The Star Bar Strikes Back!

Search long and far, through the galaxies and solar systems of our existence, and you’ll probably never find anyplace quite like the Star Bar. It’s been a permanent, sparkling fixture on your drive up 6th Street. Now the Star Bar has returned to put that sparkle back in Austin’s eyes, and it’s succeeding quite well. That’s largely because of the passion and initiative of two partners.

Just For Fun–Glad It Was Them, Not Me

The authors of the various Roadfood books, the intrepid Jane and Michael Stern (two of the most fun writers I know), put this item in their Roadfood.com email newsletter today. In case you don’t recognize their name, the Sterns travel the country seeking out iconic and quirky eateries. (They used to write for Gourmet, before [...]

Benefit/Pot Luck @ Beerland 1/17/10

Chiquito Burrito Raps

if my spanish > english translation serves me correct .. this kid has a good looking burrito in his pants.. and i think he said he’s drunk on margaritas.. not sure.

via chicago blob [nsfw?]

Antojitos Mexicanos: Pambasos y Huaraches

I have been taking South 1st to work every day for the last two years, and about six months ago I noticed a new taco truck establishment on the northbound side of the street. It’s hard to miss, painted bright yellow, sitting in the parking lot of Creditland Cars, advertising “pambasos” as their feature menu item. Pambasos! Hit the brakes! Now I’ve seen some interesting taco truck items, such as discada or capechano tacos, or non-taco items such as sincronizadas or grilled corn niblets in a cup doused in mayonnaise. But pambasos! They haunted me for six months until finally one night we decided to try them once and for all.




Although I was there on an undercover mission for Taco Journalism, I couldn’t help trying the non-taco items, if only because I’ve never seen them anywhere else in Austin. That’s because Antojitos Mexicanos serves up Mexico City style fare – and that’s a rarity in Austin, which is overrun by Jalisco style Mexican cuisine. The taco selection isn’t very expansive at Antojitos and includes easily recognizable items such pastor, picadillo, tripa, and chicharron, but it also offers a few more unique tacos such as tinga and rajas con chorizo. I’ll have to try them next time. But for now, I introduce to you the pambaso and the huarache.

The pambaso begins with a large bread roll lightly fried in chile colorado sauce. There are a variety of fillings, but I wanted my first pambaso in the most traditional way possible, so the staff suggested a filling of picadillo (ground beef with small cubed potatoes). Before the filling goes in the sandwich, they add a thin layer of refried beans as the glue. It is then topped with shredded lettuce, sour cream, queso fresco, and salsa verde. It was not quite as savory as I’d imagined, but it was super filling for the price and unlike any other sandwich I’ve had in Austin. Originality goes a long way with Undercover Mexican Girl.



We also tried the huarache, the preparation of which we witnessed starting from the ball of dough used to make the flour tortilla. After the ball is formed, it is punched in on one side, and refried beans are mashed into the center. Then the tortilla is flattened out using a traditional wooden press. After the tortilla is flattened into an oblong shape – into the shape of huarache (sandal) – it is cooked on the skillet and then lightly fried. Then it is topped with salsa verde, onions, and queso fresco. So, basically, it’s an open-faced quesadilla, with a thin layer of beans cooked inside the tortilla itself. And if all shoes tasted like this huarache, then give me a cowboy boot.

It was cold that night, and when they offered hot chocolate, I first had to know – was it real hot chocolate? Because I will drink the powdered stuff if forced to, but cocoa processed with alkali is not a UMG-approved hot beverage. Not only did they have real hot chocolate – it was Abuelita hot chocolate. I will eat that chocolate right out of the box, going to all lengths to saw off a perfect triangle wedge off the disc. To top it off, it was made with honest to goodness milk.

All in all, our bill rang up to about $10 (one pambaso, one huarache, and two hot chocolates).
When you’re getting a late-night antojito – a craving – head south of Ben White to Antojitos Mexicanos. And I admit, it’s fun to say it. Pambaso!

Antojitos Mexicanos - 5 Stars - Undercover Mexican Girl
4221 South 1st
(parking lot of Creditland Cars)
(512) 803-5099

Hours:
Monday - Thursday: 7 AM - 10 PM
Friday: 7 AM - 3 AM
Saturday: 9 AM - 3 AM
Sunday: 12 PM - 9:30 PM

A new ketchup packet design for the new decade

I always feel a little bit guilty when I grab a fistful of ketchup packets at a fast food restaurant. I shift my eyes around quickly to make sure that no one is observing my packet gluttony—and if they are, I toss a packet or two back into the bin. Here’s the thing, those ketchup packets were made for unrealistic portions. I need at least three packets squirted onto my hamburger wrapper to achieve a good fry dunk.

Heinz recently announced that they are releasing a new ketchup packet design, Heinz Dip and Squeeze. It’s bigger and offers the option to dunk or squirt. Two options in one packet? It’s made possible by the very smart addition of a perforated end on the packet so the user can squeeze it like a tiny plastic ketchup bottle, and a removable lid so the user may also submerge their food into a small pool of ketchup.

This is the first ketchup packet makeover Heinz has done in 42 years. It’s got to be big news. I was a bit apprehensive about the new design at first, but that first dip into the deep reservoir of ketchup made all of my worries go away. It’s nice to have the ketchup confined to a pack for easier cleanup, and its great for maximum fry to ketchup coverage. Also, one packet equals three of the old guys, so for me it means grabbing less packets. The new ketchup also features reduced sodium. The flavor isn’t noticeably different. Overall, I think the new packets are more user friendly, and I look forward to seeing them at fast food restaurants soon.

Tasty Up Trailer Tour

Yesterday was the most awesome tour to date. If you missed out on the first-ever Tasty Up Trailer Tour, co-organized by Addie Broyles and me, you’re about to be jealous. Since it was a choose-your-own adventure tour, each of the 500 or so attendees had their own unique experience. Below are some highlights from mine taken with my brand new Canon s90 point-and-shoot camera. Addie met me at around 11:30 a.m. at La Boite before she set off to Trailer Perk. The tour officially began at noon and those two spots were ...

Carillon Restaurant's New Menu

The Carillon Grill, located at the AT&T Executive Center on UT campus (just a stone's throw from Han's building!) is debuting a new menu, and we were invited to give it a try.

Spicy thai basil with tofu

The last week I have been focusing on doing my demo recipe for school.  It’s a bit nerve racking for me.  Each student must create a recipe, demonstrate it in front of a group of peers/people from the community, as well as write a paper explaining the origin of the recipe and why you choose [...]

The Carillon

1900 University Avenue
Austin, TX 78705
http://www.meetattexas.com/

Laura: I tried to wrap my head around the idea of a fine dining restaurant located on the UT campus. Why not? They have their share of Chick-fil-A's, taco carts and a music venue with a questionable future (Mariah: doomed future) so why shouldn't they have a fine dining restaurant too? Head chef Jeff Watkins brings his experience from the Driskill Hotel to the Carillon at the AT&T center. He and his hospitable staff served up some treats for a viewing last week.

Mariah: I've heard the Carillon had a great chef and was getting rave reviews and its been on my top 5 "new places to try" list for a month or two. I've been reticent to try it though mostly because its on the UT campus and I 1) hated my experience at UT and don't care to relive it if I can avoid it 2) I think dealing with anything around campus is a Hassle (with a big H). I don't think there is any way to avoid #1, but to be honest, dealing with #2 isn't really not that bad. It's at the corner of MLK and University so its close enough to the edge of campus to precision strike the place and not get too concerned about campus traffic. Once you find the entrance to the garage (it's on 20th street, just FYI), and realize you can't park on the 1st two levels, parking really isn't that bad either (they validate parking at the front desk, so its free too). You get on the elevator, go up to the Restaurant level and BAM you're at the Carillon. Note to any big brother style regulatory agency reading this and looking to fine us for breaking the law, this meal was comped.

Laura: Please excuse the quality of these photos. My DSLR is in the shop and while the lighting was great for the atmosphere, it wasn't very conducive to taking pretty food photos. Thanks for talking me into getting insurance on the camera, Josh. You were right, eventually I would drop it.

The Cava was flowing

Mariah: The cava was tasty (and trust me, I had 4 glasses of it). I'd recommend it here or elsewhere.

Mariah: Ok so I was kind of grossed out by the nibbles. We were expected to be shared nibbles, but the olives had no olive fork. So everyone ended up sticking their grubby fingers into the olive bowl to grab an olive. I even saw one person (and I won't name names) pick up an olive, look at it, then put it back down to select another. I can understand if it's a shared appetizer between friends, but out on the bar? Yuck.

Mariah: The steak tartare was rather bland. I had one and despite it having two of my favorite ingredients, both steak and truffle, I only had one serving. The eggplant caprese was quite nice, but rather hum-drum. There was a tiny fried cheese ball (a la a sonic cheesestick) that didn't taste very good alone. But when paired with the eggplant and the relish blended quite harmoniously. I think I ate 3 or 4 of these little spoons (but I notice now its not on their normal menu, so tough luck). One dish Laura didn't mention (but is pictured above) was the pork belly. It was quite nice. Crisp and flavorful with just the right amount of give and fat content. The fried mint leaf on the top was a nice touch, but its flavor and crispness were sort of overpowered by the already flavorful and crisp pork belly. It fell slightly short of Trio's amazing pork belly appetizer, but it is still noteworthy and delicious.

Laura: Mariah's right on the fried cheese description. However, it was one of the few items I could eat at the tasting so I had about five of them. Hey, I needed something to soak up the Cava.

Mariah: Ok if there is one reason you make your way to Carillon, it needs to be for the short ribs. Holy crap were they good. Nice and meaty with a pleasant flavor. They were covered in an apricot glaze with an accompanying celery root puree. The asparagus feels like it was thrown in as an afterthought. BUT I have to say pairing celery and apricot with beef works. Really really works. It's genius in fact. You have to try it. Now.

Where the magic happens

Laura: We watched the staff putting together all the bits and pieces while we sipped our drinks. I love when the restaurant design pulls off an open view of the kitchen. The overall atmosphere of The Carillon is hard to grasp from these photos. It is grandiose done with class, just like you would expect from UT.

Mariah: It was very Fort Worth cowboy chic. Everything was warmly neutral with browns, leathers and wrought iron. Very "upscale Texas." My only other complaint was we didn't get to sample more of the menu. I would have liked to have tried a fish dish and dessert, but I guess my curiosity has been peaked just enough to go back again.

Laura: Perhaps this is Fort Worth cowboy chic, but I don't know anywhere like this in Fort Worth. The final verdict? I need a return trip to check out the other menu items. Hint, hint, nudge to you Carillon PR and Jeff Watkins. ;)

The Carillon is open to the public for breakfast (7 am - 10 am) and for dinner (5:30 pm -10 pm). Lunch is reserved for UT faculty and staff only.