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Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Italian High Renaissance reaches East Austin

By Michael Barnes | Tuesday, April 29, 2008, 04:31 PM

Austin deserves to savor its Italian High Renaissance. No, not a musuem exhibition of Michelangelo, Raphael and Leonardo, but rather the refined culinary art consumed at Vespaio, Gypsy, Cibo, Asti, Mandola’s and La Traviata. More erratic — dare we call it Mannerist? — Italian cuisine can be found at Botticelli’s, Taverna, Bellisimo, Romeo’s, Carmelo’s, Bellagio and Siena.

Enriching the best Austin Italian artistry is Primizie Osteria, which Kip and I tried for the first time after a very long Monday at work for both of us. Located near Ms. B’s in that urbane redevelopment along East 11th Street — I’m sure this kind of restaurant was not exactly what was first envisioned when backers wanted to refurbish the historic East Austin district; but actually, it’s better — Primizie opens up to a large, airy, pale blue-green room with semi-divided dining areas and a wine bar. One can dine al fresco out front, too, but beware the direct glare of spring or summer sunsets.

We shared an antipasti plate with the clever addition of candied nuts to the usual deli meats, light bread and generous olive oil. The insalata misto was topped by a delicious curl of bacon, but what really got taste buds raging was the extra-tender rabbit mixed with parmigiano-infused pasta in my entree. For dessert, my fruit tart — really a large, soft cookie — was topped with vanilla gelato. Heaven!

Kip had the Bistecca Alla Griglia, pictured here in an image by Mark Matson.

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11 Austin bands I adore right now

By Michael Barnes | Tuesday, April 29, 2008, 11:48 AM

Back during my first Austin club phase in the 1980s, I dickered with late psycho-punk (Butthole Surfers), more disciplined rock (Zeitgeist/Rievers), novelty pop (Poi Dog Pondering), singer-songwriters (David Garza), blues guitar (yes, devoutly, Stevie Ray Vaughan) and even country crossover (Ricky Trevino, but just to flirt). Notice any threads among these local acts?

For 15 years, occupied as arts critics for the American Statesman, I missed almost a generation of Austin club music. It was not until 2005, when I toured 100 Central Texas music venues in a single month for a pair of XL cover stories that I discovered the next wave of club talent. I even encountered some acts well before the official music critics began to write about them. My most recent crush: Alpha Rev, whose pop rock “The Greatest Thing I Ever Learned” is alarmingly sophisticated.

Here go 11 Austin acts I adore right now, in alphabetical order: Alpha Rev, Band of Heathens, Explosions in the Sky, Ghostland Observatory, Ghost of the Russian Empire, Grupo Fantasma, Jets Under Fire, Meridianwest, Nelo, Pompeii and White Ghost Shivers.

Notice that three have “ghost” in their names. I suspect you will hear a lot about this sweet almost dozen in our various publications soon.

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