Seafood Pasta Jobell Cafe and Bistro Wimberley, Texas

Food Porn of the Day: Seafood Pasta Overload

Seafood Pasta Jobell Cafe and Bistro Wimberley, Texas

I guess overload isn’t the best word, because in this case, there is NO such thing as too much of a good thing. This is the seafood pasta from the lovely Jobell Cafe & Bistro in Wimberley, Texas. This gorgeous pile of decadence is comprised of lobster tails (yes not tail, tails!) and lump crab served over fresh sundried tomato pasta with cherry tomatoes, asparagus, and fresh parmesan cheese. I can’t emphasize how amazing this was. If you are ever in the Texas Hill Country area, you owe it to yourself to stop by Jobell’s beautiful grounds to treat yourself to a glass of wine and this ultra-luxurious dish on their shady patio.

Blenders and Bowls Pitaya Bowl

Photo of the Day: Neon Pink Pitaya Happiness

Blenders and Bowls Pitaya Bowl

Neon colors aren’t often found in natural foods, but get a load of this bowl! I’ve recently become enamored with pitaya (aka dragon fruit), the sweet, tropical cactus fruit with a bright pinky-red flesh. Its creamy pulp is becoming a popular addition to smoothies and bowls these days, and I encountered an especially tasty version at Blenders and Bowls here in Austin.

This is the funfetti bowl (so obviously I had to try it, since anything funfetti is heaven in my book). It has pitaya, pineapple, banana, vanilla protein powder and vanilla almond milk. Then it’s topped with hemp granola, banana, goji berries, bee pollen, local honey, & edible flowers. It was incredibly flavorful and full of texture – cold, creamy, chewy, crunchy. I wouldn’t say it tastes exactly like funfetti cake, but still delicious (and, come on, way more nutritious). Literally one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever eaten. And let’s talk about how people are putting smoothies in bowls now… it doesn’t completely make sense to me, but it does make for more opportunities to create a gorgeous presentation.

Anyway, you guys, this is why I’ve given up on making smoothies at home. Kind of lazy of me, but let’s be real. When I can spend like $8 at a specialty cafe and get this glorious bowl, why would I try to source my own exotic superfoods and edible flowers to make this myself? Some things are better left to the pros, and I think this neon tropical bowl is one of them.

Ceviche Topped Beer at SXSW

Genius Idea: Ceviche-Topped Beer

I encountered all sorts of tasty treats at SXSW this year, but one of my favorite food moments was this:

Ceviche Topped Beer at SXSW

This is cans of Modelo on a block of ice, topped with fresh shrimp and fish ceviche and surrounded by oysters on the half shell. Have you ever seen something so beautiful?! I enjoyed this glorious seafood and booze buffet at Weather Up here in Austin, but you could easily recreate a display like this at home for your next dinner party or barbecue. Just make sure you keep that shellfish nice and cold!

Porky Photo of the Day

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Just a little snout sandwich at Tenderloin Grill in Kansas City, Missouri. It tastes like…um, like biting into an effing pig’s nose. With hot sauce.

Foie Gras Cappuccino

Foie Gras Coffee? Apparently, Yes.

Foie Gras Cappuccino

This photo might not look like much, but it’s one of the craziest things I’ve ever eaten (or drank, really). This was the second course at an ultra gorgeous, lavish Mexican wedding I attended last week. It’s a black bean cappuccino with foie gras. As in, it’s a coffee drink/soup blended with black beans, studded with chunks of seared foie and served with a crunchy meat and bread twist. It’s savory, velvety, and downright luxurious. I Googled around for any sort of recipe resembling what we enjoyed, but I couldn’t find anything very close. If you have anything, please feel free to enlighten us all in the comments.

But let me just say this… If loving a damn foie gras cappuccino is wrong, I don’t want to be right.

Eureka Austin Nachos

Food Porn Champion: Nacho Mountain Part 2

Now I’ve written about Nacho Mountains before, but when lightning strikes twice, you must take note.

Eureka Austin Nachos

This pile of pleasure is from Eureka! in Austin – although they have locations in Washington and California as well, so if you are in any of those three states, you can summit this peak of chips and cheese for yourself. (And weirdly those are the three places I’ve lived, so I guess the relationship between these nachos and me is really meant to be).

These babies are comprised of hand-pulled, smoked chicken, black beans, guacamole, tomato, cilantro, Monterey Jack, sliced jalapeños, chipotle sauce, and sour cream. The chicken and the rich, smoky-sweet chipotle sauce are what really makes them. Oh, and the sheer size of them, of course. If there’s one thing Texas bars love, it’s serving me an irrationally large amount of nachos. Bless you, Texas.

Eureka Nachos Happy Hour Austin

Bangers Biscuits and Gravy Austin

Food Porn Champion: The Most Bangin’ Biscuits and Gravy

Bangers Biscuits and Gravy Austin

Rise and shine, ESers! Feast your eyes on this: an insanely epic biscuits & gravy dish I discovered during Sunday brunch at Banger’s Sausage House & Beer Garden in Austin.

The menu describes it as a “house-made biscuit, milk gravy & your choice of housemade bacon or housemade breakfast sausage” but let’s be real, that bacon is clearly just two huge slabs of pork belly. And just look at that river of gravy. These people are NOT messing around with their breakfasts and next time you’re hungover in Central Texas, you now know where to go.

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