Previewing Fareground, Austin's First Food Hall

Our little Austin is growing up - we now have our very own food hall! And its creators are doing it up right.

The space, designed by Michael Hsu, is open and airy and simply gorgeous. I regret that I didn't snap more photos of the details - luscious tiles and interesting finishes that really elevate the space. It was super cold the night of the media preview, so I didn't venture out to see the outdoor space, but I hear that it's equally lovely.

I was lucky enough to sample complimentary bites from each of the restaurants there. Everything was wonderful; the hardest part about going is surely going to be narrowing down what to eat!

Mini sandwiches from Easy Tiger on their excellent house made bread

A sampler plate from Antonelli's Cheese, featuring creamy tomato soup, a seven cheese mac 'n' cheese, and a wonderfully satisfying grilled cheese with Der Scharfe Maxx, fontina, and sweet & tangy mustard seeds on levain.

A fantastic matcha lavender latte from Henbit. They managed to get this just right, avoiding the bitterness matcha can have and the overly floral-ness that lavender can have, and instead blending the best of both into one perfect, not-too-sweet drink.

Miniature versions of Henbit's Monster Cookie. They suggest buying the Monster and eating it over a couple of days. Mine would never last that long.

Lemon pepper, kim chi, and chicken dripping sauce wings from Contigo

Sushi samplings from Ni-Kome

Absolutely stunning wild boar al pastor taco from Dai Due. I'll be back for this one, for sure.

These churros from Dai Due also had my number. Fried but still somehow light(ish), served with a caramel sauce.

Keeping it real at Dai Due!

Know before you go:

• Open 7a - 10p M-F; 9a - 10p weekends (note that not all vendors are open all of these hours).

• Parking in the garage across Brazos Street from the building (the lot for 111 Congress) is validated with food or drink purchase to reduce the usual parking charge of $7/half hour down to $3/half hour with a maximum charge of $21. However, if there's room in the Convention Center garage next door, the rates there are $4 for 15-60 minutes or $6 for 1-3 hours. Or, try your luck with street parking - meters downtown are free on Mondays and Tuesdays after 6p and all day Sunday.

Fareground

111 Congress Avenue

Austin, TX 78701

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Picnik

"Hello, Sunshine."

That's the phrase that graces the top of Picnik's menu and website. It captures a mood that we felt in full force during our first visit there, particularly in our interactions with the owner, Naomi, who is radiantly gorgeous, humbly sweet, and very clearly passionate about the food they are serving at her brand new brick and mortar on Burnet Road. They are committed to using locally-sourced, high quality ingredients, and everything on the menu is gluten-free, soy-free, and corn-free. And they make it clear on their menu that they are happy to assist with modifications for special dietary needs or restrictions - a promise that grew out of Naomi's own personal history of combatting food allergies since childhood.

Picnik is famous for its butter coffee, and while I really wanted to try this, drinking caffeine at night makes me sad. Instead, I opted for their caffeine-free marshmallow chai. I loved the very clean sweetness of it. My husband ordered a cup of butter broth, which is chicken bone broth with grass-fed butter, MCT oil, and himalayan sea salt (he also added tumeric to his).  Having drank a lot of obviously inferior broth in my life, I was skeptical of the idea of just sipping a cup of broth - but after having tried this, I am a believer. It was luscious and amazing and pretty much made every broth I've ever had taste like bath water by comparison. If you take nothing at all away from this review, it should be that you should try the butter broth at Picnik.

Cuppa marshmallow chai (left) and butter broth (right)

As an appetizer, we tried the loaded guacamole ($7.95), which is unique because it contains apple and kale as well as avocado, and is served with almond flour tortilla chips. It was tasty and satisfying and, like so many of the things we tried, it tasted clean, like it wasn't going to drag us down and make us feel heavy later.

For my entrée, I tried the breakfast risotto ($14.95) - a bed of comforting green power rice topped with crispy pastured pork belly, wonderful oven-roasted tomatoes that offered a satisfying pop of flavor when bitten into, feta, spinach and kale pesto, and a gorgeous poached egg that was obviously not from the grocery store (I originally took photos of this dish before breaching the yolk, but when I saw the telltale bright orange yolk, I had to retake them again.)

My husband ordered the orange chicken & broccoli ($16.95); I only tried a bite of this before he made it magically disappear.

Both of us are enthusiastic brussels sprout lovers, so of course we had to try those, as well. These were wonderful specimens, fried to crispy perfection.

We were stuffed at this point, but our server described Picnik's blondie gelato sandwich as the "pièce de résistance," so who were we to resist? We weren't sorry; the chocolate chunk-filled blondies were just perfect with the vanilla bean gelato (sourced from Dolce Neve).

Full disclosure: the folks at Picnik very generously treated us to our meal. However, I will also say that at the end of this meal, my husband declared, "I will do all the house chores you need in order for you to have time to blog about this place. I love it and I want everyone to know about it!" If you know my husband, you'll know that this is pretty unusually enthusiastic for him. Fortunately for him, I was just as excited as he was, so he hasn't picked up any additional chores...yet.

We left Picnik feeling happy and satisfied and are already plotting a return visit soon. See you there!

Picnik

4801 Burnet Road

Austin, TX 78756

(also still a trailer down south with a much more limited menu):

1700 South Lamar, 400-B

Austin, TX 78704

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De La Terre, an Austin Supper Club

I love a good tasting menu. It takes all the decision-making out of the equation and gives a chef the opportunity to serve you dishes that will really show off his or her skills. So I was really excited when our friends Laura & Shane invited us to the soft opening of De La Terre, a new supper club that's held every Monday in the space at Foreign & Domestic (which is closed on Mondays). The brainchild of chefs Lori Bergeron & Anthony Nicaj, De La Terre serves 10-12 course tasting menus focusing on local produce (including many foraged ingredients). The results are beautiful and delicious.

Chefs Bergeron & Nicaj introducing the meal

Here's a peek at what we ate:

Strawberries, ripe tomatoes, shiso, crispy chicken skin, and farmer's cheese

(paired with Groiss Austria Rosé Sommerwein 2015)

Oyster with wildflower mignonette pearls and bachelor's button

House baked sourdough with house butter and dewberry jam

Carrot "tom kha"

(paired with Boulevard Brewing Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale)

Scallop with prosciutto, hazelnut, asparagus and bull briar

(paired with Domain Ciringa Sauv Blanc)

Pork belly pupusa with carrot chimichurri, curtido, & onion flower

(paired with Bear Republic Racer 5 IPA)

Black garlic gnoccetti (these looked freakishly like pupae but tasted wonderful) 

with maitake, shumeji, and quail egg

(paired with Fork Machine Central Coast Pinot Noir 2014)

Under blade with dewberry, sorrel, pesto

(paired with St. Bernardus Abt. 12)

And the creme de la creme, a peach beignet with duck egg ice cream, honeysuckle, and lavender

(paired with Moscato d'Austi)

We've been lucky enough to enjoy a lot of tasting menus, and this held its own amongst the best. They had a few kinks to work out when we went to the soft opening in mid-May, but with a month of Mondays under their belt, I'm guessing they've ironed those out by now. Even with the minor kinks we experienced, this was an outstanding meal and experience. Congrats to Chefs Bergeron and Nicaj on their exciting new venture!

De La Terre

Tickets

Facebook page

Monday nights at Foreign & Domestic

306 E. 53rd Street

Austin, TX 78751

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Hidden Gem: Troy

Some of the most surprising restaurant finds are the unassuming spots in America's strip malls, with plastic plates and families behind the register. Toss in a decorative wagon wheel or perhaps a stuffed animal on a shelf or maybe even a large inflatable dragon guarding the front door, and the skepticism that good food may be found within tends to go up. But despite mixing all of these dubious assets into one package, word is spreading that Troy still manages to serve up a great plate of reasonably priced and delicious Turkish food.

 

Most items on the menu are beef or chicken-based; don't plan on bringing your vegetarian friends here. You can order most anything as a wrap, a salad, or a plate. We tried two different plates, which run just $9.95 for an entree with rice, Turkish tea, and dessert. We ordered one combo plate with kofte kebab (basically little ground beef patties not entirely unlike bunless mini hamburgers) and beef doner (cooked on a vertical rotisserie, and more commonly known [to me, anyway] as gyro), and another of beef iskender, which is doner meat mixed with a tomato sauce and bits of pita bread, with melted butter poured over the top. 

Combo plate of kofte kebab and beef doner

Adding the finishing touch (melted butter) atop the beef iskender

Beef iskender

All of it was delicious and homey and just the right thing to take the edge off a rare chilly Austin night. My favorite was definitely the beef doner; I'd probably skip the combo plate and just order doner next time, though I really would not be unhappy with another meal of any of it. What the service lacked in polish, it made up for in earnestness; toward the end of the evening, one of the guys literally pulled up a chair and started talking with us.

I was so engrossed in conversation that I completely spaced on taking a photo of the free dessert that came with our meal, a light custard called muhallabi. It was airy and not as creamy as most American custards, but a nice bite of sweet after a beefy meal.

Super casual, reasonably priced, family run ethnic restaurants are a recipe for success in my book. Troy fits this bill and I am sure we'll be back soon.

Troy Restaurant
8105 Mesa Drive
Austin, TX
(512) 897-2860
Their Facebook page

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Chi'Lantro's New Brick & Mortar Opens on South Lamar

When Jae Kim first started Chi'Lantro BBQ, he didn't have much in the way of funding. So he put all the money he had together, threw in some credit cards, and opened a mobile food business. "I was all in," he says.

Five years later, with many of the same staff that started out with him back in 2010, he is once again "all in" on a shiny new brick and mortar space on South Lamar. For Jae, it's a dream come true. And Chi'Lantro's fans are pretty thrilled about it, as well.

I was excited to be invited to a complimentary media event at their new space, which is cozy but bright, and full of thoughtful touches stemming from Jae's desire to inspire others. Printed blocks on the tables encourage diners to create their own fun phrases, and a mural on the wall provides a whimsical reminder of where it all began.

The evening started with guacamole, queso, and chips. The guac was super fresh, and made interesting with the addition of a little sesame oil and ginger. The queso was tasty, too - a little on the mild side for my palate, but I'm sure many will appreciate that.

Next up were the kim chi fried rice balls, a combination of rice, cheese, and kim chi, all deep fried to create these comforting, yummy bites that tasted great on a chilly evening.

The next offering, Chi'Lantro's Korean fried chicken wings, or K-pops, was my favorite of the dishes we tried. You can order them in a honey butter flavor or in a spicier gangnam style version. I had a slight preference for the honey butter, but both were fantastic.

In case you're still sticking to a new year's diet, you can order your choice of protein (ribeye bulgogi, spicy pork, spicy chicken, soy glazed chicken, or marinated tofu) atop Chi'Lantro's house salad. 

But hopefully you've abandoned your new year's diet by now and can instead indulge in Chi'Lantro's famous kim chi fries. Crispy fries are topped with your choice of meat, carmelized kim chi, cheddar & monterey jack cheese, onions, cilantro, "magic sauce," sesame seeds, and sriracha. This dish is a stroke of genius and I find it difficult to visit Chi'Lantro without indulging in an order of these!

We topped off the evening with an order of Chi'Lantro's dulce de leche'd, cinnamon-sugary churro tots - which I personally thought read more like super moist doughnut holes, but I most definitely did not hold this against them. They're outstanding.

Congratulations to Jae and his crew for this exciting new chapter for Chi'Lantro! I'm very much looking forward to many more meals in your new digs.

Chi'Lantro BBQ

1509 South Lamar

Austin, TX 78704

(512) 428-5269

Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner: 
7a - 10p M-Th
7a-12a Fri
9a-12a Sat
9a-10p Sun

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Delectable Deal - Sunday Pork Chop Special at Perry's

Happy new year, dear readers! I hope you had a wonderful holiday season and that your year is off to a delicious start.

Did you make any resolutions this year? In keeping with tradition, a few "need-to's" and "shoulds" flitted through my mind and were promptly rejected. Rather than inflexible resolutions, I prefer the path of pseudo-moderation: finding ways to live a thoroughly enjoyable life while still living more or less responsibly. Case in point: the Sunday pork chop special at Perry's Steakhouse.

I'm sure not a few of you are snickering to yourselves. How could the famous, insanely huge Perry's pork chop be associated with anything remotely resembling moderation? Well, if you play your cards right, you can get a whole lot of meals out of this one chop (last time I went, I made rice and veggies to go with the leftovers and got six meals out of one chop!). And if financial moderation is your bailiwick, you'll be thrilled to know that on Sunday nights, Perry's offers this prize of porcine perfection for a mere $29.95 - and they throw in your choice of any salad from their menu (all of which are fairly large) and a dessert trio, to boot. On a normal day, the chop alone without any sides, salad or dessert is $36.95! (they also serve a lunch-sized portion with whipped potatoes for $12.95 on Fridays, but it's smaller and the restaurant is typically insanely packed).

It's really difficult to photograph in Perry's because the restaurant is super dark. But here are a few mildly murky photos for you:

Complimentary crusty bread and whipped butter.

Field green, pear, and candied pecan salad. Typically $9.95 - included with the special on Sundays.

A veritable sea of pork.

They carve your chop up tableside. There's even a show with this special!

Holy meat sweats, Batman!

Dessert trio - incredibly rich chocolate truffle, creme brulee, and mini cheesecake.

So, there you have it. In case you still needed a New Year's resolution, you can now resolve to get thee over to Perry's for their Sunday pork chop special. Trust me; you'll be in hog heaven.

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Shawarma Point

Not long ago, my friend PJ posted a bit of smack talk on my Facebook page about his willingness to pit Shawarma Point's shawarma against any shawarma in town. I'm certainly no shawarma expert and I have no idea how many shawarmas are in town, but I can't resist a good shawarma smack talkin' and so I agreed to meet PJ for lunch.

Shawarma Point has a couple of locations - one at 519 E. 7th Street and another at 1503 S. 1st Street. We met at the South First location because it's near Vuka which, thanks to PJ, meant we had an indoor place to camp out and eat.

Shawarma Point's menu is easy even for the chronically indecisive. First, you decide whether you want a wrap, a plate, or a salad (I got a plate). Then you choose your protein: chicken, beef/lamb, or falafel (I picked beef/lamb). Other than add-ons and sides, the only other thing you need to decide is how spicy you want it. I chose "brown people spicy" which, besides being delightfully un-PC-sounding to say, was a mid-range spiciness level that I felt sure I could handle even if shawarma spiciness levels rivaled Thai food spicy. It was just right.

We also got a side of fries to share ($3), which I did not at all need - the shawarma was plenty of food.

I loved it. The amount of kick was not shy, and was perfectly balanced by the creamy white sauce and the feta (which we had added for $1 extra), tender meat, and wonderful basmati rice. If only it was nearer my house or my office, I know I'd be a regular here.

Shawarma Point
Two locations:
519 E. 7th Street and 1503 S. 1st Street
Austin, Texas
(512) 887-0076
Their Facebook page (I could not find a website)

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Oh la LaV

This may sound a little strange, but I didn't plan on liking LaV. There just seemed a little too much hype, a little too much glitter, a few too many stories about outrageously-priced wine lists and food that didn't live up to its price tag. I assiduously avoided it for months after it opened. But then a friend suggested that we go, and because I truly feel like it is my duty as a restaurant blogger to have tried every single restaurant in this town, I agreed.

It's really difficult not to love the interior of the space. It is decadent and rich, and it is easy to convince yourself that you're in a (restrained, updated) chateau somewhere in France.

If you're planning a visit and you're wondering whether you're going to be able to afford a drink, the answer is yes. The wine list is HUGE. And yes, they do carry $6700 bottles of wine. But they also offer wines priced comparably to pretty much every other wine list in town. I was able to order a delicious $10 glass of prosecco, and my husband had an outstanding old fashioned for $12.

Once we were settled in with a sip or two of our drinks, we turned to the food.

They started us off with a little loaf of bread with butter.

Our friend had an aqua dulce green salad tossed with hazelnut vinaigrette and served with warm goat crottin ($14). I had just a little bite of this - enough to know that the crottin was ah-may-zing, just a tiny bit stinky and warm and deeelicious.

My husband tried the fall broccoli soup with aged cheddar crisps ($10). It had a roast-y, very broccoli-forward flavor. The aged cheddar crisps were a nice textural addition.

For my entree, I chose the roasted whole black sea bass with eggplant caponata and charred lemon ($32). It was a little too fussy for my mood, trying to extract the meat from the bones, but the caponata was absolutely perfect - the flavors and textures melded beautifully together and provided a luscious counterpoint to the flaky fish.

My husband ordered the bacon wrapped Massachusetts cod with beluga lentils, mushrooms, and sherry reduction ($33). I thought the bacon overpowered the cod and lentils aren't my starch of choice; this dish didn't really work for me.

Our friend ordered one of the small plates for her entree, the hand-rolled whole wheat garganelli with lamb sausage ragout and cherry tomatoes, topped with pecorino ($17). This was my favorite of the three dishes, and I wished for an entree-sized portion of it.

We finished the meal with warm brioche doughnuts with Texas peach jam ($11):

And my favorite dish of the meal, the Stilton bleu cheese ice cream with port figs and candied pecans - a little painfully priced at $8 for a tiny portion (see the fig on the bottom of the bowl for scale), but it was wonderful (so wonderful that I just looked online for bleu cheese ice cream recipes).

The check was presented in this beautiful suede folder. No detail was overlooked here.

Did I like it?  It was sumptuous. It was spendy. It could easily provide suitable cover for all of your annoying pretentious fantasies. But, despite myself, yes, I liked it. There are other places in Austin with better food, but there aren't many places where you can spend an hour or two playing that you're a richy-rich in the French countryside, and afterwards walk less than a block and pull up a stool at a dive bar in the best city in the world.

LaV
1501 E. 7th Street
Austin, TX 78702
(512) 391-1888
Their website

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