Odd Duck

A few photos from our first trip to Odd Duck (or Barley Swine Junior, as I like to call it), Bryce Gilmore's newest restaurant. We will definitely be back again.

 Glasses of Barbera

 Boudin grits and pickled shrimp, sadly eaten before captured by film

Chicken fried chicken egg

Spiced redfish

HBD Dinner at Bufalina

This last weekend was my birthday, and a group of friends and I headed to Bufalina for some delicious Neopolitan-style pizzas. Chris and I got the fresca with prosciutto, arugula, cherry tomatoes, mozzarella, and parmesan, and also the margherita. (We excitedly over-ordered for the two of us and ended up taking almost half of each home.) The restaurant has a sort of low-key, modern vibe to it with its communal picnic tables and white wood-fired oven and was definitely a great place to bring a bunch of friends for a cozy b-day dinner. Definitely putting this place on my Revisit List. 

Bufalina // 1519 East Cesar Chavez // ATX, 78702

 Fresca pizza

Cab franc

InstaMax photos

Dinner at Barlata

When I lived in Brooklyn, there was this sort of divey tapas place two blocks from my apartment that was perfect for an after-work drink and snack. They had exceptional cocktails and delicious chorizo. So I was excited when Barlata opened in Austin a few months ago, and we finally had time to eat there last night. It's not as divey as my favorite Brooklyn tapas place (and by divey, I mean an old building, comfy chairs, you could sit there for hours and no one would care), but the food was pretty amazing. Chris and I shared the shrimp with garlic and adobo sauce, Catalan toast with serrano ham, and the paella Barlata with saffron rice, chicken chorizo, mussels, and shrimp. I also got to add two more wines to our Spanish wine map we've been keeping: whites from Rias Baixas and Somontano.

Foreign & Domestic's Oyster Night

Two-dollar beers and dollar oysters are basically all this girl needs to get her ass out of her desk chair and into the car heading to Hyde Park for F & D's Oyster Night. (And it's good beer, not gross beer. We had cans from Austin Beerworks and Hops & Grain Brewery.) (Also, I love that the Hops & Grain beer Chris is drinking below is called The One They Call Zoe. Maybe one of the best beer names ever? You decide.)

Please note the lack of actual oyster pictures below because we ate them too fast to actually stop and document them. Sorry/not sorry! Definitely the most delicious Tuesday night deal Chris and I have stumbled upon in Austin.

The deals are on the smaller menu to the left.

The One They Call Chris

 Bacon and Chorizo Arancini Hush Puppies

House Corn Bread and Butter

This and That

What Jane saw.

I cried at the end of this Modern Love.

Fourth of July printables.

Love: Charles Eames proposal letter.

Cronut, anyone?

Excited about this restaurant opening.

(Image via Pinterest)

Date Night: Freedmen's, Whisler's, Weather Up

After a couple of days of being on Aunt and Uncle Duty, Chris and I decided to date-night-it up like the childless and free couple we are on Friday night. We started at Freedmen's. They have a Whiskey Wall! I was basically sold at that point. Their pit chili was my fave, and Chris loved the brisket. And we both tried their Whiskey of the Month, Angel's Envy, which basically tasted like golden liquid victory on ice.

 Whiskey Wall!

Brisket

Close-up of the pit chili. You're welcome.

Then we headed over to Whisler's on the east side before ending up at Weather Up, one of the best cocktail bars I have ever been to, where we sipped on perfectly made Manhattans. Lovely night in Texas, y'all. 

This and That

I made these amazingly simple Nutella cookies last week. (Also, I am loving the Ambitious Kitchen blog in general. So many good treats.)

Ampersand bottle opener.

Cute rabbit holiday card.

This chili looks delicous.

Love these peach polka-dot oxfords.

Excited about this new Thai restaurant opening.

(Image via Pinterest)

Epic Austin Date: Barley Swine, Henri's, Lick, Rushmore

S: Here's our epic date night, told through Hipstamatic photos.

Me waiting to be impressed at the award-winning Barley Swine.

The pork belly that did it. (Also, the corn soup is made of DREAMS.)

Then wine at the cheese shop Henri's next door to Barley Swine. 

We both had a nice California chardonnay.

And we played some 1980s Trivial Pursuit. (I won big-time.) (Also, it's good to know who Tom Wolfe is, btw. He came up several times.) There is nothing more endearing than an establishment with board games ready to go at every table.

Cheese!

Dessert: ice cream at Lick (a newish all-organic ice cream place in South Austin). I had the coconut, peanut butter, and chocolate swirl.

Finally, we headed to Whip-In (a beer store/Indian restaurant in South Austin) to get some Summer Love, then went home and watched Rushmore. Perfect film to end a perfectly sweet summer night.

Summer Saturday: F & D Bake Sale and Real Ale Anniversary

S: Saturdays in the summer should always be full of pastries followed by copious amounts of day drinking. As such, Chris and I started this past Saturday hitting up Foreign and Domestic's new weekend bake sale. We scored zucchini bread in a can, a giant cinnamon bun with cream cheese frosting, and a ham and Gruyère popover. If the description wasn't enough for you, just look at this:

Our pastry box

Zucchini bread in a can

I've become a little obsessed with the zucchini bread we bought, and I'm hoping to recreate it soon. I found a similar recipe here that's now on my cooking to-do list.

After we were fully sated from F & D, we drove out to Blanco, Texas, around lunchtime to wile away the afternoon at Real Ale Brewing Company's 16th anniversary party. (Blanco is about an hour's ride away, and just about the most perfect day trip from Austin. Head to the tasting room at Real Ale and then drive a few miles to Blanco State Park to swim away the afternoon the next time you have a free day.)

We waited in line for about thirty and were then handed packets of tickets for four beers, a bbq lunch, and a koozie. For free! Love you, Real Ale.

Ticket packet. The anniversary beer (Four Squared) was delicious. 

The warehouse

 

Firemans 4 cans

We ended up back in Austin around seven, STARVING. You would think ingesting all those calories hour after hour would have been enough for us. But no. We showered, threw on some clothes, and headed to Komè, where we shared the awe-inspiring tempura zaru soba special (soba noodles with tempura shrimp, dipping broth, and a quail egg) that basically made me realize that living in Austin is the most perfect and right thing to be doing at this moment in time. Perfect summer day. End scene.