Bits and Bites -- Food News!

                                                      Events -- Mark Your Calendars

-- Now in it's fourth year, the Austin Give 5% campaign is back for Earth Day. On Monday, April 22nd, participating businesses will donate 5% of their gross sales to seven area environmentally friendly non-profit organizations; last year's event raised $60,000. There are a ton of restaurants on here so go eat!

-- Lustre Pearl is hosting the Earth Day Happy Hour Benefit Concert on Friday, April 19th from 5 - 9 pm, which will benefit the Rainforest Partnership, that works to protect tropical forests in Ecuador and Peru. $50/person

-- The Tanger Outlets in San Marcos are hosting A Taste and Style Experience, on Saturday, April 20th, and Australian chef Curtis Stone will be there at 2 pm signing books; a variety of area food trucks will be on hand too.

-- Lambert's is presenting Vaca y Vino, a cow-roast, inspired by Argentinean beef traditions, on April 21st. Tickets are $100 or $120, including transportation from downtown to the event site, which is just outside of Austin. Chefs Larry McGuire and Lou Lambert will be at the helm (or horns?), Argentine wines and other Argentine foods will be available. Proceeds will benefit the Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance. 

-- The Austin Food and Wine Festival is April 27-28 at Butler Park (adjacent to Auditorium Shores)!

-- Top Chef Fan Favorite Chef Fabio Viviani will be in Austin at BookPeople on April 30th at 7 pm signing copies of his latest book, Fabio's Italian Kitchen, which will be released on the 23rd.

-- La Condesa is having a Cinco de Mayo block party on May 5th from 1 - 9 pm, with free food, music and entertainment. More info is on their Facebook page for the event. 

 -- Jack Allen's Kitchen in Oak Hill will host a Spanish wine pairing dinner on May 7th, $95/person, five courses.  

Exciting News! 

-- Our very own Sugar Mama's Bakeshop WON their Cupcake Wars battle against three other bakeries! Super congrats to owner Olivia O'Neal and her head decorator Andrea Leck, as they created cupcakes to please Weird Al Yankovic. See their Facebook page for updates, they're currently offering one winning cupcake flavor a week (call ahead to reserve!), and I am hoping to interview Olivia in the near future about their experiences!

-- Austin Cake Ball has rebranded their Domain location into Copper Restaurant and Dessert Lounge. I've been invited to try it out, and will report back! 

-- Baker Street Pub on South Lamar is happy to announce their outdoor patio is dog-friendly. 

-- Speakeasy, the 1920s lounge downtown, has remodeled their mezzanine space giving guests a better look at the stage. Also note that the entrance has moved from 412 Congress to the alley, in typical speakeasy style.



-- Oh yeah, I almost forgot! The Austin Food Blogger Alliance (of which I am a member) has produced it's first community cookbook! I am super-excited, as two recipes of mine are included in it, and I helped with some of the editing. Our official book release party is actually tonight, and see the link above to find out how you can purchase a copy!  

Openings
-- Lucy's Fried Chicken will open a second location at 5408 Burnet Road, the former Austin Diner space. Michael Hsu will redesign the space, and look for a fall opening.

-- Zoës Kitchen, a branch of a national Mediterranean chain, is opening in Sunset Valley, 5601 Brodie Lane.

-- Teji's Indian, opening at 2100 Guadalupe, the second from the Round Rock restaurant and grocery.

Closed/Closing
-- Fran's on South Congress at Mary. The family-owned restaurant decided not to renew their lease (I can only imagine what the rent was). I went for a final burger and onion rings lunch on Saturday, April 6th, and wrote a brief obituary you can see here.

-- It's OFFICIAL. The South Congress food trailers have to be out from the lot May 25, as we prepare for a hotel. :(

Bits and Bites

What I've come across this past week:

Re-Opening

-- Kerbey Lane has moved into their new, bigger home at 3005 S. Lamar, only 3 blocks from the previous location.

-- Can't remember if I have mentioned before that Sugar Mama's Bakeshop at South 1st and Mary is expanding into the space next door to them! The knocking down of walls is about to begin,with the hopes to have a "grand opening" in mid-February. More space = more sweets! Can't wait!

Happenings, etc.

-- Stubb's BBQ has created a line of ready-to-eat BBQ meats, available exclusively at the South Austin Costco, February 2 - 5.  There's a big football game that weekend that those meats would be perfect for watching with!
-- Houndstooth Coffee will be hosting a pop-up vintage shop, Fridays in February, as they work with local on-line business, Hold Vintage. Drink good coffee, and experience this unique pairing!

-- Braise is debuting three and five-course prix fixe menus, though diners can still order a la carte.

-- Valentine's Day specials being offered at: Jezebel, Paggi House, Sagra.  (The original Jezebel location burned in a fire, and Chef/Owner Parind Vora is utilizing the space at Braise, also his spot, for the Jezebel Valentine's event.)
-- Just need to enjoy the nice Austin weather? Eater Austin has a great list of restaurants with outdoor seating. 

I'll be trying the new Lenoir this coming week! Stay tuned!

Asia Cafe

Another good authentic Chinese spot is Asia Cafe, formerly inside of Asia Market at 183 and Spicewood Springs. Sometime last summer they moved the restaurant into the space next door to the grocery store. I had been to the old location, I think twice, but not for probably close to two years. I remember the pea shoots and crispy whole flounder as being fantastic.

So I met two friends up there for lunch yesterday. Both foodies, and both much more into the organ meats than I. One ordered stir fried beef intestines (though I don't see it on the menu... somewhere in the #787-790 range, though those are all pork, I thought he ordered beef), and another dish that I don't see listed online, which was essentially pieces of coagulated beef blood; both dishes done Szechuan style, with lots of Szechuan peppercorns & chiles. I did try them both, and honestly, they weren't bad, but I am not sure I could eat a whole bowl of them. It was sort of amusing, because after about 2 bites, both my companions looked at the intestine dish and said "that's not tripe that's tongue." Where there was a brief break in the line to order, he asked the order taker, who went to check it out with the kitchen. She came back to our table and said they were out of tripe, so they substituted tongue, probably thinking the Caucasian dude wouldn't notice, but of course he did. He still ate it all.
My other friend ordered what I believe is #699, Combination Seafood Pot with Pork Intestines. It was a HUGE pot. Think mixing bowl. There were a few stares from both Asian & Caucasian people who were waiting in line to order. There was cabbage and broth in the bottom, and just covered with tripe and nicely battered and fried pieces of white fish throughout. Also lots of peppercorns & chiles, but very flavorful. We shared the #129, Zhong dumplings, which are probably some of the best I have ever had. They made their own dough for them, and once steamed, it comes out to be a really soft, tender, lightly chewy dough, that is perfect with the pork filling. They come bathed in a garlicy soy sauce, which is I think what makes them "zhong". I really love pan-fried dumplings, so on my next visit, that's what I want to try, assuming they are also done with the homemade dough.
We also got #675, the salt & pepper fried squid. A great light batter (rice flour?) around slightly thicker pieces of squid tubes, they kind of looked like gnocchi/fried cauliflower, and were delicious. Would have been nice if they came with a little sauce to dunk them in, but there were plenty of broths & oils on the table to do so. I ordered #568, spicy & sour sweet potato noodle, which turned out to be one of my least favorite items. It was okay....a broth of mostly chile oil, with the cellophane sweet potato noodles, a bit of ground beef, and fresh water spinach leaves. Hard to eat (at least politely), and the broth didn't have the depth of flavor that like the seafood pot or even the intestine/tongue dish had. But I could have eaten a plate of those dumplings!

A couple of notes: we got there at 11:30am, and by about11:50am there was a line at the register where you order that pretty much didn't stop. They give you a number when you order, and then call it out when the food arrives. Sometimes difficult to understand the man calling out numbers & dishes. Also, if you're not accustomed to Szechuan peppercorns, don't be alarmed if your mouth and/or tongue goes numb while eating and everything tastes a bit different than normal. It goes away once you're done eating. Finally, there's a cupcake place down to the right of the restaurant.... what's the name? Begins with a "C"... anyway, I got one cupcake to go (quite tasty, but no Sugar Mama's), which was packaged in what looks like to be an inverted sundae container. It seems to be the perfect way to contain one cupcake, rather than risking it tipping over in a paper bag. Kudos!

Asia Cafe is in the same shopping center as Chen's Noodle House. Both places are supposed to have killer lamb dishes... need to do a taste test and find out for myself!

The Knife Sharpest

No, you can't eat there. But I am THRILLED beyond belief to have a new location of the Knife Sharpest very close to my house! It has just ophbklened up in an old house at 1906 S. 1st Street, next to La Mexicana Bakery, and across the street from Sugar Mama's. No more having to drive all the way up to Burnet Road!

I walked over this morning to drop off 7 knives in definite need of a honed edge. The guy working there said he's had a lot of restaurant business so far, but it's been slow getting the word out to the non-restaurant world -- so spread the word! It's $3.50 a knife, and it's CASH or CHECK only. I know at the Burnet Road location, I've taken my serrated bread knife, and I think that's cost a touch more. Looks like both locations are equipped to sharpen just about anything that needs it, so get your knives & garden tools in line!

The Knife Sharpest 1906 S. 1st St. (about 3 blocks north of Oltorf), Austin, TX 78704. 592-0587, knifesharpest@yahoo.com (no website listed on their flier) M - F, 10a - 6p, Sat 10a - 4p

So I dropped my knives off and went over to La Mexicana. If you've never been in there, it's a sight to behold. Two HUGE counters of Mexican pastries, panaderia, cookies, etc. And they make pretty darn good breakfast tacos. I actually opted for a package of their house-made flour tortillas (surprisingly, no lard) and queso fresco from their refrigerated case (they have stuff like cold drinks, eggs, and some other dry grocery items... not to mention calling cards, insurance, etc for those with family in Mexico), and made my own black bean tacos at home. Not as tasty as their refried beans & chorizo, but my arteries will thank me too!

(More) Sugar Mama's!

Mmmm. Cupcakes. How can you ever get tired of them? Last night was the fabulous wedding of a lovely friend at Thurman's Mansion, adjacent to the Salt Lick. A delcious BBQ dinner was had by all! (See the Salt Lick post from a few days back.)

Instead of having a traditional cake, the bride & groom went for a charming tier of Sugar Mama's cupcakes! We had 4 chocolate varieties, from bottom to top in the photo:
-- the James Brown, a chocolate cupcake with chocolate frosting
-- the Black and Tan, a Guinness cupcake with Bailey's Irish cream cheese frosting
-- German Chocolate, chocolate cake with pecan, coconut & caramel frosting (also the bride's favorite, and this was the top-tier topper)
-- the Peanut Butter Cup, a chocolate cupcake with peanut butter chips, and pb buttercream frosting

The two vegans in attendance were also extremely pleased with the mint chocolate and ginger lemon cupcakes. Sugar Mama's came out and set up everything -- thank you!!!! -- and now I have to return the cupcake stand to them. Maybe I should pick up something while I am there...