Homemade Spam?

Italianini and I grabbed mid-week dinner at Uchiko (to show support and that we're not afraid of "radiation" by eating their Japanese fish, pfff). 

Chef Paul Qui sent us two dishes we were super surprised by. 

One was 'homemade spam': terrine of pork belly and other delicious parts of the pig grilled over a mustard emulsion and pickled ramps. This was one tasty bite. Strong flavors, great texture, and definitely NOT Spam. 

The other dish (I apologize, no photo) looked like tangled, thin branches topped with tiny greens sitting on a black puree that was intriguing. They were fried enoki (?) mushrooms over a huitlacoche puree and fava beans topped with sunflower sprouts. It was a bizarre sight and a wonderful dish. I think we were the guinea pigs... and I think you will soon see it on the menu.

W: Trace

Dear W, 

Are you FREAKING KIDDING ME? $150 per person prix fixe for NYE dinner? Ha... Only the naïve out-of-towners that are staying in your gorgeous rooms will pay that much. 

Good luck. We're going to Uchiko (yum!!!).

P.S.- Your decision to have a tiny kitchen to service the 135 seat restaurant for Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner, AND the 159 residences AND 250 guest rooms for 24/7 Whatever/Whenever® room service surprised me. Only time will tell if that was a smart move. Starwood, what were you thinking?!?!

xoxo
-EV

****Note that I have NOT tried the food... therefore this is NOT a critique****
Image: www.statesman.com

Uchiko for my 25th

Gotta love birthdays (Aren't my flowers pretty? Thanks loved ones!). I had my big 25th this past Monday and the Italianini took me to Uchiko to celebrate.

We were trying to start a diet that day to prepare for our upcoming Mexi trip (poor choice of start date, I know) so we tried to stick mostly to sashimi and such.

You'll have to forgive me if I forget to mention some of the things we ate, but there was so much, I have to stick to the items that stood out, right?

First of all, I have a new favorite snack: Shishito peppers. Forget edamame! Shishito is where it's at. These little peppers are green, long, skinny, and hard to find (not even at Wholefoods, my friends). They have a little kick at the end, but overall they're just addictive and fantastic. Second, I can't stay away from their Take Nabe. Talk about Japanese comfort food!

The rest of the meal went a little like this- Golden Beets with skyr yogurt, sake toro, the George, the P-38, the Avofry, a little Bacon Sen (pork belly with fried apple puree and apple kimchee), and the akami te (big eye tuna, water­melon, cilantro, coriander). 

It was a lovely, very romantic, very sloooowww meal, but in the end, it was awesome. 

Thanks to my Italianini for another fantastic eve.

Uchiko: Japanese Farmhouse Dining & Sushi

While UCHIKO is still not officially open (July 6), Italianini and I were able to make it to their Family & Friends event last night. 

There are far too many things I want to share about my experience, but I think I can sum it up in one word: GO!

The restaurant is beautiful! The textures, colors, spaces, walls, ceiling, floor, fixtures, and an amazing piece of art on the wall made of recycled paper rolls make you feel pretty and fabulous.
The service was stellar...can you say soft opening?... AND I got a quick hello from Tyson himself (star struck!!!). Don't worry, I composed myself and didn't embarrass the Italianini.

Here's what we had:

• Roasted golden beet skyr yogurt, bitter greens, acacia honey
• Koviche: fresh day boat scallop, tomatillo, kala­mata, black lime
• Usagi Yaki: crispy rabbit terrine, quail egg, pear mostarda
• Saba Shio: norwegian mackerel, fried tomato, english cucumber, truffle 
• Tempura Nasu: japanese eggplant crisps, mitsuba, sweet chili sauce
• Tempura onion rings tograshi, white soy, lemon zest
• Toledo (Roll):big eye tuna, bitter greens, chorizo, avocado, pepita, grilled garlic
• Boquerones (Sashimi): spanish white anchovy bottarga, lemon zest
• Take Nabe: japanese mushroom, koshi hikari, farm fresh egg, katsuo-bushi flakes (Winner of the BEST DISH OF THE EVENING award)
• Sweet corn sorbet polenta custard, caramel salt, lemon

The Take Nabe was awesome...The little bonito flakes start to wiggle around when they take the top off of the hot bowl... server told me they were alive, and I totally believed him, ha! 

http://uchikoaustin.com/uchiko