Trippin’ [part 1]
December 2nd, 2010 § Leave a Comment
While most of our peers traveled north Texas way for the holiday that celebrates all things food, Heath and I took on a separate adventure; namely, traveling to Kentucky to visit blue grass music phenoms Laura Gregory & Casey Papendieck of The Bloodroots Barter. Laura is a high school friend, turned college roommate and Casey is her partner in crime who also presided over our wedding ceremony. They’ve made a nice burrow for themselves in Eastern Kentucky and now seemed as good a time as ever to pay the handsome pair a visit.
The drive to Hyden, Kentucky is a hefty 20 hours. Clearly, this road trip called for a scenic stop or two to a) relieve the puppies who joined us on the Appalachian adventure and b) stave off insanity.
The drive is actually remarkably pleasant. The majority of the trip afforded us with traffic-free roads winding through transforming deciduous trees.
Our first stop: Texarkana. We had a pleasant lunch with Nannie (complete with bread pudding and roast beef sandwiches) and then took a little pit stop down the road for a visit with Heath’s Aunt Lisa and Uncle Roger, where the puppies had a grand time swimming with catfish, meeting their first horses and making a mess.
[Sparky wonders what’s wrong with those swimming dogs. It’s cold. They are crazy.]
From Texarkana it’s roughly a 4-hour drive to Memphis, which is where we set up the proverbial camp for the night. This stretch of road, while pleasant, caused a fair amount of head scratching as it was laden with imposing bible-oriented billboards that preached biblical versus I was unaware of from my rearing in the church. Towering billboards held messages like “save the child, use the rod.” But that’s neither here or there—yet certainly worth mentioning as we were made aware that Northern Arkansas is indeed far from home where child beating is generally frowned upon.
This was my first time to return to Memphis as an adult and Heath’s first trip period (it should be noted the trip afforded Heath his first glimpse at the Mississippi River; Mark Twain would be so proud).
We stayed in a hotel walking distance from the famous Beale Street where we spent most of our evening. Since my tenure at Community Impact Newspaper taught me that people love bullets, I will summate the highlights of the experience in short hand.
- We explored the city, camera in hand, and came across some preteen acrobats tumbling down Beale street in exchange for dollar donations. Needless to say, we obliged them for their bravery.
- Dinner at Silky O’Sullivan’s included what the server told us was a traditional Memphis meal of locally brewed beer, dry rub ribs, sausage and sharp cheddar and oysters on a half shell. (This was also a first for both Heath and me. To quote my favorite warthog, they were “slimy yet satisfying.”)
- From Silky’s we crossed the street to the Rum Boogie Cafe which drew us in with the soulful Joe Cockeresque band whose reverberations could be heard from the street. Autographed guitars of some of the bar/music venue’s more famous patrons were suspended from the ceiling, which was cool at first until I spotted a James Blunt autograph above a doorway. Womp.
Memphis was indeed a success with it’s bitter beers, mellow night life and toe tapping tunes, but the trip was still young. Details of the second half will be revealed in time. Until then, enjoy these titillating images.
Trailer Treats
November 16th, 2010 § Leave a Comment
Some argue that Austin put breakfast tacos on the map (though personally I was eating breakfast tacos from Casa Galaviz long before I moved to Austin—call me a trendsetter). It could also be argued that Austin is making food trailers the hottest new commodity in urban dining. Obviously street food has been around the block (ha) but Austin seems to be taking it to a new level.
This weekend we hit up Odd Duck and Gourdoughs, two South Lamar trailer favs. I’m embracing the uprising in trailer eateries for several reasons.
1. It’s a great way to eat cheap. You skip on the service (though I’d say trailer servers have often outdone the more traditional table service staff on friendliness) and you can forgo the traditional 20 percent (if you’re a good human) tip. Additionally, most places are BYOB which helps when trying to save that extra cash.
2. Ambiance. There is no better way to experience Austin than right on the street where the action is happening. Maybe you get a little traffic noise, but it’s all a part of city living.
3. The food is good. And it’s usually pretty original. Trailer food isn’t mass produced, so it’s usually a little more unique and often fresher than the frozen meat patties and economy sized cans of tomato sauce generally stocked in sit-down restaurants.
Gourdough’s offers a unique twist on the traditional donut, adding candy, syrup and creme cheese toppings to an already over sized pastry. Pictured here is The Peach, but they also had an option called Bring on the Heath, which made us giggle.
Odd Duck serves tiny portions of gourmet food. Some of the menu items include quail, pork shoulder and duck egg. It may be gourmet, but all menu items range from just $4 to $6.
A Highball Birthday
November 12th, 2010 § Leave a Comment
The Highball is a ’60s themed bowling alley/karaoke/ski ball arena/lounge that is just awesome. We spent most of November 5 causing damage to the bowling lanes, wrecking havoc on the ears of anyone passing by our karaoke room and scoring major tickets on the ski ball machines. Don’t believe me? Have a look.
Uchi
November 11th, 2010 § 1 Comment
Every year, to celebrate the anniversary of my birth, Heath surprises me with a dinner to a fancy restaurant. This year’s treat: Uchi. I’ve long heard of the wonders of this magnificent Japanese/sushi restaurant, but never had a chance to experience its greatness until now. It won’t be my last visit.
The restaurant is located on South Lamar, maybe a mile or so from downtown. It’s really a prime location, just minutes from the hustle and bustle of downtown festivities, but close to the hippy chic areas that make Austin weird. But the location is probably the least interesting part of this little gem.
The red patterned wallpaper and dim lighting lends Uchi a welcoming ’60s-like quality. As an avid Mad Men fan, I appreciate this nod to eras of the past. The menu spans multiple pages and is painted with unfamiliar words and combinations of ingredients. Lost in the bewilderment of exotic entrees, we asked the waiter for suggestions, which turned out to be one of the better ideas we’ve ever had.
Under the direction of both friends and our waiter, Heath and I opted to go the appetizer route, ordering small portions of many dishes on the menu so that we could sample the widest variety possible of Japanese delicacies (how American of us). We began with a cold dish, maguro sashimi and goat cheese, which we devoured in under 2 minutes, even armed with chopsticks, which severely slowed down our ASE (average speed of eating). Then we moved on to bacon steakie followed by two different plates of sushi. The zero sen is yellowtail with avocado, crispy shallots, yuzo kosho, golden roe and cilantro. Heath’s favorite, the shag, is also a house favorite and is made up of a delightful and equally unexpected combination of salmon and tomatoes and is tempura fried. We ended the night with a dessert independent of any flavors and texture I’ve encountered, a brown sugar sorbet and ginger consomme.
After 2 hours, 2 Japanese beers and an unfortunate chopstick mishap (a neighboring table got out of control with the dinner utensil which concluded with a chopstick down my shirt), Heath and I left with food in our bellies, smiles on our faces and a delightfully tasty sensations still dancing on our tongues.
