Sunday, October 24, 2010

Austin...Finally

So I went to Austin, finally. And now, after way too long a break, I am blogging about it. Blame my ex-cold, the rainy weather, or my bank account...But I am now ready to get back to noshing.
So here are a few things we ate in the capitol of Texas:
ZEN: our first night at a hotel off South Congress, we found this groovy little place. The food's Japanese with a bit of cross-cultural pollination. Nothing's pricey, portions are huge, and there's lots to choose from. We liked our spicy seaweed salad, with mixed-in cranberries, carrot and cucumber. But beware: spicy is the word here. I got me a bowl with brown rice, a mushroom/carrot/cabbage/onion mix, and tofu...but the chili-garlic sauce was like napalm to my tender mouth. So I had to switch to teriyaki, and it was great. Seriously, they need to open one of these in S.F.
Next door to Zen is Amy's ice cream, by the way. JP got to know them real well. I had a banana sorbet there one day, and it was creamily delightful (without the cream).
Bouldin Creek Coffeehouse: a nice hippie kinda place to take your vegi jones on a hot day. I loved the Rasberry Sour (big glass of raspberry hibiscus iced tea mixed with lemonade), and the
vegan blueberry cornmeal cake, aka Oven Cake. Not quite as crazy about the tofu scramble alongside, which resembled chicken-fried tofu. But the place has a nice funky vibe and nicer-than-expected bathrooms!
Driskill Hotel: our friends were playing music in the bar of this gorgeous old hotel. I can recommend their rum cocktail AND their prawn cocktail (the latter came with both a traditional cocktail sauce topped with mango and a white gazpacho shot). We felt very fancy indeed, sipping drinks, dipping prawns and admiring the opulent surroundings.
Vespaio: let's just get this out of the way: the hostess is a beyatch. This place serves very good Italian food, and it appears to be more popular than anyplace in town. But when people are keeling over with hunger, and ask if their table right be ready soon since they've been there for about an hour, and she tells you EXACTLY how many minutes have elapsed since you walked in, well...Still, I enjoyed the spaghetti with tomato and eggplant, despite the overly generous mound of ricotta salata on top (half as much would have been fine). The Misticanza salad, with all sorts of greens, radishes, olives and vinaigrette, was good but seriously lacking in olives. And the bread was warm, fresh, and accompanied by a white bean puree. So go there but be ready for a wait. Maybe the hostess will have moved on to Denny's by then.
Cafe Medici: don't go to Jo's. I mean it: don't. Go to Medici. I cannot express in words how great their coffee is. We sat on their deck, drinking iced lattes and admiring the adorable Clarksville environs. This was S.F.-good coffee. I mean it, Ritual: Austin is catching up to you.
Counter Culture: I love this place, plain and simple. A very cool lady named Sue operates out of a vintage trailer, serving up yummy vegan treats like my Philly cheese-steak with the-best-seitan-EVER and cashew 'cheese' spread on a whole wheat roll. JP liked his apple and cheeze; we sat on a picnic bench nearby to get off our feet and out of the blazing sun.
Woodland: groovy hipster place on South Congress. The decor is beautiful and forest-centric. My salad (beets, greens, chickpeas and other things; they added avocado upon request) was a perfect dish on a hot night. The waiters all look like Mission boys with their plaid short-sleeved shirts and thoughtful facial hair.
Galaxy Cafe: just across from Medici, this is a nice down-homey diner with decent food. I had oatmeal and very good scrambled eggs. Their wraps looked pretty fine, I might add.
Hey Cupcake: one of the millions of food trucks in town, this place operates out of an old airstream trailer on South Congress. There is a daily vegan cupcake, and I was lucky enough to be there on chocolate cake with mint frosting day. That was one moaningly-good cupcake, and as a bonus, the dude who runs the place is really nice.
Daily Juice: this is the stuff! Great fresh juices and smoothies with no added anything. My Sure Thing smoothie was just apple juice, strawberries and banana, but it was so satisfying. JP's Marigold, with mango and peach, was also lovely...Another refreshing option when it's too hot to eat.
OK, well, that's all I got. Y'all get down there yourselves, eat at food trucks, hear live music and jump in a swimming hole. It's not really Texas; it's Austin.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Fig Fennel Fantasy...Free!

We who live in or near the Mission are about to get very lucky: Arizmendi, the worker-owned bakery, is opening a branch on Valencia at 24th. Today I was walking by, and saw a line...Nope, not open till next week, but they're busy doing practice runs and handing out the goodies to fortunate passers-by. So of course, JP and I joined the queue. Hard to choose, what with the wolverines, grape-laden focaccia, vegan lemon-blueberry scones and all. JP chose a simple currant scone, but me, I went for the round loaf of fig-fennel bread. And that was a very wise choice! I sliced it open, pleased to see the wealth of dried fig pieces inside. And wow, fig and fennel? It's genius! The bread itself was quite moist, and would be lovely toasted and buttered; I just scarfed it down without any ceremony. It was a fine figgy frenzy.

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Cold Comfort

I have a cold; I feel rotten. Coughing and sneezing and snuffling; it's not the best time to get my nosh on. However, I had plans with The Charming Susan at Ragazza, the new pizza place on Divis. As some of you know, this hood is becoming quite the happening place, but they needed a good pizza joint, and this is so much more. The little sister of Gialina in Glen Park, this place really dresses up its modest space, and the tiny tables are nearly always packed.
We shared a huge salad of radicchio, romaine, radish, egg and a perfectly tangy vinaigrette. Also, a plate of roasted baby artichokes with a big ramekin of aioli (I'm not a big fan of mayo, but this was gooood). Then, the star arrived: a pizza with a nicely blackened crust, topped with roasted summer squash, tomatoes, ricotta and pesto. Even with my stuffy head I knew this was divine.
I may be a wretched dinner companion these days, but I'm a happy one thanks to Ragazza. Now someone shoot me...please.