Austin ModHouse

Arcodoro Pomodoro: many years ago, I used to spend time at Arcodoro, their previous location; my GF at the time was a waitress there.  Lori and Efisio Faris were always good to me and I learned a lot about real Italian food from them.  I was excited to find they have reopened at the Crescent Court. 

We entered using "THE GOLDEN BACK DOOR".  (use self parking and take the elevator up, the door allows entrance through the kitchen!  ask for your parking ticket to be validated before you leave)

Yes, it's all THAT fresh. 

We used the Yelp app check-in and received free bellinis!  #2 son was not passed out at the table, he is often uncooperative for pictures (makes faces, hides his face, thumbs down signs etc). 

This is a very nice restaurant.  The two other tables near us both spoke Italian, not english.  Everybody was very well dressed and one lady wore a fur.  #1 son brought it down to our level with his table side walrus impression. 

Kat LOVED this beef carpaccio with portobello and truffle oil.  Arcodoro was where I learned to appreciate carpaccio, and it's just as good as I remember. 

My only complaint, the tomato was not that good... I know, it's Winter time...  but I still get good tomatoes from my local Trader Joe's and my Dad had stacks of them at his place in Dallas, his greenhouse is nearly overgrown with delicious fresh winter tomatoes. 

On tap!

The Pizza was delicious, rotisserie chicken, red onions, smoked mozzarella and sundried tomatoes

Kat loves a good seafood soup and this "Traditional Sardinian Soup" was perfect!

We also sought Italian food in Highland Park Village at Patrizio's

There was a 45 minute wait.  I found Kat a seat at the bar while I cornered the kids out of the way.  These three gentlemen made her feel welcome and shared conversation.  One was a retired Judge, she was networking!

artichoke stuffed with crab and goat cheese, fried, and served over creamy polenta. 

The kids always love Patrizio's.

Pizza was delicious, and the tomatoes were really good. 

#2 son being uncooperative again. 

I did have an issue with the hostess. I’d asked her to check how much longer the wait was after 45 minutes had elapsed.  She had given our table away to another party and crossed my name off the list. She insisted I already had a table, I assured her we did NOT. Then she was rude to me about it. She made me prove it and challenged me to produce our buzzer… meanwhile we'd all been waiting patiently in the bar area. Not once did she apologize for the mistake.  She insisted that I had turned in buzzer (#15), but she couldn't account for the buzzer I had in my hand (#32).  She finally gave in with "do you STILL want a table?!" 

the tiramisu went quick!

we made our usual stop at Scardello Cheese shop. 

We scored a new Alpine Style Cheese from Rolf Beeler, Holzhofer.  Will do some side by side comparisons later this week.

We visited the Perot Nature and Science Museum. 

Kat was enamoured with the Makerbot (3D printer)

We also enjoyed a beer at Strangeways and met up with an old friend. We both worked at Hooter's 20 years ago!  He's now in Los Angeles, turning his auto hobby into a career at http://www.motoiq.com/About.aspx.  I sold Jeff my old welder, his first, when he was still in High School.

Posted by paul at 11:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

#2 son LOVES hotels.  He spent a good part of the day whining "can we go to the hotel NOW!"  He was happy to reach his goal. 

We had a great view of the Omni Hotel.  It's covered with color shifting LED lights that they like to watch when the sun goes down.

#1 son was looking forward to a game of pool in the lobby. 

He beat me. 

Every stay at Aloft Dallas is capped with a walk across the street, to climb on longhorn cattle at Pioneer Park.

20 years ago, I lived down the block.  I remember when the first longhorn was placed.  Never in my wildest dreams did I consider I would return to see it completed and bring kids along... 

Posted by paul at 11:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We spent Christmas at my Dad's place.  It's our tradition and it's easy on us. 

big tree covered with ornaments, a pile of presents arranged around, and a pickle hidden in there somewhere...  no early peeking!

My Dad and his wife went to Italy this past summer.  They brought us back some Pecorino!

Doctor Who has been common table talk this past year.  Christmas also honored the Doctor. 

The kids look forward to a waffle breakfast any time they wake up at Grandpa Schuster's house. 

Dad: uh-oh, I wasn't supposed to put the almonds on yet. I just screwed up the pie!
Kat: I can remove them for you
Dad: I don't know how you're gonna do it. There's a lot!
Kat: Do you have chopsticks?

And there she is carefully removing every almond slice with chopsticks. The pie has been saved! Christmas meal is back on track!

bird has been prepped for the fryer.

Kat and I helped make "Grandma Schuster’s Shrimp Salad".

the big bird going down slowly...

Kat and I controled the fry temp and enjoyed the outdoors with a Shiner. 

GOLDEN CRISPY WHOLE FRIED TURKEY!

Men, take note.  Happy wife, happy life.  One sure way to make your wife smile, Cajun Fried Whole Turkey!  Works every time!

all the fancy table jewelry set and food being served. 

finished the gift exchange.  We had a large stack this year.  Many gifts had been hauled back from Italy!  We are looking forward to all the balsamic vinegars, and sea salts, etc etc.  Christmas from Italy. 

EXTERMINATE!

Posted by paul at 11:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

BIG CLICKY!

Posted by paul at 10:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Kat had amassed a stack of Gift Certificates from her silent auction winnings.  We've been working at unloading them, Lost Creek Country Club GC redemption night! 

Moscow Mule happy hour before making our way down the hill.  We assembled at a friends house in Lost Creek, they are members of the country club. 

the cheese on the right was shipped direct from Greece, a whole wheel of it.  It's quite good too. 

I don't think they do much dinner traffic at the club.  We were the only people there and the halls were mostly dark (lights were off)

but we had fun and made the best of the meal.  Beef tenderloin was cooked perfectly. 

Posted by paul at 10:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I made LED lanterns for us from misc stuff laying around the house, old aluminum scraps, PVC tube sections etc. 

we gathered at the Lamar St pedestrian spiral at dusk. 

The Minor Mishap Marching Band was assembling below.

as the sun dipped below the horizon, the music started. 

there was a lot of dancing and shaking going on...

then we crossed the pedestrian bridge in parade format. 

another nice evening in ATX. 

Posted by paul at 10:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

if you invite me over to your house for a Christmas Party, I just might take pictures of your food.  It's what I do. 

and if you collect rare French wines, we just might open some of your juice!  (It's really some Cameron Hughes Lot #300 that we brought, but we did also enjoy some French vino rouge)

I warned you about more food pics...  have you ever seen a Kale and Beet Salad so much into the Christmas spirit as this one?  "Ho-Ho-Ho!" said the salad.

take THAT you prime rib!

Prime Rib perfection and GIANT portions.  THANKS!

The dinner concluded with a chocolate fondue.  The torch came back for some finishing touches, prompting the guests to grasp their chins. 

The kid's table was rather raucus.  We heard the entire room erupt into "what does the fox say" sing-along.  The daughter graduated to the adult table, and was spared the song.  She's had enough of it (as we all have).  The boys enjoyed the fun.

it was a nice Christmas evening. 

Posted by paul at 09:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

#1 son had been preparing to play this for his school for a long time.  He was very nervous when the time came to perform.

and yes, that's me unshaven and bedheaded early in the morning...

Posted by paul at 12:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

(BIG MENU)

I didn't get a picture of the snack portion of the meal.  It was served from a plate with multiple portions on it.  You had to grab one off with your hands.  Sure, it's a sandwich, and sandwiches are handily eaten, but we didn't have a side or bread plate to set it on.  Once you plucked it from the server, you had to finish it to free the hand holding it.

The gentleman to my left was on a date, they were the last to be served.  He had mostly been talking to his girfriend, can't blame him for that.  He hadn't noticed that we had grabbed our sandwich from the plate.  So, when the server extended a plate with two sandwiches on it, he naturally reached to take the plate.  He grabbed it, and tugged.  The server tightened his grip and tugged back.  A brief tug of war with a double sandwich snack prize!  It was quite comical and a bit unfortunate.  The server repeated what he'd said to a few other people, "I'm sorry, but we're all out of plates".  This struck me as odd since it was only the first course and the seating was limited to the amount of tickets sold for the event (25).  Anyhow, the sandwich snack was good enough, but the tug of war was more memorable.  I'd suggest they order a few more small plates...  the number of plates needed to issue a finite amount of people a known amount of items could easily be summed in advance. 

All images below are shown in the order served, as from the menu above. 

I almost never order risotto.  It's almost always crunchy (undercooked).  This was no exception.  There were six of us at our table.  A lady looked at her husband's risotto and exclaimed "WOW!  You're so lucky, look at that big slice of truffle you got".  One by one, the four other people at the table chimed in, "OH! I have one too".  She looked at her dish closer and eventually figured the few small black flecks to be her truffle serving, and she made a frowny face.  A similar scene was about to unveil once again.

"What are all those white cubes on yours?", she asked her husband.  He used his phone to light the plate.  We could all see no less than twenty white cubes along with his kale.  A quick menu reference indicated they should be "Roasted Pear".  The other five people at our table started to poke and prod our kale, searching for our elusive white cube of roasted pear, we came up empty.  I later discovered one...  still, this was my favorite savory item served.  It was delicious and I don't think I really suffered any loss from my short pear situation.  But I'd think Mulberry could do a better job with consistency. 

I don't usually order dessert, but I was glad to have this Chocolate chili pie.  I've long been a fan of Ancho Chili Pie and this one was perfect.  Not overly sweet but still flavorful and decadent.

Posted by paul at 11:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Work Christmas parties are often lame sort of affairs.  But Kat's firm puts on a nice Christmas party.  It helps that they are all really nice people that we enjoy spending time with.  I don't often say that about people in the legal profession... 

The event was at the Goodnight.  You can bowl, watch Sports on TV, karaoke, or just enjoy the food that was pretty good too.  And of course they have a decent draft beer list...  if you're into that sort of thing. 

We haven't bowled in a year.  But we did OK at knocking down pins by rolling balls.  It was fun.

We had our first round of family Christmas:

My mom is about to depart for Nebraska. She spends the Holidays with my sister. We exchange gifts with her before she leaves

Troy got some Bodum glassware for his new apartment. 

I love this metal cock, it's perfect.  Thanks mom!

Kat got a bag that was handmade by the daughter and my mom. 

Posted by paul at 04:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Gourdough's Public House: 

at Gourdough's Public House, you can enjoy your beer from a tower on your table. 

Their food IS donut based, those savory garlic donuts are really good.  The "Saucy Cock" (above).

#1 son really likes their chicken dumpling soup.

Their version of chicken and waffles is called the "Mother Plucker", and it was quite good.  I also really enjoyed their fried oyster po-boy, using the savory garlic donut as the roll. 

Yummy!

Perla's:

At Perla's, you can enjoy your hefewizen beer in a giant transparent tent enclosing their front patio for the winter.  The sun came out and the light in there was amazing. 

Pretty beer. 

Troy and I were about the only guys there.  Several tables filled with groups of women.  I guess the guys were all some place watching football?  I'm oblivious to the sport schedule.  It was a regular milfapalooza at Perla's on Sunday afternoon. 

We stepped across the street and Troy found SOCO street ass. 

Continental Club :

PLANET CASPER sunday afternoon free show.  You can enjoy your beer with live music in the 78704.

ABGB:

Beer is best enjoyed as close to the source as possible.  It doesn't get much closer than this! about 25 FT from the tanks where it's made!

FRESHNESS!

Our friend Joe Ben Clark was playing the part of "swervin' ervin" in Wild Bill's Honky Tonk Holidaze Show.

That Krampus dude was KREEEEPY.  He framed Santa, and they all got jailed up in "Nuevo Dallas".  It was some good laughs, and music too. 

At ABGB, I enjoyed beer with Wild Bill. 

Troy had his first taste of Anchor Christmas Ale at Central Market, also in South Austin. 

Those are some good beer options if you find yourself parched in South Austin. 

Posted by paul at 03:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We hosted the annual Quiet Company Holiday House Party again.   

squishing some girlfriends for GF Pomegranate Punch. 

Keri helping to mix up a bubble punch. 

Quiet Company was recently featured on NPR ALL THINGS CONSIDERED.  Their most recent album quickly shot to #13 on the itunes rock chart from the exposure.  Taylor Muse (as heard on NPR) 

punch cups: MINE, NOT YOURS!

The White Elephant gift exchange was a lot of fun again. 

The talking deer head was the most prized item and was quickly stolen, and stolen again. 

The dogs enjoy all the new friends that allow them lap time. 

Daughter got spammed. 

The deer became locked on the 2nd steal.  Troy was quite pleased with his trophy. 

And Quiet Company sounded good.  A good time was had by all. 

Merry Christmas!

Posted by paul at 12:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

BIG MENU

We traditionally go to Plucker's for Kat's birthday.  They always send an email with an offer for a free meal on her birthday.  That was our plan once again, we did receive the email from Plucker's, but as we were walking out the door (with kids, dressed to go out for dinner) I saw I had another email from Plucker's, explainging they had closed for the day to have an employee party... 

So, we quickly regrouped, figured we could make happy hour at Tapasita's if we rushed.  It's not far from us at all.  We arrived at 6:45.  We made it simple, "bring us everything on the menu with a star" (* indicates $5 for happy hour). 

we sat back and enjoyed each of the dozen (12!) happy hour items. 

Best Happy hour in Austin!  pics below are in the order that they landed on our table. 

everything was really good and our server did a fantastic job making us feel welcome. 

and they even gave Kat a free dessert!

AND the Manager came over and offered her a free glass of bubbles.  This really pleased the wife and brought out her animal spirit.

Definitely our new favorite happy hour.  Thank you Tapasitas. 

Posted by paul at 12:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I found some Blue Point Oysters (CT) at Central Market.  I've come to enjoy the champange and oyster pairing, so we did.  I use a vintage stainless steel Volvo hubcap as my oyster serving device. 

a friend brought another pairing for us to try, Maple infused Crown, with bacon and OJ chaser. 

PROSIT!  some hefeweizen, why not?!

I put our salt plate on a table top burner to keep it hot.  Cooked the meat right there.  It was fun.  Beef steak  went first. 

the Chilean Sea Bass was PERFECT!  no seasoning required at all, just slap it on the hot salt plate and flip once. 

Posted by paul at 11:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Westlake Chamber of Commerce hosted a Holiday event for us here in the neighborhood. 

Ham soup and sandwiches by Texas Honey Ham.

Petting zoo, uh-oh, I think he can smell that pork belly I just enjoyed at Searsucker...

now he wanted to see what I taste like!  I guess it's only fair.  (just a nibble)

delicious cakes from Nothing Bundt Cakes. 

We donated several coats to Mobile Loaves and Fishes, my mom also does some volunteer work for MLF.

Mrs Klasson was there with a cute puppy.

Tiny train too!

with a cup of Pinkberry in one hand, he spun the Noodles & Co wheel and won a $100 meal! 

thank you West Lake Hills Chamber of Commerce. 

face plant!  that's why the say to go feet first!

Posted by paul at 11:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Chandon provided the champagne for a Kendra Scott shopping event at Searsucker. 

Happy with our bubbles, time to view the baubles. 

SUCCESS!

Searsucker's "green eggs and ham" is delicious!

I've started using a Lumix Micro four thirds (m43).  I like it. 

Posted by paul at 11:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

we FINALLY made it to Barley Swine!  They now take reservations and it's all chef's choice for one price. 

(BIG)  and below, you will find an image of each item, in correct order.  They even started us with complementary champagne and gave us an additional non-menu item. 

This was an amazing meal.  Everything tasted great and the pace was timed perfectly. 

We also stopped by an older Austin Beer joint, The Horseshoe loung.  $1 Lonestars. 

Bartender gave her a free one, for her birthday.

Posted by paul at 10:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

 Sullivan's Steakhouse invited us to their RE-opening party, and it was good....

YES!  that IS an ice sculpture draped with crab, shrimp and oysters!  all delicious. 

steak tartare and prime rib slider (above)

CRAB!  I probably had a pound of it!  and their crab cakes were fantastic as well. 

I ordered a round of drinks for all the girls at our table.  We made new friends.  Amazing how free drinks can do that every time!

Sullivan's also provided their signature cocktail, The Knockout!

and the band played on....

We really enjoyed our evening out at Sullivan's

Posted by paul at 10:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Red Volkaert Saturday Matinee at the Continental Club, free show every Saturday at 3:30.

Jonathan Richman played at the Continental Club for three nights this past week.  We made the final show.

No two Jonathan shows are alike.  He rambles, rants, and changes up the lyrics.  Some songs drag on for extended amounts of time as he freestyles new lyrics and does his goofy dances. 

The room was packed full of people and soon became very warm.  J. Richman apollogized for the temps, he made the club turn off the a/c or anything that might make a hum or rattle sound.  I heard that on Thursday eve, he even made the bartender turn the beer cooler off. 

He's not fond of cell phones either.  He even has a song about how he refuses to get one.  He might ask you to put yours down, if you forget to your flashlight is on and pointing at him... 

BUT!  this was a first for us, Carla was allowed on stage to do her own funny dance.  She was so happy up there as she moved her hips and swung her arms in synch to the music. 

and Tommy Larkins... he doesn't care.  He just keeps the time.  Jonathan asked Tommy's opinion a couple times.  Tommy just shrugs it off, keeps slapplin' those skins and tappin' that foot. 

We also managed a night out at Paggi House.  (It wasn't all turkey this Thanksgivukkah) 

started with cocktails in the Well House. 

Redfish with fennel four ways and bone marrow (above), scallops (below). 

I also enjoyed some Italian from Piedmont.  That was one of the things we pledged to learn more of in 2013, Italian wine. 

Posted by paul at 11:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

we've been frying the big bird for a few years.  the results have been mixed, not fantastic.  I did a bit more reasearch, considered NOT frying a bird (this was not an option for Kat).  We decided to make a better effort this year. 

The recipe says to never attempt a bird over 15lb...  I got a 22 lb bird.  I didn't pay all the extra $ to get the "never frozen, organic, free range" bird.  I got a cheap, frozen, Butterball.  There is no need to brine a Butterball, they are pre-brined.  I did inject him with some butter, garlic powder and cayene.  AND!  I also injected him with Duck Fat! 

The main reason turkey is usually lacking in flavor is lack of fat.  It's a lean bird.  Maybe you've not yet experienced Duck Fat fries, but they are quite popular in some restaurants and I've come to understand that duck fat is healthier than butter! 

so, we filled the oil to the correct height, got it up to 385 degrees, killed the flame and lowered that bird. 

Bird boiled in the oil till temp dropped to 270 and we reignited the flame, and maintained a temp around 280 for 1 hr and 15 mins. 

Then we let it rest for about 15 mins.

We have concluded we have some Jewish ancestry.  This year was the perfect time to put a bit of Hebrew into our tradition, Thanksgiving and the first day of Hanukkah; Thanksgivukkah!  We had a menorah, I said the traditional prayer and lit the candles after the sun went down...  and, Kat and I applied some festive "art" to our respective chalkboards.

That Turkey was the best EVER!  The breast meat was moist and tender.  You could cut it with a fork.  Even the cold leftovers are good and moist.  We also enjoyed a side of salmon, brined and baked under ginger and Rio Star Grape Fruit, and a Pork Loin (sous vide) with caramelized onion and balsamic syrup.

some of the sides above (left to right) creamed brussel sprouts with pecorino cheese, celeriac au gratin, mushroom gravy (mushroom stock, shiitake and cremini mushrooms, porcini powder (thanks Craig) and cream), and puree of parsnip and celery root. 

it was a good feast, we were thankful and happy. 

The next morning, we played Dreidel.  #2 son said "Let's NOT play video games today!  Let's play dreidel all day long". 

Posted by paul at 10:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)