Boots in the Oven

Parkside - Confusingly Delicious

The weird thing is I really like Parkside. When they first opened up I thought a little bubble of insular awesomeness had landed on Sixth Street.

The creative and diverse crudos, the late night hours, the high-end food in an unpretentious setting- and I didn’t even mention half priced oyster and champagne Wednesdays. Yeah, the place kind of kicks ass.

Then they had this foodblogger tasting event. It left me a bit ruffled and confused. While I can always eat more of Parkside’s food, I’m not entirely sure what the point of it was and it certainly could have used some tweaking in the execution department.

The whole thing started off kind of strange. We were there ostensibly for a happy hour type event. Only they don’t have any happy hour food specials, just drinks. That’s fine, but when I asked to see their drinks menu, the bartender pointed at some bottles behind her and grunted that I was looking at it.

A Manhattan perched on the downstairs bar.

I knew they had specialty house cocktails, but she informed me that they don’t make those upstairs where we had all been gathered. Ok.

She further explained that if I wanted to, I could walk to the downstairs bar, buy them there and bring them back up. Honestly, I could use the exercise. (Later, she told me she had no idea an event was going on and that she could, in fact, make all of the drinks. It’s always good to be warned about a swarm of camera wielding, vittle loving, highly opinionated foodies. Just sayin’.)

Parkside's rockin' upstairs balcony.

We then proceeded to hang out next to a lovely vegan blogger who had been invited but who left early because as it turns out, Parkside wasn’t offering any actual vegan food. Hmm.

Other awkward strangeness was afoot but I’m done bitching. On to the food!

Taste of Ethiopia - And by Taste I Mean Thorough Gorging.

I love Ethiopian food. Any cuisine that scoffs at utensils and encourages communal dining as a rule, is aces in my book. I do not love Pflugerville. Any town that requires you to drive past 16 strip malls to get to your destination is, generally speaking, not where I want to be.

Last week however, these two parts of my life collided and delicious Ethiopian came out squarely on top.

Austin has several Ethiopian restaurants: Aster’s, Karibu, the now defunct World Café. But all of them are so-so. I get some pretty serious cravings for the tangy, chewy injera, rich spiced vegetables, and fragrant lentil dishes, so we make it a point to hit up good Ethiopian restaurants when we’re in cities like D.C. or Chicago.

Injera in an Adorable Basket.

For the past six months, though, I’ve been hearing buzz about this little place up north, in the middle of concrete sprawlsville. I don’t think of central Texas suburbs as prime area for African food, but I’m ever hopeful.

Coffee Service, Ethiopian Style.

We finally sucked it up and made the 25-minute trek to Taste of Ethiopia. Oh. My. Yes, yes, hell yes. This place needs to be uprooted and put behind my house.

Bass Boil X

Don’t let the name fool you. The only fish in these pots were sweet, succulent crawfish. Or crayfish, if you’re some sort of carpetbagging Yankee.

Last weekend the Bass Brothers, Greg and Brian, wrapped up another entry in their decade long quest to host the perfect crawfish boil. Since we’re not in Southern Louisiana they’re already working uphill, but in my opinion they’re doing a heck of a job (and not in that Bush way.)

Since Austin attracts a diverse array of individuals and the Bass boys don’t assemble the invitation list based on one's knowledge of small crustaceans, the attendees often include quite a few crawfish virgins, so to speak.

If you’re not familiar with the ins and outs of dismembering the little guys, procuring a full meal, no matter how big the pile in front of you is, can be a daunting task. (Although I did hear one adorable girl mention that she had been “watching youtube all afternoon, so I’d know what I was doing.” Awesome.)

Thoughtfully, the hosts and their thematically beshirted friend Homer provided a mess of pre-crawfish eats.

The Hotel St. Cecilia; Brother Can You Spare a Room?

In the past, when I’ve shown up on the shiny steps of the smoking hot new hotel, the St. Cecilia, they’ve released the dogs. Luckily for me, the Hill Country Wine and Food Festival came to town and someone had the poor social sense to put me on the list for a kick off party.

Entering the Hotel.

Technically, I think they invited my graceful and well-mannered wife, but I’ve never scoffed at being a plus one.

The St. Cecilia (named after the patron saint of musicians, it is Austin after all) was conceived and executed by the Midas-fingered Liz Lambert (of Hotel San Jose fame). Her current project sports the slogan “Privacy is God.” Needless to say, they don’t encourage gawkers.

She and her business partners were able to acquire an amazing piece of property just off S. Congress and converted the Victorian compound into a quirkily chic assortment of suites, studios, and two story bungalows by the pool. Well, lap pool.

If my great-grand parents had been rockstars, they might have built something like this.

Za’atar Grilled Lamb with Fennel Confit, Raisin Emulsion and Fried Capers

All this swanky restaurant eating we’ve been doing recently has been a bit of an inspiration. It’s made the fine dining part of my cooking brain a little twitchy. Why should those chefs get to have all the fun? So in a huff (tizzy?) I’ve been back in the kitchen with my fancy pants on.

Lamb is one of those delicious meats that’s really underutilized here in the States. And spring is the perfect time for it. For you Austinites, if you haven’t heard of Loncito’s Lamb, you’ve got to check him out. He raises the happiest, grass-fed, most tasty animals around.

If you don’t live near Loncito’s I would urge you to look around your local markets and do some research to see if any fine rancher in your area is doing something similar.

Now I’m going to do something almost unheard of in Boots history. I’m going to print a real honest to goodness recipe. Remain calm.

Note: This dish is easy and will make you look like a complete badass.