Gusto

A friend and I probably ate lunch at La Sombra once a week for the last year or more. I liked what I got; particularly the unusual soups. Since I am unfamiliar with Brazilian cuisine, I have not idea to what extent it was "authentic". So, we were sorry when they closed and tepid when it was announced that the owners were opening YAIP(yet another Italian place). So much so that we did not try it until last week.

Our impression: OK but unimpressive. Bear in mind that it was lunch and so dinner may be better. The salads were so-so. I'll give them points for remembering the anchovies in the Caesar dressing, but little else. My sandwich was less interesting than those from La Sombra and the soups were also less interesting.

The service was good, as we have always found it to be at lunch. The upshot is that we will probably give it a pass unless there is some limiting issue that drives us there. (all of our regulars are struck by a plague or the like)

FWIW, I've given up reading YELP reviews of just about anything food-related. I don't find most of them to be knowledgeable, reliable, or often, even intelligible.

akachochin in Austin

Best Croissants?

Thanks,
I looked a couple of weeks ago and her website had not then been updated. This looks like quite a hassle and is a far cry from what I had hope for when "retail" was mentioned.

Given the other comments re croissants around town, I thought I'd throw in my developing impressions. This past Saturday, after my morning taco, and finding it was too early for the Republic Sq. farmer's market, I stopped by Easy Tiger and Elizabeth St. and picked up a plain croissant from each. For that sample and my taste, the Easy Tiger croissant was better. It had a lighter texture, better developed layers, and good crispness. By contrast, the Elizabeth St. example was heavier, with much less distinct layering, with a crisp but quite hard outer crust; perhaps the overuse of a glaze or more sugar in the dough. (The ES croissant was distinctly sweeter)

I have not been out to B et C early enough to make a direct comparison of their croissants, but thought the ones I have had around noon were well made.

I've got a couple of early meetings this week and intend to try the experiment again.

akachochin in Austin

Sprouts mergers with Sunflower

Merge? Does one say that the coyote "merges" with the rabbit?

Seriously, from what little I can see and lament in terms of closed stores, (Sun Harvest), Sprouts simply buys competitors and closes them. They serve no more areas or customers.

akachochin in Austin

Best Croissants?

As noted below, Barrie has stopped supplying several locations with wholesale and, presumably, it is for the purpose of opening her retail operation. Has anyone found a trace of her retail plans, presence, or offerings?

I find an old architectural rendering of the inside of a store and various posts about her aspirations, but nothing concrete.

Any news?

akachochin in Austin

Old Restaurants in Austin

You would not have laughed in 1962.

akachochin in Austin

Anyone finding HOT Hatch chiles around town?

That's good to know. I was in a hurry and bought some roasted. They went almost directly to the freezer and I forgot to try them for heat. I'll be sure to check out the fresh ones before I go to too much trouble. Most years I buy my chiles while in New Mexico, mostly from a place just NW of Espanola. This year is just too damned hot to try to bring them back, even after enjoying some relatively decent temperatures. I would probably die of heat stroke trying to roast 4 bu of them in this heat.

akachochin in Austin

There HAS to be a good Thai restaurant here...

I've taken two classes at Thai Fresh and enjoyed them both. They are much more "hands on" rather than demonstration and so more interesting and, at least to my way of learning such things, better.
I took a class similar to the one you have signed up for last year and another, Thai curries, this year. I liked the second a bit better, mostly because it gave me the confidence to get out my big granite mortar and start making Thai curries from scratch.

The only downside to the classes is that Jam is sometimes not as "rehearsed" as she might be, leading to some lost time or confusion. The upside is that she is a good teacher and the classes are very relaxed and informal. Since you also get to eat what you make and often there is enough to take home, I recommend them.

Let us all know how your class turned out and how the remodeling is coming along at Thai Fresh. They are supposed to be turning their "deli-like" business into a restaurant.

akachochin in Austin

Sourcing duck!

The only things that I see that are odd about it are that it is only a small fraction of a whole and it looks odd because it has been scrunched to fit in the bag. That fat U shape in the center looks to me like it would fold out into a "bacon-ish shape" if pulled from each side and the two thin flaps folded at the bottom should probably be trimmed as they will take up too much of the cure.

akachochin in Austin

Penzey's is coming to Austin. Anyone know where?

Thanks. I am on their mailing list, but missed the information in the catalog. That is a very handy address for my shopping. I was going by the email and postcards they sent soliciting applications which just said N. Lamar.

I'll second a subsequent poster's comments about postage, though it is true that if you order the larger, ziplock-bagged, sizes and not the jars, it is less of a problem. I usually order a 6-12 month supply and keep most of it in the freezer.

akachochin in Austin

Penzey's is coming to Austin. Anyone know where?

What I saw says N. Lamar in September. I was just wondering if one of the folks who watch construction permitting might know where.

Thanks,

akachochin in Austin

Best store for Japanese?

Re: Shiso leaves.

Green shiso is very, very easy to grow. If you are growing it outside, you will likely only plant it once and then spend the following years "discovering" and pulling up the many new sprouts. It is not like mint, spreading everywhere by roots, but the seeds are tiny and prolific. I have a barrel in which it has reseeded itself for 8-9 years.

FWIW, I have had much less luck with red shiso. It seems to not like the heat or something, turning greenish and going to seed very quickly. So you won't get the little flower/seed panicles served with dipping sauces; at least not for very long.

akachochin in Austin

Seeking a restaurant in Austin with both a good beer selection and a tasty macaroi and cheese

Uncle Billies, Barton Springs road. Good house-made beers and decent mac and cheese if you don't wait until 11PM to order it.

akachochin in Austin

Caul fat!

You can get it at one or more of the pork purveyors at the Republic Square Farmer's Market. I'm sorry, I don't recall the name, but it is on their list of products displayed at the stand. I have 4# in the freezer as we speak and this weekend, Kocurek had crepinette at the market, which uses caul fat.

akachochin in Austin

desperate for a decent baguette in Austin

You might drop by the Farmer's Market at Republic Sq on Saturday morning. There are getting to be a number of bread bakers that show up and some of it looks good. Sorry that I don't have a direct recommendation as I generally make my own.

Another possibility to check out is the market at Boggy Creek Farm on Wednesday and Saturday mornings. The woman who makes those wonderful croissants for La Boite (and whose name escapes me at the moment), often has bread for sale at the farm and might be able to tell you where else you can find her baking.

akachochin in Austin

Need input on La Sombra Bar and Grill

May be too late for your purposes, and it is not about dinner, but I just came from a very enjoyable lunch at la Sombra. We had the lunch special of house salad, soup, and a half sandwich of your choice. The salad was much better than the typical small house green salad, containing several kinds of baby greens, frisee, hearts of palm, and avocado dressing with a good vinaigrette. The soup was vegetables in a stock/broth, containing beans, yucca, plantains, potatoes and one other starch that I did not identify. My sandwich, the Cubano, was very good, if not quite the archetype of pressed Cuban sandwich I expected. My lunch companion ordered the Saltado de pollo and it looked even better than my Cubano. We had a ginger flavored, flan-like dish and a chocolate mousse with crushed pistachios for desert, both quite good.

Though it is a bit more expensive than some lunch places, the good food and good service will make it a regular stop for us. I plan to try them for dinner later in the month.

akachochin in Austin

Where to get home-grownish tomatoes?

My experience is that you cannot reliably grow market quantities of the very dense, beefsteak-style tomatoes in Central Texas. There are some growers of heirloom varieties selling at the markets in Austin whose offerings approximate the varieties that thrive where the days are longer, the nights cooler, and the rain more plentiful. As an example, I grew a couple of Italian Giants this year on a lark. True to form, they made 8+foot tall vines, drank gallons of water, and made about 7-9 large fruit apiece. The Celebrities next to them produced around 40-50 fruit each and the Valley Girls even more. The latter seems to be able to take more night time heat than the former and is one of the more common varieties grown by local market growers.

Partial compensation is that we can get our first vine ripened tomatoes about two months before the Ohio River valley and eat our last ones fresh from the vine at least two months later. If you are careful about your choice of varieties and plantings, you can get tomatoes just about any time from early May until November except August.

akachochin in Austin

Where to get home-grownish tomatoes?

Well, there is a farmers market at the Triangle on Wednesday from 4-7 and Boggy Creek is open Wednesday mornings from 9-something.

Not sure just where you are going to find tomatoes sans farmers other than for the obvious suggestion to grow them. Doing so might get you the particular variety and taste you like if you or a family member knows what your grandfather grew. (Assuming that he grew them in a climate somewhat like ours. If he was in Michigan or Ohio, you are out of luck) The growing might also give you a hint as to why vine ripened, local tomatoes are not available for $0.97/lb. If the tomato is shipped from Florida or California, it was picked green. If it is grown on 1000 acre plots anywhere it is likely to be a variety bred for handling, not flavor.
I grow my own because it gives me the varieties I like and I can manipulate the environment to produce a bit earlier than most local farmers are willing to do. On the other hand, I doubt that they cost me less than $4.00/lb if I have to figure in the taxes on the land and my labor. FWIW, most of the local growers who sell at farmer's markets are quite helpful in identifying the varieties they grow, so if you find something you like, you could try it in an "earthbox" or the like.
Good luck.

akachochin in Austin

The Apothecary, Burnet Rd., initial impression

You did not mention when you go; lunch or dinner time. My experience suggests that lunch would be out of the question for anyone working regular hours.

FWIW, I went back on Friday. (7/9) around 1245-1300. The music was not as loud, so I stayed and ordered a sandwich (salami,ham,cheese panino). It took right at 38 minutes to get the sandwich, delivered with the news that the kitchen was very busy. Maybe they have a catering trade, because there were 9 other people in the place. Two at the bar using notebooks and not eating, one at the bar drinking a glass of wine and not eating, and three tables of two, two of whom already had their food.

I don't know what the problem is, but unless you are retired, on vacation, between jobs, or self-employed, you are unlikely to have the time for lunch unless you are the only person there.

The sandwich? OK. About $1 more expensive than Mandola's with roughly the same quality. About the same price as Enoteca with considerably less quality. I did not try the wine. Perhaps that is the strong point of the place.

akachochin in Austin

Anybody check out Samba?

Thanks for both correcting my hasty typing of the name, (observed in driving past) and noting the information. I was going to come back to correct it, but never remembered to do so. It sounds good. I could not tell from the article whether they are actually open or just entertaining reviewers. Have to stop by.

akachochin in Austin

The Apothecary, Burnet Rd., initial impression

Thanks for the review. I visited them a little before noon about a month back. The music was at the threshold of pain and impossible to converse over, so I left. Maybe when it is cooler, sitting outside would be an option. Since I live nearby, I would like to have the option, but would prefer someplace where conversation is possible.

akachochin in Austin

Baguette et Chocolat open?

Many thanks. I obviously missed it in all the jitter and motion.

akachochin in Austin

Baguette et Chocolat open?

So, could one of you who has been let us know either the hours of operation or the phone number? That miserable excuse for a website does not appear to consider either the sort of thing that one would like to know about a business.

I sure hope that their baking skills exceed their standards for a web presence.

Thanks.

akachochin in Austin

The former Sampaio looks to have a new tenant

Has anyone been to Samba? I'll check again when I go up to Phoenicia tomorrow.

-----
Sampaio's Restaurant and Bar
4800 Burnet Rd # 200, Austin, TX 78756

akachochin in Austin

Know Your Enemy: Snappy Snacks Villainy Exposed by Local Media

Much depends on what those one liners mean.

For example: "Notarized Documentation of Daily Commissary Use"
It might mean that whatever food storage and preparation is done outside the trailer must be inspected. It might mean frequent paperwork for small operations. It might mean that every trailer has to have a fully licensed commercial kitchen associated with their trailer.

"Certification of Commissaries".
This might simply be a complete redundant version of the former (designed, perhaps to add cost to the trailer vendors). It might mean that if they do not have a "commissary" they don't need it. It might mean that they must have a "commissary".

"Commercially Manufactured Unit or Unit Plans Required".
What's a unit? The trailer? The cooking equipment? Only the ensemble? This could be as little as a requirement for commercial grade cooking units or simply a "you must buy your unit from Snappy" law.

Itinerary for Truck Routes.
Prospective? Retrospective? Why at all? How often updated? What happens on an update? Is this a way for Snappy to get veto rights

akachochin in Food Media & News

Organic Roma Tomatoes in Austin?

Just curious. What would you choose? The Roma type was specifically selected as a paste/sauce tomato.

akachochin in Austin

Organic Roma Tomatoes in Austin?

As noted, you can find organic Roma tomatoes most of the year at Central Market, Whole Foods, and the like. If you are really wanting good tomatoes, do yourself the favor of waiting until the tomatoes ripen locally and obtain them from the local farmer's markets. The difference in flavor will more than make up for the wait.

FWIW. they are also pretty easy to grow in our climate, if you have the room.

-----
Central Market
4477 S Lamar Blvd Ste 100, Austin, TX 78745

akachochin in Austin

Brian Peters of Uncle Billy's Brings Home the Gold at Great American Beer Festival

It is. Though you will not be able to get close to the place until after Sunday...

akachochin in Austin

Antonio's Tex Mex, What was I thinking?

Given that Antonio is not exactly an uncommon name, it might be a nice touch to add the address or some other clue so that it would trigger a phobic response inthe average seeker of TexMex who was driving around Austin. Not every reader is a super special clued in savant of Austin TexMex.

akachochin in Austin

Help Me Put a Melon Debate To Bed?

I am a little late. I have not tried to trellis watermelon, but I have grown cantaloupe on trellis for years. The secret to a fully ripe, "full slip", melon is: panty hose. I use my wife's old nylons and panty hose to to support the developing fruit. They expand to conform to the shape of the fruit and allow it to grow to maturity. When the fruit slips and falls an inch or two into the support, you have the ripest, best melons you have ever tasted.

And yes, your neighbors may think that your garden is a little strange. You might also try the poly mesh sacks that some fruit is sold in, but only use plastic wrap or anything that impedes airflow or will hold in heat.

akachochin in Gardening