FOODMATTERS

Skip the spaghetti; try ricotta gnocchi

By Kitty Crider, Dale Rice
Monday, December 31, 2007

The latest food find is a hearty pasta dish that's perfect for the winter. Hog Island Deli (1612 Lavaca St., 482-9090) makes ricotta gnocchi similar to those made in Puglia, Italy, which is firmer and more of a dumpling than the traditional potato gnocchi. Every Friday, it is the lunch special ($7.99 with a drink). The pasta dough is rolled and cut by hand, forming plump little pillows that are cooked in boiling water and finished in a sauté pan with fresh tomato sauce. Want to add meat to the dish? Try the homemade meatballs ($1.99 for two). They're delicious.

Start off fresh with new ways to contain

If you are spiffing up the fridge, dumping the old sour cream and deli meat containers in favor of bright new storage containers, check out this trio. The red silicone number wiggles like silicone is wont to do. But that can be an asset. If you store a sauce or dressing in it, you can squeeze the sides, making a semi-spout for easy pouring. Three containers with lids run about $25 at isi-store.com. For the eco-minded, the 19-oz. green screw-top container, made of 100 percent recycled plastic, is dishwasher safe. Available at Whole Foods Market, two for $5.99. OXO's small square pop storage boxes hold a little more than a cup. Push down the button on top to release the lid. Keep in mind that the push-down seal takes up about a third of this box, so you cannot fill it as full as you think. But it works well for snack mixes and nuts. A box is $6.99 on Amazon.com.

A taste of wild turtle just for stopping by

From New York's Jean Georges to Dallas' Fearings, fine restaurant diners are given complimentary little chocolates or caramels to take home with them. Now, Hudson's on the Bend delivers boxed petite portions of its famous Wild Turtle Pie with the bill. Those who want more can purchase extras ($3 each).

Tea has good juju: Fair trade and organic

Sweet Desert Delight and White Blueberry are two of the most popular teas for Zhi, an Austin-based tea company that sells fine organic and fair trade loose-leaf tea. The new company's teas can be found at such places as Faraday's Kitchen Store in Lakeway, Cafe Caffeine near South Congress Avenue and Milk+Honey Spa downtown. Depending on the size of the tin, the White Blueberry Tea runs about 50 to 60 cents a cup, the Sweet Desert Delight, about 20-25 cents a cup. Check out zhitea.com.

New restaurant, new menu items, new location

Names in news: Kim Son, a seven-day-a-week restaurant with a 500-seat banquet area, opened the week before Christmas in Chinatown Center in North Austin . . . Meanwhile, in Northwest Austin, Ronald Cheng and the chefs of Chinatown Restaurant, 3407 Greystone Drive, have added 100 dim sum items to their weekend menu. Hours are 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays . . . Z Tejas, which has locations on West Sixth Street and in the Arboretum area, has added a third restaurant — this one with a $20,000 wood fire rotisserie grill. It is located at 10525 W. Parmer Lane as part of the Avery Ranch development.