Qui

We ate at a beautiful restaurant in Austin named after the owner Paul Qui who won season 9 of Top Chef.  I was disappointed we didn't see him there but the food was incredible.

The weather must be manageable most of the year because of the many open air seating areas in most of the restaurants.  I loved the design of the building as well.  Lauren and I kept pointing out cool buildings to each other throughout the city.

The menu was folded up at out seat.  We were able to decide pretty quickly what we wanted but our server did direct us toward eating the partridge which was something new for both of us. 

We both loved the wild japanese hamachi with sashimi, blackberries, calamansi zu and thai chilis. 

And also this dish which was a take on japanese pasta and without any broth to make it a typical ramen dish. 

This was the hen rice a la quique dacosta with hen stock, crispy chicken skin and gremolata.  It was like a risotto and very savory.

The fact that this was a partridge is just a little obvious.  We were given 1/2 of the bird and told to eat the brain which we did.  It was a nice dish with yukon potato and mushrooms.  Neither of tried to chew on the foot but it reminded me of being in Thailand.

I loved our desserts.  Halo halo with seasonal fruit and shaved ice (above) and cheddar cheese ice cream with crispy waffles.  Both again proved that Austin restaurants know how to do dessert.

Living an FNL Life

Saturday was the most beautiful type of day in Austin with sun, breezes and no humidity.  We took full advantage of it by eating these outside.  We had to leave though once the birds above us got a little too excited.

I would be so happy if I could find tacos like these in DC.  I ate the fried avocado and green chile pork tacos and I would have eaten more if I could have.

We then drove to northern Austin to visit Amber, Johnny and the kids.  I would have happily spent all day there.

We were both excited to visit FNL sites in Austin but sad to see that the Alamo Freeze is a DQ which is also under construction.

I tried to take a photo of the Taylor's house but one of the occupants was sitting in the driveway so it turned out to be more about the inside of the car.  But I did get one of Saracen's house.  I know none of the show was real but I can still dream.

We figured out the University of Texas football game that night was in Austin so it was a given that we ended up at the box office buying tickets.  I have never seen anything like it before in my life.  Lauren and I were the only two people in the stadium of over 100,000 not wearing orange.  I feel like I got a little taste of what it would be like growing up in Texas.

We parked pretty far away from the stadium but it was worth it to see all of the tailgating.  It went on for blocks and blocks with large screen TVs set up all over the place.

This is how far up our seats were in the stadium but I got to see this view over UT campus.

I was pretty impressed with the marching band during halftime.  And the audience was as well as you can see from all of the cameras.

Lenoir

I made a reservation for this place as soon as it was possible because I read a lot of extremely positive reviews about it online.  The deal is 3 courses for $38 but we were able to get 6 different dishes to share for our 3 courses each.  We also left it to the kitchen as to what to serve us.  This is one of my favorite ways to eat.

We started with the summer cucumber salad with egg gribiche, corn puree, shishito peppers.  It reminded me of the appearance of som tum but I wanted the stronger flavors because of my mental comparison.  It was too subtle for me to really enjoy.

Poached cobia with tomato curry, poha and watercress.  This was really lovely and a very nice balance between a subtle fish flavor and the tomato curry.

Neither of us were looking forward to eating the soft shell crawfish but we did it.  I could have eaten the sour pork sausage and thai herb salad in this really nice omelet that accompanied it alone because of the flavors.

The roasted pork with okra, shrimp balchao and coconut rice was my favorite savory dish.  The coconut rice was that little bit of sweetness that added to the pork and okra.

I'm pretty sure I've eaten quail before but I can't remember.  I could probably do a search on this blog to receive my answer.  Again this was really lovely as it came with marinated eggplant, bell pepper, and pomegranate soy sauce.

But our dessert was my favorite.  I've had such horrible luck in DC with restaurant desserts.  Most of them have been boring and not worth eating.  This was so easy and perfect.  Coconut custard with chocolate sorbet, figs and malted chocolate crumble.

I walked away from this meal very happy and very full.

Torrential Downpour, BBQ & LBJ

We were not good at leaving the hotel early in the mornings.  But this was the one day where it would have been ok to have just stayed inside.  It rained.  A lot.  The kind of rain that even surprised the locals.  We had things to do and BBQ to eat.

Our first stop happened when it was not raining too much.  We tried to figure out what BBQ to visit because Franklin's is famous but it doesn't always mean that it is the best.  Lauren asked a local friend and he recommended La Barbecue.

All of these places are outdoor but thank goodness a tent was set up for the line. 

As soon as we ordered our food, the rains just poured.  We had an umbrella over us and then used our own to kind of protect our backs.  We were soaked no matter how hard we tried not to be.  But the brisket was crazy worth it.  

And people were still lining up in the rain. A few minutes after I took this photo even more people came to crowd behind them. Nothing stops BBQ.

We had wanted to eat at the Gordough's trailer across the street but that was closed and we didn't want to stop as we ran to the car.  Thankfully they opened a brick and mortar shop which was nearby (but we would have stopped there no matter how far away it was.  You know how far I'm willing to eat donuts - See Kentucky trip). 

Each of these donuts are the size of a face.  I did damage on all of them but none of them were finished between the two of us.  I can't remember what exactly they were but one was nutella and strawberries, another had cream and fruit and the last one had chocolate on chocolate brownies with pecans.  The descriptions do not do them justice but other kinds can be found here.

What to do when it's pouring outside?  Visit a Presidential Library.  I was just hoping to be dry at some point again that day.

It really wasn't possible to capture the rain in the photo but the sky looks ominous.

I've been to two other Presidential libraries - FDR and Reagan - but neither had an animatronic LBJ sharing funny stories.

This collection creeped me out a bit.  It was a case full of Madame Alexander dolls of First Ladies in the dresses they wore in their official portraits.  Unfortunately, it ended with Lady Bird Johnson but the details were amazing.  You can see a closer view of JBKO and Eleanor.  

A replica of LBJ's office in the White House.

Lady Bird Johnson's office.  

The rain was kind of letting up when we left the library so we went shopping.  Amber told me about this shop called Feathers which we visited and where I bought stuff.

This is now my 1960s-era vintage coat.

Of course we went into the boot store and I almost convinced myself to buy a pair.

Our last stop before dinner was the sweetest.  We visited my friend Jess and his baby boy Joshua.  He just made me so happy with all of his smiles.

Dreams Happen: Austin

I've been wanting to travel to Austin for years.  At first, it was a desire to attend SXSW and that almost happened a few years ago.  I then found a perfect travel companion in Lauren who also wanted to visit.  We toyed with the idea of visiting during Austin City Limits in October but then decided that if we really wanted to explore the city, we needed to go sans music event.  I found cheap tickets on Jet Blue back in March and it finally happened a few weeks ago.

I was so excited that I couldn't sleep the night before I left.  That doesn't happen all that often but I was also scared that I was building up expectations that could not be met.  They were met.  I landed in an airport that already had better food selections than most major airports.  Lauren picked me up, we dropped our stuff at the hotel and went straight into downtown Austin.

I had done that thing where I spent close to $12 in the Orlando airport for a sandwich that I tossed after a few bites.  It was inedible which is so depressing.  I was so excited to arrive in a parking lot with these two signs.

You can see the ominous clouds that followed us into the next day.  I love eating with Lauren because it's very easy to decide what food to share.

Green chile bacon mousse, tomato, fried pork skin, potato.  The essence of bacon was the perfect salad dressing.

Shaved country ham, roasted watermelon, cucamelon, chevre.  This was one of my favorites with the sweet melon and savory ham.

Eggplant fritters, grilled okra, feta tofu, sesame, peanut salsa.

Gulf shrimp, andouille, stewed okra, hushpuppy, hollandaise.  Another favorite.

Pinto beans, smoked lamb, soured cream, raw summer squash.

Pulled pig face, fermented creamer peas, peach, hot sauce.

I laughed at our receipt since it didn't specify what kind of face we ate.

We saved dessert to eat at Lick.  I recommend clicking on the above photo to get a better look at some of the flavors.  We tested most of them but I stuck with the Caramel Salt Lick and Dark Chocolate with Olive Oil and Salt.  I wish we had ice cream like this in DC.

We drove to the Congress St Bridge to see the bats which we did see.  But I was far more excited to see Amber and Johnny who I hadn't seen since their wedding in LA last November.  I cannot believe I didn't take any photos of them.  It was such happiness to talk to Amber because I miss her like crazy.  And I loved getting to know Johnny better who can keep up with Amber's sense of humor.  I was able to see them again later that weekend and meet Johnny's kids who were adorable and fun.  It's wonderful to have friends living in cities you want to visit.  Not for the spare bedroom but it just makes visiting them all that more fun.

The Texas State Capitol.  It's not really white but more on that later.