FoodFash

Adventure Begins in the Kitchen

Dinner at Lenoir

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Lenoir Austin

The inspiration behind my restaurant to-do post, Lenoir, has been on my mind every time I craved restaurant for quite some time.  There were problems though.  It’s a pretty small, reservation-only space that has a fairly pricey pre fixe menu.  That rules out friends that are picky, on a budget, and are opposed to planning ahead.  I guarantee that most of anyone’s friends fit in one, if not all three, of those categories.

Lenoir Field

Luckily I have three very lovely friends that were ready to give it a go.  We coordinated our schedules and made reservations a couple weeks in advance.  We tried so very hard to vary our selections, but were all drawn to similar dishes in each category.

Lenoir Sea

My selections from each of the categories:

Field – aleppo spaghetti / smoked ricotta salata / broccoli rabe / crisp garlic

Sea – drum crudo / avocado / loquat vinaigrette / honeysuckle gelee

Dream – bleu d’auvergne / walnut & pistachio ‘baklava’ / roasted sweet potato / smoked honey

Lenoir Dream

I was so thankful when the house-made spaghetti was set in front of me.  My appetite, besides a brief desire to cleanse, has been insatiable as of late.  But this blip of flavorful and delicate noodle was instantly satisfying and prepped my very hungry belly to appreciate the dishes to come.

The crudo was delicious, as expected.  All of the accompaniments added texture and flavor without compromising the freshness and lightness of the fish.  If I hadn’t just eaten noodles, I could have eaten this for miles.

The dessert, in the most butchering of simple descriptions, was essentially baklava with blue cheese, sweet potatoes, and honey.  I liked this dish because I dig salty/crunchy/sweet.  I didn’t like this dish because it didn’t feel like dessert (it would have been just as fitting had it been categorized as an appetizer).  But I also did like this dish because it didn’t feel like dessert.  Desserts, in my mind, are partly desserts because of the sickeningly sweet taste that leaves you feeling ehhh afterward.  The lack of ehhh smooshed any dessert envy before it formed.  Overall, I was pleased with my selection.

Lenoir is such an adorably tasty spot and I look forward returning for another lovely evening!

.@Peche_Austin

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Oh how I love, love, love Péché!  My friend Nathan took me here the second weekend I lived in Austin and it’s held a special place in my heart ever since.  And the only thing that’s kept me from blogging about this love is that it’s pretty darn dark in there and I typically don’t fancy carrying around my camera after an absinthe or two.  If you follow me on Instagram, I’m sure you’ve seen a Péché post or seven.

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This was my first Sunday visit, so Skylar and I were able to take advantage of all day happy hour which consisted of select $5 cocktails and half off  some bar food items (this is the case on Mondays too).  Naturally, my cocktail of choice wasn’t on special, but I ordered it anyway.  I refuse to deviate from the Absinthe God or Silver Monk (top left).  They both contain egg whites and they are both my most favorite cocktails in all of the land.  Seriously.

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And typically I’d order something very Kristin-esque, like the sage gnocci or a seafood dish on the daily menu.  But today I wanted something on sale something adventurous, so I went with the burger du jour, which was topped with duck liver and housemade picked vegetables.  And although I’ve ordered few burgers in my lifetime, I can tell you with certainty that this burger was more melt-in-your-mouth amazing than any burger I can recall.

Beautiful Buckets

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I knew very well that as soon as I dropped Val off at the airport, I would stuff myself full of the greenest of greens with the sole hope of coming out of this week-long food coma as quickly as possible.  But first?  We’d meet another weekend visitor, my best pal Nathan, for our most gluttonous meal yet at Lucy’s Fried Chicken.

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Slurping on a $3 greyhound and eating a few bites of Nathan’s wedge prepared me for the final feast.  It was seriously as if the prior week of acting like a vacationer never happened.  I was momentarily guiltless and oh so ready for fried chicken.

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Beautiful buckets… Of fried chicken.  Our cheerfully chatty table of seven silenced immediately as we dug in.  The chicken was so super juicy and crispy and a tad spicy – all the things you want your fried chicken to be.  Paired with outdoor picnic tables with the greatest of friends on a surprisingly sunshiny, winter day?  Sweet bejeeze, it was wonderful time!

Hello From Tacoma!

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After a loooong day of traveling from Austin to Tacoma, my co-worker and I woke up craving a fresh breakfast.  I wanted a big bowl of fruit and a big cup of joe and Holly was on the same page.  I did a little Yelp research and found a vegan coffee shop about two miles from our hotel.  We hailed a cab.  He dropped us off a few blocks away from our destination (why?  I don’t know.).  I pulled up the Yelp app to get directions and…  Saw “closed today”.  What?

It would have been a total fail if Sarah hadn’t just sent me a list of Tacoma to-do’s.  First on the list was Southern Kitchen, which happened to only be a few blocks away.  When I saw that it was attached to a muffler shop, I knew it would either be a huge hit or huge(r) miss.

We sat ourselves, ordered two cups of black coffee, and looked over the menu.  The first thing Holly noticed was that Southern Kitchen had been featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.  This place was going to be a huge hit indeed.  And even though the corncakes (cornbread pancakes), eggs, and breakfast meats were far from what we were initially seeking, our meals totally hit the breakfast spot.

Side note: Corn waffles have officially been added to my baking list!

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