Eat Local Event with Finn & Porter and the Cupcake Bar

Two weeks since my last post?!? That is completely unacceptable.

It's certainly not for lack of eating; thanks to the holidays, I'm probably eating more than ever. I've just been too flappin' crazed to write about any of it - although the burgeoning number of photo sets on my hard drive proves that I've at least been taking photos to share. I was thinking about you, really.

Anyway, I did get to attend a standout event on Monday that I've been dying to tell you about. I was invited to an Eat Local event at Finn & Porter as a guest of the cool folks over at The Cupcake Bar, one of the event co-sponsors. It was a TON of fun and I ate and drank myself silly sillier.

Check out the spread:

Sushi


Sushi


And more sushi

Under normal circumstances, I'll choose sushi over most other things, but this incredible pork belly was a superstar amongst superstars. It was expertly seared and served with mashed sweet potatoes graced with a warm, gently-savory Shiner Bock broth.



These beet & goat cheese napoleons were lovely, but had a really hard time competing with the sushi and the pork belly.


Beet & goat cheese napoleon with chipotle beet syrup

These quail legs, on the other hand, held their own.



These "tacos" held a little surprise - the shell was made from a very thinly sliced piece of jicama. Great low carb idea.


Salpicón of beef tacos with pickled jicama "shell"

You may recall that Finn & Porter was also the scene of Yelp's Second Anniversary Party. Both times, the food and the service have been truly outstanding; I really want to make it a point to visit them more often.

To help wash down all this fantastic food, the folks from Pedernales Cellars were on hand with a selection of their Texas wines. If you're looking for a great Texas wine, I highly recommend their Texas Tempranillo - a lovely wine that is delicious by itself or paired with a wide variety of food.

For dessert? Cupcakes, of course! The Cupcake Bar was offering both their signature "build your own cupcake" option (a super fun idea which can be booked for events), as well as a trio of Texas-themed mini cupcakes. There were Texas pecan pie cupcakes with Texas pecans and crumbled shortbread; Texas honey & lemon Cupcakes with Texas Olive Ranch's blackberry balsamic reduction & fresh berries; and my favorite, Texas sweet potato cupcakes with cinnamon cream cheese icing, caramel, and walnuts. Mmmmmm.


A portion of the "build your own" bar


Texas honey & lemon cake with Texas Olive Ranch's blackberry balsamic reduction & fresh berries


LEFT: Texas pecan pie with Texas pecans and crumbled shortbread
RIGHT: Texas sweet potato cupcakes with cinnamon cream cheese icing, caramel, and walnuts

I've sampled a large cross-section of the cupcakes Austin has to offer, and I was very impressed by these moist, luscious cuppies. Absolutely wonderful!

This was a really fun event that was well worth braving bad traffic and cold, rainy weather to attend. Many thanks to Lori Schneider of the Cupcake Bar for inviting me out!

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A Yelpaversary Party to Remember

As my profile mentions, the seeds of my food writing were germinated on Yelp.com. My friend Dave first told me about the site in November of 2006; I signed up right away and have since written 519 reviews of restaurants and other businesses on the site. It's been a terrific outlet for sharing my passion for food - and, as it turns out, the Austin Yelp community is full of fun, hilarious, like-minded people with whom I thoroughly enjoy spending time. Needless to say, the site and its community have been a big part of my life for the last couple of years.

Austin is one of I think 24 cities that has its very own Yelp community manager, the one and only Kevin N. Besides handling a busload of details behind the scenes, part of Kevin's job is to throw fabulous parties for the Austin Yelp community. Many of these parties are open to all registered Yelp members (or "Yelpers," as we are wont to call ourselves), but the large majority of them are only open to Elite Yelp members and their guests. I tend to enjoy those parties the most; the smaller scale makes it easier to find and visit with your favorite Yelpers, and the larger shindigs have become so crowded that it can get a little overwhelming.

The most recent Yelp Elite event, this past Tuesday, celebrated the two(ish) year mark of our existence as an "official" Yelp community (as defined by our having our own community manager). Kevin pulled out all the stops for this one; it was the best Yelp party yet. Hosted at Finn & Porter's in the Hilton downtown, it featured a smorgasbord of absolutely fantastic food; Maker's Mark cocktails and wine; spa treatments by the Hilton spa staff; and live music by the Dime Store Poets. All free! Everyone got all gussied up and had a wonderful time...I know I certainly did. Below are a few shots from the event.

Yelpers decked out in their finest


Hello, copious amounts of free sushi.


Shrimp bathing in tomato bisque


Lobster salad on fried pasta sheets


Some of the most melt-in-your-mouth beef tenderloin
I have ever tasted

Amazing free food & drink and the delightful company of some of the coolest people I've had the great fortune to meet...this is why I Yelp.

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