Manny's Uptown Kitchen

9503 Research Boulevard
Austin, TX 78759-5817
(512) 794-0088

http://www.mannysuptownkitchen.com/

I was recently invited to taste the menu at Manny's Uptown Kitchen in North Austin. Some of you may remember it as the New York deli Manny Hatten's. Kind of kitchy, right? Well Manny's has been on a quest over the last 2 years to rebrand themselves. They've turned their deli counter into a wine bar.

Made the dining room less deli lunch and more upscale dinner.

And have totally redone their menu. They've kept the same old deli fresh sandwiches you've known and loved, but they've now added some interesting appetizer and dinner options. Which is what I was there to sample. I had been to Manny's a few months before for the Rueben Challenge they hosted (but thats a post for another day). And I had been a few times on my own when I came down with a craving for a fresh deli sandwich and I happened to be north (since most of you know I've been a southie for several years now). I had no idea, though, that they have been trying desperately to expand their menu (and clientelle) to include dinner.

We started out with a round of appetizers. First up were the Latkes. Now, Latkes, as most of you know, are shredded potatoes that are deep fried until crunchy and golden delicious. Some Latkes, however, can come out soggy and sodden in grease. But not these fresh Latkes, they were crisp on the outside and tender on the inside. Manny's has even taken an innovative southern twist on their Latkes.On the normal menu, you can order Loaded Latkes, with bacon, sour cream, cheese & green onion, or Chili con Queso Latkes. They also served us a Mexican style Latke with guacamole and queso fresco. It was so fresh and delicious.

Up next, are one of my favorite new additions to the menu, the Pastrami Rueben eggrolls. Whats there not to like about pastrami, russian sauce and cabbage deep fried in an egg roll wrapper. Its a really interesting twist on two beloved New York dishes.

I went on this delicious dinner with Teddy of Fun with Your Food who is a Vegan/Vegetarian blogger. The next appetizer was her favorite new addition to the menu, Butternut Squash pierogies. They were incredibly delicious. A light pan fried crunch on the outside, and a soft tender butternut squash filling on the inside. Over the top was a light drizzle of thick balsamic vinegar and a light sprinkle of parmesan cheese.

Next we moved onto the entrees. The first offering was their Newcastle Pub Fish and Chips. Three large planks of perfectly golden fried cod with a house made tarter sauce. There was a curious glass of brown ale. We weren't quite sure if we should dip our fish in it or drink it. In the end, we did both. The beer helped cut the oil from the fish and the tarter sauce. It turned out to be a nice addition.

But what, do you ask, is the best new addition to Manny's dinner menu? The fresh, house-made pasta. Yes, folks, you read that right. They make their own pasta in house. And it is DELICIOUS. Probably the best pasta dish I've had in Austin. Seriously. We opted for the Chicken Marsala. The noodles were perfectly imperfect, coming in various shapes and sizes. the sauce, was a creamy, garlic alfredo with large chucks of perfectly sauteed mushrooms.

Throughout the meal, I was impressed by the freshness and quality of all the dishes. Each dish a small detail that was interesting and thoughtful. The guacamole on the latkes, the beer with the fish, the russian sauce in the egg roll. It's just different enough to keep even a hard core interested, but just pedestrian enough to make your grandma happy. Its a restaurant the whole family can enjoy.

Mariah ~ 8.5

iPic Theaters

3225 Amy Donovan Plaza
Austin, TX 78758
512-568-3400

http://www.ipictheaters.com/

Do you like movies? Do you have a lot of money? Well you've probably been to Gold Class Cinemas at the Domain by now. It is the pinnacle of First World comfort and excess. Now you can not only watch a great movie, but you can do it in comfort and style with attendants to cater to your every whim. Seriously.
If you've never been to the Gold Class, then you have no idea how classy the movie going experience could be. First, you order your movie tickets online. But you don't just buy tickets to the movie, you buy a ticket to the actual seat you'll be sitting in.

The facility itself is not just a theater, its also bar and lounge. The atmosphere of the existing lounge area feels plush and luxurious, and well classy. Large drum lights add a soft, romantic glow, and custom sculptures dot the entire theater giving it an artistic panache.

You can grab a drink at the posh looking bar, and purchase a few last minute snacks from their grab and go counter (like a delicious looking cheese plate or some yummy high end candy).

You could have a drink made from the fresh ingredients displayed on the bar.

And then an attendant finds you at the bar and leads you through the beautiful stainless doors to the seat you had reserved.

And not just any movie seat, a large, over-stuffed, reclining seat that does all but massage your butt while you sit in it (did I mention one of the arms is hollow so so  you can put your purse in it? Genius!).

While your enjoying the movie, you have an attendant assigned to you who is only a button push away. They will happily bring you blankets, should you get cold, or a pillow, should you need to prop your head up when you recline your awesome orange seat.

You can also order food, anything from Buffalo Chicken Spring Rolls to Filet Mignon sliders. And there are drinks, lots of lots of drinks you could order to make the movie going experience really... memorable.

It all sounds nice, doesn't it? Well unfortunately the reality just doesn't match with the potential this theater could have.

What you probably don't know, is Gold Class Cinemas was recently bought by the iPic chain (note the sign change below). They own several other small, upscale theaters throughout the US. I was recently invited by the new proprietors to tour the facility and discuss their upcoming renovations (even though the theater is only a few years old). I was greeted by the theater's general manager who led me on a tour of the facility.

iPic's vision is to turn the facility into a full service bar and restaurant in addition to a theater. They are trying to create an upscale gathering space for everyone, not just the movie going audience. They plan to expand the bar and add even more custom art work and fixtures to give the space a less posh feel but to make it feel more alive and full of energy. They have even purchased several new cool high tech wine dispensing kiosks do people can sit in the lounge and get their wine from a super cool machine instead of a person. They have also hired a new chef and mixologist to create a new custom menu of high end food and drinks.

At this point, though, there haven't been many noticeable changes from the old Gold Class atmosphere. In fact, I couldn't see any. Even the menu still said Gold Class across the top. And there are some flaws in the Gold Class menu.

We started off with an order of the Chinois Chicken Salad Rolls: roasted chicken, napa cabbage, radicchio, sesame ginger dressing, wrapped in rice paper. Sounds delicious right? Well, it really wasn't. The chicken was dry and tasteless. And the sesame ginger dressing was conspicuously absent (or at least I couldn't taste it). It just wasn't that appetizing.

Well, one bad dish doesn't have to doom a restaurant. Next we tried the Chicken and Pineapple sliders. I actually really liked these, but whats not to like? The roasted chicken didn't seem so dry here with the addition of a juicy pineapple and a sweet teryaki sauce. The Boyfriend, on the other hand, didn't care for them. So I happily left the Salad Rolls to him and ate the sliders myself.

We rounded out our dinner with the Chicken Artichoke pizza: creamy artichoke tomato sauce, spinach, roasted chicken and mozzarella. The pizza was ok. Pretty standard thin crust pizza fare. The ingredients were fresh but it wasn't really anything to write home about.

The real travesty of the menu, though, comes from the drinks. We ordered two delicious sounding martinis that were delivered to us in lovely glasses with fresh fruit garnishes. The drinks, however, were so syrupy sweet they were almost undrinkable. We choked them down more for the alcohol's sake than the drink's, but when we were asked if we wanted to order another, we both vehemently declined.

We opted to see Super 8, which was a really fantastic movie. But as we snuggled down in our large comfortable seats, trying to enjoy our food, the unthinkable happened. The movie stopped. And it didn't just stop, it repeated the same 1/2 second over and over and over and over and over for about 5 minutes. I'm not sure what took so long to fix the problem, but they certainly could have stopped the annoying 1/2 second loop while they did. I will forever have the sound of that half second seared into my conscience. If I'd have actually paid for that ticket, I'd have been pissed (I know, cry me a river, right).

So would I go back to iPic? Even with the technical difficulties, the atmosphere (and that chair) were so enjoyable, I could definitely go back. I'd be really interested to see how the iPic vision comes to fruition. In the mean time, I would definitely go back to see a movie, but I will stick with the cheese plate and wine until their menu is updated.

Carillon Photo Safari

The University of Texas at Austin

1900 University Ave

Austin, TX 78705

http://www.thecarillonrestaurant.com/

I was recently invited to the Carillon to preview what is now their current menu. If you've never been, you're in for a rare treat. I consider the Carillon one of the best high end restaurants in Austin. The food is delicious and innovative. Plus, they have a killer (read cheap and delicious) Happy Hour. Just remember to park in the garage and have your voucher stamped for free parking.

Nairagi Napoleon - smoked chevre with texas ruby grapefruit, cucumber, and lemon zest

Miso Marinated Mero - with wilted spinach, maitake mushrooms, and carrot-ginger reduction

Olive Oil Poached Beef Tenderloin - with potato puree, artichoke-fennel frito misto, and peppercorn sauce

Culinary Innovations Supper Club

Mariah: Today I am excited to post a blog entry for one of our distinguished guest writers, Nick! He attended a delectable supper club and we are fortunate enough to get to read about it:

It’s always exciting to witness the transition of someone’s vision into a full-blown flawlessly executed delectable work of art! I would like to start out by thanking Andrew Stiver and Chris Kirby of Culinary Innovations for their impressive display of culinary expertise and their undeniable passion for quality, creativity and professionalism shown at the first, of many, underground Southern Supper last Tuesday.

Having said that, let’s paint a picture.. For those of you aren’t familiar with the concept a supper club is when a group of people who enjoy and appreciate extraordinary food get together at a pre-determined location to share in an adventurous dining experience prepared by skilled chefs. The menu is set, so you must go into the event with an open mind. Depending on the arrangement, paired libations can be included in the experience, but not a necessity. Fortunately for us, course appropriate beverages were included in our experience.

Dinner was set to start at 7:30, but guests started to arrive around 7:00. Stiver and crew had graciously set out an array of liquor and mixers to enjoy as guests were arriving and the chefs were preparing for the feast. Everyone seemed pleasantly surprised as they showed up and funneled their way into the back yard of the host (Leslie Briggs) to find a 12- top table covered with white linens, elegantly pre-set with silverware, wine glasses, and most importantly, the evenings menu. If presentation is 90% of any dining experience, it’s safe to say that the odds were definitely in our favor.

Service began promptly at 7:30. A beautiful young lady had been tasked with the evenings serving duties. Our first course of Cold Corn Soup topped with a Friend Corn Fritter was accompanied by a 2009 Macon Villages, Cave de Lundy Chardonnay. Service graciously filled all the guests wine glasses and began to dispense the soups. Visually, the soups display was stunning. Sometimes, simple creativity can be considered more complex than bold articulations. Some guests were very vocal about their level of contentment with the first course, while others shared mmmm’s of delicious delight. Without question, the chardonnay paired perfectly with the first course. Finger streaks in the bottom of the finished bowls gave strong evidence that we were off to a great start with much to look forward to.

Round Two: After clearing the first course, glasses were filled with a 2009 Yalumba Viognier Shiraz. As many of us became acclimated with this exotic blend of crushed raspberries, violets and cinnamon, others anticipated the Fried Green Tomato Salad with Fresh Ricotta Cheese and Basil Aioli. The first course set the bar high, yet again, Stiver was able to keep the self-proclaimed-adventurous, delectably engaged. The presentation of our second course was just shy of a work of art. Personally, there was a small level of reluctance into cutting & smearing together the angelic tomato, aioli, ricotta cheese offering that sat in front of me. I quickly got past this moment and savored my first bite of delicately fried tomato covered in a heavenly basil-ricotta medley of love. It was of no surprise that my preconceived expectations were everything I thought they would be. Paired with the Shiraz on the palate, it was party-time, and we were in flavor city. Two down, three to go…

If the words bold, complex, spicy, buttery, garlicy, tomato-lovin-goodness-crustacean-delight, are words that would entice you into ordering a dish, then you would have cherished the third course. Having said that, to pick a star out of a meal of this magnitude is a daunting task. But, because I would be enticed by the previously described, the third course was revered. It all started with our adorable server removing the Shriaz glasses (most of them were empty) and replacing them with stemmed Pilsner glasses filled with Abita Springs Amber. Cold beer poured into a fancy glass by a pretty girl always excites me, so we were already off to a good start. Immediately, I associated this pairing with spice; I was fine with that. I don’t know that many of us at the table knew what to expect when reading the description of the third course, but I can say that everyone was pleasantly surprised. Butter Poached Crawfish, Sauce Romesco (roasted red peppers, almonds, garlic and tomatoes), smoked sausage, red bliss potato and roasted corn. This was cioppino meets grandmas famous made-from-scratch sausage, meets Louisiana, meets Spain. Regardless, every bite was everything that it was suppose to be. Unquestionably, this course was visually stimulating and stayed on track with everything that led us to this point. I have definitely had moments in my life where my table-side etiquette was questioned. Given the fact I sucked the heads of everyone’s crawfish within arm’s reach, reprimands from Miss Manners would have been in order. The reward undoubtedly outweighed the consequences. The third course was stellar.

As if we weren’t stuffed enough, we hadn’t even got to the main course yet. There was a small, yet necessary lag, between our third and fourth offering. Dishes were cleared; glasses were filled with a ROCO, Rollin Soles 2006 Pinot Noir. Pinot traditionally pairs nicely with Cornish Game Hen, but when it’s done two ways, everything becomes twice as nice! Beautifully combined with Brussels, Escabeche and a Honey Coriander Glaze, course four truly sent this meal over the top. Honestly, I don’t think that we expected such generous portions given everything that led us to this point. At the same time, I feel as if I have mastered the art of gluttony so finding room became a non-issue. Without sounding like a broken record, each variation of bite you chose to create possessed every element you’d expect from a meal of this caliber. This was not a trial and error course for Stiver, this combination had been tested and perfected. Wowed again and we still haven’t had desert. Life does not suck!

Upon arrival at the house I had cheated a little and opened the refrigerator. What I had seen were tear drop shaped serving dished beautifully decorated with strawberries and strawberry purée. What I didn’t realize was that these strawberries gems sat on a meticulously prepared Panna Cotta (cream, milk, sugar, and gelatin). Desert was paired with a 2010 Adriano Adami Prosecco. This was that desert you see on the desert tray when you are walking into a nice restaurant, you don’t know exactly what it is, but you know you are going get it at the end of the meal; just to find out it’s their signature desert and they have been using the same recipe since the 1700’s..or something like that…you get the point. Sweet, creamy, fruitastic, splendid! The icing on the proverbial cake; and it was good icing.

This was not a cheap meal. When you make a substantial financial commitment to enjoy a nice meal, you have certain expectations, and my expectations were undoubtedly exceeded by the exorbitant attention to quality and detail. If any point is missed, be it ambiance, service or quality, it detracts from the entire experience and you feel cheated. Stiver and Kirby not only hit on all necessary points to substantiate the investment, they provided the key elements that will keep guests coming back for more: adventure. It was agreed that much of what was served throughout the evening might not have ever been ordered by some of us had we had the ability to choose. There was not one person at our table of 10 who picked at or rejected any of the evening’s offerings, even if it was outside of their general scope of liking.

To me, the real intrigue of this type of dining experiences is to step outside of your normal realm, appreciate food for the art that it is and leave the entire experience up to the professionals. Align yourself with those who have proven to deliver and have faith that you are in good hands. If you leave the experience still able to remember the beauty presented on every plate, the smells that filed the room and the bites that accompanied them, you have experienced more than a meal, you have been taken on an adventure.

I give Culinary Innovations my self-proclaimed-foodie seal of approval. It was definitely “fork-worthy” to those who have followed previous blog entries. The next time I am looking to provide an extraordinary dining experience for a small intimate group or a large party of peers, it would be foolish for me to reach out to anyone else. My only hope at this point is that an invitation will be extended to me for the next private supper. Well done gentlemen, well done!

Andrew Stiver and Culinary Innovations can be reached at 817.774.8468 or http://www.culinaryinnova.com/

Cafe Blue

8714 Lime Creek Road
Volente, Texas
(512) 996 - 8188

http://www.cafebluetx.com/

I feel like I've always had a restaurant conundrum here in Austin. We live next to one of the most beautiful lakes in Texas, Lake Travis. But for years, if I wanted to treat out-of-town visitors to a meal overlooking the lake, I had subject them to a crappy menu. I would feel ashamed of my city, wherever we ate on the lake, while constantly apologizing for the objectionable quality of the food.

When my Dad told me he had found a great, new place to eat on the lake, I cringed in disbelief. I thought, 'Austin is just can’t support a place that has great food and a great view. It has to go messing up one or the other.' But, I love my Dad, so I decided to humor him one Saturday and meet my parents for (a very early) dinner. Apparently when your parents turn 65, five o'clock stops being happy hour and starts being dinner. Besides, it was a beautiful day, like every day has been since it stopped raining. A drive by the lake would be love. Plus, I had a secret, crafty, ulterior motive. I wanted my parents to spend some one-on-one time with my new boyfriend away from the hoards of family we always have around at holidays.

I turned on some indie rock, set the car to paddle-shift manual mode, and programmed in the location on my GPS. When I looked at the map, it seemed like this place was just past 620 on 2222. It would take us a half hour max to get there. After we crossed over 620, I told the boy, "pull up the map on the GPS so we don't pass it." He laughed at me and said "I think we have a ways to go." To which I replied, "Poppycock! It can't be far." But we continued to drive. And drive. And drive. And drive some more. Finally, after a solid 45 minutes of driving, we reached the ends of the Earth, I mean Volente, where Cafe Blue is located.

When we approached Café Blue, we were instantly confused about where we were supposed to park. There were two driveways, one pointing down towards the lake with the official Café Blue sign, and one pointing up a very steep hill that said Café Blue parking. Being lazy, and knowing the Café was on the water, we opted to try the low road. There was a parking lot at that lower level, but there a big sign that said it was reserved for the Marina next door to Café Blue. Um, how would they know? We opted to be.. safer.. and parked (where everyone else had parked including my very rule abiding father) on the steep sloping drive down to the parking lot. You’ll thank me for that tip. Trust me. Well, we were parked, but we didn’t see a restaurant. We did see a large statue at the start of a rock stair path leading down and decided to give it a try. Down we climbed on steep rocky stairs, over tree limbs, under branches. The boy commented, “this place is well hidden” to which I replied “yeah, don’t bring Grandma here, geeze!”. The bottom of the path finally opened onto a wooden deck with a tin roof where a hostess greeted us. It was a harrowing experience, but we had made it.

Café Blue is nicely situated on the waters of Lake Travis, backed by a giant rocky hill (which we had just climbed down). There isn’t any indoor seating, it is basically a giant covered deck. But do you really need anything else when you’re eating by the lake?

I was hot after that climb and ordered a frozen Margarita (or two) and settled in with my family and my menu. It was (around) Mother’s Day so I gifted my mom with 2 new vegetarian cookbooks. She’s recently gotten on the farm CSA bandwagon but calls me about once a week “Mariah, I got XXX veggie in my basket, what do I do with it”. I think it was really more a gift for me, this gift of her silence, but whatever. We can both win from a present can’t we?

Café Blue has a large selection of delectable sounding appetizers, so the boy and I decided to order 3 or 4 and share them so we could try more. The Coconut Shrimp was really delicious. But then, can you tell me if you’ve ever had bad coconut shrimp? Its deep fried shrimp in coconut. The only thing that would make it fattier would be to coconut batter bacon wrapped filet mignon.

The ahi tuna left a lot to be desired. The tuna just wasn’t all that fresh and it ended up being rather stringy. I had one piece then let the hoover, I mean the boy, finish that one.

My favorite item were the Aloha sliders. I love me some pineapple, and adding it to a burger (or pizza) makes me even happier. These soft little sliders were sweet and savory all at the same time. The boy didn’t care for them, but I say too bad to that. It left two for me!

My mom ordered Antonio’s Stuffed Shrimp, crab stuffed shrimp topped in a garlic cream sauce. Those were pretty tasty. I would totally go back and order them. My dad ordered Shrimp Brochette, jalapeno stuffed shrimp wrapped in bacon. Those were delicious too. But while both were good, they were nothing outside the ordinary, which is kind of how I felt about all of Café Blue’s food. Good but nothing spectacular. That being said, it is leaps and bounds better than most of the other restaurants around the Lake. I will definitely be returning now that the weather is nice.

As we finished up our meal, I was secretly dreading the climb back up to the parking lot. When we left the restaurant, that’s when we discovered the secret to Café Blue. You don’t have to climb up and down a trail to get to it, it has a funicular! I’m sorry I didn’t think to take a picture of it, but it’s really spectacular. You stand on the platform and are carried up the side of the hill to the parking lot. It is seriously, seriously awesome. Totally worth the trip (and that, my friends in tip #2 – you’ll thank me later for that one too).

Bottom Line: Decent food by the lake, and a funicular!!

Mariah ~ 7

Frank

407 Colorado St
Austin, TX 78701
(512) 494-6916

http://www.hotdogscoldbeer.com/

Hello, my foodie brethren. It's been a while since I've had time to join Mariah and Laura in their culinary endeavors and help keep everyone informed of the great food and great times to be had around our wonderful city. Please forgive me, but there have been many hours of work laden lately, my new role as a super dad for the PTA at Austin's elementary school, and of course let's not forget the new girlfriend that I've been pretty jazzed about being able to spend time with lately. I have felt amiss in letting so much time pass without sharing something with the Dining In Austin community. Fortunately, I was shocked into an awakening today at lunch, and I had to post something when I got struck by a muse of food and blogging. OK, I'm not sure there really is such a muse, but let's just pretend...

Anyhow, I first need to say that I can't tell my tale today without mentioning the new girlfriend, Michelle, who is simply amazing, charming, intelligent, and gorgeous. But, besides that, she's also an event coordinator by trade. Yeah. I know. What better person could a foodie be dating, huh? Some of the side benefits started to emerge earlier this week. Michelle let me know that Sullivans was trying to woo her into sending some business their way and wanted to treat her and someone to a free lunch so that they could show off a little bit. Well, I was all over the idea for being "and someone" and readily cleared my calendar for the outing. Well, unfortunately, after some missed calls and scheduling conflicts, we had to reschedule the free chance for a restaurant to impress us to another day. Fortunately, right down the street from Sullivans was someplace that I've been wanting to check out.

I've heard about Frank through the grapvine and have been checking out the menu on line in eager anticipation. I feel the need right now to admit that I am midly addicted to several reality TV shows, with most of my excitement being around food related shows like Hell's Kitchens, Kithen Nightmares, and The Next Food Network star to name a few. I think the challenges on those shows that I like the most are when the contestants are told to take a common everyday and put a new gourmet twist on it. I think it hits home with me since I'm always trying to reinvent any dish I make at home. Nevertheless, when I saw the menu at Frank, I was excited because of a chance to see the classic American hot dog reinvented. It didn't take much to convince Michelle and we were off for the alternate lunch plans.

Frank is on Colorado, near 4th Street downtown in the old Starlight. Walking in, I was pleased already. The environment and the decor seemed pretty minimalistic and just cried "Austin" to me. The restaurant, as of today, hasn't been open for even three weeks yet, but it was pretty much packed. In fact, even on the very late end of the lunch hour (pushing up against 1:00), we were seated at the very last open table in the place.

I liked the menu. It was quite simple and to the point. There was no doubt what Frank's niche was. I drooled seeing some of the options on the menu. Save for a few options, it appears as if Frank's strategy for reinventing the hot dog stemmed from replacing the components of your traditional sausage on a bun with higher end ingredients as well as offering little twists like coating any hot dog on the menu with a cornbread coating before putting it on a bun. There was one option on the menu, though, that caught our eyes and we immediately had to try. The Jacklelope dog was described as an Antelope and Rabbit sausage with a Huckleberry Compote and spicy aioli. Yum! It tasted even better than it sounded. I hope, though, that no one makes the same mistake I did today and wears a white shirt there. Even though the french roll that housed the sausage was dense and crusty, it could little compete with the compote and I made quite the mess.

I also ordered a large order of waffle fries. Now, while I can't say that the fries were anything that was outstanding and overly memorable, I do like the option of sauces presented for dipping.

On the flip side of the menu was a veritable menagerie of cocktails that all sounded amazing. With an evil grin, we decided that we'd split the Manhattan...in the interest of research, of course. It wasn't just a drink. It was a flavor journey, and quite amazing at that. The Manhattan started off smooth and mellow, but finished strong with as the flavors of the bitters and cherry came through. But, it was the aftertaste that I found to be remarkable as the Bacon infused bourbon really make its presence known. Quite impressive.

I only really noticed one really distressing thing about Frank when I talked to the waitress for a bit. The restaurant does not have a kids menu and that shocked me. I mean...REALLY shocked me. It seemed just too easy for a place with hot dogs and fries on the menu to just whip one together, especially with a great potential customer base of kids and their parents with the children's museum just down the street. Anyhow, I'll digress this time on the rest of my kids menu soapbox. While I couldn't find kids menu, I did notice a couple of vegetarian options including a Portabello Cheesesteak, which I think I'll get on my next trip back. That sounds delicious.

I found the service to be outstanding and efficient, too. It wasn't long at all before we were walking back to Michelle's office building and enjoying the warm Texas weather as of late.

Lee - 8.75
(7/16/09)

Mariah Update: This is a post Lee wrote back in July of 2009. I've decided to repost for a couple of reasons. First, you fine readers will be pleased to know, that in a few short weeks, he will be marrying Michelle, the woman he is newly dating in the post above. Second, I revisited Frank recently as one of the first dates with my new boyfriend and updated the pictures. We, at Dining in Austin, were a little more ghetto in the picture department back in 2009.

I've been to Frank on several occasions over the past few years and I've grown to really appreciate it for what it is, a greasy, late night dining spot. There have been nights where, after having a few drinks, you just want something dripping in fat and deliciousness. Thats why Frank has become one of my go-to late night spots. Now, when I go, I only ever get two things, the Jackalope and Poutine (though Poutine isn't on the late night menu, you have to go before 10 to get it).

Lee pretty accurately described the Jackalope above, but I will add that, though its messy, the sweet, savory combination of the antelope sausage and the huckleberry compote really make for delicious late night noshing. I could write novels about the deliciousness of the poutine too. Crispy waffle fries covered in brown gravy with melted cheese curds on top. I know if sounds totally gross. The first time I had it, I thought I was going to hate it, but trust me, its the best thing on the menu.

Last time I went, my date ordered the Notorious P.I.G., a pork jalapeno sausage covered in mac and cheese and BBQ sauce. The whole combination was just too overwhelming. First it was hard to get a bite without sauce covered mac and cheese falling all over the table. Second, the mac and cheese didn't really add a texture or flavor component that was very notable. I think its one of those should-be-great-in-theory-so-lets-put-it-on-our-menu-to-wow-people kind of foods.

Overall, I like Frank for what it is, late night delicious greasiness.

Mariah ~ 7 
(5/8/11)

Jack Allen's Kitchen Wine Dinner

I recently had a delicious dinner at Jack Allen's kitchen. Now, I know it's down in the great unknown territory of south-west Austin (be careful, there be dragons there), but if you haven't made it down there yet, you really should.

I've eaten there as a regular, run-of-the-mill diner several times now, but those reviews are for another day. This post is about the wonderful wine dinner dinner they invited me to. And I will disclose that I was invited to this fine dinner and hence didn't pay for it (thanks FTC and your new fabulous rules).

First of all, Jack Allen's Kitchen is way way out in southwest Austin. Basically, you go to the Y at Oakhill, take the 71 branch and go a mile. My parents live in that neck of the woods, so its not too far out of the way for me. I can imagine, though, how it might be on the other side of the planet for someone from Pflugerville, but it's well worth the trip. Jack Allen's is the brain child of ex Z-Tejas chef Jack Allen (surprise surprise). He took over the old space where the Y Bar and Grill (then Nunzia's) used to be, and you long time readers will remember how Nunzia's felt about us. So I'm really glad to see something reputable and delicious in it's place.



Like so many of the new mid-dollar restaurants popping up over Austin now, Jack Allen's really focuses on using local ingredients. Their menu is a laundry list of local farms and food producers that brought a little tear to this foodie's eye when she first read. The food is mostly southern and southwestern inspired. It's kind of like everything Z Tejas wishes it normally were but can't be because it's a chain now (and I'll caveat that by saying Z Tejas wine dinners and special menus are delicious, it's just their normal menu that suffers a little).



But enough about other restaurants, it's Jack Allen's you really want to know about. The wine dinner they invited me to a few (cough) months ago was really delicious and interesting. First of all it was multi course, which I am always a sucker for and second, they didn't offer just one wine pairing with each course, they offered two. Now before you accuse me of being a lush, let me describe how awesome this wine pairing was.

The wine portion of the dinner was hosted by local Texas wine producers. For each course, there was one varietal and two wines, one Texas wine, and one other wine that is thought to be a good representation of the varietal. But did you know which was which? No! It was a blind tasting. You would get two small pours of each wine and you had to figure out which was the Texas wine. Sounds like a pretty awesome party doesn't it? It was.

Our welcome wine was a Vermentino. A Vermentino is not a wine you come across a lot, but it's a lovely Italian white wine. It's bright and acidic and is usually made in Corsica. The two Vermentino's they brought were Mandola's and then Gagliardo Favorita.

Mandola's: Fun, popped in my mouth, crisp and acidic, with a nice mineral content, and notes of grapefruit and golden raisin
Gagliardo Favorita: A Sardinian wine. Fruit forward wine with strong flavors of apple, apricot and honey but it had a soapy undertone

Now, I love Texas wines. I am a huge advocate of them. I know a lot of people poo poo them, but I think Texas wines are really unique and interesting. Most of them have such strong and powerful characters, just like everything else in Texas. But sometimes when you compare it to an old world wine, like a Vermentino, with a Texas wine of the same style, the Texas wine just doesn't hold up. So I was really surprised that I enjoyed the Mandola's Vermentino so much. It's bright acidity and mineral notes really made it stand out over the soapy Sardinian wine.

The first course was a Cold smoked and grilled jump shrimp with blackberry and lemon thyme aioli. This shrimp was delicious. It all of the rest of the meal had been horrible (which it wasn't), it would have been worth going to for this shrimp alone. What surprised me the most was how well the thyme, shrimp, and blackberry were together. It's a really different but spectacular combination.


The wine pairing they chose for the shrimp was a Chenin Blanc. They compared a Beringer Chenin Blanc to the local Fall Creek version.

Beringer: Sugary with a mineral overtone and a taste of apricot, melon, and pear
Fall Creek: Golden and red tinged wine with a strong flavor of lemon, golden raisin, dates and candied fruits and a light pear aftertaste with a distinct chemical overtone

Ok, I have to admit, I usually turn my nose up grocery store table wines. But the Beringer Chenin Blanc totally blew me away. It was sweet without being cloying and had nice fruit tones. It paired very well with the shrimp. I gotta tell you folks, for $6.99, thats a great bottle of wine for a light summer dinner (of shrimp of course).

The second course, however, wasn't as strong as the first course of shrimp. It was a Seared Texas Redfish with Texas Citrus Mojo and Wilted Arugula. It just didn't work very well. The taste was rather bland and the textures ended up being homogeneous.

The wine offerings for this course is one of my favorite types of white wine, a Viognier. For having such a fancy, French name, I would argue that most of the great bottles of Viognier out there today are American. California has a few good Viogniers, but the real US Viognier winner are the wineries in Washington. Trust me. The Viogners they chose for this tasting, though, were the Zaca Mesa from Santa Barbara and the local Becker.

Zaca Mesa: A wine from Santa Barbara with flavors of apricot, violet and lavender. High in alcohol content.
Becker: A local Texas wine that's grassy, with a lilac overtone and tastes of green pepper and dill.

In this case, the Texas wine was the winner. The lilac and dill tones of the wine made for a deliciously complex flavor. Plus, I didn't care for this fish course as much, BUT it did pair nicely with the Becker Viognier.

The third course was a Moroccan spiced Texas quail with toasted almond couscous and caramelized peach-honey glaze. The quail was cumin heavy, the couscous was hot and spicy and the glaze was sickly sweet. Individually, each one was too heavily spiced or flavored, but together the heavy spices combined well together. The was the favorite course of my dinner guest and boyfriend. He would NOT stop talking about how awesome this dish was. I thought it was pretty good, but I thought I'd comment that he thought it was amazing.


They paired this spicy, and flavorful course with two wonderful roses, a great selection for this kind of food. This course paired nicely with the Texas rose, the ever present Texas winery, McPherson. It was sweet, with a pop of cherry summer berries and watermelon. The non-Texas comparative Rose, was just not worth mentioning.

The fourth course was a Pecan wood-fired beef tenderloin with shaved yellow grilled corn and cotija. The beef had a salty, smoky crust and a tender texture. The shaved corn with cotija had a casserole-like texture. I felt like I was eating elote casserole and it was delicious! This was a spectacular dish. I've come to find out, they sometimes serve the awesome corn as their veggie side. Make sure you ask for it if you ever go.



They paired this beef course with two Sangioveses. Both were lovely, and to be honest, I couldn't decide which one I liked better. But since I was (cough) getting a little drunk off all he wine, I didn't catch the name of the Chianti Classico vineyard, so we'll have to say the Flat Creek wins, simply because I remembered it.

Flat Creek: Floral with butterscotch and leather undertones
Chianti classico (vineyard unknown): Herby and astringent with heavy tannins. Tasted like a bouquet of flowers with pepper.

After so much decadence, we had to be let down a little by the dessert course. It was a simple but delicious Chocolate truffle. Buttery, smooth, and melt in your mouth delicious. I guess I was looking for something I could really sink my teeth into, but hey, I'm never going to turn down chocolate!

They paired the chocolate with two Bordeaux Blends. The one that stood out the most was the Inwood Estates Magellan. It was herb-y, leathery, smelled of tobacco and had strong, tongue sucking tannins. A very nice Texas wine.

Jack Allen's Kitchen - 8

Odd Duck Farm to Trailer - A Photo Tour

1219 S. Lamar
Austin, TX 78704

http://oddduckfarmtotrailer.com/

The Odd Duck Farm to Trailer is one of the best examples of Austin trailer food. Everything is locally sourced and the menu changes daily based on what's available and in season. The food is excellent and when the average price is $5 for a small plate, why not try them all!

Beets, goat feta, arugula and sweet onion

Grilled zucchini bread, peaches and goat cheese

Green beans, tarragon crema, rabbit belly and goat ricotta

Green Pastures

In my family, we like brunch. Ok, that's a lie. We LOVE brunch. Every birthday, anniversary, and celebration, seems to surround some sort of brunch. We even have brunch once a month, just because. But last month was my Aunt Mickie's birthday, so what did we do? We went to brunch. And since it was a super special occasion, we decided to go to THE super special occasion brunch restaurant, Green Pastures.

I've heard different opinions of the food at Green Pastures which will be discussed at length in a minute.  Say what you will about the food, but Green Pasture's reputation as a special occasion restaurant is so ingrained in Austin history that it's a force to be reckoned with. People have been coming to Green Pastures for birthday's, anniversaries, engagements, and other special occasions for well over 50 years. And for good reason, the restaurant is in a huge, lovely Victorian and the grounds are well manicured and beautiful.

One of the things they are well noted for, is their huge Sunday brunch buffet. It's one of the larger brunch buffet's in Austin and it's high class all the way. With silver chafing dishes, white linens, ceramic name plates, the class at Green Pastures is in the details.

The buffet is huge. Huge. There is an appetizer table, a small plates table, a salad table, a veggies table, a entrees table, a meat table AND 3 dessert tables. Each table is laden with numerous trays, plates, and cups filled with delectable treats. I'll try my best to review what I've had on my trips to Green Pastures, but their buffet offerings change every week, so you just have to trust that the food is generally pretty good. Some dishes are better than others, the food isn't too horribly original, but all in all the quality of all the food is consistently pretty high.

Here is the small plates portion of the huge buffet table. Check out all the food! Sesame tuna, smoke trout, smoked salmon, little cups of soup or dip, and just different kinds of seafood.


The tomato soup was ok, the white bean dip was pretty awesome (my dad had 2 little cups of them). The seafood is always tasty. Their smoked salmon is always very good, but the trout was a little lacking this time around.

Here is the salad selection on the buffet. I loved the mini wedge salads. What can I say, I'm a sucker for blue cheese and bacon. Sue me. Everything else was just ok. Save your stomach room for the veggies and entrees.



Here is the veggie table. Now, the veggies I've had at Green Pastures have always been really really good. Everyone will attack the buffet and fill up on meat and desserts, but the veggies are the true gems of the buffet. Here are Green Beans, Ginger, Red Pepper and Sweet Corn with Edamame. The sweet corn and edamame was so so tasty. I went back for seconds!



And what fancy schmancy buffet wouldn't include some classic brunch fair. Take these Eggs Benedicts. When is an eggs benedict ever bad? These are pretty typical versions.



Mixed in with the classic brunch entrees are some not so classic brunch fair. Take this roasted pork loin with andouille sausage and fried basil (you had me at fried basil).



It was pretty good, but didn't compare to the best dish on the whole (large and generously laid) table, the Sauteed Flounder with Shrimp, Lobster, Arugula and Fried Capers. Creamy with the flavor of fresh seafood, it melted in my mouth. And the pop in flavor the capers left in my mouth was a nice surprise. D.e.l.i.c.i.o.u.s.



There's even an old school roast beef carver. I think buffet roast beef is overrated and only there because it looks cool, so I didn't bother trying it (but the carver was very nice).



And what huge brunch buffet wouldn't have an equally huge dessert bar? This is only part of the dessert table. It was like 4 times the size of this one picture. Everything I tried was delicious, if a little bit conventional.


And of course when you're done with brunch, you can wonder the beautiful grounds and try to spot the peacocks and peahens. I even saw three little peachicks following a peahen (yeah they're really called peachicks, I googled it).



Next time you're in need of a special occasion brunch and a little peachick spotting, check out Green Pastures.

~Mariah: 8.5

The Jalopy

The Jalopy
15th and San Antonio
(512) 817 – 8554

http://jalopyaustin.com/

I recently had dinner at the Jalopy food "trailer" in downtown Austin. I say "trailer" in parenthesis, because it's not the typical airstream or food cart we Austin-ites have come to associate with trailer eating. It's an honest to God semi. Smoke stack and everything. Really.

I was invited to dine there by owner/head chef Nick Patrizi when Jalopy had just opened a few months ago (sorry Nick for taking so long to get to this). If you haven't dined at Jalopy, you should, just to meet Mr. Patrizi. He's a really larger than life personality. If I could just bottle his energy and sell it to all the groggy middle-aged office workers of the world, I'd make a mint!

The Jalopy is primarily a sandwich shop specializing in rotisserie chicken and pressed panini sandwiches.



All the sandwich fillings are made from scratch, including these delectable mushrooms. That's Nick, btw.



What makes the Jalopy special, aside from the fact that it's a giant semi, are the attention to artistic detail. The trailer is covered in incredible art hand painted by local artists.

Unfortunately, at the time we visited the Jalopy (and granted, this was several months ago, and when it first opened), the only way to order sandwiches was to climb a rickety looking staircase made of shipping palates. Not knowing to expect this, I wore some killer platform high heels (black with a sexy ankle strap, thank you). And I had to remove my heels before I could attempt to climb the stair to order a sandwich. I'm hoping that in the few months since I visited, the stair problem has been solved with a little sturdier solution.



To balance out the rickety staircase, however, was this awesome sammich shoot. When your sammiches are done, they send them down this crazy shoot.



But you're saavy restaurant patrons. You can't be swayed by a nifty sammich shoot and cool art. You want to know about the food. I'm a little sad to say, the food falls a little short of the awesome trailer.

Most of the sandwiches are made with chicken meat from rotisserie chickens. They are hand roasted in the trailer and are delicious and flavorful. Nick could make a nice business selling his tasty chickens on the side. Who doesn't love a rotisserie chicken on a lazy weeknight. I know I do.



To whet your appetite, Nick serves some delicious veggie chips. They can be dusted with bbq, salt and vinegar, chili lime, parmesan garlic, sea salt, creamy dill, or margherita pizza flavoring. We opted for parmesan garlic and happily munched away while he prepared our sandwiches.



I went to Jalopy with my friend Connie, who is on a perpetual healthy eating kick. This time she was trying to eat low carb. And even though Jalopy is a sandwich place, Nick, graciously, made her a low carb version of his Son Hong sandwich. Rotisserie chicken in a spicy chili sauce with pickled onions, cucumbers, and a cilantro salad. I took a bite and it was every bit as hot as it looked. Connie loved it, and gobbled it down. Just looking at it made my heart burn though, so I stuck with a more traditional sandwich.



I had a Jalopy Original - rotisserie chicken in a demi-glace with a red onion marmalade. The red onions are cooked down with a balsamic reduction, sugar, cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg. And the demi-glace is made with the chicken bones from the rotisserie chicken served on most of the sandwiches. The sandwich had a nice subtle flavor, but was hoping for an explosion of awesome in my mouth and what I got instead of was a pop. The texture of the sandwich left a little to be desired too. The demi glace sauce soaked through the break creating a sloppy mess before I was even half way though.

Now, while we were eating, Nick talked to us about some sandwich experiments he was running and mentioned he was trying sandwiches with a juice soaked inner piece of bread so the juices wouldn't drip to the outter pieces. Here's hoping he's perfected that technique.



Connie and I also went with Teddy of Fun with your Food, a 90% vegetarian. At the time we went, all the Jalopy sandwiches had chicken, so Nick made her a special off-menu veggie sandwich. She really liked it. Since then, I see, he's added 3 veggie sandwiches that all sound amazing.



And while it wasn't available at the time I went, I see there is a Chicken and Waffle sandwich now which totally intrigues me and I definitely will be going back to try.

~Mariah: 7