately, on a wettish Tuesday, we didn't have to wait in line, as we were the only ones there! At times though, they see big lines, and when they're out of food for the day, they're out! 

They gave us a big bite of nice charred brisket as they were putting our order together. Tender, smoky, with a big black pepper bite to it.

Two of us split what you see below, which we brought home to eat: from the left, potato salad, sausage, pork ribs, brisket, squash casserole, and chipotle cole slaw. 

The pork sausage has a nice coarse grind, also pretty peppery. The pork ribs were probably my favorite of the meats; great pink smoke ring, and not as much pepper (though you could see it in the rub on the exterior) as the brisket. Potato salad was my favorite of the three sides, creamy, with a few little chunks in it. The squash really didn't do anything for me (but I am generally not a huge fan of yellow squash), though my friend, who ate it all the time at the previous Mueller locations, was quite pleased with it. And the cole slaw had more of a black pepper taste than a chipotle taste to it... not as advertised.

Mueller's is directly across the street from what will be the new Elizabeth Street Cafe (and just to the south of this building is the lot for Izzoz Tacos), which will serve upscale Vietnamese. Too hard to get a decent photo, with S. 1st Street traffic, and the orange construction markers. When I drove past there last night, they had some Christmas lights up on the awnings. Getting close to opening, I hope!

And this building on the north side of Elizabeth is rumored to be a Thai spot.....

The meats of J Mueller's are a great addition to the trailers along S. 1st, and good BBQ is always a good thing. No offense to the Mexican Mile, but South First is finally turning into a REAL food destination!