tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-122968022024-03-17T21:58:55.937-05:00grubbusInitially the food column of a little student paper at St. John's College, now food-centered notes about places I find myself.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03004362052809514242noreply@blogger.comBlogger104125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12296802.post-9739281595177564252015-06-22T21:20:00.002-05:002015-06-22T21:20:44.761-05:00Strip-Mall Upstate Indian Joint Far Exceeds Expectations: KaravalliToday was a long travel day, with an awkward lunchtime in the food desert that is Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson Terminal B. So, the moment we landed, my phone was out, and I was scrolling through Zomato looking for a place to get some dinner.<br />
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<a href="http://www.karavallilatham.com/index.htm" target="_blank">Karavalli</a> showed a high ranking for what looked like run of the mill strip mall Indian place on the edge of town. The web site did not increase my confidence. I went for it anyway, and I'm glad I did.</div>
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The space is pretty, modest and spotlessly clean - sky blue walls and a darker blue ceiling giving it a bit more of a cozy feeling than it could otherwise have, but this is not a space transformed. Chef? Yes. Interior Design Firm? Not so much. Local awards line one wall, and a grid of tightly packed tables - about 20 altogether- take up the center.</div>
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The menu is enormous and tends more toward Southern Indian dishes than I am used to seeing - they are known for their dosas, and I will personally attest to the awesomeness of their iddli.</div>
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I didn't go in intending to make a post. I didn't even bring my camera. But the way the meal rolled was just so memorable, and so on point, it seemed a waste not to say something about it.</div>
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Starting with iddli. I haven't had these for years. So many years that when they came out, I didn't actually remember how to eat them (<a href="https://comingbacktolife.wordpress.com/2006/02/22/how-to-eat-idli/" target="_blank">thank you Google for telling me</a>, and thank you restaurant for being crowded enough to hide the shame of me looking up how to eat my food online). The rice cakes were soft and mild, with just a tiny tang, and they sopped up the flavor from the chutney and the sambar beautifully. Passing along the benefit of my research for others - the key to eating iddli is to break off a piece and dip it in to the sauce of your choosing. Apparently it's pretty gauche to eat it with fork. I ate it with a fork anyway.</div>
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Naan and Chicken Mali Kabob followed. Both were spectacular. The kabob is served fajita style (yes, I live in Austin, sorry food world, that's just how I see it), sizzling on a cast iron dish with onions and lemon. Each piece was tender, seared and charred just at the corners. Those corners, with the onion, also a little charred, and the lemon. Oh man. It was chicken done right.</div>
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Naan was loftier and richer than any I've had recently, heavy on the butter, which is not a bad thing at all. There were also lentils - delish - and rice - which I have to admit, I just couldn't bring myself to touch. I've got nothing against rice, but there was just too much delicious going on to add something bland.</div>
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I walked into a relatively empty Kavallali at about 6. When I left, an hour later, the place was abuzz - more than half the tables full on a Monday evening, the servers efficient and crisp, the place loud but not overpowering. It was a place that would have exceeded even high expectations, made even more magical for it's appearance at the end of a day spent on airplanes.<br />
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<a href="https://www.zomato.com/albany-ny/karavalli-regional-cuisine-of-india-latham" target="_blank"><img alt="Click to add a blog post for Karavalli, Regional Cuisine Of India on Zomato" src="https://www.zomato.com/logo/17285780/biglogo" style="border: none; height: 34px; padding: 0px; width: 104px;" /></a> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03004362052809514242noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12296802.post-42858175440328089992015-05-25T11:20:00.001-05:002015-05-25T11:41:55.197-05:00Lunch Counter Reinvented in Raleigh: Poole's<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://ac-restaurants.com/pooles/" target="_blank">Poole's</a> is a loud joint. It's not easy to find, not great for kids not easy to manage for big groups. It's not fancy - countertops in weathered formica, menus on chalk boards on the wall.<br />
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What it is is fabulous.<br />
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The menus are in chalk because they are constantly in flux, new items pop up as the produce of the day comes in. The worn formica sits on top of of a classic mid-century lunch-counter double horseshoe, like the <a href="http://www.grubbus.com/2010/07/burger-with-side-of-street-car-at.html" target="_blank">Camillia</a> in New Orleans.<br />
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This is a place imagined by someone who loves food, loves Raleigh, and who has found a way to breathe life into this lost place on the edge of downtown. Freshness comes through front and center on the menu. Seasonings are minimal and on point - lemon and olive oil on perfectly fresh bibb lettuce; cornmeal on intensely juicy quarters of fried green tomato. Everything is bright and crisp - more green tomato and less fried. In more complex dishes, Poole's shows a deft hand with balance and flavor. The roasted pork belly had a soft bite that was rich without the chewy fat that often comes across when places swap out pork belly for bacon to spruce up a menu.<br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Ashley Christensen - the woman behind this place and a handful of others in the Research Triangle won the James Beard award for best chef in the Southeast in 2014. Poole's is good enough to be successful in any market anywhere, but it is connected at its roots to the place where it lives.</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/25/291802/restaurant/Inside-the-Beltline/Pooles-Downtown-Diner-Raleigh"><img alt="Poole's Downtown Diner on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/291802/biglogo.gif" style="border: none; height: 34px; width: 104px;" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03004362052809514242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12296802.post-48019095289362068102015-04-25T17:57:00.000-05:002015-05-25T10:43:23.983-05:00St. Philip: Doing Everything Well<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 20.7000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’ve been to St. Philip for date nights with my wife, for dinner with the kids, for a happy hour snack on the patio, even for a quick lunch. They do everything well - the place is beautiful, the food consistent and delicious, the service phenomenal. Even waiting for a table on the cleverly designed patio is a treat. The entire space is light, airy and open - modern and trendy but in a friendly, accessible way. Years ago, this place was a plant nursery, and in St. Philip a little of that feel comes through.</span></div>
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Pizza is what this place is about, and pizzas are awfully good. My favorite from the early days - lox and capers - is sadly no longer on the menu, but the remaining pizzas, if a little more predicatable are still worth the trip. Standouts are the fennel sausage and the meatball pies, both of which are rich and savory, bringing out the best in the simple tomato sauce. Both are improved with the addition of field greens, the one major option for pizzas on the menu.<br />
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As good as they are, pizzas are not the best thing they do. Golden Cauliflower, over tangy yogurt with raisins and pumpkin seeds is a revelation and always flawless. The chicken and funnel cake is everything chicken and waffles wishes it could be - unflinching in the combination of sweet and savory. The house-made burrata is as soft and silky as any I've ever had. The carrot and avocado salad is exceptional with carrots roasted to a soft bite that compliments the crunch of the granola, the bright greens, and the simply dressed avocado. Just about everything on this menu sings.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chicken and Funnel Cake<br />
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</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRQcLXH_eD24bcF8fomo-Mc92Rt9zN9i-YViDrJVMP9wC2fmAaf0arc_BFNk06p0dGbYctrLKOshwMEm0c45bLC0gQ5mctkPUMvvgXYI57dQBxul9FJtn1YhRX-AVxWPjsjFZuSw/s1600/StP---Burrata.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRQcLXH_eD24bcF8fomo-Mc92Rt9zN9i-YViDrJVMP9wC2fmAaf0arc_BFNk06p0dGbYctrLKOshwMEm0c45bLC0gQ5mctkPUMvvgXYI57dQBxul9FJtn1YhRX-AVxWPjsjFZuSw/s1600/StP---Burrata.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Burrata and Lavash</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC3xuYW50sQQJTnC7HWtesViNJ-BT0jwtNURYjbeFaWJbon0FiN2EdclVXdKgyhVOWVb1mwYH6wZ2ndNDaTs_W2QFYYYq83m9tkoSwbQlOE-ePG9qYgh7Z-Fn0FlaHTErA5nS40A/s1600/StP---CarrotAvocado.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC3xuYW50sQQJTnC7HWtesViNJ-BT0jwtNURYjbeFaWJbon0FiN2EdclVXdKgyhVOWVb1mwYH6wZ2ndNDaTs_W2QFYYYq83m9tkoSwbQlOE-ePG9qYgh7Z-Fn0FlaHTErA5nS40A/s1600/StP---CarrotAvocado.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Carrot and Avocado</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The only disappointment for me is the weekend brunch - and it's really only disappointing next to the sky-high standard I'd begun to expect for the place. The house-smoked lox in Smoked Salmon sandwich was lovely, but was overpowered by the amount of herbed cream cheese. The brisket in the Smoked Brisket sandwhich a little too fatty, the Pancetta sliced too thick for the little sandwich I had it on. Smores Waffles and Brulee French Toast however are amazeballs, skirting that lovely line between breakfast and dessert. The brunch menu is evolving even as I write this post. I have no doubt that it'll be better the next time I go.<br />
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Exit Through the Bakeshop is the running gag throughout the restaurant and it works - the bakeshop is a clever little addition at the far end of the dining room. The confections in the cases in front of the enormous wood burning oven are both creative and beautiful. Opinions on taste are mixed. I am an apologetic sugar addict, and I find the desserts not always as sweet or flavorful as I'd like. Friends without such a sweet tooth swear by them.<br />
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<span style="line-height: 20.7000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">In fourth grade, my </span><span style="line-height: 20.7000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">teacher assigned us all to come up with an adjective to describe ourselves starting with the same letter as our last name. My classmates were Excellent, Fast, Strong, Perfect. And then it was my turn, and I proudly chose Competent Castro. The teacher looked at me with pity in her eyes; she assured me that just to be competent was not much of a aspiration at all. I tried to explain that to be competent was the best thing you could be, it meant that you could do everything, and that you could do everything well. She was not convinced. If St. Philip was in Grand Rapids, MI in the 80s, I'd have just pointed to the place and said - "this is what I mean."</span><span style="line-height: 20.7000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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St. Philip does everything well, and some things extraordinarily well. It is not the best pizza in town, or the best patio, or the most gracious service; but it is the only place I know that is so nearly the best in so many different ways. When I said I wished for competence back all those years ago, this is precisely what I meant.<br />
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<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/11/1797205/restaurant/Sunset-Valley/St-Philip-Austin"><img alt="St Philip on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1797205/biglogo.gif" style="border: none; height: 34px; width: 104px;" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03004362052809514242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12296802.post-87754686966479890322015-03-25T07:11:00.002-05:002015-04-25T18:16:38.297-05:0024 Hours in Brooklyn<div class="MsoNormal">
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I got to spend a day in Brooklyn this week. Just the one
day, and though it was for work, I found myself with enough time to wander off
and get my hands on some mighty tasty food.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://plus.google.com/107360209579088751136/about?gl=us&hl=en">Little Sweet Café</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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77 Hoyt St, Brooklyn, NY</div>
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I started out the Little Sweet Café, which is, in fact, a
little, sweet café. Seats 8, maybe 10 if you’re under 5, as were many of the
patrons. This is a Neighborhood Place. Allow me to illustrate:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">As we walked in, the man (young, beard, fleece)
sitting at the table nearest to the counter was pulling out his wallet to pay.
He found he had only a few dollars cash and said to the one-man-show running
the place, “hey man, I don’t have any cash – I’ll just pay with a credit card”
to which one-man-show replied “nah, don’t worry about, you pay me tomorrow.”</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Just after we sat down it started to fill up,
which is to say, two moms, kids in tow, came in. They knew each other. That was
not the impressive thing. The impressive thing was that one-man-show quickly
deposited a slice in of almond brioche in front of the kid at the table next to us saying “it was my last
piece – I didn’t want you to go without”</span></li>
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Little Sweet does three things – coffee, pastries, and
crepes. Each was good. Not earth shattering, toe curling good, but really
solidly legit stuff. I had the almond brioche (the second-to-the-last piece,
apparently) and it was light and eggy, sweet without being syrupy. My coworker
(both of us beardless and in sport coats, looking very clearly like intruders)
had a crepe – simple and hearty, full of fresh veggies and nicely wilted
spinach. Flavor in everything was understated and simple. <o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/3/1585794/restaurant/Boerum-Hill/The-Little-Sweet-Cafe-NYC"><img alt="The Little Sweet Cafe on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1585794/biglogo.gif" style="border: none; height: 34px; width: 104px;" /></a>
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<a href="https://bluebottlecoffee.com/">Blue Bottle Coffee</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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85 Dean St, Brooklyn, NY</div>
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My next stop was at Blue Bottle. I know, I know, Blue Bottle
belongs on the West Coast, but I knew they had come in pretty full force to
Brooklyn and it was only a few blocks from my hotel. The pour over was amazing –
just their house blend, but tons of bright flavor – the paper cup was a drag,
but even in the paper notes of cinnamon and balsa wood came through beautifully.
The latte (I was getting a little wired by this point, but I had to give it a
go) was silky and beautiful, but didn’t have the same oomph as the coffee.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/3/1706820/restaurant/NYC/Williamsburg/Blue-Bottle-Coffee-Brooklyn"><img alt="Blue Bottle Coffee on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1706820/biglogo.gif" style="border: none; height: 34px; width: 104px;" /></a>
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<a href="https://www.shakeshack.com/">Shake Shack</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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409 Fulton St, Brooklyn, NY</div>
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Lunch was Shake Shack. Since
they’re coming to Austin next month I thought I’d give them a whirl. I had
modest expectations. It exceeded them. The burger had a nice crumble to it, the
bun was a little sweet and exquisitely squishy, the special sauce (I never get
special sauce, but I figured I should do it like it was supposed to be done)
was actually amazing. I have no idea what it was, but it was sharp and creamy
at the same time and did a great job tying it all together. The fries were OK.
On the Austin scale, I put it ahead of Mighty Fine and behind Hop Doddy. Worth
a visit, not worth a long wait in line.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/3/1648501/restaurant/NYC/Downtown-Brooklyn/Shake-Shack-Brooklyn"><img alt="Shake Shack on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1648501/biglogo.gif" style="border: none; height: 34px; width: 104px;" /></a>
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<a href="http://sottocasanyc.com/">Sotto Casa</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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298 Atlantic Ave, Brooklyn, NY</div>
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Dinner was Sotto Casa. I’m kicking myself for not taking a
photo while I was there, but the pictures on the site do not exaggerate. So much
like Little Sweet, this was neighborhood through and through, full of kids, and
unflinchingly European. There are half a dozen salads and maybe 15 different
pizzas. Pizzas are all super thin crust, maybe 14 inches, enough for 2,
especially if you get a salad. The food was phenomenal, with kind of clarity of
flavor you get from ultra-simple recipes. The salad was arugula dressed with
salt, olive oil and lemon. The pizza was eggplant, tomato, fresh mozzarella. It
was real food, unadorned, beautiful.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/3/1624941/restaurant/NYC/Boerum-Hill/Sottocasa-Brooklyn"><img alt="Sottocasa on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1624941/biglogo.gif" style="border: none; height: 34px; width: 104px;" /></a>
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Food in New York is omnipresent. I could have done this routine
for a month and had a different cup of coffee each day, a different breakfast,
a different little hole in the wall Italian place. I love NY.<!--3--><!--3--><!--3--></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03004362052809514242noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12296802.post-14193959765504522152014-09-02T10:55:00.002-05:002014-09-02T10:55:42.631-05:00Cuvee Coffee Revolution<a href="http://cuveecoffee.com/">Cuvee</a> has been in the revolution business since the late 80s, from the massively hacked vintage drum roasters at their Spicewood headquarters to the hot rod La Marzocco espresso machines they've rigged up at local shops to the kegs of Black and Blue nitrogenated cold brew coffee that are showing up at venue after venue.<br />
<br />
And now they've got a <a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/11/1789820/restaurant/East-Austin/Cuvee-Coffee-Austin">killer little coffee shop</a> all the way down East 6th that's charting a new path for how coffee gets made.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgekBt0k3jZXXHHAeu0bnbw0UdGa97RrATBOAMrAindqGcUSJnDHWmySlNNJ1khD0SqhSFSQsM0EkAl85PKrUj2YnWDWdLMgnl0-xM55usOwVHkjbGDA10aO4BK_H-MyzH3MnUmnw/s1600/Cuvee-FullBar.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgekBt0k3jZXXHHAeu0bnbw0UdGa97RrATBOAMrAindqGcUSJnDHWmySlNNJ1khD0SqhSFSQsM0EkAl85PKrUj2YnWDWdLMgnl0-xM55usOwVHkjbGDA10aO4BK_H-MyzH3MnUmnw/s1600/Cuvee-FullBar.png" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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The bar is a long, enclosed island with coffee along the front side and beer (once the permits come through) around back. That long coffee counter is the first revolution. You don't step up to the register, pay, and wait for your drink to pop out the other end. Instead, you shepherd your coffee through the process. Start out with the cup - 2, 4, 8, 12 ounces. Then choose your espresso. Choose your milk. Get your drink. Pay. It's <a href="http://freebirds.com/">Freebirds</a> for your coffee.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiFrwMycjOA0QQrIn9OK2_6pTchd43Z7EeeEgkA9rji8xOdZCWkK37_nGHINt2lRrVZwwDvLA314a079TYgeM0ReorcEjUqlamBkRRyDx0txGIXCqjR7uOX36yuAEVwU3KeR9r1g/s1600/Cuvee-MenuCollage.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiFrwMycjOA0QQrIn9OK2_6pTchd43Z7EeeEgkA9rji8xOdZCWkK37_nGHINt2lRrVZwwDvLA314a079TYgeM0ReorcEjUqlamBkRRyDx0txGIXCqjR7uOX36yuAEVwU3KeR9r1g/s1600/Cuvee-MenuCollage.png" height="320" width="640" /></a></div>
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It's different, but it's anything but complicated. The second revolution is the simplicity of the whole deal. There are no cortados or cappuccinos or macchiatos or flat whites or lattes. There is just espresso, coffee and milk. That's it. And really that's the way it's always been everywhere, it's just no one has really fessed up to it - all those drinks are just different names for proportions of the same two things. Sometime in the early 90s some clever folks up in Seattle fancified coffee. Cuvee took it back to words that make sense.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqm6IW6sJOWnUmnHvwm7S59XwKzcAJJWRFlW58CrIXKWvw_5G_gke2A2IyTwKGzZkIo_VNHkhQ03c8F-OsfK819O047MchV9w2higs7hc6_wWb3Mbv0dCSd4oog-6ZtWD955Uqyw/s1600/Cuvee-CoffeeCollage.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqm6IW6sJOWnUmnHvwm7S59XwKzcAJJWRFlW58CrIXKWvw_5G_gke2A2IyTwKGzZkIo_VNHkhQ03c8F-OsfK819O047MchV9w2higs7hc6_wWb3Mbv0dCSd4oog-6ZtWD955Uqyw/s1600/Cuvee-CoffeeCollage.png" height="640" width="640" /></a></div>
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The third revolution is the espresso machine. Or lack thereof. Just two sculpted chrome arms extending from the counter top and a barista ready to walk you through the process. The plumbing and control is all under the counter.Why erect a two foot wall between the person that's doing the drinking and the person that's pulling the shot? It's a little thing, but it goes a long way to bring you closer than you've ever been to your espresso without pulling it yourself. <a href="http://www.rethinkthebar.com/espresso/">Mod Bar</a> for the win.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCchMJfZ-E86fbPzWpo28foVCQs8DrIe5kclq0EoWCpGvTstTuUJrMJGYUvvhMBUs-U-4eAcQUSSBCXSYeSf16qBjZ9vtO9nja5E2Vl7mL-h587RifJ_q4jpa1kZkQ4m3vA5gHGg/s1600/Cuvee-Sign.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCchMJfZ-E86fbPzWpo28foVCQs8DrIe5kclq0EoWCpGvTstTuUJrMJGYUvvhMBUs-U-4eAcQUSSBCXSYeSf16qBjZ9vtO9nja5E2Vl7mL-h587RifJ_q4jpa1kZkQ4m3vA5gHGg/s1600/Cuvee-Sign.png" height="200" width="150" /></a>It goes without saying that the coffee is amazing - the pour over is the best I've had anywhere, and while the drink-formerly-known-as-latte was not <a href="http://www.grubbus.com/2011/03/madcap-coffee-grand-rapids-enters-big.html">the most beautiful I've seen,</a> it was silky soft and rich. Meritage has been Cuvee's go-to Espresso blend for the better part of the last decade, and it's lovely and balanced. This espresso without bite, but with an earthy, woody depth that goes on a good long while.<br />
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Cuvee isn't a coffee shop where you and your laptop go for the afternoon to escape the loud guy in the cube next to you. It's way too alive for that. This is a place you go to drink coffee, to connect with friends, and to play.<br />
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<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/11/1789820/restaurant/East-Austin/Cuvee-Coffee-Austin"><img alt="Cuvee Coffee on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1789820/biglogo.gif" style="border: none; height: 34px; width: 104px;" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03004362052809514242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12296802.post-3648273781114944222014-08-25T08:24:00.000-05:002014-08-31T17:18:07.917-05:00Grad School. They are Like Mushrooms.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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They pop up like mushrooms after a heavy rain. In every city big enough to sport a Starbucks, there has risen a food-obsessed, local-inspired, heavily tattooed, sticker-adorned, farm to table establishment with clusters of young people spilling out onto patios and front benches. Done well, they are lovely. And <a href="https://plus.google.com/100114204420418542542/about?gl=us&hl=en">Grad School</a>, in a far corner of the blip of downtown of Springfield, MO, is done well.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRZgKrcHfRNw6eQSRyLd3UXulr_zBdZnkBJ64h4OrcjJIb4G2RuZHDDLSUjUa62Zpo2-FwxybqOAXAawmaY-hVYTCBOolK7ugmqS7AhEQQwzdc1lk_YyfVpc1vttfbxPGztwJEIg/s1600/GS-SodaMachine.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRZgKrcHfRNw6eQSRyLd3UXulr_zBdZnkBJ64h4OrcjJIb4G2RuZHDDLSUjUa62Zpo2-FwxybqOAXAawmaY-hVYTCBOolK7ugmqS7AhEQQwzdc1lk_YyfVpc1vttfbxPGztwJEIg/s1600/GS-SodaMachine.png" height="200" width="145" /></a>On the continuum between well-funded subway-tiled newcomers and the ramshackle joints one gust of wind away from a pile of rubble, Grad School is one of the dives. This is a place where all of the stickers covering the soda machine are covered with stickers, and all of those are covered with a slight sheen of grease from fryer. It's a tiny restaurant, with one long room holding the open kitchen, a couple of bar stools and a handful of tiny high tops; a little back room with two sets of vinyl booths; and one long table out on the patio. Everything is narrow enough that navigation is an art. At 2:00 in the afternoon on a Saturday it was still packed, and there was still a wait.<br />
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The reason was clear. It's impossible to go to Grad School and not smile. Everyone is happy. The food is dead-on target. The chairs don't match.<br />
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A couple of high points.<br />
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The pesto vinaigrette on the house salad. A place this greasy is not supposed to have things this green. It was perfectly dressed and backyard garden level fresh.<br />
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The french fries. Nothing fancy just skin on, crispy, hand cut brilliant fries. They were amazing when they came out piping hot. They were amazing 15 minutes later when lesser fries would have wilted into sadness.<br />
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The soft cheddar on the Full Ride. Don't bite into this thinking it's a typical cheese burger. The soft cheddar melts into more of a lush sauce than a gooey bit of cheese. But it's dynamite. Sharp and silky and a perfect foil for the double burger. Not for the faint of heart.<br />
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The why-the-hell-not touches on the dishes, like the decorative swash of sriracha on the Micah's chicken. This is a delicious little quasi-asian sort of sesame chicken and rice number, and it's presentation was full on fancy. It was kind of brilliant next to the giant plastic Pepsi Cola cups we were drinking out of.<br />
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Low points were few and far between. It took a while for the food to come - but it was a happy while - and the jerk chicken was not quite up to the brilliance of the other plates (though the bits of pineapple were genius). And they should maybe dust the ceiling fans.<br />
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<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/293/1255325/restaurant/Grad-School-Springfield"><img alt="Grad School on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1255325/biglogo.gif" style="border: none; height: 34px; width: 104px;" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03004362052809514242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12296802.post-68581019579095987512014-03-16T00:13:00.000-05:002014-03-16T00:13:00.889-05:00Dolce Neve - Fresh Snow on South FirstAs a kid growing up in West Michigan, I used to ski occasionally at a spot not far from my house. I thought it was the best downhill skiing anywhere. Then I moved to the Sangre de Cristo mountains in New Mexico - fresh powder covering peaks above the tree-line - and discovered what actual downhill skiing was. <a href="http://dolcenevegelato.com/pages/index.aspx">Dolce Neve</a> is like moving to the mountains. You think you've been eating gelato all this time, but it turns out you haven't. This is what gelato is supposed to be.<br />
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Walking through the bright pink front door, under the front-porch arbor, you're immediately engaged. The warmth of the people that run this place is so pervasive you almost feel like you've stumbled into the kitchen at an old friend's house. There's a substantial amount of chrome, but there's also weathered wood, mismatched chairs and a wide open kitchen. The effect is charming - homey but precise, with ample style but without pretension. This openness is part of what makes things work here - they really do do it in front of everyone, going back to raw ingredients (often locally sourced) and preparing them every step of the way.<br />
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Walk up to the counter, but don't order yet. You can't possibly know what you want. Try a few first. Try the Cassata if they have it - where the orange zings through the creamy countered against the dark chocolate. Or the Whiskey Pecan, which is such a balanced mix of flavors it kind of makes you wonder how people ate pecan ice cream without whiskey before. Or the Dolce Neve (It means fresh snow in Italian), where the slight kick of lemon zest livens up the sweet cream. It's like a playground in there, and it's important to try out all the swings.<br />
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The small size is ridiculously inexpensive, and is about as much gelato as I could hold. As is traditional with gelato you can mix whatever you'd like into that cup. I think the standard is two flavors, but I'd imagine Leo would let you go with three if you wanted. He not only graciously accommodated my kid's request for the gelato in a cup with a cone, he explained to her that in Milan, they called that a Pinocchio, because the cone looks just like Pinocchio's cap.<br />
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South First keeps getting better - Sugar Mamas got a little bigger and (I didn't think this could happen) a little better. Once Over has settled in even deeper and the patio feels even further from the middle of town than it did. Elizabeth Street Cafe is still making my favorite breakfast in town. And now Dolce Neve. I can't think of a better stretch of food, anywhere.<br />
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<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/11/1768169/restaurant/South-Congress-SoCo/Dolce-Neve-Austin"><img alt="Dolce Neve on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1768169/biglogo.gif" style="border: none; height: 34px; width: 104px;" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03004362052809514242noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12296802.post-9250760471308634822013-09-22T12:29:00.003-05:002013-09-22T12:29:41.411-05:00Houndstooth Coffee Class: How to Make Iced Coffee That Doesn't Suck<a href="http://www.houndstoothcoffee.com/">Houndstooth</a> has stood out in the ever-growing Austin coffee scene for its constant innovation. They were the first to offer different brewing methods by the cup, the first to go with a rotating selection of roasters, the first to set up real coffee education programs, and the first to go major retail with the best selection of home coffee equipment anywhere in town.<br />
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Houndstooth is also the place I learned to make good iced coffee. I had written off iced coffee a few decades ago, based on the bitter, weak stuff my dad used to drink out on the porch on summer afternoons. All through my coffee-loving years, all good coffee has been hot, even if all hot coffee has not been good.<br />
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Until now.<br />
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About 12 of us filed into Houndstooth's swanky new digs in the Frost Bank Building right after they closed for the afternoon. D<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">aniel Read, t</span>he manager of coffee education (really, they have a manager of coffee education), walked us through some solid basics. Before we start with the process, though, some basic things you need, and one of thing that you don't maybe <b>need </b>exactly, but will make your life much better if you have it.<br />
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Things you need:<br />
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<li>Coffee Maker. We used <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Coffee-Shrub-C-70888-Clever-Dripper/dp/B0047W70GY">Clevers</a> in the class, at home I use <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Chemex-6-Cup-Classic-Series-Coffee/dp/B0000YWF5E/ref=sr_1_1?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1379870433&sr=1-1&keywords=chemex+coffee+maker">Chemex</a> or <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Hario-VDC-02W-Ceramic-Coffee-Dripper/dp/B000P4D5HG/ref=sr_1_2?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1379870455&sr=1-2&keywords=hario+v60">Hario pour-over</a>s. French Press also good. All inexpensive.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<li>Good Coffee. My all time and forever favorite is <a href="http://cuveecoffee.com/">Cuvee</a>, a roaster just outside of Austin.</li>
<li>A kitchen scale. My favorite is from <a href="http://www.amazon.com/OXO-Grips-5-Pound-Pull-Out-Display/dp/B0020L6T7K/ref=sr_1_2?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1379870530&sr=1-2&keywords=oxo+kitchen+scale">OXO</a>, and it's less than $30.</li>
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The one single thing that will make it even better:<br />
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<ol>
<li>A grinder. My favorite is from Baratza - <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Baratza-Encore-Coffee-Grinder/dp/B007F183LK/ref=sr_1_2?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1379870570&sr=1-2&keywords=encore+coffee+grinder">the Encore</a>. Basic, as far as grinders though, and while it's not exactly cheap (about $130), you make it up pretty quick once you stop buying anything starting with the words "iced venti...". Fresh ground coffee is massively better than not-fresh-ground coffee. Massively.</li>
</ol>
And once you have those things, how to make great coffee (iced <b>or </b>hot) comes down to this: <b>.06.</b><br />
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.06 units of coffee for 1 unit of water. A cup of coffee is about 300 grams of water - multiply by .06, and it comes out to 18 grams of coffee. No more messing around with tablespoons, no more guessing. Just .06.<br />
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What does this have to do with iced coffee, you may ask?<br />
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Turns out, you make iced coffee just the same way you make hot coffee, only substituting 100 grams of ice cubes for 100 grams of the water. Easy.<br />
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Here's how we made it in class, and how I now make it at home:<br />
<ol>
<li>Heat the water. I use an electric kettle. You want water that's in the high 190s, temperature-wise. Easiest way to get there - boil the water, take it off the heat, wait 30 seconds.</li>
<li>While the water is heating, grind the beans (medium grind for the pour-overs, coarse for the french press), and measure out 18 grams.</li>
<li>If you're using anything with a paper filter, set it all up without the coffee and pour a little water through to rinse the filter, dumping out the water that runs through.</li>
<li>Set your brewing set up on the scale, add the coffee, and zero out the scale again.</li>
<li>Add 200 grams of water.</li>
<li>Take the resulting hot steamy concentrated coffee, and pour over 100 grams of ice.</li>
</ol>
<br />
And that's it! At this point, the coffee may still be a little warm - I usually wait right up until the moment I'm going to drink it, pour it over a cup full of ice, and slurp it down before the ice has much of a chance to melt.<br />
<br />
Still in the mood for iced coffee, but not up for the hassle? Two options for you:<br />
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<ol>
<li>Head down to Houndstooth. Go up the counter. Order an iced coffee.</li>
<li>Start with a cold-brewed option (locally brewed Chameleon Coffee is my favorite), pop it open, pour over copious amounts of ice, and go.</li>
</ol>
<br />
And there it is: Iced coffee that doesn't even remotely suck.<br />
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<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/11/1524586/restaurant/Allandale-Brentwood/Houndstooth-Coffee-Austin"><img alt="Houndstooth Coffee on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1524586/biglogo.gif" style="border: none; height: 34px; padding: 0px; width: 104px;" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03004362052809514242noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12296802.post-82645268074955128352013-09-02T10:56:00.001-05:002013-09-02T10:57:24.950-05:00The Root Cafe - Local Little Rock LoveA few weeks ago, at the tail end of a road trip from Michigan back down to Texas, my oldest daughter Ella and I found ourselves looking for breakfast in Little Rock Arkansas. We'd been through this part of the country before, but never really ventured off the interstate.<br />
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The Root is just east of Downtown Little Rock in a sweet sunny little neighborhood full of cute brick storefronts and quirky shops. It's the perfect setting for The Root, which is in itself a sweet, sunny, gem of a cafe.<br />
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<a href="http://therootcafe.com/">The Root Cafe</a> is part of the food-centric movement that is rediscovering classic southern diner food. For years, this stuff - once pulled from gardens and cooked up slow - has been replaced with increasingly processed schlock, canned and shipped in from across the planet. Places like The Root have gone back to gardens and handmade and have reminded us all what sausage gravy, biscuits, and fried eggs are supposed to taste like.<br />
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Ella and I were the first ones in the door that morning - early enough to get a comfortable, breezy spot at a table on the front porch. The day would heat up later, but in early morning it couldn't have been more perfect. I chose a special for the day, sausage blueberry pancakes, and Ella went with the biscuits and gravy.<br />
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A note here on the importance of not underestimating the grammatical skills of menu-board writers. The pancake special was "sausage blueberry pancakes", which I interpreted as "sausage [and] blueberry pancakes." Turns out, if they wanted to say "and" they would have. So these were light, delicious pancakes, real maple syrup, local blueberries, and sausage - not on the side in the patties or links, but crumbled right into the pancake batter. It was not an approach I expected, but it was awesome. The savory spice and salt of the sausage was the perfect counterpoint to the little juice bomb blueberries. I am a proud member of the of real-maple-syrup army - I could drink the stuff - but these pancakes were in such simple lovely balance that it was barely needed. Ella's gravy was the other standout - it was a cream gravy, but it was anything but heavy, with local Falling Sky sausage and little hint of bright sweetness to it. With the simple, buttery biscuits, it was near perfect. We both had fried eggs along side, with the kind of bright yellow yolks that only come with the pasture raised chickens that don't live too far up the street. Locally roasted Mountain Bird Coffee was worthy of a visit all by itself.<br />
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I have seen enough places like this - <a href="http://www.grubbus.com/2010/07/have-iphone-will-travel-east-end-eatery.html">East End Eatery</a> in Gainesville FL; <a href="http://www.grubbus.com/2007/09/monument-cafe-if-alice-waters-had-been.html">Monument Cafe</a> in Georgetown TX; <a href="http://www.grubbus.com/2011/02/veritable-quandary-issues-grubbus-wake.html">Veritable Quandary</a> in Portland, OR;<a href="http://www.grubbus.com/2012/08/miles-above-curve-fork-in-road.html"> Fork in The Road</a> in Lansing, MI - to be convinced that this is not a fluke. That in bright, innovative corners of towns in every corner of this country, food is being rediscovered - food that remembers where it came from and tastes like love. The Root is one more reminder that these places are out there, just waiting to be found.<br />
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<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/200/1601041/restaurant/Root-Cafe-Little-Rock"><img alt="Root Cafe on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1601041/biglogo.gif" style="border: none; height: 34px; padding: 0px; width: 104px;" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03004362052809514242noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12296802.post-4157967761681558082013-06-28T16:18:00.001-05:002013-06-28T16:19:53.303-05:00la Barbeque: The Best Brisket I've Ever HadLet me start out by saying this: I have never eaten at Franklin's. I've had intentions, but then there's always something I'd like to do with my mornings, and one things leads to another, and it's 100 degrees, and I skip it.<br />
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So, it is entirely possible that better brisket exists. Just really hard to imagine what that might be after a lunch at <a href="http://labarbecue.com/">la Barbeque</a>.<br />
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LA BBQ sits on that fuzzy line between a trailer and storefront. It's outdoor seating (pleasantly shady and bearable even in late June Austin), and there's a pretty straightforward two-window trailer where you order and pay. At the same time, it's a permanent establishment, with two enormous smokers set up off to the side of the lot, firewood stacked up, and a gravel parking lot all on its own. A galvanized trough filled with ice holds sodas in glass bottles - Mexican Coke FTW.<br />
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It's kind of the perfect setting, actually, and the operation was remarkably efficient - busy, but hardly a wait at all.<br />
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The glory here, though, is in the meat. I was there with my daughter and we split a few slices brisket and a link of the sausage. Both were off the chart. The brisket - smoked for about 16 hours over a combination of Oak and Pecan wood - was meltingly tender (go with the fatty - the lean was still amazing, but less of transcendental experience). The flavors were layered and balanced, with smokey, almost sweet flavors, against the peppery crust. There was sauce on the tables, but I have never been less tempted to use it. It was also thickly sliced - I used to think I only liked brisket sliced Rudy's style into thin strips - but this cured me of that right quick. It was simply ideal meat, no need to shave it off like deli meats or slather it in sauce like lesser cuts.<br />
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The sausage, which we ordered as an afterthought, was no less extraordinary. It was a little looser than others I've had, with a touch more crumble to it and just the faintest of spicy kick. I wish I could identify the spices in there, but it was all too completely integrated to pick out individual notes. Salty and blissful.<br />
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We ate all we could hold, and then some.This redefined the meaning of barbeque - we weren't leaving any of it on the tray.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03004362052809514242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12296802.post-39357955829149046132013-06-02T11:13:00.000-05:002013-06-02T11:13:22.208-05:00Josephine House, Spectacularly ReinventedI can barely imagine the Austin <a href="http://www.jeffreysofaustin.com/">Jeffrey's</a> opened into nearly 40 years ago. The city was a third of the size it is now, the downtown skyline stretching up only half as high. In a town like ours, a restaurant from 1975 is monumental, it stretches into legendary history. And over the decades, Jeffrey's kept on plugging away, a fancy neighborhood hangout getting a bit worn around the edges as more and more ambitious dining options opened all around it. Finally,<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Little_House"> it just didn't fit anymore</a>, and there was a moment of hesitation where I don't know that any of us really knew whether it was going to pull through.<br />
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Over the last year, the<a href="http://mcguiremoorman.com/"> McGuire Moorman Juggernaut</a> has been restoring and reinventing Jeffrey's and its sister restaurant (they share a kitchen and a breezeway) <a href="http://josephineofaustin.com/">Josephine House</a>. I have yet to try the mother ship, but Tracy and I stopped by Josephine for a memorably lovely lunch this week.</div>
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Josephine House - the teeny tiny house that has mostly served as an event space for years - is Jeffrey's outpost for lunch and a bit of an early happy hour. The indoor dining space isn't much larger than a typical suburban dining room - a handful of tables under a gorgeous front window. To supplement, Josephine House spills outside onto a side patio under a giant ancient tree, onto to the front porch, and even onto a picturesque 8-top on the front lawn. It's getting a little steamy for al fresco dining, but you settle into it, and at least on a breezy 90 degree day in late May, it just works. Every design detail here is thought through - the contrast of navy and white details, the buckets of lilies, the copper gutters and downspout, the marble table tops. You can't find a space that isn't beautiful.<br />
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The menu is straightforward and simple, with first rate details and execution. This is a place that has every potential of being stuffy and pretentious, and while it's definitely a fancy lunch, it's completely approachable. Case in point - Tracy had the BLAB. That would be Bacon Lettuce Avocado Beet. The house made bread was a little spongy with a hint of sour, the bacon deep and smokey, the beet sweet and the green just the faintest hit of bitter. It was brilliant - in just one bite, the tastes bounced from one flavor to the next to the next, trailing on. In one way, this is just a sandwich with potato chips. But it's one of the best damn sandwiches and some of the best damn potato chips I've tried. And just try to say "I'll have the BLAB" and have it sound pretentious.</div>
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I had the Chicken and Egg - again very simple and beautifully conceived - cannellini beans, roasted carrots, roasted brussels, chicken thighs, garlic, with a fried egg balanced on top. With a bit of their sourdough to mop up the broth, this was a stunning, simple stew, and a perfect lunch. We lingered on for a bit, ordering a pot of the Stumptown french press (not bad) and an incredibly rich, dense chocolate torte with marscapone cream and macerated local strawberries. </div>
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I assume that this menu will be shifting on a regular basis - strawberries like that are fleeting - but if what we ate was any indication of how brilliantly it will continue to come together, we have a revival on our hands that could go another 40 years. We'll see what Austin looks like then.<br />
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<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/11/1730358/restaurant/Old-West-Austin/Josephine-House-Austin"><img alt="Josephine House on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1730358/biglogo.gif" style="border: none; height: 34px; padding: 0px; width: 104px;" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03004362052809514242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12296802.post-34312785662727104282013-03-02T09:54:00.002-06:002013-03-08T06:41:01.427-06:00Contigo - Eating Al Fresco in February and Loving ItStrings of miniature bulbs are strung over long picnic
tables all across the courtyard. A set of yard games are laid out past the
tables, where kids who didn’t know each other 15 minutes ago are playing like
old friends. The barn door to the bar is wide open and warm light glints off of
shelves of exotic liquors and onto the gravel. We really don’t need the warmth,
but a fire pit off to the edge of the courtyard springs to life as the sun
sets.<br />
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This is what it’s like it to eat outdoors in February in Austin,
at least at <a href="http://contigotexas.com/austin">Contigo</a>, over by the old airport. There is hardly any building at
all – just an open space covered by a simple roof, and an open space that is
not covered by anything. Somewhere, there is a kitchen nestled back in there,
churning out amazingly nuanced dishes, but it’s pretty well hidden from view.</div>
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I don’t mean to get all whimsical on you guys. I know how
you all hate that, but there’s really no other way to describe this place. The
food by itself is fantastic, but it’s made even better by the idyllic
simplicity and camaraderie of the surroundings.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Like many in the new crop of East Austin trend setters,
everything here that can be made in-house is - bacon, bread, pate, sausage. But this is not so much comfort food
reimagined, as it is comfort food rediscovered. The sausage in the
pigs-in-a-blanket is what a lil’ smokey was meant to be; the dough
surrounding them is chewy, freshly kneaded, wrapped and baked. Green beans are
tempura fried and served with a kicking little Asian aioli. Pate is lush and accompanied by the single best
preparation of eggplant I’ve ever had – sliced razor thin, tempura fried,
drizzled with honey. More bread (or less pate) would be welcome – the
proportion seemed a bit off – but it was all delicious. And that’s sort of the
way Contigo rolls.</div>
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Big plates are a little more mixed than the small ones, with
some really spectacular bright spots, and a few small misses. Our kids
gravitated to the burgers, and while I appreciate that they were not fancied up
and messed with in any fundamental way (predominate spicing was salt and pepper),
the buns were a little sweet for our taste and the fries were well seasoned but
a little floppy. You get the sense that the kitchen’s primary love is not churning
out burgers. On the other end of the spectrum, the Pot Roast with spaetzle was
absolutely luscious – unbelievably tender, with layers of flavor and winey
broth that defined and rounded out the spaetzle beautifully. The mussels were
also good, with a booming thai-inspired lime/coconut broth and julienned root
veggies. Not a lot of variety on the desserts, but what they have are lovely –
apple handpies with a little glass of spiced milk and dense, lovely buckwheat
chocolate cake.<o:p></o:p></div>
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You leave this place feeling like you’ve done more than eat
well – you leave Contigo feeling like you’ve lived well.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/11/1590114/restaurant/East-Austin/Contigo-Austin"><img alt="Contigo on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1590114/biglogo.gif" style="border: none; height: 34px; padding: 0px; width: 104px;" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03004362052809514242noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12296802.post-25414172506803061472012-12-31T22:17:00.001-06:002012-12-31T22:17:42.780-06:00Grubbus Cooks: Apple TartSo, by part three of my New Year's Eve posting marathon, you may be wondering - what's up with the year-end spree after just about disappearing this fall? And all this home cooking? Grubbus? Hello?<br />
<br />
Grubbus has been a little light lately because, well, I'm writing a <b>book. </b>I'm still getting used to how that sounds. A few months back, I signed a publishing contract with an amazing little publisher out of Charlotte, <a href="http://historypress.net/">The History Press</a>, to write a book we're calling <i>Austin Food: The Story of a Local Eating Revolution</i>. Very excited about this. We're chugging along getting that all researched and written, and, as a result, Grubbus hasn't had quite the attention it had before. That's fixing to change in 2013, but for now, that's what's been keeping the posts infrequent.<br />
<br />
So infrequent, that, round about this afternoon, I figured out I was a couple of posts short of where Grubbus needed to be, year-end-wise. And so, this. Three of my favorite recipes of 2012. Things that I've made for friends, food that's marked special occasions all year.<br />
<br />
This recipe - the last one for tonight - is for a wickedly simple, absolutely beautiful apple tart.<br />
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<br />
<b>Apple Tart</b><br />
<br />
The Filling:<br />
2 lbs apples (my favorite: half granny smith and half braeburns)<br />
1 tablespoon lemon juice<br />
3 tablespoons butter, melted plus 1 tablespoon butter cut into 1/2 inch chunks<br />
3-4 tablespoons sugar (I like coarse sugar best here)<br />
<br />
The Tart Dough<br />
1 cup flour<br />
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch chunks<br />
<br />
1/4 cup cold water<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<br />
<b>The Dough Part 1:</b><br />
Work the butter into the flour with a pastry cutter or two knives. It just takes a few minutes - and you don't need to worry about consistency - some decent-sized pieces of butter will still be in place. You can also run this about 5 seconds in a food processor. Pour in the water, just a little at a time, and work the dough until it comes together in a ball. Get it good and stuck together, flatten it a little, wrap it in plastic wrap and let it rest in the refrigerator for at least an hour.<br />
<br />
<b>The Filling:</b><br />
Peel and core the apples, and cut into thin slices - about 1/8 inch. If you happen to have a Mandoline - game on - it's perfect for this. Sprinkle the slices with the lemon juice and set aside while you roll out the dough.<br />
<br />
<b>The Dough Part 2:</b><br />
Preheat the oven to 400.<br />
<br />
Unwrap the dough and set out on a floured board. If it's really cold you may need to let it sit a bit. Roll it out from the center to the edges, adding flour as needed to keep it from sticking, until it's about 1/8 inch thick. This is a free form tart, and, just like the <a href="http://www.grubbus.com/2012/12/grubbus-cooks-chicken-empanadas.html">empanadas</a>, I like to use a plate as a template to cut it into a circle - in this case I use a 10 1/2 inch dinner plate.<br />
<br />
<b>Assembly:</b><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyWKwbUl6b66Ya-NK7f_rTWo15qTK0y3zIi_r2lE7EBbyYp_HEX4b-uOQHV-wlFNRBvlQP7wIpEVF4OjmQFCKIg05G0cH9Ri6kWMqEj3Rny5ZNyM9i_N0F2ZDjYrEiArUj_HfUbQ/s1600/Layers.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyWKwbUl6b66Ya-NK7f_rTWo15qTK0y3zIi_r2lE7EBbyYp_HEX4b-uOQHV-wlFNRBvlQP7wIpEVF4OjmQFCKIg05G0cH9Ri6kWMqEj3Rny5ZNyM9i_N0F2ZDjYrEiArUj_HfUbQ/s200/Layers.png" width="200" /></a>Put the rolled out crust on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Lay the apple slices on the tart dough in concentric overlapping rings, starting about an inch from the outside edge and working your way in. You should be able to fit 2 overlapping layers with a little space left in the middle. Overlapping is the key here: I try to cover about a third of the apple slice next in line for each slice within the ring, and layer the next ring about a third over the last one, with the slices facing the opposite direction. This all sounds harder than it is - just approximate the illustration, and you're golden.<br />
<br />
To close up the crust, just pinch a little of the dough together every inch or so along the perimeter. This will lift up the dough to make a short wall around the apples. Brush the pinched-together outer edge with the butter. It's a lot of butter. Keep brushing. Drop the extra butter chunks over the apples, and start sprinkling sugar, with extra attention to heavy sprinkling on the crust.<br />
<br />
Bake for about 40 minutes - you're looking for golden brown on the crust.<br />
<br />
That's it. Wickedly simple. Absolutely beautiful.<br />
<br />
Adapted from Alice Waters, The Art of Simple Food.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03004362052809514242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12296802.post-35906888297213101142012-12-31T21:04:00.003-06:002012-12-31T21:04:42.566-06:00Grubbus Cooks: Chicken EmpanadasI should be clear about this right up front. These are really good empanadas, better than just about any you could score in town. Just about. Because the empanadas at <a href="http://www.buenosairescafe.com/">Buenos Aires Cafe</a>, full of delicious and some kind of black magic, beat the pants off any other entrant in the entire grand empanda universe. <br />
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<br />
Chicken Empanadas<br />
12 empanadas - about 4 servings.<br />
<br />
The Filling<br />
1 split bone-in chicken breast (2 breasts, about 1.5 pounds)<br />
1 tablespoon neutral oil (I like grapeseed)<br />
1 medium-size onion, chopped<br />
2 cloves garlic, chopped<br />
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin<br />
1-2 teaspoons ground ancho chile (or good chili powder - I like <a href="http://simplytx.com/anchomamaschileseasoning.html">Ancho Mama</a>)<br />
4-5 chipotles in adobo (I like San Marcos better than Goya - a 7oz can works well)<br />
4 cups chicken broth<br />
1 tomato, peeled and chopped<br />
1 lime, juiced<br />
1/3 lb. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cotija_cheese">Cotija Cheese</a>, grated (sharp cheddar works OK as well)<br />
<br />
The Dough<br />
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour<br />
1/2 cup masa (or masa harina - in Austin, the easiest to find is Maseca, in the 5lb bag)<br />
1 teaspoon baking powder<br />
1 teaspoon salt<br />
1/2 cup butter, chopped into 1/2 inch cubes (lard works well here too)<br />
1 egg yolk<br />
3/4 cup water<br />
1/2 cup milk<br />
<br />
<strong>The Dough, Part 1</strong><br />
Whisk together the flour, masa, baking powder, and salt. Use a pastry cutter or two knives to cut in the butter, or just toss it all in the food processesor with the regular blade for about 5 seconds. Just like pie dough, the texture should be gritty, along the lines of super-coarse corn meal.<br />
<br />
Whisk together the egg yolk and the water and add to the dough a little at a time, gently working the dough until it comes together into a ball - this may or may not take all of the water/egg mixture. This is a dry dough, and it'll be a little crumbly until you get it good and chilled.<br />
<br />
Cut the dough ball into 12 sections, wrap each in plastic wrap, and throw them all into the fridge for at least 20 minutes. 20 minutes works, but best results for me were when it chilled for about an hour. While the dough is chilling...<br />
<br />
<strong>The Filling, Part 1</strong><br />
Preheat the oven to 450<br />
<br />
Season the chicken generously with salt and pepper. Heat a large pot (at least 6 quarts) over medium high heat. Add the oil and sear the chicken breast for a minute or so on each side. It should stick a little. This is good. We'll use all those bits that stick to the pot later. Remove the chicken to a plate to rest.<br />
<br />
Add the onion to the pot and saute for about 5 minutes, until softened, then add the garlic and saute for a minute or so more. Add the broth and deglaze the pan with a wooden spoon.<br />
<br />
Now, everything else goes in. Cumin, ancho, chiplotle, tomatoes. Crank up the heat. When it comes to a boil, add the chicken. At this point, you are dealing with some seriously spicy broth, at least by my standards. No worries. The chicken that comes out has only the mildest of kicks. Reduce the heat to low, maintaining a simmer, and cover. Let the chicken simmer for another 25 minutes. While the filling is simmering...<br />
<br />
<strong>The Dough, Part 2</strong><br />
Take each little dough ball in turn and roll it out to about 9 x 9 inches on a floured board. If it's too hard to work the dough, warm it up just a bit in your hands. If it's too sticky, more flour. I use an 8 1/2 inch salad plate as a template, and cut around the edge to get the dough to an even circle. Hang on to the extra dough until you're through assembly.<br />
<br />
<strong>The Filling, Part 2</strong><br />
Remove the chicken breasts from the broth, and into a good-sized bowl. Remove and discard the skin. Add about a cup of the broth. Using two forks, shred the chicken down to the bone. Toss the bone. Add the lime juice. If it still seems a bit dry, add more broth.<br />
<br />
<strong>Assembly</strong><br />
Final stretch here. Take a dough-circle, add a good-size dollop of the filling, top with the cotija, brush the edges of the dough-circle with water and fold it over. Using your fingers first, fold the edge of the dough over, rolling the bottom layer over the top layer. Use a fork to crimp the edges together securely. If things start to fall apart a little at this stage, just patch it up with the extra dough left over from rolling it out.<br />
<br />
Place the empanadas on a parchment-lined baking sheet (I use a little high-heat spray to make sure they come up easy, but that may just be paranoia - I think they'd be fine without it). Brush each empanada with milk, and bake for about 20 minutes, or until they're golden brown.<br />
<br />
Serve with the lime wedges and salsa (don't laugh - but I love the <a href="http://www.fronterafiesta.com/store/gourmet-mexican-salsa/chipotle-salsa/3-3.html">La Frontera Chipotle Salsa</a> with this).<br />
<br />
That's it. You can stuff these with anything, though I don't have a reliable source for black magic. You need to hit Buenos Aires Cafe for that.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03004362052809514242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12296802.post-91340354675089170222012-12-31T18:15:00.001-06:002012-12-31T18:15:20.944-06:00Grubbus Cooks: Lemon Ricotta PancakesI love Saturday mornings. No one pays much attention to the clock, the kids stay in their pajamas all morning, and, sometimes, we get it together to get ingredients for something interesting for breakfast. If the smells coming from the kitchen are good enough, and we get a first round of coffee going early, no one complains much about eating a bit later than usual. Bliss.<br />
<br />This week – Lemon Ricotta Pancakes with Macerated Berries. I’ve tackled this a few times, with a few different variations, but consensus was that this particular combination worked the best.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvnUD0PVxav7EHzxBZDNV5ImOhgSFxyPeOLfwUIhpnm5Xiqyq2mVu3ZZcEMyHHVJ8YTNfo4n3vX4N29WTvFabBAvvCnpM5hn5wXoN1CKzDbnhyphenhyphenU08_S3cMKz-C2v7Sd6Q8T-tD-Q/s1600/Grubbus---LemonRicotta2.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvnUD0PVxav7EHzxBZDNV5ImOhgSFxyPeOLfwUIhpnm5Xiqyq2mVu3ZZcEMyHHVJ8YTNfo4n3vX4N29WTvFabBAvvCnpM5hn5wXoN1CKzDbnhyphenhyphenU08_S3cMKz-C2v7Sd6Q8T-tD-Q/s640/Grubbus---LemonRicotta2.jpg" /></a><br /><br />Lemon Ricotta Pancakes<br />6-8 servings<br /><br />· 2 cups ricotta (a 16oz container works well)<br />· 2 tablespoons plus 2 tablespoons sugar, divided<br />· 1 lemon zested and juiced<br />· 2 cups all-purpose flour<br />· 2 tablespoons baking powder<br />· 1/2 teaspoon salt<br />· 4 large eggs, separated<br />· 2 tablespoons butter (melted and cooled) plus about 2 tablespoons for cooking<br />· 1 1/2 cups whole milk<br /><br /><div>
For macerated berries (optional)<br />· 2 cups raspberries<br />· 1/4 cup sugar</div>
<div>
· 2 tablespoons lemon juice (about 1 lemon)<br /><br /><b>Bowl 1: Dry</b><br /> Whisk or sift together flour, baking powder, and salt.<br /></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
<b>Bowl 2: Frothy</b><br /> Beat the egg whites and 2 tbs of the sugar until soft peaks form.<br /></div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
<b>Bowl 3: Wet</b><br /> Whisk egg yolks, milk, 2 tbs of the sugar, 1 tbs lemon juice and the zest together. Gradually add the melted butter while continuing to whisk to work it in completely.<br /><b><br /></b></div>
<div>
<b>Bowl 4: Berries (Optional)</b><br />Combine berries, sugar, and lemon juice. Stir every few minutes as you work through the rest of the recipe.<br /></div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
<b>Combine:</b></div>
<div>
Pour <i>Bowl 3: Wet</i> into<i> Bowl 1: Dry</i> and stir gently until the flour mixture is combined Lumps are not a problem. There’s more stirring coming up.<br /><br />Add a dollop from <i>Bowl 2: Frothy</i> and all of the ricotta and give it a few more gentle stirs to combine.<br /><br />Add the remaining contents of <i>Bowl 2: Frothy</i> and fold it in to the batter. The egg whites should just barely disappear into the batter, which should be getting good and silky.<br /><br /><b>Cook:</b><br /> At this point, you may be noticing that there are TWO tablespoons of baking powder and 4 egg whites in this stuff. And, yes, as a result, these are major league fluffy. Fluffy clouds of pancake. The trick is cooking them slow.<br /></div>
<div>
Preheat the largest decent skillet or griddle you have over medium-low heat. Add a pat of butter and drop the batter in – about 1/3 c. per pancake. Cooking time will vary, but you’re shooting for a minute and half on the first side, about a minute on the other. Adjust heat to accommodate. Stash finished pancakes in a warm oven as you work through batches.<br /><br /><b>Serve:</b><br />I like these with <i>Bowl 4: Berries</i> and a little powdered sugar. If you don't do the berries, these are also mighty tasty with maple syrup.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03004362052809514242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12296802.post-57640062160111404672012-11-30T16:18:00.002-06:002012-11-30T17:13:42.676-06:00Unexpected Favorite: Elizabeth Street CafeI didn't want to love <a href="http://elizabethstreetcafe.com/">Elizabeth Street Cafe</a>. I thought that it would be too corporate, too precisely choreographed, too highly designed to be really good. I was wrong. Elizabeth Street is a little slicker than most homegrown places, but it is nevertheless staffed with people who love what they do, a menu that is innovative and beautifully executed, and a space that takes your breath away.<br />
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First things first, Elizabeth Street is gorgeous. Every time you round a corner, the color and space and light leaps out at you - I'm not sure exactly where it transports you - colonial French Vietnam maybe? - but it definitely transports you somewhere beautiful. On nice days, the outside seats are particularly amazing, with plenty of shade and the ultra chic elegance of the restaurant against the backdrop of South First.<br />
<br />
A caveat here: I've been to Elizabeth Street Cafe many times, but it's always been for breakfast. It's when the days are the most mild, when the quiet simplicity of the place is most pronounced. I am sure that the vibe is no less interesting, the food no less delicious if you were to go in the evening, but that'll have to be a follow up for me.<br />
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For breakfast, Elizabeth rocks. I've been through the full set of breakfast Bahn Mi - combinations of crispy pork belly and fried eggs with avocado and mint; ginger sausage and scrambled eggs; egg white and chili. The baguette these are each served on is crusty and airy with a perfect bite. The presentation is perfect. Even better is the ginger sausage with poached eggs, sticky rice and touches of thinly sliced radishes and cilantro. The richness of the egg yolk connects to the subtle sweetness of the rice and is brightened by the ginger and radishes.<br />
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The coffee is <a href="http://stumptowncoffee.com/">Stumptown</a>, and while the espresso drinks aren't really at the level they could be (the milk is frothed to dish soap bubble consistency), coffee in both American and Vietnamese styles is quite good. Pastries are made next door, and are a mystifying combination of absolute bliss and curious short cuts. This is nowhere more apparent than with the almond croissant. A million buttery layers and a perfect crisp, but sliced through the middle and infused with a sort of almond-extract butter. Not the most elegant approach.<br />
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These are small weak spots, and they give just enough humanity to Elizabeth Street to make it's slickness seem organic, just enough to make the entire experience of breakfast there one of the loveliest in town.<br />
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<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/11/1642004/restaurant/South-Congress-SoCo/Elizabeth-Street-Cafe-Austin"><img alt="Elizabeth Street Cafe on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1642004/biglogo.gif" style="border: none; height: 34px; padding: 0px; width: 104px;" /></a>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03004362052809514242noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12296802.post-39724102642300355992012-10-20T17:27:00.001-05:002012-10-20T17:28:45.363-05:00Koffee Kup Keeps it Real<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjusDxxp1jW7LL-6Tebseyx1CoBB0eHkDASu29gyh07BGDc3JvmoP2N_xmnB1TPdGh5HYXSF22ApSKhrIyl2WSWfMqOKB1A5lyztDP4o4Oh9MjfBn0MYJkT5wH_6i4RnIHmCk_x0Q/s1600/Koffee-Exterior.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="313" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjusDxxp1jW7LL-6Tebseyx1CoBB0eHkDASu29gyh07BGDc3JvmoP2N_xmnB1TPdGh5HYXSF22ApSKhrIyl2WSWfMqOKB1A5lyztDP4o4Oh9MjfBn0MYJkT5wH_6i4RnIHmCk_x0Q/s320/Koffee-Exterior.png" width="320" /></a></div>
Through a series of fortunate events, my wife <a href="http://www.fairmorningblue.com/">Tracy</a> and I recently got a morning free together in San Antonio. Though the <a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/39/431190/restaurant/West-Side/Koffee-Kup-Pancake-House-San-Antonio">Koffee Kup</a> may not be a typical spot for a romantic interlude, it was just about perfect for our little getaway.<br />
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The Koffee Kup is far off the beaten path, in West San Antonio, about a <a href="https://maps.google.com/maps?q=1025+Donaldson+Ave+San+Antonio,+TX+78228&hnear=1025+Donaldson+Ave,+San+Antonio,+Bexar,+Texas+78228&gl=us&t=m&z=16">15 minute drive</a> from downtown. It's a quirky little greek-columned storefront sandwiched between nondescript stores, in a mildly dingy stretch of 1970s stripmalls.<br />
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That said, after years of upscale and self-conciously ironic comfort food in Austin, it was a little bit of a relief to step foot in an actual functioning greasy spoon. The place is tiny - a small patio out back and maybe 10 tables in front, with a shockingly tiny open kitchen, and the register off to the side. The linoleum floors, the wood-pattern veneer tables, the simple wooden chairs, all standard issue diner basics, a little worn around the edges, but clean and cheery.<br />
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The Kup pulls away from the everyday almost immediately. Warm, friendly, smiling waitresses bustle everywhere - like you've been a once-a-day regular for years even though it's the first time you step through the door.<br />
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We ended up taking a table out on the patio under brightly colored umbrellas in the slight breeze of the morning. Over sips of drinkable coffee, we settled on splitting a Cowboy Breakfast - eggs, biscuits, gravy, sausage - and waffles. It was an enormous amount of food. The sausage gravy was intensely fresh, peppery and lighter in texture and taste than the slop that passes for cream gravy most places. The biscuits, fresh out of the oven. The sausage had a nice bright flavor and easy crumble. The details across the board were impressive, from the frequent coffee refills to the perfect crisp of the waffle. Everything that the Koffee Kup made, they made very well. Low spots were the bits they didn't make themselves - the bacon wasn't particularly impressive and the syrup, as one would have expected, was the corn syrup goo that passes for maple most everywhere. Side note: seriously considering traveling with a flask of maple syrup to avoid this in the future.<br />
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It was a place that was extraordinary in it's ordinariness. There was no attempt to make anything not made a thousand other diners across the country, but every chance they had to make it well, the Koffee Kup delivered. Crowded, but without a wait, the Koffee Kup was full of happiness and pride - a place you can imagine had stood in that spot for generations (even though it just opened in 2009). Gems like this exist hidden in cities all over the country, I'm glad we managed to find this one.<br />
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<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/39/431190/restaurant/West-Side/Koffee-Kup-Pancake-House-San-Antonio"><img alt="Koffee Kup Pancake House on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/431190/biglogo.gif" style="border: none; height: 34px; padding: 0px; width: 104px;" /></a></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03004362052809514242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12296802.post-72834888619924315042012-08-29T13:56:00.002-05:002012-08-29T13:56:34.923-05:00Miles Above the Curve - Fork in the Road<a href="http://forkintheroaddiner.com/">Fork in the Road</a>, or FitR, as they call themselves, approaches food in ways no other place in Lansing can touch. Locally grown produce, house-cured bacon, pasture-raised eggs, <a href="http://madcapcoffee.com/">world-class coffee</a>. These are details you just can't get anywhere else in these parts - at least not until you hit <a href="http://www.zingermansroadhouse.com/">Ann Arbor</a> or <a href="http://www.winchestergr.com/">Grand Rapids</a>.<br />
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The menu is small - mostly made up of comfort-food favorites, done up fancy and built by hand. They have tots, but they are not what you think they are. These are house-made, grated potato infused with sundried tomato, basil, garlic and a hickory smoked cheese - so while the presentation recalls tater tots, the taste is a million times bigger. The fried chicken is exceptionally tender, with interesting spikes of heat, tartness and sweetness from the drizzled sauces and honey. Grits are gorgeously textured and oozing with sharp cheese. The veggie tacos are a stunning balance of tartness from little sections of lime and tomatillo, earthiness from carmelized onion, substance from the fresh house-made flour tortillas, and creaminess from the queso fresco. This is a taco that would work anywhere - that would be a standout in Austin - to find it here is a happy moment indeed. Desserts (especially the pots de creme and the bread pudding) are great, and the coffee is on a different planet from the chains that dominate here. Serious eating opportunities.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fried Berry Pie, Fried Chicken, Tater Tots, Bread Pudding</td></tr>
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The menu also has a few duds - the chili is passable, but too sweet and bland; and the Ballin' Ass Tacos are a one-note drone compared to the orchestra of the veggie version - chorizo is very tough to get right, and in these tacos, it overwhelms everything around it, including the outstanding homemade tortillas.<br />
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The place itself is slowly transforming from a neglected storefront to an urban garden oasis, with a fantastic mural splayed across the wall, and tomato plants and herbs growing in every sqaure inch of available dirt. The interior is straight up diner - not modern diner, not fancy diner - just diner, but it's cozy and clean and a perfect backdrop for the surprising sophistication of the food.<br />
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Being this far above the local curve has it's pitfalls - it's easy to let things slide a bit when no one is a close second. A year into its life, FitR is not immune to occasionally dialing it in. I've visited when the pork shoulder was too dry, the grits a little underspiced, but I've never been in when it has been anything less than the most food-centric, sustainable, ambitious, creative cuisine for miles and miles in any direction.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXq0Za12A7CGH-9uJk_q9izvPPvFSij5eYFzjqHQy1zyssmU6W0EHZxjss3Wv7-iD-xDJFgZ5x1jY5MdMutonbRZ6CqNSCF1CXQy0aRwLrl3LwuCa6yshS85VrPeLSYz49_L2h8A/s1600/FitR-EndFood.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXq0Za12A7CGH-9uJk_q9izvPPvFSij5eYFzjqHQy1zyssmU6W0EHZxjss3Wv7-iD-xDJFgZ5x1jY5MdMutonbRZ6CqNSCF1CXQy0aRwLrl3LwuCa6yshS85VrPeLSYz49_L2h8A/s640/FitR-EndFood.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Grilled Nectarine (with Pots de Creme), Trout, Tomato and Mural, Grits, More Tomato, Veggie Taco</td></tr>
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<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/194/1629410/restaurant/Lansing/Lansing/Fork-in-the-Road-Lansing-Charter-Township"><img alt="Fork in the Road on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1629410/biglogo.gif" style="border: none; height: 34px; padding: 0px; width: 104px;" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03004362052809514242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12296802.post-32556583232166830892012-08-15T10:11:00.000-05:002012-08-15T10:11:08.811-05:00Henri's Cheese, Wine (and Tables)I actually thought <a href="http://henrischeese.com/">Henri's</a> existed before it opened. Last fall, my wife and I were taking care of some errands downtown, and we both had the same idea for lunch: a sandwich, but also something completely luscious. Good bread. Really good cheese. Maybe a glass of wine. At the time, I had heard a little bit about <a href="http://www.antonellischeese.com/">Antonelli's</a> and it seemed like just the ticket. So we headed over to Hyde Park, expecting to find a little European bistro with a monumental selection of cheese. What we found was a knee-buckling, awe-inspiring nose-full of pure cheese love to be sure, but there were no tables. No sandwiches. Wine, but no glasses.<br />
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Turns out: our perfect little bistro hadn't been born yet. It has now. What we wanted that fall day was Henri's. Pristine and industrial chic, Henri's is built up with weathered wood, exposed stone, concrete and industrial fittings. Simple, multi-paned windows let in a flood of light, but low ceilings and dark woods lend it a cozy feel.<br />
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Food options are simple, delicious and limited. It's almost more of a curated collection of food than a restaurant. The wine selection is small, but fabulous. <a href="http://www.bluebottlecoffee.com/">Blue Bottle Coffee</a> is available in individual french press only. Cheeses are beautifully arrayed in a relatively small cooler in front, and they are stunning. The sandwiches are tempting, but I stayed with what looked to me like the core competency - a $10 cheese board - owner's choice. I mention the price for a reason - in an Austin increasingly full of ultra pricey food-centric opportunities I think this may be the best $10 lunch in town.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI0FT6dZFLlxQUK_0xA9Jvh-nqhaxlGVHwqT_mq5394MQlcbk4GMsRX5EgLJpYbJcocMdndq7SfeYY5wO15Zh_4KAtW8Lf5OFTcmM8nfP7kE6oVAamyCzpvRdEq3Z7bv81-_iZBw/s1600/Henris-BreadandWine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI0FT6dZFLlxQUK_0xA9Jvh-nqhaxlGVHwqT_mq5394MQlcbk4GMsRX5EgLJpYbJcocMdndq7SfeYY5wO15Zh_4KAtW8Lf5OFTcmM8nfP7kE6oVAamyCzpvRdEq3Z7bv81-_iZBw/s640/Henris-BreadandWine.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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Everything on my plate - the almonds, the house-made peach mustard, the crusty french baguette - was fantastic; but the standout was the soft goat cheese - <a href="http://www.haystackgoatcheese.com/2011/04/haystack-mountain-snowdrop/">Haystack Mountain Snowdrop</a>. Cheese on another scale altogether from almost anything I've had - right on the edge between the fresh bite of a fresh chevre and the sensous goo of a ripe brie. Magic cheese, this was.</div>
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It takes a certain amount of bravado to grab the location between Barley Swine and Lick, a certain amount of confidence that you can deliver something extraordinary. Henri's nails it.<br />
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<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/11/1661048/restaurant/South-Lamar/Henris-Cheese-and-Wine-Austin"><img alt="Henri's Cheese and Wine on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1661048/biglogo.gif" style="border: none; height: 34px; padding: 0px; width: 104px;" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03004362052809514242noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12296802.post-26153767350657503392012-07-16T08:23:00.000-05:002012-07-16T08:23:27.869-05:00Octane at Last. Great Coffee in the ATL.Waiting three years for a chance to visit, my expectations for <a href="http://octanecoffee.com/">Octane</a> were unreasonably high. Last week, after a heated argument with a very confused GPS, I managed to get myself to the newest outpost - in <a href="http://www.thejaneatgrantpark.com/">The Jane</a> in the Grant Park neighborhood on the East side of Atlanta. It did not disappoint.<br />
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Like so many fantastic coffee places, Octane occupies a reclaimed industrial space with weathered beams, giant factory windows and enormously tall ceilings. All of this history leaves a patina that contrasts beautifully with the shining chrome and porcelain of the coffee gear. The space is shared - about a third belongs to the brilliant A Little Tart bakery, about a third to Octane's coffee operation, and about a third to a well-stocked full bar. Beer. Coffee. Cake. I could be happy here for days.<br />
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Coffee is roasted in house, thanks to a recent merger between Octane and <a href="http://primaveracoffee.com/">Primavera</a> coffee roasters. The outcome is amazing - on par with the coffee coming out of the <a href="http://www.grubbus.com/search/label/Spectacularly%20Good%20Coffee">very best places I've been</a> - with a punchy, citrus-forward espresso, and a good selection of farm-specific pour-over coffees. Frankly, it's getting harder for coffee places to stand out on this basis alone. Everyone has their <a href="http://www.lamarzocco.com/index.php?lang=en&Itemid=290">Strada</a> dialed in. Everywhere has competition-level Baristas pouring gorgeous latte art with local milk. Everyone either scours the world for the perfect coffee bean or has a partnership with someone who does. What I was sipping wasn't the heart stopping moment of that first sip of <a href="http://www.handsomecoffee.com/">Handsome</a> Burundi or <a href="http://cuveecoffee.com/">Cuvee</a> Chachunda, but it was every bit as good as the best of everything else.<br />
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So where do you go when you're clearly the best coffee in your town, maybe the best in your State? You go to food. This, for me, was where Octane really shined. The combination with <a href="http://www.littletartatl.com/">The Little Tart</a> - a bakery focused on finely crafted, traditionally prepared, locally sourced sweets and savories - is nothing short of brilliant. This is where every other coffee place I've been falls short. There's just never a kitchen. Here, in this cavernous warehouse, there is space a plenty, and a subway-tiled commercial kitchen is hanging out behind the coffee churning out buckets of amazing.<br />
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I wasn't kidding when I said I could live here happily for a while. The almond cake was simple, fresh and moist, with a delicate crumb; the almond nuanced - an echo more than a flavor. The cakes you find nearly everywhere else - cakes stowed in a cooler, shlepped across town, pre-sliced - simply can not match this. This is what expert cake tastes like when it's born and it is as good a compliment to a rich cup of coffee as you're likely to find.<br />
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Octane is beyond a good coffee shop, it's a worth-scheduling-an-extra-long-ATL-layover-coffee-shop. It was worth every minute of the years I spent waiting to find it.<br />
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<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/9/1624382/restaurant/Grant-Park/Octane-at-the-Jane-Atlanta"><img alt="Octane at the Jane on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1624382/biglogo.gif" style="border: none; height: 34px; padding: 0px; width: 104px;" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03004362052809514242noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12296802.post-69376015329611578302012-07-08T06:24:00.001-05:002012-07-09T11:22:42.072-05:00Erikson's Throwback, All American, Summertime, New England Ice CreamMy sister recently moved from one Boston suburb to another, landing in the sleepy former mill town of Maynard, MA.<br />
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<div>Maynard is Norman-Rockwell-charming, all rosy red-brick storefronts populated by pizza places, neighborhood bars, and quaint, scrappy retail. And <a href="http://www.facebook.com/eriksonsicecream">Erikson's</a>. Erikson's is a mile or so from downtown - a pristine white creamery and ice cream stand smack dab in the middle of a pretty, but modest Victorian-era neighborhood.<br />
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This is All-American ice cream through and through, and has been for more than 75 years. Neighborhood families flock here day and night, and even though the gravel parking lot is stuffed with cars, half the people arrive on foot. Despite the crowds and the mind-boggling array of flavors and presentations, there's never much of a wait.7 separate lines and registers cover the building and there's a clock-work of teenage bustle inside. A scattering of picnic tables sit out back under the canopy of immense trees.<br />
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The ice cream is made in Erikson's creamery right next door. You want local? How's 15 feet? It's good ice cream - really good in some cases - but it's not the <a href="http://www.grubbus.com/2012/06/lick-is-king.html">variety that will leave you speechless in ecstasy</a>. Particularly loved the Strawberry, which despite a shock of color not found in nature tasted like it was mixed from farmer's market berries that morning. Vanilla was more sweet cream than vanilla bean, without a lot of zing. But you don't come here because of the killer hot fudge or the mountain of whipped cream on your sundae. You come here because the sun is setting on a long sunny day and there's a breeze rustling the leaves. You come here because the fireflies are out. You come here because it's still light after dinner and nobody's really paying that much attention to bed time. You come here because it's summer, and that's just how it's done.<br />
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</a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLZQTZTFMsVlBAb3HdGB1YZytFpe4ZoX4yoLPHGhVJa7fO4ny2ilLpxwwu8ELBcyOBZXx5YGpDemNKvI9NgzuVwOyeCRnU447Lb-L8BlE9hcSaKQTn1zupCLbljs_druowi4MGAQ/s1600/Erik-Sunlight.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
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<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/4/1462100/restaurant/Boston/Stow/Eriksons-Dairy-Maynard"><img alt="Erikson's Dairy on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1462100/biglogo.gif" style="border: none; height: 34px; padding: 0px; width: 104px;" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03004362052809514242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12296802.post-12675016703065211972012-07-02T10:44:00.000-05:002012-07-02T10:44:21.389-05:00Sightglass Coffee. Va Va Voom.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://sightglasscoffee.com/">Sightglass</a> is breathtakingly, heart-wrenchingly, staggeringly beautiful.
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I don't know if it's the side project of some infinitely wealthy dot com kid, or if they sell a bajillion dollars of coffee every day, but this is a cost-is-no-object shop. The ceiling soars 40 feet above the massive bar, criss-crossed with giant wooden beams. Enormous windows frame the front of the store and combine with expansive skylights to bathe the place in warm light. On the second floor there's what looks like a coffee tasting lab, a little steampunk and completely functional. There's taxidermied owls. There's a good size drum roaster. There are bags and bags of green coffee and roasted coffee, rows of tags on bakers twine, paper-bag brown bags and boxes. And it's not just that all these amazing details come together into a cohesive modern-rustic style - there's also a lot of open space - vast fields of hardwood floors on three levels, right there in the high-rent capital of the universe.<br />
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So, that's the first thing you notice when you walk in. Then you catch your breath, and set about ordering yourself some coffee. And mostly it's just about the coffee here. The pastries are delicious, but an afterthought - the teeny tiny pastry case is situated between the iPad/registers, easiest to peruse after you pay.<br />
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I ordered a macchiato - it was really good, but not perfect: the milk was not as smoothly textured as it could have been and while the coffee itself was lovely, it was not particularly complex. Ideally, you want a distinct start, middle and finish to the taste in a coffee. Sightglass coffee is good, but there's none of that tartness you get from some coffees on the first sip, none of the woodiness on the finish. Not bad, and certainly not unpleasant, but a little flat. I took home a bag of the <a href="http://sightglasscoffee.com/latin-america-1/guatemala-cubito-carlos-olivero.html">Guatemala Cubito</a>, tried several different brewing methods and found the same simplicity relative to what I've been tasting from <a href="http://counterculturecoffee.com/">Counter Culture</a>, <a href="http://cuveecoffee.com/">Cuvee </a>and <a href="http://www.handsomecoffee.com/">Handsome</a> over the last few months. A lovely cup, to be sure, just not dazzling.<br />
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So - is Sightglass one of the best on the planet? In some ways, absolutely. I have a hard time imagining a sexier location for coffee. But in other ways, it doesn't reach the etherial, constant perfection you see from the <a href="http://www.grubbus.com/search/label/Spectacularly%20Good%20Coffee">very best places</a> that do this. It's a relatively new entrant, and they are very very good. I don't doubt that they may well evolve into something mind-blowing, but for now, the big draw is the view.<br />
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<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/6/1467760/restaurant/SOMA/Sightglass-Coffee-San-Francisco"><img alt="Sightglass Coffee on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1467760/biglogo.gif" style="border:none;padding:0px;width:104px;height:34px" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03004362052809514242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12296802.post-31459466443051409892012-06-25T08:27:00.001-05:002012-06-25T08:27:40.203-05:00Fresa's - the Food Truck Without Wheels<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Austin's food truck boom is the stuff of legend. Trucks sprout like weeds in vacant lots, surrounded at all hours by picnic tables, bicycles and mustachioed men in hats. In an effort to differentiate themselves in a crowded market, these places have taken on more and more ambitious cuisine. <a href="http://theseedlingtruck.com/menu/lunch/">Lobster bisque</a>, <a href="http://municipaltaste.com/menu">roasted tomato buffalo mozzarella caprese</a>, and <a href="http://eskaustin.com/new-esk-shangri-la-menu/menus04-23-12-copy/">sous-vide pork belly</a> all now come on wheels.<br />
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At the same time, <a href="http://fresaschicken.com/">Fresa's</a> has been working the reverse angle. Fresa's, the newest outpost of the <a href="http://mcguiremoorman.com/">McGuire Moorman empire</a>, is taking food that was born to be mobile - Mexico City style corn, chicken tortas, tortillas, agua fresca - and putting it inside a very solid building.<br />
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Fresa's is housed in the space formerly occupied by Emerald City Coffee Press on North Lamar between 9th and 10th. It's an awkward mid-century building, taller than it should be, with a massive overhang on one side, and a flat expanse of brick facade. Fresa's made it beautiful. A few raw wood accents, plenty of bright colors, beautiful typography, the best neon chicken sign in Austin; this place looks like it was born to be here. In truth, the lovely space is a mixed blessing, because as beautiful as it is, there's no way to spend any time there. A few stools work while you're waiting for your order at the counter, but that's it. No tables inside or out.<br />
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We opted for the closest picnic table we could think of, a quick drive away at 9th Street in Clarksville. It was a bit of an ordeal for lunch, but we were rewarded with very tasty goodies when we laid out the spread on the table. Tortas were a brilliant combination of creamy queso fresco, avocado, savory ancho-marinated pulled chicken and super fresh lettuce and tomato. Chips were well-seasoned, a little thicker than I would have liked, but were redeemed by a totally legit, slightly spicy, full on tex-mex queso. Corn was charred and slathered in mayo (sounds odd, I know), lime, salt and chili - a highlight for all of us. The horchata auga fresca was fragrant and lovely. In all, it was a formidable and tasty, if also pricey, lunch - well made, compellingly tasty, a solid step up from similar fare up the street at <a href="http://www.zocalocafe.com/">Zocalo</a>.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis_Pw355xeydgxgGlYYzGpIVKZDbNR06zm-ZLqERFUEWxYBILeXuAueAPPBBHKpS0GjSNzr04mzG1dFWZknGToz9CGfdteYC3TQLVuNkW0LSeV86EP5BLbd2qGESAIqT8NiVGVdw/s1600/Fresa---FoodCollage.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis_Pw355xeydgxgGlYYzGpIVKZDbNR06zm-ZLqERFUEWxYBILeXuAueAPPBBHKpS0GjSNzr04mzG1dFWZknGToz9CGfdteYC3TQLVuNkW0LSeV86EP5BLbd2qGESAIqT8NiVGVdw/s640/Fresa---FoodCollage.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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I mention Zocalo for a reason there. Fresa's is an excellent place - no question about it - but it is so high-concept and so limited in what it does, that despite the better flavors at Fresa's, my next trip for some moderately healthy mexican-inspired goodness is likely to be Zocalo. I'd like a place to sit, something I can easily feed my kids, a couple more options on the menu. But that's just me - I'm hopeful that there are enough folks in Fresa's urban professional downtown-dwelling target market to make this place a success. I would hate to lose that neon chicken.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi3AZBhyxgUe4QPsWHaaZhnKEhlTWev5guAZWq_y2rHuRBcCFVd2yAf9IrJPcrhMzcoP6bKjef-AUcLXLOa4-rEu73cq80z9D2FBtwaHDDdleD0WSkI5Z9O-G3UyZNeQxdLABqdQ/s1600/Fresa---Counter.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi3AZBhyxgUe4QPsWHaaZhnKEhlTWev5guAZWq_y2rHuRBcCFVd2yAf9IrJPcrhMzcoP6bKjef-AUcLXLOa4-rEu73cq80z9D2FBtwaHDDdleD0WSkI5Z9O-G3UyZNeQxdLABqdQ/s640/Fresa---Counter.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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Special thanks to<a href="http://www.fairmorningblue.com/"> FairMorningBlue</a> for help with the photos.<br />
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<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/11/1673603/restaurant/Old-West-Austin/Fresas-Chicken-al-Carbon-Austin"><img alt="Fresa's Chicken al Carbon on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1673603/biglogo.gif" style="border: none; height: 34px; padding: 0px; width: 104px;" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03004362052809514242noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12296802.post-56844756269246463862012-06-18T08:02:00.001-05:002012-06-18T08:40:40.734-05:00Lick Is King<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwduGk98ucuPxCmQpuLDK70Y0p272F2_zBltk6yPYTRS7jDH1lkVTVYZnWiZ25hKgGvk4_4jfvDjU9WNeGL8VPeWvXDs05l00snwg8UN5_7xfh9XpSL65ncDLUYOrb4vfQQxhqmQ/s1600/Lick-Scoops.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwduGk98ucuPxCmQpuLDK70Y0p272F2_zBltk6yPYTRS7jDH1lkVTVYZnWiZ25hKgGvk4_4jfvDjU9WNeGL8VPeWvXDs05l00snwg8UN5_7xfh9XpSL65ncDLUYOrb4vfQQxhqmQ/s320/Lick-Scoops.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Sometime over the last few years, someone doused the smoldering Austin food scene with gasoline. One after another, new places opened that set a new standard for long-stagnant categories. BBQ got upended by <a href="http://franklinbarbecue.com/">Franklin</a>. Sweets got a new queen in <a href="http://www.sugarmamasbakeshop.com/">Sugar Mamas</a>. <a href="http://uchiaustin.com/">Uchi</a> lapped every other Sushi joint in the state. <a href="http://caffemedici.com/">Medici</a> made us forget that anyone else ever poured a latte. And now: Ice Cream. <a href="http://ilikelick.com/">Lick </a>simply eclipses anything else you can get in a cone.<br />
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I know this will rankle. I know that there are ice cream loyalties in this town that run deep. Please don't egg my car. I'm just calling it like I see it.</div>
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Lick is nestled in a compact storefront right next to <a href="http://www.henrischeese.com/">Henri's</a> and <a href="http://barleyswine.com/">Barley Swine</a>. This is a <b>legit </b>parking lot. A few benches out front and a couple of stools in a corner inside are the extent of the formal seating, but people make do - backs against posts, sitting on curbs, leaning on their single-speed bikes. Inside, the tiny space is pretty, but sparse, dominated by about 15 feet of ice cream under glass and a monumental, bright red, um, tongue, I think. Flavors are listed on large-size note cards tacked up on the bulletin board.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3_OKsTD-HavMSYGoqW2VdCNPp6as0DU-BKLi_z2EEdoiRWDK9t6_m3b2F_2w3DFxJnKLwJ8IpPeHeXAfhbb7fbtova-VPxsltx5N3UTr1_xEiaTLKc_qtqt-0Ht7zvILvHpdV_Q/s1600/LickCollage2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3_OKsTD-HavMSYGoqW2VdCNPp6as0DU-BKLi_z2EEdoiRWDK9t6_m3b2F_2w3DFxJnKLwJ8IpPeHeXAfhbb7fbtova-VPxsltx5N3UTr1_xEiaTLKc_qtqt-0Ht7zvILvHpdV_Q/s640/LickCollage2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyQ2YjeVwfu61GwHRCnA1UKcih7ytas-dhr4JB331QUylHABC1ygbeBxqOaD9ida_5Zty4x4GjS1yzEZPGyOSYhcs7o1f3CpItMHXKtzFiPV8prn3rzB_ud_HWJCFCV56QxtlW9g/s1600/Lick-Cards.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyQ2YjeVwfu61GwHRCnA1UKcih7ytas-dhr4JB331QUylHABC1ygbeBxqOaD9ida_5Zty4x4GjS1yzEZPGyOSYhcs7o1f3CpItMHXKtzFiPV8prn3rzB_ud_HWJCFCV56QxtlW9g/s320/Lick-Cards.jpg" width="147" /></a>And that's where things get interesting. Grapefruit Ginger. Hill Country Honey Vanilla Bean. Strawberry Basil. Cilantro Lime. Beets and Mint. Salted Caramel. It's not Iron-Chef-Octopus-Eyeball-Ice-Cream-Weird, but it's also not a menu board you're going to mistake for Baskin Robbins. Dealing with savory elements is a tricky business, and Lick manages it beautifully, nearly all the time. The Grapefruit Ginger is pure summer - juicy, with a little pucker of sour flavor hidden inside folds of cream and sweet. The caramel and chocolate are the most intense of either flavor I've ever tasted in an ice cream. Chocolate ice cream usually comes with a chalky, powdery edge - I avoid it whenever possible. But here, the chocolate tastes like a cold, creamy ganache - elegant and pristine.<br />
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It's brilliant, but it's not perfect. There are creamier ice creams, and the scoops set about melting more quickly than others. Occasionally, as the flavors of the generally-local ingredients shift, the flavors in the ice creams shift as well. I've had strawberry basil so good it made my toes curl, and I've had the same ice cream where the basil was too forward, leaving the strawberry as an afterthought. It's the reality of pushing limits though, and the reality of working with powerful, flavorful, real, ingredients. A little inconsistency is OK by me.</div>
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Lick is the Franklin, the Sugar Mamas, the Uchi, the Medici of Ice Cream. It changes the dessert landscape in this town. Thanks for showing up, Lick, we've been waiting for you.<br />
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<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/11/1626996/restaurant/South-Lamar/Lick-Honest-Ice-Creams-Austin"><img alt="Lick - Honest Ice Creams on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1626996/biglogo.gif" style="border: none; height: 34px; padding: 0px; width: 104px;" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03004362052809514242noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12296802.post-55273174325000815432012-06-03T21:22:00.000-05:002012-06-03T21:22:58.921-05:00Simple Pleasures: Blue Dahlia<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://www.bluedahliabistro.com/">Blue Dahlia</a> exudes charm, from the battered wooden sign on the sidewalk out front to the enclosed arbor patio at the back. An early entrant into the East 6th renaissance, Blue Dahlia has built a compelling mix of simple, French-inspired dishes, heavily reliant on seasonal local produce. A second location is set to launch in Westlake on June 8, 2012 (just a few days from now) and I think the approach that keeps it so packed on the East Side will work well on the West Side, too.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSfFyNHZj9UflNiWyny1szzoqp0k2YJLzcEYFAt1oZ2nEi2O4BCKWYE-kBEEAgwJN5oABs-zHUeK6NEgeqM-YJZApL6m9fZ_tBgcevHRr-qKP41gPHws4PCc80cICliYx9O4qikA/s1600/SignCollage.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSfFyNHZj9UflNiWyny1szzoqp0k2YJLzcEYFAt1oZ2nEi2O4BCKWYE-kBEEAgwJN5oABs-zHUeK6NEgeqM-YJZApL6m9fZ_tBgcevHRr-qKP41gPHws4PCc80cICliYx9O4qikA/s640/SignCollage.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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The small indoor space is dominated by two massive community tables made from giant polished slabs of warm, gnarled wood. Smaller tables are fit close together, and a long counter supports shelves covered in loaves of fresh bread. It's a tight squeeze, but thanks to the focused, attentive, and generally fabulous staff it never feels chaotic; more well-managed bustle.<br />
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The menu is varied, with a handful items loosely bucketed into breakfast items, beautiful open faced sandwiches, salads, and a sweet selection of inexpensive dinner entrees.<br />
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Everything's good, but the basic rule for me so far: the less ambitious the dish, the more fantastic it is. It's not that these folks don't turn out pretty impressive stuff - it's just that the most inspired flavor comes from the core elements they work with. As an example - the tomato gazpacho, basically a coursely chopped mix of a Johnson's Backyard Garden basket is far more impressive than the cream-based white gazpacho, a more finessed mix of cream and cucumbers that doesn't really come together.<br />
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Likewise for the entrees - where Blue Dahlia lets the vegetables speak for themselves, it's a thing of beauty - the ratatouille is tangy and deeply satisfying, but the bed of Israeli cous cous and mixed greens, and the shaved Parmesan on top felt like afterthoughts. In the case of the greens, a pretty distant afterthought - lovely little sprigs of baby romaine wilted into squish against the heat of the vegetables. I would have been happier eating that ratutouille in a simple bowl with a chunk of crusty french bread to mop up the amazing flavor.<br />
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The tartines I've tried have been more consistent - goat cheese and tapenande is simple and on point, served on a rustic slate board on slightly spongy, wonderfully dense whole wheat bread with a bright shock of roasted red pepper. The combination of astringent and creamy in that sandwich is brilliant, as it is in the savory chicken salad.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTpAC5hOEXHGptMGz80hrDpz8dyW0xVYqG8JxhIO_WjHa7kkZzrCjRxEvX0OdHh_gT7C3M-7pliYYwn5do56SUA5IdYtTiT-2_XIooI6uDfYLSsJm7qH1GKsJ_MuL97Lp03yH8JA/s1600/BD-Patio2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="416" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTpAC5hOEXHGptMGz80hrDpz8dyW0xVYqG8JxhIO_WjHa7kkZzrCjRxEvX0OdHh_gT7C3M-7pliYYwn5do56SUA5IdYtTiT-2_XIooI6uDfYLSsJm7qH1GKsJ_MuL97Lp03yH8JA/s640/BD-Patio2.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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Blue Dahlia is many things. It is beautiful. It is welcoming. It is phenomenally well staffed. Food here is made with love, and made with some of the best ingredients I've seen in a town stuffed with farm-to-market eateries. But for all that I love about Blue Dahlia, it's not a place where food is deeply transformed - there's nothing fussy, nothing genius about it. It's a place to go to enjoy a glass of wine and a slate of artisanal cheese, on a patio that is bearable even in the heat, exactly the breezy neighborhood restaurant you wish would open up down the street from you.<br />
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<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/11/452439/restaurant/East-Austin/Blue-Dahlia-Bistro-Austin"><img alt="Blue Dahlia Bistro on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/452439/biglogo.gif" style="border: none; height: 34px; padding: 0px; width: 104px;" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03004362052809514242noreply@blogger.com2