slowcooked, I heard that episode too via Downcast, my new favorite commuting app to play through the car speakers.

Love the title of the speaker's (Author - Tom Mueller)book:
"Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil "
http://amzn.to/11tujOd

He recommended 2 every day brands -
- California Olive Ranch
- Corto

He had not-nice things to say about Whole Foods 365 brand evoo as well as the brand that Cook's Illustrated always recommends (also starts with a C...

Rudeboy, he quoted the price of Corto at Costco as an excellent bargain. That same day I went to HEB on Braker and 183. Doing the math in my head... The HEB price was very close; it might have even been slightly better than what he said costco charged on the podcast. I concluded it was better because it was a smaller quantity for close enough $.

>>Wow... where has this been hiding?

Yay! Exactly !!!

I can tell you where -- those fish tacos have been hiding out in the bottom right of the Cover 2 menu. People read menus from the center out. Also, it looks relatively expensive to everything else @ $13?, but they are much better than $16-ish similar dishes.

And that rice! It has an intangible beyond the ingredients that I can see.

The unexpected thing about Cover 2 is that even though their are TVs everywhere it seems more conducive to conversation than I'd expect.

Ok I s'pose Rudeboy is right just this once ;-)

=========== Breakfast

- pancake @ Jim's Restaurant (dinner)

- Kerbey Lane's Eggs San Francisco

- Scrambled eggs, biscuits and gravy from The Noble Pig

=========== Lunch or dinner

- Fish Tacos with fancy rice at Cover 2

Drive-through hamburger - Kid's cheeseburger at Elevation burger with
- balsamic mustard
- carmelized onions
- hot pepper relish

Restaurant burger

Tie
Bartletts, such a classic
Hopdoddy magic schroom burger

- Cedar planked salmon with soy butter on the side from Roaring Fork at Stonelake off braker

Iced Tea - Trio in the Four Seasons downtown
Even the iced cubes are made of ice tea

Popovers with dinner - Trio

=========== Dessert

Hmm. Nothing from a restaurant comes to mind. First thing I thought of was HEB fruit pie slices. One slice is big enough for 2 people, and their crust is better than I've made from scratch. They must use more lard.

Dina have you tried Cover 2's fish tacos?

I find them addictive. Not to mention the fancy rice on the side. I've never gushed about rice before. Usually just not worth the carbs. But their fish tacos fancy rice side is special.

Directions from the north:

Tamale House East, 1707 e. 6th st.
Turn East (LEFT) from the 7'th street exit,
RIGHT on a little street called Chalmers
LEFT on East 6'th street and Tamale House East is on the right.

website quote:
"We spent the last 2 months in serious investigative mode. Sweat neck research led us to 4 men, each claiming that they alone invented the American hamburger (or cheeseburger.)

Now it's time to show and prove. We've secured a truck load of hormone and antibiotic free, verified natural beef from Branch Ranch (est.1902) in Plains, Texas and we're ready to hit the kitchen of Tamale House East. Eventbrite http://burgerproject.eventbrite.com/

The menu:...."

http://www.scrumptiouschef.com/food/index.cfm/2013/6/4/Scrumptious-Chef-Pop-Up-Restaurant-11-East-Austin-Burger-Project-Sat-June-8-2013-Tamale-House-East#comments

Both the burger and french fry description sounds awe-inspiring

http://www.scrumptiouschef.com/food/

Anyone heading? I'm going to be in exact opposite part of town tonight gosh darn it. Wonder how late they are going to stay open?

Once a year, Central Market features food and drink from another country. This year until May 7'th it's featuring Brazil.

Those Central Market planners (probably not their official title) or creative people do a wonderful job with these celebrations. They seem to go way beyond the surface in researching what to feature in each department, then they make it all very fun.

Likes from this year's celebration in priority order:

1) Loved the Brazilian pizza special in the cafe. I was not in the mood for pizza, but switched to ordering it after asking the guy behind the register which was his favorite from all the specials.

There was a lot going on in this pizza, including:
- small round red brazilian peppers that looked like red icing drops that you would put on a cupcake
- chorizo sausage
- pineapple
- ham
- an amazing green pesto base

I limited myself to 1 piece that meal. Leftovers for 5 days were 1 piece per day with a salad as a meal till gone. Reheated in toaster oven at 350 for 8 minutes. Crust was still good.

2) Red Pepper Pesto from the bulk bar.

Used as a spread on a turkey and spinach wrap. Wow. I need to get more of this on may 7 to completely dissect the ingredients label. This pesto has serious depth of flavor. The nuts used were brazilian nuts, which I didn't think I liked. Chipotle peppers were another ingredient.

3) "Brazilian vinaigrette" from the bulk bar

Sounds like it would be a dressing, but it's a very chunky sauce of small cubed things all with a sweet and sour-ish taste. It was great over a white fish.

http://www.centralmarket.com/Home.aspx

I am grumpy that I am out of my favorite Central Market popcorn, the Rocky Mountain popped popcorn, butter flavor.

Plan B product is un-satisfying.
Popping it myself is not as good either.

seconded re: Jack Allen's Kitchen.

That has the best food I've had anywhere in Round Rock.

If they still have the special "Duck Duck Goat" give it a try.

Last time I went into Junior's Icehouse late (on a weeknight between 9pm and 10pm) and craving a burger, they told me only the bar was still open.

I had even called on the way there to see if they were open.

Now, I know to ask any restaurant (not just in Austin)

---> "What time do you stop serving hot food?"

instead of
"What time do you close?"
or even
"What time does your kitchen close?"

Cover 2 or Cover 3's Chicken Tinga Enchiladas

Just before 10pm if you're in the mood for chicken fingers, the Golden Chick off the 62 exit to the right are my favorite chicken fingers and french fries.

Past 10pm, I'd go to the HEB Plus on 79 and scavenge from the take-out area near the front.

Till midnight or 1:00am, If you're craving a burger and willing to go to North RR, there's the Steak and Shake off the Ikea exit.

RR needs a Kerbey Lane. (If they had one I'd suggest their Eggs Francisco if you are really hungry and exercised already that day.)

I've had pretty good breakfasts at La Creperie and the 1886 cafe place.

My favorite place for dinner nearest you is Parkside - fun, tasty, creative.

I used yelp to search
For: restaurants
Near: 300 east 4'th street, austin, TX (your hotel)
and checked "within 4 blocks"

Parkside was my favorite in that criteria. Use Search here on Chowhound to find in depth reviews of Parkside.

One trailer I saw that I have not tried but looks GREAT:
Turf N' Surf Po Boy trailer
http://www.yelp.com/biz/turf-n-surf-p...

ps: Go Duke! :-)

If you go to Jack Allen's kitchen, hopefully they will have the Duck Duck Goat dinner special.

If they have it, get the Duck Duck Goat :-).

I have vinegar (yes, straight vinegar) in a spray bottle that I've been spraying over veggies before I prep them.

Would spraying vinegar on boxed salad greens remove any Listeria that remains?

I just read the Huffington Post article on
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02...

which led me to the
The Biggest Food Safety Disasters Of 2012 slideshow article underneath it.

Listeria seemed to be the most common.

re: the article
I felt terrible for that person vacationing in FL who caught vibriosis from a bad oyster. That sounds like one of the worst ways to die ever.

Thank you for the compassion Carbs and Sal!

Stitches are out, and I have a little numb spot around it.

Purchased 2 of those delicious full loaves of Sourdough last week on Sunday.

On Wednesday, was using a bread knife to cut a slice for toast before going to bed. The crust was a little harder at that point. I cut an end piece off to discard.

Then, at the beginning of the next slice... the serrated bread knife slid off the top and over / into my left index finger that was holding the loaf.

Blood everywhere. 7 stitches later... OUCH.

I'm always careful and aware of my thumb when cutting. This one took me by surprise.

Yep - Elevation Burger has been under construction at that drive-through location forever.

The last place to operate there was Terra Burger.

Try the vinegar-based coleslaw with Feta at Zoe's Kitchen in the Arboretum.

hi sqwertz,

Have you tried HEB's delicious frozen Italian meatballs? If yes, are Costco's better?

What do you you use the "Delice de Borgnone triple cream" for?

------

To add to the Costco list, for clean-ups, Costco is the only source I know of the cleaning wipes in a package that is relatively FLAT, vs those tall cylinders. They are 3 to a pack.

http://www.costco.com/Kirkland-Signat...

This is the main thing I can't forget on my next Costco run. These fit into shallow drawers in any bathroom or kitchen.

1) Tri-Tips

The steaks / roasts that Costco labels as "Tri-Tips" are excellent on the BBQ smoked with hickory hardwood. They are delicious that night, then delicious from the freezer 1 month later.

Before grilling, I cut them to be the right size for slicing into spinach salads for leftovers.

Next time with these tri-tips I'm going to try the "scruffing" technique I heard about on the NPR podcast that worked really well w/ a rib-eye on cast iron last week.. http://www.amazon.com/dp/1579654657/?...

2) Shrimp salad

There's something classic and delicious about their shrimp salad. My mom loved it and it makes me miss her. Month after she passed I walked by it and started crying right there.

3) Organic blueberries

Hands down, once a year, Costco has the best deal on organic blueberries anywhere.

looks like Restaurant David has shut down

http://www.restaurant-david.cz/

(look at the page in google Chrome for auto-translation)

In my email inbox from Central Market:

"We hope that you love seeing our delicious newsletter in your inbox each week.

We noticed that you did not have a home store selected and we want to fix that. In order to get weekly specials and invites to events specific to your home store, please update your profile
with your current information.

To thank you, we’ll email you a coupon for $5 off a purchase of $25 or more, to use at any of our stores."

Maybe if you sign up for a newletter but not a "home store" you can replicate this kind offer?

Hey rudeboy,

One family with 2 small kids was there when I stopped by for lunch but that was it. Like ieatherefore said, I also can't imagine it ever being crowded for eat-in because:

- The location is sort of hidden

- How to describe the atmosphere... it's definitely very Austin-y, and I think you would be cool with it. But it's on the spartan side of Austin-y, or maybe a little too rugged or not 'hipster' enough for the masses to make it crowded. ScrumptiousChef could describe it better.

If you go, get a small side of the beet salad and try to convince your kids that after you eat it, it will make you glow purple until Halloween.

ieatherefore.

I can't remember last time I had dolmas, so I'll definitely check them out next time I'm there. And, the chicken at Verts, or the grilled veggie one.

ieathereforeiam, I tried Mediterranean Chef. Enjoyed a totally delicious gyro, and a very unusual "beet salad" yogurt-based side dish that looked fluorescent purple.

The gyro meat had great flavor - seared-tasting, lean, no hint of gristle. Excellent tzatziki sauce. Only change I'd make next time is to hold the jalapenos. I do like jalapenos, but there were so many other good flavors happening that one seemed a little out of place.

The place is Austin-rad. Tables in the middle of (or near) their production line. The guy behind the counter was adorable.

I almost forgot!
For next day I ordered 1 of their vegetarian "hand pies" and 1 meat (in shape of big crescent roll). Holy smokes these were delicious heated up in the microwave. They weren't huge (each like a crescent roll) but became 4 total meals with veggies on the side.

I need to remember those during the holidays - they would make great snacks for visitors and it seems like they would keep in the fridge for several days.

I would order the beet salad again - it was spicier than I expected, but just so rad looking that it's oddly compelling. I expected to glow purple after eating it. Will have to try that argument on my favorite picky eater :-).

any order recommendations?

Corn chowder at Cover 2, and the new "mexican corn" side at Torchy's Tacos.

ieatthereforeiam, Agreed, the chicken has got to be better.

>> My favorite gyros near anderson are the place in the trailer park (NATY) and the meditteranean chef off koenig.

I think I have driven by that NATY trailer park. What is the piece of 'art' that they have near the entrance?

Thanks for the tip re: Mediterranean Chef near Koenig. I'll check it out.

brentwood, It was to-go, but I did pull out the feedback card from my purse.

I hoped to see a QR code*, because that would mean I could dictate the feedback and post it to a feedback application on their website while making coffee.

Didn't see one of those so I looked for an email address on the card. Didn't see one, though maybe it was there in really small print somewhere and I just missed it.

I carry postcard stamps with me, so I turned the card over thinking OK I could mail this in tomorrow. No address.

At that point I tossed it.

*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QR_code

Thank you kukubura, I found and added Hospoda U Novaka as a placemark on my Google Maps list.

Tried the new Verts Berlin donor kebap place yesterday. It opened next to Hopdoddys burger place on Anderson Lane.

The good:

- The interior is cute. Red on white with wood tables. High energy.

- I had the Berliner kebap with the beef and lamb. The bread was interesting. Shape was similar to a pita pocket but thicker than pita bread. It had a unique flavor to it. I did not love it but it was interesting.

- There were a lot of good vegetables in the standard kebap. They all seemed very fresh. Then again this was day one, but still delicious veggies inside. If you are vegetarian, I think you'll really like the place.

- They have a good variety of yogurt-based sauces.

- Fast, very friendly service.

The bad:

- It was difficult to find the meat in the big wrap. Few bites of that entire sandwich had meat or taste of meat in it.

- The interior was loud and echo-y.

- From the meat that I did taste, almost every bite had gristle in it.

After encountering the first two pieces of gristle, I decided to inspect the rest of what little meat was left to pull it remaining gristle.

I'll be in Berlin in a couple of months, and look forward to trying other donor kebaps there. Maybe the gristle is authentic to that prep..

This experience made me crave a gyro. Gyro recommendations anyone?

What is their brussel sprouts preparation like?