Boots in the Oven

Madame Whineypants Returns!

So.. that was quite a post to leave up for a week all by its lonesome, huh?  Things are looking considerably up here this week, you'll all be glad to know.... because...

I leave for Michigan on Friday!  (And, like I say every time I go out of town and blog about it beforehand, please don't rob my house.  The cats would be very upset.  As would my giant mastiff with teeth of steel that I haven't mentioned here before for no particular reason.)

Also helping my mood is the riotous spring color indecently springing forth everywhere.  There is nothing in this world as spectacular as the wildflower displays we Texans are treated to every March/April, I tell you what.  And this spring is particularly glorious - thank goodness, as that last winter was a serious doozy.

There is a huge field of bluebonnets and indian paintbrush just outside my office that I plan to document, so I can make Logan totally jealous up there in the eternal winter of the upper Midwest.  

Meanwhile, foodwise, Austin has been nice as ever... however, our little SD800 is mere breaths from crapping completely out.  It barely focuses any more, and while it's desperately trying, I hear this worrisome grinding sound from deep within its mechanical bowels.  Recommendations for a new point and shoot would thus be much appreciated, thankee.

Happy April to all!

An Early Morning Curling Fail in Austin, TX

What happens when you offer a FREE class in a popular cult sport to a bunch of people in a fitness-mad town?

Lone Star Curling found out at 9:30 this morning.

Logan and I showed up at Chapparal Ice, having just downed the first of our bounty of grapefruit, ready to learn how to elegantly launch large stones across an expanse of ice in a frenzy of sweeping.  Unfortunately for us, it appeared that approximately 700 of our fellow Austinites had had the same idea.

"Oh dear," said the very nice harried lady taking names.  "We can put five teams of six at either end, which is 60 people, and then they'll curl for 30-45 minutes, so...."

Her face fell, but then she added hopefully,

"But... this is a good problem to have, right?" 

Please, Lone Star Curling Club, on behalf of this (apparently) mad-for-curling town (who knew Texans were so crazy for ice sports?), add more learn-to-curl sessions.  Logan and I would even pay actual American dollars for the privilege of learning your sport, which I believe is one of the few Olympic-level sports that wouldn't mind if I had a glass of wine in my hand while participating.  (This restriction against alcoholic beverages is of course the only reason I'm not a speed skater.)

Mizu

Where do you go when you absolutely positively have to have white bean cassoulet with your unagi and strawberry or when you just can’t go another day without truffled mac and cheese on the side of your aji sashimi with crispy bones? Why Mizu apparently.

On the long hilly road between Austin and the tiled roofs of the villas of Lakeway sits a shiny new outpost of the Las Vegas dining scene. Except for the vast quantities of limestone and a sweeping Texas view, it would be easy to believe that Mizu Prime Steak and Sushi was just off the Strip waiting to serve you “New American” and “Contemporary Japanese” before you were swept away by the spandexed wonder of Zumanity (or Celine Dion. You know who you are.)

With its 13 flat screen tvs, 2 pool tables, mammoth seating capacity, sleek bar, steakhouse meets sushi menu and family friendly proclaimations, Mizu wants to make sure they’re not leaving anybody out.

How could we not go?

We showed up to a packed house. Since it was a bit of a trek, we’d luckily made reservations. One of several hostesses navigated us back to the sushi bar where the sushi chefs effortlessly took no note of our arrival. As a consolation we jumped right in to studying the extensive menu.

The bar after we outlasted the less committed diners.

After a vigorous debate (including super sneaky spying on our neighbors’ food), girlie and I decided to save most of the steakhouse part of the menu for another time, plowing forth through the Asian side instead.

We started with some miso soup because I’m a sucker for it, but also because if a place can’t make decent miso soup there’s slim chance they’re doing much else right either. Mizu’s version wasn’t bad. Not a lot of depth of flavor but at least it had some nice bonito and wakame notes.

Faring a bit better was the seared crab cake. Basically a huge pan-fried ball of lump crab, it had so little binding that it fell apart at the touch of a fork. Not a bad thing. The smoked habanero red bell pepper coulis was heavy on the red bell and not so much smoked or habanero. I did really like the lightly pickled shiitakes in the tomato and mushroom salad- they definitely helped to brighten up the über-rich crab.

The next dish had me really excited- an inspired pairing of escolar and goose liver unfortunately labeled “what the foie?”. I thought that the two similarly buttery ingredients with their contrasting textures would make a neat riff on surf and turf especially with the verjus blanc to tie it together. It was close.

More land and sea action after the jump...

Ryu of Japan (of Austin)

A few days ago I was being extra whiny and totally indecisive about what to eat. After bouncing around between pizza, Korean, tex-mex and gumbo from my freezer, I finally settled in on general bitching and lamenting Austin’s lack of an izakaya. Just as I was hitting a particularly impressive stretch of fruitless grousing my lovely lady wife poked up her head and asked, “What about Ryu?”

“What about Ryu indeed” I thought. I know it’s not a real izakaya but I also knew that it was nearby, byob, and they had served me a really nice chirashi-zushi for lunch one day. It didn’t hurt that the place seemed to be run by Japanese folks instead of by a pack of teenage Romanians. I was sold.

A few minutes later we (and our bottle of sake) arrived at the brightly lit but comfortable little restaurant that holds down a corner spot in a shiny new strip center on north Burnet.

We were greeted by a super sweet waitress (later identified as Tomo-chan) and given our choice of seats. As we perused the extensive menu, two tiny bowls of well fried shumai made an appearance to fortify us during the decision making process.

We opted to stick to the “From the Kitchen” part of the menu and save the sushi for another time. We started with one of my favorite drinkin’ snacks, ankimo or monkfish liver. Think goose liver terrine but denser and less buttery.

This excellent version was sitting in a splash of ponzu and accompanied by shredded daikon, beautiful dulse seaweed, lightly pickled cucumber, grated daikon mixed with sriracha, and a sprinkling of sliced scallions. I love interactive eating.

Uchi, Austin - way to see out 2009!

Before I launch into my lengthy description of this seriously stellar meal we had to round out 2009, may I first direct your attention to our brand new, Logan-designed banner?  We are indeed certified bitchin', though not in Utah.

Ah, Uchi.  Often lauded as one of the best restaurants in town, they've never been content to rest on their laurels.  While other places in Austin go for just good enough, Uchi quietly plays around with some of the best ingredients available, combining elements of gastronomic alchemy with well practiced chefery techniques.  They are nominally a Japanese restaurant but Tyson Cole (a Food and Wine Best New Chef 2005) has never let forced adherence to the cuisine of one place limit his ability to make interesting food.

We were really excited to accompany Crystal and Justin there for our last meal of 2009.  And what a last meal it was.

I suppose, in the interests of full disclosure and all that, I should tell you that Justin works closely with the restaurant.  Also, we've met the chef de cuisine, Paul Qui, on several occasions - most recently when we went to his new food trailer, introduced ourselves, and took a ton of pictures.  And we were very obviously photographing our meal with Logan's SLR and his new 35mm prime lens, in a not at all incognito fashion (Logan may have been topless at one point).  

Anyway.  We had early reservations on NYE, and when we walked in, the intimate restaurant sparkled.  Someone had had the lovely idea to blow up a bunch of balloons and launch them at the ceiling, which had the charming effect of making me feel like I was at the bottom of a glass of really nice champagne.  Beautifully festive!

It took us just moments after sitting down to decide on the chef's 6-course New Year's omakase. The six dishes ended up being 9 (to which we gluttonously added one of Uchi's best-selling rolls that was too tempting to pass up.)  

Very quickly, before even the sake we'd ordered had arrived, four little amuses-bouches appeared.  A tiny slice of heirloom yellow tomato sat on a rich pool of sauce made from pureed fried egg and truffle, which had been strained to get that silky texture.

The heaviness of the little sample of sauce was cut by the fresh, cool, juicy tomato in a pairing I know Logan loved, but I found just a bit jarring.  It was certainly pretty, though.

Next up, a dish that made me think of a Japanese-style crudo.  Madai (black snapper) carpaccio, with shiso oil and san bai zu, or sweet vinegar sauce.

We were clearly instructed "no soy sauce", though I can't imagine what kind of crazy person would have dunked this delicately flavored, sweetly sour and herbal fish into something as strong as soy.  Delicious.

Hotate kan kitsu came out next.  The diver scallops were seared but still just about raw in the center, my favorite way to eat them.

More fancy pants eatin' after the jump.