I don’t eat much Indian food. I had some bad experiences in some funky restaurants. I am trying to rediscover the flavors, because the cuisine has some amazing seasonings. I guess when working on flavor combinations for a thousand years, you’re bound to come up with a few that rock. Being located smack-dab in the middle of the Silk Road and spice trade routes couldn’t hurt either. The base of this dish is pan fried ground lamb with Garam Masala. Simple enough. Fry till everything in sight is crispy bits.
The salad is all about the seasoning. The carrots are raw and the dressing is loud: toasted cumin seeds, grated ginger, lemon zest, cilantro, mint, lemon juice and olive oil. POW. It’s a food fight in your mouth. The carrots are those funky rainbow colored ones that I can’t believe nature came up with on her own. They look good, though. And, it’s that what’s important, right? That is what Sandra Lee keeps telling me. That, and to make sure my outfit matches the curtains.
Dai Due’s Spring schedule just launched (as well as their new website). You have five events to choose from. Or, if you want to look at it another way, you have five dinners you’re going to.
Spring Dinner at Montesino Farm : Saturday, March 27th, 6pm
Boggy Creek Farm Picnic : Sunday, April 18th, 3pm
Seafood at Rain Lily Farm : Saturday, May 22nd, 7pm
HOPE Creole Dinner : Sunday, May 30th, 7pm
Seafood at Springdale Farm : Saturday, June 5th, 7pm
Dai Due Supper Club : Prices range from $65 – $75 per person, BYOB and usually with live music.
Honestly, I wasn’t sure what to expect when I walked in the door. There has been some chatter about this place. The decor is modern, brightly colored and slightly kitschy. It doesn’t scream contemporary interior Mexican, though it didn’t take long for me to get focused. About as long as it took for the salsa to arrive: Green Apple and Habanero Chili. Brilliant. Why haven’t I tasted this before? And, the hits just kept on coming. Chef Rene Ortiz has got chops. He returned to TX from the bright lights and busy restaurants of NYC to open my eyes to what Mexican food can be.
I thought I had my selections down before I arrived, but the specials list through me for a loop. Too many interesting choices. You can get lost in the Appetizers alone. I went for what seemed to be a strange guacamole. A combination of avocado, queso fresco and pomegranate seeds. Inspired. Creamy avocado + salty cheese + sweet crunch. Again, why haven’t I had this before. The combination seemed obvious after I ate it. The Elotes that came as a side to my chop blew me away. Perfect, buttery, spicy corn off the cob with street cred. The fish special was excellent. Hell, all the seafood was. Overall, we were impressed by the quality of the ingredients and imaginative combination’s of flavors, but were a little disappointed by the saltiness of some dishes (a little heavy on the finishing salt for me).
This place is very cool and bound to attract the fete set hipsters (hey, Robert Rodriguez, take it easy on the cologne). Interior design by Joel Mozersky (Uchi, Belmont, El Arbol) fits perfectly in the 2nd Street district: Splashy murals, string lights with Einstein bulbs. I think they could still round off a few of the sharp corners, though. The geometry is tight in the booths. Four big business men were seated next to us and quickly opted for a table. If you are trying to get four people in, they better be related or of the skinny jean crowd. Also, the only bathrooms are upstairs in the bar. The stairs back down to the restaurant look a lot steeper after a couple Margaritas. Nitpicks aside, this place is slick. Even the matches are cool.
I don’t want to hear any more crap about “expensive TexMex”. This isn’t 2 am in the Taco Cabana drive through. This is inspired, expressive, creative food. Let’s show Mexican cuisine some respect. I can’t believe there aren’t more places like this in Austin.
La Condesa : 400 West 2nd St. Austin, TX : (512) 499-0300 : Open every night for Dinner, Sunday Brunch
She said, “I never win anything!” Well, Liz is wrong! She is the lucky winner of the French Laundry Cookbook. Happy cooking Liz. Mess that book up! More giveaway goodness on the way.
This is serious. I met with Carla of Austin Urban Gardens to witness her current installation. Six 4’x16’x18” garden beds. Each bed holds 3 cubic yards of soil, tiered down a sloping back yard off of Bull Creek. The cool thing about the frames is that they are modular (I’m working on a bed in the shape of Abe Lincoln). The planks are made out of smushed together recycled plastics. It comes out looking like wood. Get ready for a whole lot of confused termites.
Every garden bed needs a little drink from time to time. I don’t know if you can get proper scale of this cistern. It’s quite large. Imagine six of our Earth’s Suns stacked end to end. Then, subtract five and .9999999995 of those Earth’s Suns. That is approximately the size of this thing. Five thousand gallons. It will store rain caught from the home’s roof that will then be piped down to soaker hoses in the beds. Pretty impressive, huh? Almost as cool as the metric system.
Action Shot! Sweet, sweet earth. Carla brings in soil from the Natural Gardener. I live on a slab of rude black clay. The only thing that will grow in that is more cracks in my house. The bed pictured here is being filled with Hill Country Garden blend. It’s a mix of reclaimed composted topsoil, composted rice hull, decomposed granite and a special blend of composts. This is a versatile mix, as it provides a variety of microbes and nutrients that benefit a wide range of plants. This means that you can grow almost any type of plant with it. Or, hopefully like this homeowner, 14 million carrots. I love carrots.
Austin Urban Gardens : Patrick @ 512-632-3599 or Carla @ 512-619-7966
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