Dining
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Tinsel + Tamales
Preparing food for the holidays is quite tedious when you’ve got a lot to do and you don’t want to invest in all the things required to pull it off. I’ve used both Central Market and Whole Foods for holiday meals and both stores did a great job with them. Central Market was a bit less flavorful, but was also a little less expensive, while Whole Foods seemed to use more varied and interesting ingredients for robustness. Of course, Whole Foods had a higher price point. I don’t think there is any shame in turning to prepared foods. It is not too difficult to add your personal touches to the meals. Less stress. Less mess. Better happiness.
Want something amazing? Order tamales from my hometown tamale store: hint = chicken and cream cheese.
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Build Your Own Cheesecake, Really?
Build You Own Can you imagine anything better than choosing your very own combination of ingredients in a custom cheesecake? The decadence. The allure. The calories. You only live one, so they say. I’ve heard nothing but wonderful things about Austintatious Cheesecakes. A perfect gift idea for around 30 bucks.
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Royal Blues
1. I am glad we have small downtown markets like Royal Blue Grocery.
2. I wish they were more like Pret A Manger.
After two years of working downtown, the food rotations at Royal Blue are giving me the blues. Add to that the fact that REALLY healthy food items are few and far between. I don’t want more choices, I just want better things. Thoughts?
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P. Terry’s Ben White Needs Some Help
First of all, I work out so I can eat and if I eat a hamburger, I prefer P. Terry’s. One P. Terry’s burger stand is not like the other. The South Lamar location knocks the Ben White location out of the park. My burger was fine, but every time I ask for crispy fries, I get mushy, soggy, oil soaked fries. It is maddening enough to send me across the street to Wendy’s. Is it really that hard to turn up the heat or count off 60 seconds?
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Who Knew Henri’s Cheese Shop Serves Great Wine and Dinner?
Hoping for a quiet and simple dinner, we were originally headed to Barley Swine but it was too crowded. Henri’s provided intimate seating and a simple dinner menu. The cheese was, of course, wonderful and the beet salad a work of food art. $150 for an app, salad and one entree and 4 glasses of wine felt a little steep for two, but the experience was delightful and it was quite nice to dine somewhere hushed for a change. Any Means made adequate cheese and wine suggestions.
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Lunch at Swift’s Attic
The $9 Business Lunch is the deal of the day. Perfectly heated and flavored tomato-basil soup coupled with 1/2 roast beef sandwich. Not a single complaint.
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Thursday Dinner at Truluck’s
“Bar seating, party of five.” Our drinks were superb, wine temperature was perfect. My wedge salad was a little drowned and the calamari a bit saturated, but other than that, the meal was fantastic as was the service. The vocalist was stellar.
