Texas - - Page 5

by Emily

La Dolce Vita Food and Wine Festival

It’s common knowledge that Austin’s culinary scene has been blowin’ up. We have Top Chef Texas winner Paul Qui and his Asian fusion empire, Austin Food & Wine Festival, and the flagship Whole Foods. Not to mention the wonderful restaurants constantly cropping up, and all the famous barbecue.

And of course… LA DOLCE VITA. I’ve always wanted to attend La Dolce Vita since I moved to Austin and first heard about this glorious event. The magnificent Laguna Gloria, an absolutely beautiful outdoor venue, is swarmed by over 50 of the hottest Texas restaurants and wineries, and attendees are tasked with the stressful chore of tasting everything. And by “stressful” I clearly mean “AMAZING.”

Whoever said the best things in life are for free has obviously never attended a high-end culinary event, because tickets to La Dolce Vita will set you back $150 (or $200 for a VIP ticket including access to an exclusive cocktail lounge) but it’s worth it if you want to sample the cooking of some of the region’s best chefs. If you, unlike me, don’t like throwing large sums of money at indulgent dining opportunities, you’ll be happy to know that the ticket price also goes to support the arts—all proceeds go to The Contemporary‘s educational programs.

By the end of the event, I was Thanksgiving-level full. (And we all know I can EAT on Thanksgiving.) Seriously, I just kept stuffing myself until it was over. I felt like I was walking through one of those big, elegant Top Chef elimination events where all the cheftestants are vying for best dish and shoving beautiful plates of food at the judges. Just call me Padma!

Read on for some photo highlights of my oh-so-delicious evening:

Artsy Photo of the Day

This is not your high school’s prom fundraiser bake sale…

This is Austin hotpost Foreign & Domestic‘s Saturday morning bake sale, boasting humungous, house-made pastries from chef Jodi Elliot, who just won Food & Wine’s People’s Best New Pastry Chef. You might not be able to tell from the photo, but those buttery caramel apple croissants are about the size of my head. Okay, that’s a slight exaggeration, but they’re definitely bigger than my hand. Oh… and it should go without saying that any baked good you pick up here is absolutely heavenly.

in Desserts / Photos 0 comments

by BS

Artsy Salad of the Day

The best salads have fried food in them.

Egg roll salad. East Side King. Austin, TX

in Food Travel / Photos / Restaurants 1 comments

by BS

Artsy Breakfast of the Day

Reason #1 to wake up in Texas: kolaches, an Eastern European/Central Texan specialty consisting of sweet-and-savory pillows of warm baked dough stuffed with assorted meats and cheeses. Or, in Austin of course, filled with bacon, apples and brie.

Spotted at: The Zubik House food trailer.

in Bacon / Breakfast / Food Travel 0 comments

by Emily

Artsy Photo of the Day

Earlier this week, Mexico met Japan in an artsy cocktail, and in round two, Mexico meets Japan in this artsy ramen:

This Chicken Tortilla Soup Ramen hybrid is made with bacon dashi, chicken-tortilla-Tom-Yum paste, shrimp paste, chicken thigh, soft soy egg, avocado, corn, fried tortilla, pickled yellow onion, jalapeño, cilantro, garlic, and lime. Talk about fusion.

It”s from East Side King at Hole in the Wall, Top Chef winner Paul Qui’s newest Austin venture (for now–He”s working on some other new exciting projects too, so expect a stream of PQ food pics from me in 2013-2014, you’re welcome).

Oh, by the way, it’s amazing.

in Photos / Restaurants 0 comments

by Emily

Top 10 New Foods at the 2012 State Fairs

Well, in regards to ridiculous overloads of novelty foods, it’s all downhill from here—state fair season is over for the year. We’ll have to wait for months before a stream of deep-fried, chocolate-covered, bacon-wrapped indulgences can once again make their appearance in our diets. In the meantime, let’s take a look at some of the most shocking new creations that made their debut onto the state fair food scene in 2012. Steel your arteries…

10. BIG Beef Rib – California State Fair

You’d think that a normal beef rib would contain enough animal flesh, but you would be wrong, and the California State Fair is here to prove it. They’ve jammed a giant 24-oz. steak ONTO a 17-inch beef rib bone. Why?! Because they can. (Photo: Cavegrrl.com)

9. Deep Fried Cotton Candy – Texas State Fair

We saw deep fried Kool-Aid and deep fried salsa at last year’s state fairs, so we should have known that cotton candy couldn’t be that far off. Pretty crazy, because it seems like the spun sugar would melt in the deep fryer. Life is full of mysteries. Not enough sweets for you? Don’t worry, this treat is served by a frozen yogurt purveyor, so feel free to use these giant balls of fried sugar as a topping on your froyo. (Photo: Cassie’s Frozen Yogurt)

8. Outlaw Stacker – Eastern Idaho State Fair

We all know that french fries are a great base for all kinds of toppings, and the Eastern Idaho State Fair really took that idea and ran with it. The Outlaw Stacker is a huge pile of fries smothered in gravy, bacon, and a fried egg. The name rings true—health and nutrition are truly outlawed in this dish. And we’re okay with that. (Photo: Eastern Idaho State Fair)

Beef Jerky Chocolate Bar. Seriously.

I was shopping for a staple gun in a hip gas station convenience store (don’t ask… really, just don’t, my life is weird). At said hip gas station convenience store, instead of your average, mainstream candybars near the checkout, they display exotic and gourmet chocolates. One in particular caught my eye:

A beef jerky milk chocolate bar made by chocolatier Wild Ophelia.

Obviously I had to buy this. I suffered a little case of sticker shock when I brought it to the counter ($6.99! What type of jerky is this, a dried kobe beef filet mignon?!) but I decided I enjoy weird foods too much to turn it down. As far as taste, well, to me it really did taste like a quality milk chocolate bar with little bits of salty, smoky beef jerky mixed in. I gave blind taste tests to a couple victims, and everyone guessed it was some sort of salted chocolate, which isn’t too far off, really.

In the end, meat is good and chocolate is good, so meat plus chocolate is good, I suppose. I don’t really know if I’d pay $6.99 for that again, but I just like to know that a beef-stuffed chocolate bar exists in this world.

in Desserts / Red Meat 8 comments