Big Reds, Big Bubbles, Big Fun

On Thursday, I was fortunate enough to attend Big Reds & Bubbles as a guest of the fabulous Jennie Chen. Big Reds & Bubbles, a Wine and Food Foundation of Texas event, was a celebration of fine food, sparkling wines, and heavy red wines - three of my very favorite things. And just to add to the marvelousness of it all, the event took place in the gorgeous and historic Driskill Hotel, which ratcheted up the decadence factor several-fold. I was in heaven.

As you walked in, you were greeted by this Table o' Bubbly. Then you could pick up an empty glass and walk around for pours of a bazillion (technical term) other wines and sparkly goodness.

The Driskill.


More Driskill.


From the Driskill Grill - Scallops B.L.T. The Grill's executive chef, Jonathan Gelman, is one of my favorite chefs in town; his work is always incredibly delicious, yet it's totally accessible and doesn't take itself too seriously (e.g., the cilantro sorbet push-ups they had a La Dolce Vita). Plus, I love the fact that he's lying on the floor in his profile photo at the link above.


Florida Stone Crab claws with spicy mustard sauce from Truluck's.
They have these all-you-can-eat on Monday nights. Dangerous.


Extreeeemely delicious torched escolar with a wonderfully light citrus sauce from Kenichi. I think this is the only savory thing I ate two of all evening. In fact, I wish I could eat another one right now.


Super tender miso-cured beef tongue tacos, also from Kenichi. Soooo goood.


Speaking of delicious meat, this Yankee Pot Roast from Max's Wine Dive
was all kinds of melt-in-your-mouth amazing.


Smoked Beef Tenderloin with a Bacon Marmalade on Herb Crostini from Perry's.


I can never turn down a lamb chop. These babies were prepared by the Roaring Fork
and served with a white wine pepper jack fondue.


House-Smoked Salmon Bread Pudding with Tomato Truffle Sauce by Fete Accompli.


Guisada de Pollo en Salsa Verde from Streats, a not-yet-open, but highly-anticipated restaurant featuring street food from a slew of different countries. Their managing chef is Michael Vilim, who is probably best known for his work at Mirabelle and the sadly-departed Castle Hill Cafe.

I know this is getting long, but for your dessert fans:


Chocolate Hazelnut Sandwich Cookies with Dark Chocolate and Brandy Ganache Filling from Fete Accompli. Yes, they were as good as they sound.


An assortment of dessert offerings from the 1886 Cafe and Bakery.


Toasted Almond Bostock with Cranberry Apple Compote and Grand Marnier from Annie's Cafe & Bar.

This was truly one of the nicest food events I've ever had the pleasure of attending - thank you, Jennie, for inviting me along!

Now can somebody please hand me my stretchy pants?

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Livin' La Dolce Vita

When a person enters a new decade, it seems only appropriate to celebrate for at least a week. Which is how I found myself at La Dolce Vita tonight, thanks to the wonderful generosity of Jennie Chen (who shall also henceforth be known as my food event sugar mama).

Wow - what an amazing event. Whoever put this thing together should be commended. A fundraiser for the Austin Museum of Art, La Dolce Vita (Italian for "the sweet life") is held on the gorgeous grounds of Laguna Gloria and, at $100+ a head, attracts a staggering crowd (early press estimated attendance at 1600, but I would not be at all surprised if it exceeded that, as the expansive grounds were elbow-to-elbow people). Everyone was dressed in their finest, and it was quite the swanky affair.

And the food...oh, the food! Some sixty restaurants and fourteen purveyors of wine and spirits participated, and it sure seemed as if everyone brought their A-game. It got dark not long after I arrived and between the crowds and the lack of surfaces upon which to set things down, most of my photos are pretty sad, but here, for your viewing pleasure, are a few of the ones that turned out (and some of the ones that didn't).

First of all...LOVE these plates. I've seen these before, but have never had anybody hand me a free one at an event before. Hold your food and your wine and have one hand free! (Now if they could just install a little tripod, I'd be all set).

Amaaaaazing cake balls from Austin Cake Ball. Moist, rich yet still fluffy, lovely crumb, FULL of flavor. Their competition had me believing that I didn't really like cake balls. SO not the case. Loved these.


Beautiful, too!


Homemade Oreos from Perla's.
(When you're 40, you get to eat dessert first.)


Shrimp and salmon (er, I think) cakes from Austin newcomer, The Highball. Bowling, karaoke, skeeball, cocktails, and (apparently, delicious) dining can all be found here. Must check this place out.

So sad these photos didn't come out better. My favorite booth of the evening, and the one that received my "green marble" vote for best restaurant, The Driskill Grill. As evidenced by their work at the recent Chef Showdown, the Driskill has really been pulling out all the stops on presentation and originality. They had three selections - a beef tartare, a tuna tartare with fresh figs, and a foie gras with dried fruit relish and mint. Foie gras at an event where the food is presumably donated is impressive in my book (and it was the only thing I ate more than one of other than the cake balls). All were served on beautiful flat rock surfaces with a pile of dry ice stacked in the middle, and all came with an ingenius "push-up" popsicle of the wonderful cilantro sorbet they'd had at the Chef Showdown.


Beef tartare from the Driskill Grill - not the greatest photo,
but the best of the several I took at the Driskill booth.


Braised oxtail with pumpkin puree on a wonton chip from Max's Wine Dive.


Wasabi-crusted salmon roll from Piranha Killer Sushi.


Raw salmon with gala apple, pommery mustard, thyme, and chives from Parkside.


Ahi poketini on a wonton chip from Roy's.


The Whole Foods Culinary Center dubbed this "green eggs and ham." It was actually a perfectly-crisped potato cake topped with pork belly confit (!!) and an herbed hollandaise sauce. Sam I Am would've loved this version, and I did too...as well as the beautiful pressed bamboo plates.


Lemon and garlic rock shrimp with smoked tomato and lobster bisque
from Stories at the Hyatt Lost Pines.


And one more dessert - a sassy chocolate-y number from Annie's.

I simply cannot think of a nicer way to spend a gorgeous fall evening in Austin. Eating well, visiting with great people, and supporting a terrific cause - it doesn't get any better than that. La dolce vita, indeed.

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Diving in to Max's Wine Dive

When I hear the word "dive," I think of places like the Poodle Dog Lounge, or Deep Eddy Cabaret, or maybe Ginny's Little Longhorn. So the first time I went to Max's Wine Dive, I was not at all expecting it to be so...fancy.

But fancy it is, at least as far as dives go. Once you get past the misnomer, though, there is much to love. I mean, how can you NOT love a place that has the motto, "Fried chicken and champagne...why the hell not?" Why the hell not, indeed. I had to see what all the fuss was about.

Swankiest little dive bar in Texas

The first time I visited was for a Yelp event. All the food I tried was passed hors d'oeuvres, most of it fried. I tried some fried alligator, fried chicken wings, some highly messy baby back ribs, and the Nacho Mama’s Oysters, which were crispy fried oysters served atop fried wonton skins with aioli, habanero salsa and cilantro. The Nacho Mama's Oysters were so good that they made me forget my snobbery toward fried wonton skins; a beautifully balanced blend of textures and flavors that somehow managed to be crunchy, yet melted in your mouth. Unfortunately, every time they came around, I was so busy cramming them down my gullet that I didn't get a photo of them.


I offer you this plate of fried chicken wings, instead.

Not long later, I went back for brunch, which cemented my fandom of Max's non-divey ways. We started our meal with a round of mimosas made with fresh-squeezed orange juice. I attempted to take a beautifully composed photo of a vibrant orange mimosa with one of Max's elegant menus behind it, but unfortunately, the menu decided to take a swan dive into the mimosa and no photos were achieved. So you'll just have to imagine how lovely it looked.

For my entreé, I ordered the Eggs Max - Texas toast covered with prosciutto, sautéed petit greens, two farm fresh poached eggs, and black truffle cream. Truffle cream, you say? Yes, please.


This should probably be renamed Eggs To The Max.

Everyone agreed that the Eggs Max was a HUGE winner. The Texas toast was made with a super-thick piece of ever-so-slightly sweet brioche, which made an excellent sponge to catch the warm yolk and the gravy-like truffle cream as it melted down over the prosciutto and greens. I nearly swooned with every bite.

Of course, I had to taste my friend's Nutella Banana French Toast ($10) - thick-cut brioche stuffed with nutella and banana, then battered and fried. In case the French toast alone isn't sufficiently artery-clogging, Max's serves it with a side of bacon. Genius.


Workin' too hard can give you a heart attack-ack-ack...and so can this dish.

Perhaps it was my hypoglycemia talking, but while I thought the french toast was nice, it didn't quite live up to my high expectations. The brioche was so thick that it didn't sufficiently absorb the milk/egg dredge and seemed a little on the dry side. Good, but not good enough to make me stray from that luscious Eggs Max on the next go-round.

I understand that the bread here is made at Sandra Bullock's latest retail venture, Walton's Fancy & Staple. There's really no love lost between me and her other restaurant, Bess Bistro, but I'll try anything once, and this introduction via Max's may be just the prodding I needed.

In the meantime, get thee over to Max's. Why the hell not?

Max's Wine Dive
207 San Jacinto Blvd.
Austin, TX 78701
(512) 904-0105

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