Food
the empanada diet
Jan 13th
Fate is a mysterious force in our lives that sometimes leads us down paths no one could ever predict. I mean, who could ever have guessed that my sustenance over the past 18 hours would be 7 empanadas, consumed steadily and without interruption?
Like many of my fantastic and death-defying tales, this one began at Flipnotics. Fully intending to pull an all-nighter working on a paper, I pulled into flips to get a double of anything-with-caffeine-and-sugar. The empanadas that Flips serves are very basic and very addicting, so I grabbed two to help make it through the night (turkey, the both of ‘em).
Come morning, the coffee acid that settled deeply in my stomach removed the urge for breakfast, or any hunger at all until just after my opportunity to order lunch had passed. But then I remembered that Intern Katie had brought a bag full of homemade food to share with the office. They were empanadas, and they were excellent.
So, 5 more empanadas (or was it 6) down the chute, and I’d eaten more if there had been any left for the taking. There will likely be a price to be paid for this mono-gluttony (besides this pointless story), but right now I’m just liking the random consistency of it all.
Think I’ll head over to Flips, see what’s under glass …
turkey talk
Nov 25th
Rachel and I are in NYC for Thanksgiving, basking in the chill of true Fall weather. Being the massive travel holiday of choice, we had to earn our trip here.
Our stopover in Houston went from a 30-minute pit stop to a 2-hour marathon. La Guardia issued a travel restriction that kept us on the runway just long enough for a guy in row 12 to have a panic attack. We returned to the terminal to boot his jumpy ass off the plane, and then waited for American to dig Mr. Jitter’s baggage out from under the plane. This whole production caused us to miss our next departure window, setting us back another 90 minutes.
While there’s probably some highly critical national security rule that prohibits the shipping of unattended bags, anyone who loses their nerve after the doors close should be separated from their bags just on principle. Even better, let’s kick the guy off and then split up his luggage like pirated booty.
We finally made it into New York, and have been enjoying the holiday atmosphere ever since. The annual Thanksgiving feast in Brooklyn went off as expected, with temptations from cold cuts, sausage, lasagne and stuffed artichokes preceding the traditional fare. Max and Courtney joined us, and we strolled down to the Brooklyn Promenade to witness the famous Manhattan skyline. Our enjoyment lasted approximately 32.4 seconds, or the amount of time we could survive in freezing temperatures with frigid 40 mile-per-hour gusts.
While the REAL patriots were propping up the economy on Black Friday, the wife and I made like a couple of draft dodgers and visited the MOMA and strolled through Central Park. Art and natural beauty were admittedly meager substitutes for long lines and fanatical consumerism, but it was just enough to assuage my guilt.
Another pleasure of NYC is eating at fine neighborhood restaurants. Gennaro’s served reasonably-priced, high quality Italian food that crops up all over New York but is all but impossible to find in Austin. Tonight’s meal at Indus Valley was almost comparable to the incomparable Clay Pit, which is good enough for me.
Tomorrow it’s back home to the dog and warm temperatures. I’m glad we got a taste of winter, but I’ll need a warm weekend to run off the excesses of New York.
treat yourself
Feb 15th
I didn’t think we’d be able to top last year’s celebration at Uchi, but this Valetine’s Day managed to surpass even that wondrous combination of sushi and friends thanks to the magic of Sicola’s. The restaurant is a family effort fronted by Tom Sicola, co-founder of the SicolaMartin advertising firm in Austin, and their personal touch shows in every detail. Tom engages guests in various conversations and culinary recommendations in between managing the iPod-driven ambiance, and his son Stephen confers with diners about the astonishingly good dishes he prepares for them.
In between socializing, the family serve up the most extraordinarily flavorful dishes in Austin. Everything from the salmon-topped artichoke hearts to the crème brulée made my mouth water uncontrollably as it tickled taste buds I forgot that I had. The food and drink flowed together perfectly with a wine selection matched to each course. Even the haricot verts served with my steak and Rachel’s snapper were amazing, convincing me that I would have grown up much healthier if I’d known that green beans could taste that good.
Sicola’s only serves private dining, which means you’ll need to organize an event or seek them out around holidays to indulge in their excellence. But by all means, make the effort. It was the finest dining experience I’ve ever had.