2014 @AustinFoodWine Festival Overview

I've given this post some thought over the last week, and I'm still dealing with mixed feelings.  While I was out having fun at one of Austin's premiere festivals, many other people in Austin were grieving the loss of Kelly Wayne Noel who was killed by a drunk driver.  I've never met Kelly in person, but I consistently got retweet notifications from him with every post I submitted.  That retweet will serve as a painful reminder that life is too short as it is - don't be reckless and take one too soon.  Austin Bloggy wrote a beautiful tribute to Kelly.  Rest In Please.   Please enjoy whatever you do responsibly. 

Back to business, let's chat about the the Austin Food and Wine Festival. 2014's layout and offerings was very similar to 2013, with refinements to several of the events.  Vendors seemed to have kicked up their game a bit with Kim Crawford's Springy pink Ping Pong table and Jack Gilmore's fire truck.  Here's some scenes from the day time events. 

This beautiful watermelon was on display in the grand tasting.

And the beautiful Sandi Reinlie from Vespaio.  She brought with her some lovely panna cotta with her. 

And to my great delight, Jeni's Ice Cream is here in a GREAT way.  This is the Not Enough - salted caramel ice cream, pecans, and bittersweet chocolate.  The bittersweet chocolate was perfect - just a hair sweet and rich with favor.  You can find these ice creams at Royal Blue Grocery, or you can make the ice creams following her book.  I have experimented with the latter. 

Liquid nitrogen is always a party.  It is never a party unless there's liquid nitrogen!

And one of Austin's cutest couples, Philly, Uchi/Uchiko, and Callie Speer, Swift's Attic.  They are some of the top

Here's a tasty brisket bite from Kent Rathburn's Jasper.  It was served on an Asian style steamed bun with tangy, crunchy veggies.  Kent and his crew were sweet as you could be in Texas.  I'm glad to see him again. 

And in the Chef Showcase, Lawrence Kocurek presented a lovely croque-monsieur.  If you've had this tasty morsel, you'll know why I'm a strong advocate of Chef Kocurek's charcuterie.  You can visit him at Trace at the W Hotel. 

And prior to the festival this year, Cupcake Vineyards hosted an event with Chefs Monica Pope, Jason Dady, and Stephanie Izard.  Here's Monica Pope and crew. 

And here's Jason Dady's banh mi sandwiches. 

Dessert Project #3 @CarillonAustin

What happens when you put some of the hottests pastry chefs in the same kitchen?  You get a decent fill of deliciousness.  A big thank you to Chefs Plinio Sandalio of Carillon, Philly Speer of Uchiko, and Steve Cak from Parkside for inviting me to the Dessert Project Experience, where pastry chefs do dinner. 

The first dish up was an amuse bouche made up of a trio of cauliflower.  From a puree to bright shades, it was as amusing to the eyes it was to the palate. 

Why yes, I did run around to the back to watch the plating.


The plate reminded me of Mardi Gras.  Show me your beads?


I caught chefs taking photos all night long.  Here's Philly.


This dish was the Maine Scallop with Celery Root, White Chocolate, and Kumquat.  You might think that the dish would be too sweet, but it was perfectly balanced in flavor and texture.  I could eat this up all night long.


Caught Chef Steven Cak in the act!


This drop dead gorgeous dish has got to be my favorite borscht so far.  It is Warm Borscht, Corned duck, Red and Golden Beets, Caraway Rye, Granny Smith Apple, and Creme Fraiche.


The borscht was poured at the table, and it was rich with favor and interesting in texture.  If you didn't like borscht before, please see Chef Steve Cak for an attitude adjustment.


The next dish was Crispy Beef Tongue, Corndog Puree, Red Cabbage Kimchi, and Sriracha Jus.


It was kind of like a corn dog, kind of sort of, but way better.


Next was a little sorbet with basil seeds that wasn't on the menu.  It was a lovely palate cleanser.


And here's the plating of the Red Cabbage Creme Brulee.


Beets with white chocolate and pistachio.  This dessert reminded me again, of how vegetable can have a place at the dessert plate.  The subtle yet distinct flavor of the red cabbage in this offering was like the veggies snuck up on you.


The final tasting of the night were little Chouxs filled with Plinio's Trentino Gelato.  I've had the Bill Norris Honey Mezcal, and it is pretty darn tasty as well.  I would highly recommend them.


Hello, Lovely Chouxs!


The Happy Chefs!


More Happy Chefs!

The Uni Crab Special @UchikoAustin Makes You Want to do Really Bad Things

My Christmas present came early this year - a Canon Powershot 95 from the ever thoughtful @Windaddict.  My previous camera was a Fuji Film FinepixZ90 that had seen much rough abuse over the last four years or so.  It had tumbled down 6th street during a cartwheel and round off Halloween, and it has also taken a tumble down more than one flights of stairs.  Needless to say, it has been handed to someone else who really needs a camera, and can probably take care of it through intensive care. 

To take part in America Express's Small Business Saturday (both @Windaddict and myself got $25 each), we started at Macho Taco, watched Puss in Boots at Alamo Drafthouse, and rounded out the night with dinner at Uchiko.  Uchiko, with its visually appealing food and low lighting, makes photography fun and challenging.

We arrived during social hour, which meant we got to partake in snacks before dinner.  This is the ham and eggs.  I hadn't messed with the camera yet. I just pulled it out and shot in auto mode.  Keep in mind that there's almost no light where we were sitting. 


The beef tongue is one of my favorite nigiris at Uchiko.  At this point, I still hadn't messed with any of the settings yet. 


A gift from the kitchen: uni crab special.  Trumpet mushrooms, uni, mitsuba, apefel cuvee, and crab are smothered with a lobster sauce.  It wasn't a bisque, but close. 


The server poured the sauce all over different ingredients leaving it a visually interesting dish. 


If you aren't a seafood fan, you might not like this dish.  If you grew up on the coast, love seafood like your first born child, and love unami more than life itself; you'll love this dish.  The combination of sweet seafood, meaty mushrooms, intense seafood flavors with pungent uni powder is amazing.  I still can't find the right words to describe the dish, but I'll try.  *My description is also Chef Tyson Cole approved.  This dish is so rich and sinful you'll feel like you're fornicating in a church.  If you don't know what fornicating in a church is like, I would recommend this dish.  And if you decide to try it (the fornicating), please don't get caught and clean up after yourself. 


As you can see, I really loved this dish.  I mean REALLY loved it. 


This was the sabavichie.  It was completely different from the uni crab in style, but lovely all the same.  I remember it tasting like a mashup of thai flavors and cevichie, but honestly I didn't eat that much of it.  I was still licking the plate of the uni crab. 


My favorite dish at Uchiko used to be the truffled congee.  It inspired me to make a macaron with a similar flavor profile of lemon, togarashi spice, and truffle.  Then the truffled congee went away, and I was sad. This tamago congee was a good replacement.  This congee has slow scrambled egg, black truffle, and koshi hikari.


The slow cooked scrambled egg in congee had a comfort food element for me that reminded me of that flashback scene in Ratatouille, except the Asian version.  I grew up eating plain congee, called mwua in Taiwanese or shee fan in Mandarin.  No, I didn't use proper pin yin.  Really upscale comfort food is really good.


I found a piece of egg!


This was the dessert special of lemon gelato, pistachio soil, and beet puree.  That's black pepper on the meringue pieces.  This dessert has also inspired me to make another macaron flavor out of it.  Black pepper, lemon, pistachio, and beets. 


This was the perfect way to end a Small Business Saturday.