The Souvenir Menu – Coco’s Café
Years ago on an episode of the TV show Frasier, the father was offered Chinese leftovers; he made a face and asked “who has Chinese food for breakfast?” The answer came back “about a billion Chinese people”. I remember that line particularly because so many times, I’ve asked friends out to dinner and heard “can [...]
The Souvenir Menu – Sullivan’s
Sometimes dinner in an old favorite restaurant is just the thing to set the world right again. I hadn’t been to Sullivan’s in while, but have pretty fond memories of many good dinners there. I invited a friend for a good indulgent meal, and a bruised wallet later I was a very happy man. We [...]
Harvest time at the Messina Hof winery
If you’ve ever wanted to help pick grapes from the vineyard and then squash them with your feet, now is the time to do it at Messina Hof. The winery’s 2010 Summer Harvest continues every weekend until August 15. I was fortunate to have been invited to their July 16 Moonlit Harvest Dinner and got to [...]
Colombian Independence Day in Austin
To Colombians, July 20 is symbolic because that is the day their country became an independent republic. Some Austin area Colombians celebrated their country’s 200th year of independence from Spain, Bicentennial Day, this past weekend. “Colombia is the country with the 29th largest population in the world, 4th largest economy in Latin America. People celebrating [...]
The Souvenir Menu: Dulces interior Mexican food
On Tuesday night I had planned dinner out with friends and the usual round of “I dunno, where do you wanna go” started. They suggested a restaurant at Lakeline mall. I said no. They said it was interior Mexican food (really) and that it had received some pretty good reviews. I didn’t want to seem [...]
The Souvenir Menu: Authentic German at the Walburg Restaurant
I tend to eat a lot of different things each week; Thai, Japanese, Indian, Burgers, BBQ, Chinese, Italian, Mexican, etc., but sometimes I like a little variety. We have a couple of good Persian places and even an Ethiopian restaurant in town, but what we lack in Austin is a dedicated place for good German [...]
The Souvenir Menu: Why Guero’s is still one of Austin’s best
It seems strange to write about a restaurant that is so popular that further compliments just seem redundant, but my relationship with Guero’s Taco Bar on South Congress Avenue is a bit different. For decades now, Guero’s has been a frequent but temporary cure for home sickness. I moved to Austin from South Texas in [...]
The Souvenir Menu: Salad Niçoise with a Malbec rosé
In the book “A Year in Province”, Peter Mayle explains that in France, even the simplest questions on food can become a twenty minute plus discourse-or even an argument-about the correct ingredients and method. Such was the case with one of my favorite summer meals, salade Niçoise. I had always accepted that the salad that [...]
The Souvenir Menu: Estancia Beef at Central Market’s “Passport Argentina”
May 12 through the 25th, Central Market held its “Passport Argentina” event, featuring a wide variety of produce, guest chef cooking demonstrations, and even tango demonstrations. I had the real pleasure of meeting Bill Reed, CEO of Estancia Beef, a new meat supplier to Central Market. Bill’s company provides free range, grass-fed beef from Argentina, [...]
The Souvenir Menu: Maggiano’s Domain delight
Although it has only been open in Austin for two months, Maggiano’s Little Italy at the Domain has already become a popular destination for many Italian food lovers in Austin. Established in Chicago in 1991, the brand has grown to 44 restaurants nationwide and even has a franchise location in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Despite the many [...]
