La Condesa: Comida y Tequila

My fondest memories growing up are standing right next to my grandmother and her maid of 30+ years (who's like my second grandmother) making quesadillas de huitlacoche and flor de calabaza. I'm telling you, this woman's hands are blessed.

So you can imagine my reaction when I saw the Huarache de Huitlacoche on the menu at La Condesa.

The original La Condesa is an exclusive neighborhood in Mexico City filled with culinary geniuses. If you live there, you're automatically 'cool' among the Chilangos (Mexico City residents...aka the worst drivers in the country).

True to its name La Condesa is clean, modern, with touches of rugged Mexico (the bar, the bull, the tree trunk table), trendy, and just plain beautiful. You'll love the atmosphere.

Their extensive cocktail menu and gigantic bar, consisting mostly of Tequila, will blow your mind. My fave is El Cubico ---Get this...Tobacco infused tequila. Yeah, they actually put the leaf in there and let it chill until you get this incredible aroma in your drink. That is, if you're into tobacco..Navan vanilla liqueur, lemon, grilled pineapple juice, mezcal essence (a little spritz on top), with volcanic-saffron-infused salt rim. How's that for intense?

If you want to skip the tobacco and want something a little sweeter--- I'm also a huge fan of the Alma Blanca and the Guillermo. Here's the whole list.

I absolutely love their ceviche. Be adventurous, skip the Acapulco, go for the kampachi or the trout. It's like eating sushi with a Mexican touch (hoja santa).

Their amazing chef, Renee Ortiz, kept a few classics on the menu, including the very crunchy chapulines. Yes, they're grasshoppers, but don't freak out, they're perfectly seasoned protein. They come with three tiny corn tortillas and a side of guac that is to die for.

For a nostalgic bite, try the duck mole. It takes Chef Ortiz four days, and very hard work, to make his mole but it all boils down to one word--- HEAVEN. The duck will melt in your mouth.

Tacos de cochinita pibil is another classic (native of the Yucatan peninsula) and one that may be the end of me. The mix of the axiote (key spice in this) and the purple onions have a kung fu fight in your mouth...it's so good.

If you really like pork, try the carnitas de panza. They come with a side of roasted jícama with bacon,and avocado-chicharron salad. But if you REALLY REALLY love pork, grab a few of your friends (10 or 12), call 72 hours ahead of time, and have a whole suckling pig. Talk about a feast!

Sweets? Oh you betcha... Boca negra for the chocolate lovers, crema cocida for those looking for sweet, but light, and flan de hoja santa for those who want to try something traditional with a great twist. Don't limit yourself---TRY THEM ALL!

Make sure to check out the specials. Last week I had the BEST venison ribs with a hibiscus glaze. I nearly licked the plate.

One of my favorite things about this place is that they took your everyday snacks, you know the kind you grab on the street anywhere in Mexico, and made them fine cuisine. I love getting the corn on the cob. It has cotija and ancho chile powder on it...It's just like I had it after elementary school while I waited for my mom to pick me up...aawww...

Oh yeah...on the weekends they have brunch and they have one huuuuge table covered in pan dulce. No diet on weekends,k?

Mind you, huitlacoche is nothing more than fungus on corn... gross, right? WRONG. It is delicious, but definitely an acquired taste. Kudos to La Condesa for bringing it and chapulines into the menu and allowing Austinites' palates to be mesmerized by them.

This place was responsible for the most kick-ass 5 de Mayo block party... even though in Mexico is not nearly as celebrated...complete with "puestitos de comida" and live music. Can't wait to see what they have planned for 16 de Septiembre!

VIVA MEXICO

Garrido's

Saturday, after a long day in the water and sun, the Italianini and I grabbed a quick bite at Garrido's (as in David Garrido) under the 360 building.

The heavy wood front doors are a nice welcome. The sleek leather chairs, modern light fixtures, the nice bar, and the very Mexican tile wall at the back made for a nice view as we walked to the patio.

The patio is right on the edge of the trail that leads to town lake (shoal creek)...It kinda stinks, literally.

The menu is small, and super cheap. The most expensive item is around $11.
It's a good concept for its location...cheap eats and drinks, then head dt.

It was happy hour (woohoo) so Italianini had the margarita, while I tried the very-close-to-the-real-thing Paloma. Grape fruit juice, Fresca, simple syrup, and tequila. Keep them coming!

We tried the oyster appetizer and the lamb. The oysters are very similar to Jeffrey's and 34th Street Cafe's. They are fried, on a yucca chip, with aioli, and topped off with pico. Garrido uses habanero aioli. Yum!
The lamb was perfectly cooked, on a bed of spinach, and with a spicy sauce drizzled on top.

Since tacos dominate the menu, I had to try a little bit of everything. I tried the oyster taco (same as the appetizer), carnitas, and chicken. Italianini let me have a bite of the steak, and the mahi mahi BLT.

The corn tortillas are just like you would have at a taqueria in Mexico, small, soft, and really fresh. The carnitas are not realy carnitas, more like barbacoa, but the meat is so tender and delicious. The chicken is your basic chicken taco with cheese and a raw green salsa that kicked my taste buds' butt. Steak was marinated very well, and the mahi mahi was interesting and surprisingly good.

The black beans were different. While they looked like your typical refried black beans with cotija cheese on top... there was a spice in there that I can't quite put my finger on... and it's a bizarre taste.
On a happier note, the green rice was splendid.


Don't go in thinking it's going to be a cheaper or smaller version of La Condesa. While it's also Mexican food, it falls under a completely different category. Here you won't find the adventurous nightly specials, the homemade mole, or the twist on autochthonous dishes like chapulines...to name a few.

No desert... too full!

(512) 320-8226

Gumbo's

Don't judge me for liking a chain restaurant! Gumbo's in the Brown Building has been one of my regular spots for the past five years. As far as it being true Cajun food... not sure...but I LOVE IT.
If you're into oysters, do the Rockefeller. You get two delicious oysters in one bite! Can't get much better than that. One is baked on the half shell with cream spinach and the other one is fried and topped with parmesan. Oh yeah, they spike it with Pernod...mmmmm.

Wanna get a feel for the menu? Get the appetizer sampler. A stuffed mushroom (yes, literally one), shrimp Robert, and crawfish in tarragon sauce. Delish.

The menu is huge, so here are the classics... You can pick from the fish of the day with your choice of topping:

My uncle, Robert, blackened shrimp over herb beurre blanc
My dad, George, sauteed with crabmeat over herb beurre blanc
My fave, Francine, blackened over crawfish tails sauteed in tarragon sauce
My cousin, Victoria, grilled over sauteed artichokes, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, and spinach in herb beurre blanc
My last choice, Almondine, pan sauteed over a meuniere sauce, topped with sauteed crabmeat.

If there's red fish, go for that.

The bread pudding is great, but the chocolate custard is orgasmic.
Yes. I said it.

'Laissez les bon temps rouler' !

www.gumbosaustin.com

Fabi + Rosi

I was curiuos about this quaint new place. You know, the sentiment behind the name (Wolfgang's nephew and niece), the location (old Zoot- right on Lake Austin Blvd), the European menu...

Hands down, one of the prettiest restaurants I've been to in the past six months. That's about all these new kids on the block have going for them.

They pride themselves in their European chefs and their international background...hmmm? Really?

The amouche bouche was a tomato gazpacho.
More like oregano, garlic, and cloves with a splash of tomato paste. Entirely too strong. Ugh.

No butter.Aioli.

We tried the charcuterie plate. Prosciutto, salami, chicken paté, and some veggies. It was good, but definitely didn't wow me. How can you go wrong with that combo? You buy it, you plate it, you call it "The Charcuterie Plate".

I tried the Mallorca style Paella. Could have spent $4.50 on a box of Zatarain's instead of $16.
The Italianini tried the lamb. Where to begin... 1. Cold 2. Overcooked 3. Sauce might as well have been the famous Fischer & Weiser Chipotle Raspberry sauce. The highlight of his dish were the bacon-wrapped green beans (He says that wrapping anything in bacon is cheating... kinda like if you put truffle oil on a shoe it'll still taste good).

We drank the entire bottle of wine and skipped desert.

The ambiance is fantastic. Not sure who designed it, but it's beautiful. Clean lines, a calm and elegant color scheme, chandeliers, and modern tables. Love it.

Don't go hungry. Go have a glass of wine and an app just to enjoy the place.
Save your money.

www.fabiandrosi.com

Buenos Aires Cafe---Boludo!

I'm a meat lover. So, by default I love Argentina and Brazil.
Have you tried Buenos Aires Cafe? They have two locations, S. 1st and East 6th.

I went there with my boss and some other work people who love their empanadas. I wasn't impressed by them.
Try the Choripan or Lomito. Can't go wrong with either, they're classics!
Served with your choice of salad, on a baguette, and a generous portion of chimichurri. Yum!

Now, don't expect Argentina on your plate, but it's pretty damn close.

Oh and if you have a sweet tooth, you're in luck! :)
www.buenosairescafe.com

Perla's

Give me an oyster bar and I'm happy. Give me an oyster bar and a Pimm Cup, and I'm SOLD!
Dinner at Perla's on SoCo was quite the experience complete with shuffleboard--Made me want to wear searsucker!

I'll give it to you straight--go for the oysters on the half shell, the scallop appetizer, and the octopus to start off with.

Oysters--- sure they were on the bottom of the ocean somewhere and someone put them on a plate...still such grainy, fresh, delicious, goodness!
Scallops-- They are just salty enough, with jicama, cilantro, and magic...
Octopus-- since it's grilled, it's a little harder than I would like (huge fan of octopus ceviche), but still good.

Try the tuna. It also has jicama and cilantro, but they added the thinnest slices of serrano peppers and radish with a cilantro sauce that' s super light and tingly. It's a party on your tongue.

The halibut is quite a bit thicker to say the least.
While the actual fish is tremendous, the sauce is entirely too oily, served with peas and carrots. It's like you're eating a steak, except you're not! No-go on the halibut.

Sit outside. It's great. They nailed it with the color scheme, the tables, the white and blue striped umbrellas, the screened porch...so pretty. Oh, and if you're up for a fancy cocktail, they've got plenty... just do not order the bloody mary. You're better off throwing back a coronita with the delicious mariscos!

Have yet to try the shooter and the oysters Rockefeller. Hesistant. May not hold a candle to my faves at Gumbo's! :)

Sunday: South Congress Cafe & Manuel's

So, my friends had been bugging me to try South Congress Cafe for brunch ever since I moved to Austin six years ago. Let me tell you, the special on Sunday was to DIE for - hash with pork sausage, potatoes, the typical red peppers for a little color factor, and your choice of New Mexican green chile or just plain ole salsa. We went for flour tortillas... egh... they were o.k. I guess. The Italianini and I were loving it so we decided to order a second dish. We went old school brunch and ordered eggs benedict, except that they substitute the english muffin for these little crab cakes and top it off with spinach quiche and a couple of pieces of prosciutto.
O.K., the actual crab cakes are a little greasy, and definitely not my favorite, but edible...After the first bite figured I could mask the greasy taste with the hollindaise sauce, except for there were two drops of it in the entire plate. Great. The side of fruit was a nice refresher and just what I needed to feel 100lbs heavier.
So 1 out of 2 is not perfect, but I can handle it. Plan on having the carrot cake french toast next!

Dinner time! The Regio and I decided to grab some appetizers at Manuel's on congress. Mistake getting just appetizers.
Started off with the pork sopes. Not impressed. The black beans were weak. Now, how can you mess up black beans! The pork was tender, but again, weak.
The Regio got the ceviche and I went for the mole appetizer. The ceviche was fantastic. Just the right amount of lime, plenty of fish chunks, very little tomato... you know no filler crap, just good ceviche. The mole appetizer was disappointing. It's a big mush of chicken, melted monterrey jack, and mole in a tiny little bowl.
If you want mole just go for the chicken breast with mole plate and be done with it. The appetizer portions are small, I mean , you'll-be-hungry-in-two-minutes-small. Kudos on the service though! We walked in 20 minutes before closing time and still got stellar attention from our server

Today I woke up hungry.

I hate waking up hungry. That's when I start thinking of every single delicious thing I could possibly eat that day... It's trouble you see, because I could LITERALLY eat everything I crave that day and then, 50 lbs later, I've eaten half of Austin. I've seen it all, the good, the bad, and the ugly, and can definitely advise you on where to go get your food fix next.
For now...I'll just have a spoonful of Cherry Garcia.