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Blustery weather can’t stop food, fans at Rachael Ray’s Feedback
With temperatures in the low 40s and wind gusts up to 30 miles per hour, the weather didn’t exactly cooperate for Mr and Mrs T and Rachael Ray’s Feedback Festival at Stubb’s on Saturday, but a little thing like the weather couldn’t get the chirpy TV host down.
For the past three years, Ray — whose food empire now includes not only a magazine, a daytime talk show, a brand of cookware and a handful of shows on the Food Network but also a nonprofit to encourage kids to eat healthfully and a line of dog food — has thrown a big blow-out party on the Saturday of the South by Southwest Music Festival. (It was sunny and darn near hot at last year’s party at Maggie Mae’s.)
This year’s music line-up was considered one of the best of any of the big-name parties, featuring Jakob Dylan, Neko Case and indie darlings Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward together as She and Him. Ray’s husband’s band The Cringe and her Austin favorite Bob Schneider also played.
But food earns a spot at the top of this bill. During an interview between sets, Ray told me that of all the menus she develops in a year, she puts the most thought and effort into this one. She knows Austin is full of foodies who won’t accept just any old Tex-Mex knock-off.
The albóndigas sub (recipe here) and Swiss cheese and chicken quesadillas were crowd favorites at this year’s party, even though guests had to wait in lines for up to an hour for food. (For some reason, there was no wait for free Bloody Marys, frozen daiquiris and piña coladas made with Mr and Mrs T drink mix, which meant people were drinking considerably more than they were eating.)
Students from the Texas Culinary Academy, dressed in white chef’s attire, didn’t seem frazzled by the cold or the crowds as they handed out the free food.
By noon, there was a line down Red River Street to get in, and even though the weather showed no signs of improving, people inside — including Matthew McConaughey and John Popper — seemed content to sip on free drinks, eat food (even if Ray herself didn’t make it) and listen to the music.
It seems most fans showed up for the music and free grub, but there were plenty who were there for Ray. One woman, who drove an hour and a half to Austin with her husband to be at the party, spent the past three weeks making a handful of colorful necklaces to give to Ray. Ray’s assistants passed along the jewelry, and Ray was so touched by the gesture that she sought out the woman, who was visibly overwhelmed upon meeting her.
When I talked to Ray a few minutes later, she said it’s the heartfelt exchange that’s important, no matter if she’s the one giving food to fans or getting gifts like handmade jewelry from them.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: Celebs in the Kitchen, Playing with your food
Ben Londa of Exit: What’s in Your Fridge Friday?
For the past three days, Austin has been inundated with music.
Bands of every flavor are playing both official and non-official South by Southwest gigs, and local band Exit played not one but two shows to help get things started on Tuesday night (which was when the tech geeks like me were finally putting down our iPhones after five days of a tweet-filled SXSWi.)
Austin Ben Londa founded the band in the mid-1990s, and last year he brought in Patrik Nilsson and Nathan Hewitt to form a trio, who are working on the band’s next album, The Blind Alley, which will be released later this year. For the fifth year in a row, Exit placed in the top 10 gothic/industrial bands at the Austin Music Awards. (However, the music is much more laid back than that category suggests. Listen to a few tracks here.)
But music isn’t Londa’s only love. He’s a hardcore foodie, keeping track of and rating more than 300 restaurants he’s visited in Central Texas in an Excel spreadsheet. “Yes, I’m serious. And maybe nuts,” he says.
Exit’s next show is on April 16 at the Elysium, 705 Red River St.
What three things are always in your fridge? Central Market tortillas, sriracha sauce, Simply grapefruit juice
What’s your favorite condiment? sriracha again
What’s your go-to late night snack? Shamelessly, Whataburger.
Photo by Ben Londa.
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‘Dinner with the Band’ host Sam Mason loves Uchi, chicken-fried steak
Sam Mason fits in well in a city like Austin. The New York chef and host of “Dinner with the Band” on the Independent Film Channel has been in Austin this week, catching a handful of South by Southwest shows and eating well at places like the Broken Spoke and Uchi, where his friend and fellow pastry chef Philip Speer works.
Mason knows the beauty of a chicken-fried steak, but he also has the culinary creativity to serve a drink like beet sangria at a happy hour at the IFC Crossroads House during SXSW on Thursday, which is where videographer Jenni Jones and I caught up with him. Mason and his crew just finished shooting the first complete season of “Dinner with the Band,” during which Mason cooks for a hip, indie band and they return the favor with a live show in his living room. (The season premieres on April 27 at 9:30 p.m. CST.)
But don’t worry, the former wd-50 pastry chef hasn’t swapped his kitchen knives for the lavalier mics and bright lights of television entirely. He says he has a few brick-and-mortar projects up his sleeve.
Too bad he isn’t looking at commercial real estate here. We’ve got a good band or two who wouldn’t mind trading tunes for a fancy meal.
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Swampy Pat’s secret to gumbo? Guinness
By now, you’ve hopefully recovered from yesterday’s St. Patrick’s Day festivities, but if you can’t stomach drinking another Guinness, consider all the glorious ways you can cook with it.
In yesterday’s paper, I wrote about how you can add the thick stout to ice cream, stews and breads, but my new favorite way to use Guinness in cooking is in gumbo.
The idea came from my friend, who earned the nickname Swampy Pat for obvious reasons. The Louisiana native is Cajun through and through, and his grandmother’s secret to making killer gumbo was a can of Guinness. If you already have a tried-and-true gumbo recipe, just replace some of the water or stock with a can of Guinness Draught. If you don’t have a gumbo recipe, try the recipe below that ran in Wednesday’s paper.
Of note: When you’re buying Guinness at the store, it’s important to know what you’re getting. Guinness Extra Stout is often sold right next to Guinness Draught, but the beers are very different. Draught has a much more mild and less bitter flavor, which is why I used it in the gumbo. If you buy Extra Stout, you might use less than a whole bottle.
Guinness Gumbo with Chicken, Sausage and Shrimp
Salt and pepper
4 chicken thighs
1/2 cup flour
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 sticks celery
1 green bell pepper, diced
2 links andouille sausage, sliced
8 cloves garlic
4 cups chicken stock
1 can Guinness Draught
Thyme
Bay leaves
1 Tbsp. Creole or Cajun seasoning (Tony Chachere’s, etc.)
Hot sauce (optional)
1 lb. shrimp, peeled and deveined
One bunch greens, such as chard or collards, chopped (I used greens because that’s what’s in season. When I have okra growing in my backyard later this year, I’ll use it.)
Juice of half a lemon
In a large pot, fry chicken thighs, skin on, that have been seasoned with salt and pepper. The goal is to cook the chicken and render the fat, so once the chicken is cooked, remove meat and leave hot fat in pot.
Stir flour into fat and cook for several minutes, stirring frequently, to make a brown to dark brown roux. Add onions, bell pepper and celery and cook for 15 to 20 minutes until onion is almost clear.
Once the chicken has cooled, pull meat apart and add back to pot. Add sausage and garlic and continue cooking for another five minutes. Add water, Guinness, bay leaves, thyme, Creole seasoning and hot sauce to taste. Simmer for at least 20 minutes or up to 45 to combine flavors.
About 10 minutes before serving, add shrimp and greens and cook until shrimp are pink. Add lemon juice and serve with white or Cajun rice and crackers.
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SXSW Party: Austin360 Food Blogger Bash
It’s no secret that food brings people together, which I guess could be one explanation as to why food bloggers are such tight-knit bunch.
To celebrate the ever-growing food blogger community, Austin360 and I hosted the second annual Food Blogger Bash, presented by Clear, last night at the Cedar Door downtown. Food bloggers from both coasts and everywhere in between — some of them old friends and others strangers who weren’t strangers for long — mingled (and posed for silly photos in the photo booth) over food and drinks.
Like many others in niche online circles, it would be easy for food bloggers to hover over their stand-up mixers and keyboards, quietly competing with each other for page views and reader loyalty.
But not here. Not this generation of the Internet’s food geeks.
I can’t say the same for food blogger circles in other cities, but in Austin, we have a now not-so-silent agreement to take the high road and support each other, which, in the case of last night’s party, means cutting loose over a few Mexican martinis and tacos.
Thanks to everyone who came, but more so, thanks to each of the bloggers for their gracious contribution to the online and offline food world.
Photo by David Weaver.
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SXSWi Weekend: Bacon, cupcakes, Yelp and food blogger workshop
My apologies for the massive post, but it’s been a massive weekend.
I’ve been at the South by Southwest Interactive Conference, covering panels (including Is Technology Weakening Our Relationships?, E-Food Revolution and Cooking For Geeks) and parties. Seems like daylight savings time has eaten more than just one hour because I haven’t had time to blog the awesome videos Jorge Sanhueza-Lyon has been shooting or sharing pictures of all the cupcakes and bacon I’ve consumed.
Here’s a fly-by-morning report because we’re only just past the halfway point with SXSW, and I have a day of panels and the Austin360 Food Blogger Bash to attend today! (Gulp, coffee, gulp gulp.)
Saturday’s Foodspotting Street Food Fest hit some road bumps with parking permits outside the convention center. Not all the trailers were able to park in the first place, and after a few hours, a SXSW team member informed the Foodspotting folks that the parking permit that they have trumps all others the city might have given out.
Under the stern eye of a police officer, Sugarstar, TaKorea and Mmmpanadas packed up and moved along, and the Foodspotting team ended up handing out the rest of Sugarstar’s cupcakes.
Also on Saturday was the ridiculously successful TECHmunch Food Blogger Workshop at Parkside. I presented with Anna Gonzalez of News 8 about how to work with traditional media and then had to split back to the conference, but every food blogger I’ve talked to said this event, which the organizers plan on hosting in other cities, was even more educational and inspiring than they’d hoped it would have been.
Props to Jaden Hair of Steamy Kitchen, Babette Pepaj of Bakespace and Natanya Anderson of Fete and Feast for putting on such a great event.
On Sunday morning, I hosted the core conversation called “The Yelp Effect: When Everyone’s a Restaurant Critic” at the convention center, and I couldn’t have been more pleased with the result. Lots of good questions and comments. A pretty balanced discussion in a packed — and fairly large — room. You can read this write-up by Melanie Haupt and check out the hashtag stream on Twitter to get an idea of what we talked about.
On Sunday afternoon, bacon and cupcakes were the name of the game.
After the second cupcake social at the Tiniest Bar in Texas, I got to meet the now-legendary @SXSWFreeNoms, as well as “The Icing on the Cupcake” author Jennifer Ross, I hit the Bacon Takedown at Emo’s, hosted by Matt Timms of The Takedown, who is taking his throwdown-style events on a national tour, starting with Austin.
I had the pleasure of judging so many delicious bacon dishes, including more desserts than I’d expected, with Emily Fleischaker, multimedia editor of Bon Appetit.
Even James Boo, a member of the Ice Cream Man team, showed up to pass out treats to guests and our energetic host Timms.
UPDATE: Bacon jam on shortbread, bacon-laced pecan pie, blueberry- and maple-glazed bacon in a tortilla and bacon-filled guacamole sandwiches won the judges’ vote. People’s choice was almost the same, with the exception of a bacon chocolate bar from Hilah’s Cooking. Here is Matt’s report, with a complete list of winners as well as participants.
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Sunset Valley Farmers Market moving; SFC opening new market
Starting March 20, the Sunset Valley Farmers Market is moving to Barton Square Creek mall, and the Sustainable Food Center, which operates the downtown and Triangle farmers markets, will begin operating a new market in the parking lot of the Toney Burger Center in Sunset Valley.
The new market, called the SFC Farmers’ Market at Sunset Valley, will be open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and will feature “a majority of the vendors from the previous Sunset Valley Farmers Market,” according to a press release on the Sustainable Food Center’s Web site.
“SFC has a temporary permit to run the market weekly, pending a review for a more permanent special use permit in April by the City of Sunset Valley. SFC’s intent is to run the market weekly, rain or shine, year-round,” the release states.
The Sunset Valley Farmers Market is now the Barton Creek Farmers Market, and will be open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the mall parking lot next to Dillard’s department store.
Last year, this market lost its lease with the Toney Burger Activity Center, which is owned by the Austin Independent School District, and was negotiating for a new home with the City of Sunset Valley.
Permalink | Comments (11) | Post your comment Categories: Eating locally, Food in the news
SXSW Eats: Weekend farmers markets near downtown
March is one of the best times to check out the Austin farmers markets. Lucky for you visitors for the South by Southwest festivals, there are two within walking distance of the convention center.
On Saturdays, the Austin Farmers Market takes place from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Republic Square Park (Fourth and Guadalupe streets, about six blocks west of the convention center. You’ll find tons of farmers selling fresh produce, as well as ranchers selling meats including chicken, pork, beef, lamb and even fish. There are also a handful of local food artisans selling things like whole cocoa beans covered in layers of dark chocolate or even specialty charcuterie. Through the end of the month, you’ll be able to get sausage and biscuits and gravy and Ethiopian food that are cooked on site. (For more information about why the city is changing how it handles food vendors like Dai Due and Aster’s, check out this post.)
From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sundays, the HOPE Farmers Market takes place just east of Interstate 35 at the intersection of Fifth and Waller streets, which is about six blocks east of the convention center. This market doesn’t just focus on farmers, it also features art from local artists. Just for March 14 and March 21, the HOPE Market will move one block to the north of its current location to Sixth and Waller streets.
If you get a free minutes to check out either of these markets, you’ll get a real glimpse of true Austin. Lots of families, locals and, most importantly, some of the freshest and carefully crafted food you’ll enjoy during your time here.
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Farmers market vendors losing permits to serve freshly cooked foods
Produce, meat and prepared food have been mainstays of the Austin Farmers Market for years, but in the past few months, several vendors have been serving freshly cooked food, including sausage and biscuits and gravy, lattes with steamed milk and Ethiopian food.
But after April 1, the vendors cooking food on-site won’t be able to get the temporary permit that has allowed them to do so in previous months.
Those temporary permits are designed to allow food preparation at events such as carnivals, South by Southwest and Rodeo Austin without the equipment and facility investments needed to meet standards for the mobile food vendor permits used by more than 1,000 food carts and trailers around the city.
Mark Parsons, supervisor of sanitarians for the Austin/Travis County Health and Human Services Department, said the temporary permits weren’t designed to be issued for events that happen week after week, as many farmers’ markets do. “You want to minimize your risk to the public when you start doing it routinely,” he said. Farmers who simply sell produce (and don’t slice it) don’t need a permit, Parsons
said, but permits are required for vendors who sell prepackaged foods or prepare foods on-site.
“I personally like farmers’ markets and going back to a less-centralized food system,” Parsons said. “I’m hoping we can achieve the goal without too much of a headache.”
Market director Suzanne Santos says that Jesse Griffiths of Dai Due Supper Club was the first to utilize the temporary permit to prepare food on-site. “We respect that they are meeting the needs of consumers and businesses, keeping them safe and managing the risk,” she said.
But Santos said cooking on-site isn’t just about providing food for people to eat while shopping. One of the Sustainable Food Center’s primary goals is educating the public, she says and people cooking on-site is a valuable teaching tool for customers who want to know how to use in-season produce in their own homes.
Santos said she’s interested in working with the city to establish a separate permit for farmers’ markets, as cities including Sunset Valley and Houston have done, that would allow vendors with temporary permits to cook on-site every week. “(The city) is on our journey with us, and we haven’t finished our journey,” she said. “We’ve just come to a rest stop.”
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SXSW Eats: Parties where food is the headliner
(Updated with Taco Journalism breakfast taco meet-up on Sunday and the miracle berry party on March 21.)
You can’t throw a stick during the 10 days of the South by Southwest Music, Film and Technology conferences without hitting a party that’s offering free food.
But an interesting phenomenon has been happening in the past few years: Parties where food is the headliner, not just a trick to get people in the door.
(If you’re looking to subsist on free food, check out @sxswfreenoms, whose blog is a running list of just about every free morsel of food to be found within the city limits.)
Here’s a list of parties for foodies, which I’ll be updating with more events as they pop up. (If you are throwing or know about a food-focused party that I’ve missed, e-mail me and tell me about it.)
Thursday, March 11
BBQ Crash Course / 6 to 9 p.m. at Emo’s
The second year for the BBQ Crash Course is limited to badgeholders, who have already snapped up all of the $35 tickets. No worries if you didn’t get in; here’s my list from last year of all the close-ish places to downtown where you can get true Texas barbecue like brisket, ribs and sausage.
Friday, March 12
Chartreuse Beignet Breakfast / 9 to 11 a.m. at Frank, 407 Colorado St.
Austin’s Tipsy Texan cocktail team is pairing up with Live the Lush Life and Chartreuse Ambassador Adam Richman for a boozy breakfast with gourmet coffee, Chartreuse breakfast cocktails, including hot chocolate with Chartreuse, and beignets. Free.
Pastries and Pasties! / 8 p.m. at Emo’s
Burlesque and cupcakes. Enough said. $12-$15 or free with SXSW Interactive badge.
Saturday, March 13
TECHmunch Food Blogger Workshop / 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Parkside
Jaden Hair of Steamy Kitchen and Babette Pepaj of BakeSpace are putting on a workshop for food bloggers at Parkside, but don’t think that just because they’ll be talking about serious food bloggery stuff that they won’t be eating, drinking and having fun. $55. Buy tickets here.
Foodspotting Street Food Fest / 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Brush Square Park, 400 Neches St.
To celebrate the launch of Foodspotting’s new iPhone app, the food Web site is hosting a scavenger hunt and a street food fest, which will feature food from Austin trailers including Mmmpanadas, Chi’lantro BBQ, Good Pops, Holy Cacao, Sugarstar Cupcakes and TaKorea. Go here to find out more about the scavenger hunt and sign up.
Sunday, March 14
NEW: Taco Journalism Breakfast Taco Meetup / 9 to 10:30 a.m. at Brush Square Park
To help out-of-towners get acquainted with the Austin treasure that is the breakfast taco, resident taco bloggers (aka taco journalistas) behind Taco Journalism are giving away breakfast tacos from Tacodeli on Sunday.
WordPress BBQ / noon at Conjunctured
The folks behind WordPress will host their second barbecue at Conjunctured, 1309 E. Seventh St. They’ll be passing out barbecue from Rudy’s until it runs out.
M&S Austin Music Showcase / 2 p.m. at United States Art Authority
The Capital Area Food Bank serves 300,000 people a year in Central Texas, including tens of thousands of children, so why not support them while hearing music from Austin bands like Del Castillo, Mother Truckers and Suzanna Choffel. $5 or four canned good donation.
Bacon Takedown / 4 p.m. at Emo’s
Hosted by Brooklynite Matt Timms, the Bacon Takedown will pit bacon-laced dishes from Austin cooks against one another. $10 tickets include samples of the entries plus a chance to vote for the winner.
Cupcake Social / 4 to 6 p.m. at Tiniest Bar In Texas
For the second year, Cupcakes Take the Cake and BakeSpace are hosting this cupcake party at the Tiniest Bar in Texas, which is mostly outside and isn’t so tiny. Free cupcakes from some of Austin’s best bakers, so get there early before they are gone.
Film Florida Fish Fry / 7 p.m. at The Wave
For the fourth year, the Florida Film Commission is hosting a free fish fry for SXSW badgeholders.
March is one of the best times of the year for fresh vegetables in Central Texas, and New York chef Michael Cirino is hosting a cooking demonstration and dinner to showcase what he only wishes he could get in the Northeast at the time of year. E-mail him for more information, and he’ll disclose the location to confirmed guests. Tickets cost $99 and include classes, meal and beverages.
Monday, March 15
Austin360 Food Blogger Bash / 6 to 9 p.m. at the Cedar Door
Local and national food bloggers will be mingling over food and drinks at the Cedar Door for the second annual Austin360 Food Blogger Bash. The first round of tickets have sold out, but keep your eye out. We’ll hopefully be adding tickets soon. Free.
Nuclear Tacos / 6 p.m. at Brush Square Park
If you just can’t get your fill of capsaicin elsewhere, check out the eighth annual Nuclear Tacos party, where members of this underground group will be serving some of the hottest tacos in town.
Sustainable Media Happy Hour / 6 p.m. at the Gingerman
This happy hour/networking event doesn’t promise any spectacular food, but it is aimed at bringing together activists and others interested in promoting sustainability, which will surely include a lot of folks interested in agriculture, aquaculture and, my favorite, composting.
BeerCamp SXSW / 7:30 p.m. at Emo’s
Beer pong doesn’t count as food either, but if you’re into keg parties, you won’t want to miss this suds fest.
Plutopia 2010 SXSWi After Party / 7 p.m. to midnight at the Mexican American Cultural Center
While Plutopia, “an extravaganza of music, performances, art, and talks based upon ‘The Science of Music’ “, is taking place inside the Mexican American Cultural Center, and Edible Austin and the Tipsy Texans are hosting a foodie fest and cocktail bar outside the beautiful facility just southeast of the convention center. Explore Austin’s growing distiller and brewer community by meeting and sampling spirits and beer, and try foods from local restaurants and supper clubs as well as artisans including Rio’s Brazilian and Nada Moo. Event is free to SXSWi & Platinum Badge Holders and $15 for general public
Tuesday, March 16
Daily Juice Boat Party / 5:30 p.m. at 3700 Lake Austin Blvd.
The Austin juice company is throwing a boat party with free beer, cupcakes and the store’s famous fresh squeeze juice and drinks. No RSVP required, but once the first 200 people load the boats, they’ll be off for a cruise around Lady Bird Lake downtown for one of the most unique happy hours during all of SXSW.
Milwaukee Beer and Brat Bash / 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. at the Cedar Door
Tech geeks from Milwaukee are bringing their style of tailgating to help wrap up SXSW Interactive. Enjoy Milwaukee beer, brats, potato salad and cookies for free.
Empanadas at the IFC Crossroads House / 5 to 7 p.m. at 612 Brazos St.
‘Food Party’ host and creator Thu Tran, whose wacky and surreal videos on the IFC Channel have earned her profiled in the New York Times and The Washington Post, will be handing out free empanadas from Austin’s Mmmpanada food trailer. Entry restricted to badgeholders.
Wednesday, March 17
The Shed BBQ Trailer Grand Opening / 2 p.m. to midnight at East Sixth Street and Chicon
A Mississippi-based barbecue restaurant is opening an Austin trailer on March 17, and to celebrate, they are bringing in bands including The Greyhounds, Papa Mali and Good Bad People. Don’t come expecting free grub, but if it’s a new trailer and it’s serving barbecue, you know Austin’s food crew will be there.
Canadian Blast BBQ / 3 p.m. at East Tent in Brush Square Park
They eat barbecue in Canada, too, you know. Enjoy music from Canadian artists as well as food.
Thursday, March 18
South by Suds / 4 to 8 p.m. through March 21
Whip In is a quintessential example of quirky Austin. The hybrid convenience store/restaurant/bar, located on the southbound frontage road of Interstate 35 just south of Oltorf Street south of downtown, has evolved from selling snacks and sodas to some of the best Indian food in town and a large selection of wine and beer, including some on tap. The music showcase is raising money for Whip In’s latest project: a brewery.
Cocktails with Sam Mason / 5 to 7 p.m. at the IFC Crossroads House (612 Brazos St.)
‘Dinner with the Band’ host and rockstar chef Sam Mason will be shaking cocktails during a happy hour at the IFC Crossroads House. Sorry, ladies, you have to have a badge to get a drink served personally by the uber-hip former pastry chef at Manhattan’s wd-50.
Lunch With the Germans / noon to 3 p.m. at Parkside
This networking event hosted by the German music industry will feature food from Hayk Seirig and Phillip Patzig, the two gourmet chefs behind Berlin’s outdoor venue/gastropub Bar 25, and music from several heavyweights in the German house music underground scene. Free, but you have to RSVP here to get an invite.
Flying Dog SXSW Happy Hour / 5 p.m. at the Flying Saucer
Austin’s microbrewery scene has exploded in the past year, so I’m surprised there aren’t more events like this at the Flying Saucer, at a place called the Triangle north of downtown. (I guess the Austin brewers are too busy providing great beer for all the other parties, which makes sense.) This happy hour is hosted by Flying Dog to celebrate the Texas launch of the Maryland brewery’s 20th anniversary Belgian-style IPA, Raging Bitch.
Friday, March 19
Muzzle of Bees Backyard BBQ / noon to 7 p.m. at a private residence
Music blog Muzzle of Bees is hosting a free barbecue in an Austin backyard from noon to 7 p.m. on March 19. You’ll have to RSVP to find out where (and who is the lucky person who gets to host all those bands and people). Band includes The Loom, Still Life Still and These United States. Free food and drinks.
Vegan Bake Sale / noon to 6 p.m. at Club de Ville
VegAustin.com and Austin blogger Lazy Smurf, aka Stephanie Bogdanich, are hosting a second vegan bake sale during the BrooklynVegan party to raise money for Food for Life, an organization feeding Haitian and Chilean earthquake survivors vegan meals.
Full Irish Breakfast / 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at B.D. Rileys
Enjoy music from Irish bands and a hearty Irish breakfast at the Sixth Street Irish pub B.D. Riley’s. Don’t dare show up without e-mailing this guy to RSVP.
Saturday, March 20
East Meets Fest / 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Uchi
Uchi regularly tops the list of Austin’s best restaurants, and for the second year, it is hosting a SXSW party featuring bands as well as Japanese street food from chef Tyson Cole and his super-talented staff. It’s a cab ride or a long hike from the convention center, but well worth it if you want a sample of some of Austin’s best food. The Octopus Project will be playing DJ between sets from Dana Falconberry, Woven Bones and The White White Lights.
Aussie BBQ / noon to 6 p.m. at Maggie Mae’s
Like the Canadians, the Aussies like to show off their music with a barbecue on the side. Free, but RSVP here.
Mr & Mrs T and Rachael Ray’s 2010 Feedback Festival / 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Stubb’s
Rachael Ray loves Austin. For the past few years, she’s been hosting one of the most talked about parties during SXSW, which always feature great food and strong headliners. This year’s lineup at Stubb’s includes She & Him, Jakob Dylan, Neko Case, Dr. Dog and Mishka. More information is available on theFacebook page, but there is no RSVP. It’s first come, first to get in, so show up early if you don’t want to wait in a line around the building to get in.
Here’s the video we did at last year’s Ray Ray Feedback:
Sunday, March 21
NEW: Miracle Berry Flavor Tripping Party / 3 to 5 p.m. at Emo’s
Want to go on a flavor trip? The miracle berry, a West African fruit, takes your taste buds on a wild ride, where sour and bitter foods taste sweet. Try a berry with Houston’s The Berry Fairy and taste food that will showcase its magical powers. Tickets cost $20 in advance. Buy them here.
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‘Food Party’ creator Thu Tran: What’s in Your Fridge Friday?
Weird rules, not just in Austin.
I’ve written about Thu Tran’s wacky ‘Food Party’ video series that appears online and on IFC. The host and creator (her first name is pronounced “Tu”) has imagined a world even stranger than the one on Yo Gabba Gabba, which is easily one of the most imaginative kid shows in TV history.
Tran’s hand-crafted sets and use of green screens have drawn fans of all ages, as well as profiles New York Times and The Washington Post.
Tran will be in town for the South by Southwest Film Festival next week, and from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, she’ll be handing out free empanadas from Austin’s Mmmpanada food trailer to badgeholders at the IFC Crossroads House at the corner of Brazos and Sixth streets.
I talked to her earlier this week about her show, coming to Austin and, of course, her fridge.
Tran says she’s flattered by comparisons to other offbeat shows, saying some call her show “Pee Wee’s Playhouse” meets Rachael Ray. “I like fun colors and being goofy,” she says.
“I always loved food and eating and making food just for fun,” she says. Growing up in Cleveland, she didn’t know there was a whole culture of Asians like her who were obsessed with eating and the cute side of food. When she moved to New York, she found a community of other food-crazed creative types, and the idea for “Food Party” was born.
Even though it only takes a week to film two episodes, it takes a month to build the sets. “We go through tons of paint just because we can.” She originally aired the episodes online and in art galleries before being picked up by IFC last year.
Tran is in Austin for the film festival, but she’ll hit up some food parties, too. “I plan to go to some parties, ham it up with the industry types, mainly film stuff, but some food blogger events, too,” she says.
When she returns to New York after SXSW, she and her crew will be wrapping up episodes for the upcoming season, which will air on IFC on Tuesdays at 9 p.m. (CST) starting April 27.
What three things are always in your fridge?There’s always ketchup, something that’s leftover and something rotting. “You caught the fridge in a good time,” she says. “I had just thrown out rotting celery, parsley and asparagus.”
What’s your favorite condiment? Sriracha, kewpie mayo
What’s your go-to late-night snack? It’s always different, but yesterday it was salted vinegar potato chips. I love pizza rolls by Totino’s, Doritos and anything flaming hot.
Photo by Thu Tran.
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Live chat about user-generated reviews at 2 p.m. today
User-generated reviews are here to stay.
In today’s paper, I wrote a story about how sites like Yelp, Chowhound, Citysearch and Urbanspoon are changing how restaurants operate and how diners choose where to spend their eating out dollars. The power that was once held by a few professional critics is now in the hands of anyone with an Internet connection, and this has been both a burden and a blessing for the owners of establishments that are constantly under review.
Along with Jennie Chen, I’ll be talking about this subject at 11 a.m. on Sunday at the South by Southwest Interactive Conference, but today at 2 p.m., Statesman restaurant critic Mike Sutter and I will be exploring the topic with you all in a live chat on Relish Austin.
Do you use sites like Yelp to help decide where you’re going to eat? How do you decide whose reviews to trust? Do you review restaurants or other businesses online? If so, how do you decide the tone of the review and how do you respond if a restaurant contacts you about your post? I’m really interested to hear from restaurant or other food business owners who have the most to gain and lose from these sites.
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Dear spring, Can I make you dinner?
Hello, spring! Couldn’t be happier to see you.
Throughout this dreary predecessor of yours, I’ve somehow kept my backyard garden alive, covering the broccoli and chard when temperatures dipped into the teens, something Central Texas doesn’t usually experience in winter.
But the broccoli, chard, collards, lettuce, garlic and shallots survived, eagerly awaiting your temperate days full of sunshine.
On your finest day so far this year (OK, you don’t officially arrive until March 20, but we know you like to visit us early), we spend a little quality family time in the garden, harvesting carrots, lettuce and green onions for a salad and picking those pesky weeds and grass that creep up when we’re not looking.
We haven’t seen much sun in recent months, so I’m hoping you’ll bask my baby carrot plants so they’ll grow. (We planted these seeds two months ago, and they’re still only about an inch tall.)
My fellow gardeners tell me that I’ll be able to pick these garlic bulbs, which are now garlic-smelling plants that are a few feet high, that I planted last fall in May.
No offense, spring, but you won’t have much effect on my beloved compost pile, which during the winter months grew into to two piles (one a mound on the ground, another in an old tomato cage).
Now that you’ve arrived, I probably need to get some tomato and pepper transplants in the ground, but I haven’t had much time to spare. Besides, the chard and peas are just now reaching their prime.
Thanks again for bringing us such nice weather, spring. After this cold, wet winter, I’m not taking even one minute of you for granted. I know your old pal summer will be here before we know it, but I’m hoping for just a few more weeks of prime gardening weather.
The fresh vegetables make my cooking so much better, so to thank you for your benevolence, I’d love to have you over for dinner sometime. I could make you a macaroni cheese and chard bake. Or perhaps you’re more of a caramelized onion soup kind of person. Whatever you want, you can have it.
After all, you’re the reason we even bothered to tend the garden this winter.
Oh, and if it’s not too much to ask, could you please keep the rain coming about once a week and tell that jokester summer that hahaha, we’re all still laughing about those 68 days of 100+ degree weather, but we’d really appreciate just half that number of triple digit days this year. Please?
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Exploring mangos with chili power, garam masala, salt
Mangos are one of the most lovely fruits.
Last summer, I wrote a story about what is often considered to be the world’s most popular fruit, but until last week, I didn’t quite know the beauty of unripe mangos.
The National Mango Board set up this cool tasting with mangos at three stages of ripeness (unripe, ripe and very ripe), spices (chili powder, garam masala), salt, lemon and lime.
Julian, who might love mangos even more than me, was enthralled with this experiment. A 3-year-old rarely sits still for an entire anything, but he completed this tasting with me as we watched this video by chef Allen Susser, owner of a Miami restaurant who has been known to trade food for backyard mangos.
The “spices and ripeness experiment” isn’t hard to recreate in your home, and it made for a fun exploration of all the taste sensations, especially with a young one who’s just figuring out the difference between salty, sweet, bitter and sour.
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SXSW Eats: A guide to SXSW food guides
How’s this for intimidating:
The above screen grab is from Citizen Taco’s guide to SXSW eats, which doesn’t include every single place to eat in Austin, but rather the places the Austin blogger deems worthy enough to recommend. (He also wrote this where-to-eat during SXSW post over on Serious Eats.)
The number of above-average meals you’ll eat in Austin during SXSW should hit double digits after just a few days, and and if you can’t find anywhere good to eat, you must be walking around with your eyes closed and your nose pinched shut.
Statesman restaurant critic Mike Sutter recently wrote about where you can get true Texas chili, and next week, he’ll be posting his own guides to trailers and 24-hour joints. Last year, I posted this guide to where to eat barbecue if you don’t want to drive to Lockhart, Elgin or one of the nearby smoked meat capitals.
Looking to eat at one of Austin’s famous food trucks? Austin Food Trucks has a map for that.
Want to eat sustainably? Try one of the dozens of places that feature local produce and meats listed in this list from Eat Well Guide.
Vegans will no doubt want to buy Lazy Smurf a tofu sandwich for her list of vegan and vegan-friendly eateries, categorized by location, in Austin.
Fete and Feast rounded up some of her fellow Austin bloggers to create an Austin Food Lovers’ Companion, which features these posts:
Foodie is the New Forty wants SXSWers to know where to find the best Asian food in Austin. (If you’re looking for something high end, here’s her list of upscale places.)
Tasty Touring has this round-up of the 24-hour (and nearly 24-hour) dining establishments.
Austin Farm to Table has another guide to restaurants for locavores.
Miso Hungry Now knows you’re probably going to want something other than beer-flavored water in a can, so she offers her favorite happy hours and watering holes.
The Rebeccammendations created a list of the most Austin-y “restablishments” where you can eat and get a true feel for the vibe of the city.
And last, but certainly not least, if you leave Austin without having eaten a breakfast taco, you should hang your head in shame. (The New York Times published this article today to edumacate non-Austinites to its wonders.) Cosmic Cowgirl rounds up the best places for breakfast, including Maudie’s, Maria’s Taco Xpress and Curra’s.
Photo by An Chih Cheng for the Austin American-Statesman.
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Austin360 Food Blogger Bash 2010
(Updated with details of the party, as well as how to get in, even without a ticket.)
The party, which will feature free food, swag bags, a photo booth and Mexican martinis, will be from 6 to 9 p.m. on Monday, March 15, at the Cedar Door, 201 Brazos St.
Rumor has it that the Ice Cream Man might make an appearance.
The first 300 tickets went pretty quickly, and we’ll be releasing the last batch of them at 11 a.m. on Wednesday. Click here to RSVP for the event.
But if you don’t get a ticket, don’t fret. Starting at 6:45 p.m., we’ll start letting in people who don’t have tickets as ticketholders mosey along to their next events.
The Austin360 Food Blogger Bash will provide the chance for local and visiting food geeks — including bloggers, blog fans, tweeters, podcasters, authors and just about everyone in between — to mingle and build the ever-important “in real life” component of the online food world.
Austin is home to nearly 200 food bloggers, who write about everything from delivering pizzas to digging in the dirt at a local farm, and many more will be in town for one of the country’s biggest technology conferences. (For a relatively updated and accurate list of local food bloggers, check out the blogroll on the left side of this page.)
Why not give them the chance to get to know each other? As my fellow Austin food bloggers and I have learned in the past year through potlucks and media events, a city’s food scene is only made stronger when bloggers and food writers of all levels work together to create a network to support and encourage one another.
Here’s the video from last year’s party:
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Chefs rock Stubb’s stage for Bad to the Bone
Chef competitions are almost always a good time. Audience members get to watch chefs slave over hot stoves, sweating under the pressure of having to finish in a short period of time and cooking in public rather than in the privacy of their own restaurants.
But rarely do chef contests feel more like a rock ‘n’ roll show than an episode of “Iron Chef.”
Just more than a week ago, local chef celebrities David Bull (former Driskill chef who now heads Bolla in Dallas and who will be opening restaurants in Austin later this year), Shawn Cirkiel (executive chef of Parkside) and Paul Petersen (chef of Rick’s Chophouse in McKinney who recently appeared on TLC’s “BBQ Pitmasters” TV show) went head to head in a cook-off on the outdoor stage at Stubb’s. A portion of the money raised went to the Sustainable Food Center.
Sandy McIlree of Mix 94.7 was the emcee, taking command of a stage that has hosted everyone from Lucinda Williams to My Morning Jacket.
The chefs each picked a secret ingredient that they all had to include in a dish for a panel of judges and the audience. As a judge, I was surprised at the variety of dishes they came up with to include achiote paste, goat milk and tangerines.
From dessert to fish, the courses couldn’t have been more different, but the judges — Uchi chef Tyson Cole, Perla’s and Lamberts Downtown Barbecue chef Larry McGuire, Laura Kelso of Dishola and me — ended up agreeing with the audience, who got to vote via text message: Chef Cirkiel’s goat milk ice cream with achiote and tangerine fritters was the most creative and best-tasting dish of the three. (Not that Bull’s salmon and Petersen’s pork weren’t worthy of a permanent place on any restaurant menu.)
The event, which was delayed from late January due to rain, felt like the perfect kick-off for the music- and food-fueled SXSW that will be descending upon Austin in the next few weeks.
Plans are already underway for another Bad to the Bone contest at Stubb’s in June, where chef Cirkiel will have to defend his title against two other Central Texas chefs.
You can check out more of Matt Lankes’ pictures from the event here.
Photos by Matt Lankes.
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Man Up BBQ blogger Drew Thornley: What’s in Your Fridge Friday?
Drew Thornley loves Texas barbecue. Well, any barbecue, really, but Central Texas has such a concentration of great smoked meats that he started a blog to celebrate it. Man Up Texas BBQ posts reviews and information about barbecue restaurants all over the state, and Thornley hosts regular group outings to area barbecue joints. Over the past year, he’s given out all kinds of best-of awards, and on Sunday, he’s throwing a party to decide who has the best barbecue sauce.
I’ll be one of the official judges of the “Gettin’ Sauced” competition at Franklin BBQ at 5 p.m. on Sunday, but everyone can vote on their favorite sauces, too. The event is free, but there’s a suggested donation of $3 if you want a scorecard to vote. It’s BYOB, and there will be live music, too.
Thornely, who teaching business law, baking and environmental policy at several local colleges, shares a fridge with Brad Istre, who is the graphic designer behind Man Up’s distinct look.
What three things are always in your fridge? Iced tea, lemons, V8 Fusion.
What’s your favorite condiment, besides barbecue sauce? Assuming Tony Chachere’s creole seasoning doesn’t count as a condiment, yellow mustard.
Have you ever eaten barbecue for breakfast, and if so, how? Does a wild bear run naked through the woods? Heck, yes! However, it’s rare that I have any BBQ left over. If I do, what better way to start the day?
Photo by Drew Thornley.
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Budding beekeeper Joe England: What’s in Your Fridge Friday?
Joe England didn’t think about bees too much, let alone entertain the idea of raising them, until he saw a short film called “Every Third Bite,” which explained how Colony Collaspe Disorder is affecting beehives and what the implications are for our food system.
He’s started a group called Austin Urban Beekeeping, which is holding its first meeting at 2 p.m. on Sunday at Emerald City Press. (England says he’ll be screening the 9-minute movie, which I’ve embedded above, at the first meeting.)
England is also a member of the local band Minor Mishap Marching Band, whose many missions include raising awareness of environmental dangers such as a decrease honeybee population. The band will perform at the meeting on Sunday.
What three things are always in your fridge? White Mountain Yogurt, which is made in East Austin. Local produce, which right now includes a kind of kale that I’ve never had before, and local cheeses. (Right now, I have Blueberry Havarti from Brazos Valley Cheese Co.) What’s your favorite condiment, besides honey? A globe-spanning assortment of hot pepper sauces (some local, some super exotic)
What’s your favorite thing to do with honey? I mostly just sweeten cups of coffee and tea with it. Not exciting news, but it’s the only sweetener I use.
What’s your go-to late-night snack? I enjoy busting out one of my packages of frozen homemade soup. Living alone, it’s hard to eat up a whole pot of soup and impossible to make a small pot for one. On the other hand, it’s just great out of the freezer a couple of weeks later.
Photo by Joe England.
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Week of Eating In: Finding sweet inspiration online
Since the week of eating in challenge ended Sunday, I’ve enjoyed a piece of Homeslice pizza as well as some Asian noodles from a nearby take-out place.
Both were good, but there’s a reason that has nothing to do with saving money or time why I made Smitten Kitchen’s baked rigatoni with tiny meatballs last night: Cooking feels good.
Making dinner for my family isn’t just gratifying, it seems to set the tone for the entire evening. On Monday night, when I brought home take-out, we’d finished eating by 6 p.m., so we flipped on the TV and proceeded to bicker for the rest of the night. (TV tends to do that to a family.) It’s hard to directly link eating food prepared by someone else to us misunderstanding and not being patient with each other, but I can’t help but notice how different things were the following night.
Sure, Smitten’s hand-rolled meatballs and bechamel sauce took forever, and Ian and I had to stumble over each other in the kitchen to work on the dish together (we still haven’t figured out how to cook together), but we all sat down for a homemade meal and everything just seemed right.
For the rest of the night, it seems I was rewarded for taking the extra time and energy to make a meal from scratch set; Julian and Ian were in good moods, I skipped “American Idol” and instead made time for yoga, and doing all those dishes didn’t seem to take near as long as it should have.
I tried to sum up rediscovering the art of eating in in a story in today’s paper, but the truth is, cooking is such a personal experience and my evolving relationship with it is undoubtedly different than yours.
One thing we probably all share is an occasional lack of inspiration for what to cook. In the story, I wrote that food blogs, more than cookbooks or television shows, are my primary source of new ideas and dishes.
Like the rigatoni, I stumbled upon this ginger pear crisp recipe while flipping through the blogs I read in my Google Reader last week. Blogger Brittany Darwell writes half of He Cooks, She Cooks, and always has nice recipes and photos (not to mention she’s blogging from my old college town of Columbia, Mo.).
I made the dessert for our weekly dinner with neighbors Buzz and Michelle Bakker, with whom I made croissants last week.
I love fruit crisps of any kind, but this one had something special in it. Not too long ago, Austin blogger Christy Horton of Epicuriosities gave me a plastic tub full of lemon sugar.
She explained that, similar to vanilla sugar, lemon zest combined with plain white sugar would made a lemon-infused sugar that you could use in just about anything from tea to desserts. (She’s a pastry chef, so she should know.)
After you use some of the lemon sugar, just add more sugar. It’s an never ending supply of something fragrant and sweet, an ingredient that itself can be a source of inspiration.
I passed along some of the sugar to the Bakkers and have now done the same to Relish Austin readers. Books, magazines and celebrity chefs are fine sources of new ideas, but my favorites come from people I know, even if I only know their screen names or blog titles.
Pear crisp photo by Brittany Darwell.
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New farmers market opening Thursday in West Lake Hills
Central Texas has a new farmers market starting this week.
The Truck Farm Farmers Market will hold its grand opening from 3 to 7 p.m. on Thursday at the northeast corner of Bee Caves Road and Loop 360 in front of the Pots and Plants Nursery.
Market manager Amy Ingram says local producers will be selling vegetables, fruits, eggs, meat, seafood and cheese, as well as flowers, honey and some specialty prepared foods.
The market, 5902 Bee Cave Road, will be open year-round on Thursdays no matter the weather, and look for fun events such as an Easter egg hunt in April, a watermelon-eating contest in July and pumpkin carving this fall.
Ingram also says that the market will be offering internships to students who are interested in working with farmers and learning about agriculture business.
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Article was so inspiring, I thought I’d try the gumbo. The recipe in the Statesman left out the important step to put the chicken back in the pot. I figured it out, but I had to keep rereading the recipe. It’s still simmering on my stove;
... read the full comment by Norma Stovall | Comment on Swampy Pat's secret to gumbo? Guinness Read Swampy Pat's secret to gumbo? Guinness
Regardless of what happened at SSVFM ending in the departure of old managment and the arrival of new, there is really good news. And that is: there are more markets to pick from and growth of open air markets will be better then ever. Make your choice
... read the full comment by Nabuko Tom Flynn | Comment on Sunset Valley Farmers Market moving; SFC opening new market Read Sunset Valley Farmers Market moving; SFC opening new market
Aunt Nita’s Homestyle Foods will continue to be at the Sunset Valley location, in support of the new management.
... read the full comment by Juanita Garcia | Comment on Sunset Valley Farmers Market moving; SFC opening new market Read Sunset Valley Farmers Market moving; SFC opening new market
So sorry i could not make it. :(
... read the full comment by Holly Vaughn | Comment on SXSW Party: Austin360 Food Blogger Bash Read SXSW Party: Austin360 Food Blogger Bash
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