FoodFash

Adventure Begins in the Kitchen

Shut Up And Play The Hits

by

It’s hard to believe a month has gone by since I obsessively refreshed Alamo Drafthouse’s website, checking multiple times a minute for hours, waiting for tickets to become available for LCD Soundsystem’s documentary Shut Up and Play the Hits.  Six-ish hours later, I had four tickets for me and the boys.  “Your persistence is appreciated”, Matt said.

We arrived about an hour before the show and held a pretty solid place in line.  I was expecting zigzagging lines around the building in July heat, but that couldn’t be further from what happened.  Cushy seats in the front of the line with ice cold beers and AC was more like it.  We were…  So. Excited.

The documentary was everything I wanted it to be.  The scenes switched between live footage from LCD’s final show to interviews before and life after, all in a way that made sense.  I danced in my seat as I experienced the emotions of a man who single-handedly crushed his own dream.  James Murphy, a man so terrified of fading away, that he created his own burn out.  I wonder what Neil Young and Kurt Cobain would have to say about this?

Florida In Austin: A Dinner Party

by

It seems like whenever Hansell and I get together, we combine our cooking powers like little Captain Planet-eers and invite as many people over for dinner as possible.  It’s a thing.  A really good thing.

What made this thing even better was that we were able to pull 13 people together within a day, seven of who were from Florida.  I’m not certain why there are so many Floridians in Texas, but it makes me as happy as a Gulf coast clam.

Hansell got all Top Chef-like and prepared salt crusted snapper and forbidden rice with roasted vegetables .  Naturally, he waited until everyone arrived to tell me that this was his first time attempting this technique.  And lucky for him, it turned out as wonderfully as he had planned.  Only a guy would take the risk of serving something he’d never made before to a group of people!

I, on the other hand, played it safe with pie.  White peach and rhubarb pie served with Blue Bell vanilla.  When I sampled some of the fruit goo, I knew this was going to be a personal best.  And when five of our guests went out of their way to tell me this was the best pie they had ever eaten, my thoughts were validated.  If only baking pies paid the bills…

Lockhart BBQ Tour

by

Welcome to the BBQ Capital of Texas!!  Hansell, Dickie and I went on a mini-roadtrip to Lockhart, Texas on Friday for a little best of the best research.  We decided to hit up three of the most talked about BBQ places in town and document our favorites at each place.  After 45 minutes of driving and discussing strategy, we arrived at our first stop.

We walked into Smitty’s completely starving, but agreed to stick to the plan of not over-eating at our first stop and ordered 1/2 lb of brisket, 1/2 lb of pork ribs, 1 sausage link, and a few sides.  After we finished eating, I fired up the Notes app and the discussion began.

We finished off every bit of styrofoam and brown paper and, still feeling hungry as planned, headed to our next stop: Black’s.  We ditched every ounce of plan we had when we stepped into Black’s and Dickie saw a two pound cow rib (single, one rib) and I saw mac and cheese and nanner pudding.  The boys got primal and ate some meat straight from the bone.  We jotted down a few more notes and left feeling full.

Our last stop was Kreuz, where I had visited during SXSW.  I didn’t feel like I could possibly eat one more bite, but we ordered very similarly to our first stop: 1 jalapeño sausage link, 1/2 lb of brisket, and 1/2 lb of pork ribs.  We didn’t do nearly as much damage as we did at the other places, but ate enough to document our final decisions.

Smitty’s

– Best pork ribs

– Best sausage texture

– Best tasting sides

– Best Dickie quote “atmosphere is banging!”

Black’s

– Best beef ribs

– Best selection of sides

– Best BBQ sauce

– Best Dickie quote “best beef rib in the entire history of the world (even better than caveman days)!”

Kreuz

– Best brisket

– Best sausage flavor

– Best Dickie quote “no sauce given, no sauce needed!”

I couldn’t believe how easily we came into agreement on everything.  But I think it’s safe to say that what we agreed on most was the experience.  If you’re an Austinite, I highly suggest taking your next visitor on an unofficial BBQ tour!

The Hanz Is Here!

by

“Could this place be any more you?”, Hansell said as we sat down at Elizabeth Street Cafe to order his first meal in Austin, ever.  “Even the waitress’ outfits are you”.  Flattered, I encouraged my old Tampa roommate to look at the menu, assuring him that the food was every bit as good as the atmosphere.

I didn’t give him much of an option as far as apps were concerned, we were going to order escargot.  Not only is their broiled escargot flawless, but the first time I ever tasted escargot was with Hansell and Lex at a crazy little place in Tampa called Front Porch Grill.  It was a sentimental order backed up by extreme goodness.  Hello, Thai basil curry butter, how does it feel to be perfect?

Hansell ordered the waitress’s suggestion of Singapore noodles.  There was a solid flow of yummy noises coming from his direction, so I made the safe assumption that he was happy with his selection.  I reached over with my chopsticks for one of my infamous bites and decided to see for myself what it was all about.  Elizabeth Street is spot on in every flavor department – wonderful balances of strong flavors with subtle flavor highlights.  Everything is bold without being the slightest bit heavy.

I ordered the poached shrimp and hard boiled egg banh mi and coated every inch of freshness with sriracha and the occasional dollop of hoisin.  This sandwich was so fresh and totally up my alley.  You could think of it as the Vietnamese version of a chicken salad sam – cool, filling and fulfilling.

Lastly, we ordered one of each of the daily macaron flavors, chocolate curry and peach cinnamon.  I’m not the hugest macaron fan, but there just so darn cute I can never resist.  Both of us agreed that the peach cinnamon was where it was at, which made think a homemade peach pie is in The Hanz’s Austin future.

We’re off to adventure!  Have a happy (early) weekend!!