NewYorkTexan

I got a Weber charcoal platinum grill a few weeks ago and have been thrilled with it. I have used it about 3 times a week, including 2 dinner parties and it still looks brand new. I had good results with turkey, brisket, whole fish, chicken, tri-tips as well as grilling a nice rib-eye. The only challenge is that it is not well suited for smoking. I can maintain an even 325-350 for extended periods of time, but have not been able to maintain a lower even temperature in the 225 – 250 range.

Staying at the Stephen F Austin puts you right in the middle of downtown Austin. A few random thoughts: I agree with the suggestions to drive to Lockhart, about 20 miles south of the airport on 183 South. There are three well known bbq places within five minutes of each other; Smittys. Kruetz & Blacks. Maybe pick two of them and compare/contrast. Bitter End is a good brew pub a few blocks from your hotel that is friendly place to grab a beer and/or a quick bite to eat. The hotel bar. Steven F.’s is also not a bad place for drinks. Their balcony overlooking Congress Ave. offers some of the best people watching in Austin. Las Manitas on Congress Ave. for migas is a good breakfast option. You can take a quick drive to Taco Xpress on South Lamar for killer breakfast tacos.

One egullet basketball team

Actually, guys, it was a Borders - not a Barnes & Noble. Maybe it would be helpful if I start reading the Austin Stateman before crumbling it up and using it for the bbq chimney starter.

The new store will be at the base and there will be an office tower above which will house WF’s corporate offices. The current controversy is that there will be a Barnes & Noble as part of the complex. They would compete with BookPeople across the street, which is a huge independent bookstore. Since the developer of this project will receive tax incentives, the argument is that tax breaks will be used to hurt a local business. The new larger Whole Foods will be a welcome addition to the downtown scene.

Is the meat and three usually severed in cafeteria style restaurants? That is the only way I have seen it. We have one local place that is very good, although it is meat and two (kinda feel ripped-off now). My personal favorite is their meatloaf with sweat potatoes and green beans. Gotta have a yeast roll and if I want to be bad, a piece of pie like buttermilk pie. Is it bad that I am now craving lunch at 9:00 in the morning?

Vintage port, homemade biscotti and truffles….at least that is usually how I end my dinner parties.

WOW. Looked like an incredible event. Those pictures are the ultimate in food porn.

Smitty's does not offer any sauce; just hot sauce and s&p on the tables. Was there last week for their pork ribs. I know…..going to a central Texas Q joint for pork ribs, what was I thinking. They only offer them on the weekends and the ribs are incredible! The Legends of Texas barbecue cookbook by Robb Walsh has the recipe for the Salt Lick’s sauce in it. Surprisingly one of the principal ingredients is pineapple juice.

Many recipes call for dipping in eggs before dredging flour. Does that help the chicken retain its crunch the next day? Is there another reason for adding the egg step? Is it a waste to do?

Wow, I almost missed that in all the fine print. Count me in the growing lists of maybes, sounds like it would be a lot of fun. I have a few clients in research triangle that I could hopefully wrap into the trip (let the IRS think this is a business trip). Hell, if I agree to spend some time in Charlotte where my wife has family, my better half might join me.

Was there a date set for this shindig? Yes, I am too lazy to review all of the past posts to see.

Perhaps this joke will give Varmit some new ideas as he continues to modify his eating habits. A woman asks her husband if he'd like some breakfast. "Would you like bacon and eggs, perhaps? A slice of toast and maybe some grapefruit and coffee?" she asks. He declines. "It's this Viagra," he says. "It's really taken the edge off my appetite." At lunch time, she asks if he would like something. "A bowl of homemade soup, homemade muffins or a cheese sandwich?" she inquires. He declines. "The Viagra," he says, "really trashes my desire for food." Come dinnertime, she asks if he wants anything to eat. "Would you like maybe a steak and apple pie? Maybe a microwave pizza or a tasty stir-fry that would only take a couple of minutes?" He declines. "Naw, still not hungry." "Well," she says, "would you mind letting me up? I'm starving.

The museum is very cool, we went there on the day it opened. The building itself is really a piece of art. The museum restaurant, café modern, was highlighted in the Texas AAA magazine this month with a nice write-up.

It might just be a foodie urban legend, but I heard that buying vintage port in 375ml bottles helps it become drinkable at a younger age. You only have to wait 10-12 years, instead of 20+ Any truth to that?

New Years Eve two years ago at Gotham Bar and Grill, $475 pp. The scary part was that we did not order any wine, which usually helps inflate the bill. We just kept drinking cocktails.

Their web site was so funny I literally was in tears. This is my last post about Leonard’s since it is off the topic of diners. Unless the ownership has changed, they food will not get better. I was friendly with the owners and they looked at the place as a cash cow, in more ways than one. Leonard’s holds a specific position in the catering market. It is good for people who want a big reception and have a limited budget. When I was there, you could have a full reception (1 hour cocktail party, 4 hour, 4 course dinner for $35/pp…supplemental charge for a Viennese table with the flame of love) During the 80’s it was the Bar Mitzvah capital of NYC/Long Island, but that changed when they went non-kosher about 15 years ago. One of their three kitchens is still glatt kosher, but the food is prepared by outside caterers and just re-heated and final prepped at Leonard’s. Most over the top wedding I ever worked was the owner’s daughter wedding. I knew it would be bad when the bride’s parents drove up in two Rolls Royce’s with HIS and HERS license plates.

Maybe so, but for me, Lakeville and Northern is too close to the bizarro world of the Great Pink Brick--Leonard's. Hey David, you stoked my memory. There WAS another Silver Moon on Union Turnpike. Near St. John's as you mentioned. What's the deal with that? Are there so many diners in the NYC environs that they had to double-up on names? I'd happily settle for just one in my currently removed location. Whatever the fuck it was called. PJ Did you ever work at Leonard’s of Great Neck? I was a waiter/bartender there during my senior year in High School and during the summers in the late 80’s. There were about a dozen of us from Martin Van Buren HS that worked there and it was a blast. We had a lot of fun despite the surroundings and made good money. It was telling that you could work a 16 hour shift and not be tempted to eat anything, opting to wait for the Scobee run at the end of the night. The only eatable food in the entire catering hall was the spanish food that the cooks occasionally prepared for the employee meals. For those of you not familiar with Leonard’s, it is a giant catering hall on Long Island. It could host up to 12 events simultaneously, holding a total of 3,000 guests. Of course the only way to decorate a building of this scale was to do a cheap rip-off of Caesar’s Palace and paint the building bright pink........I am not making this stuff up.

How cool is this thread. I come back after being gone for two weeks and look at all of this activity. Wished I could have joined y’all for Tony’s.

Out of business? Say it ain't so Jason. I grew up in that neighborhood and the Silver Moon was a cherished local institution. A friend of mine once owned a bar and grill next door. We could barely manage to crawl there after closing--for breakfast at 5:00am. Great food. Cheeseburger Platters with the burgers done drippin' bloody-rare, Onion Rings in Beer Batter, Tuna Clubs, Eggs over Easy, and oh, the pastries and pies! BTW it was at Union Turnpike and Lakeville Road. Smack on the city side of the NYC/Nassau border. I think the town was called Glen Oaks. PJ I believe there are/were two Silver Moon Diners. One was on Union Turnpike, near St. Johns and one on Union and Lakeville. The one near the University was not a free standing building, but on a corner with a tiny parking lot. I think it is still open, but now is called the Fame Diner. I might be confusing my Diners The one on Union and Lakeville raised their prices significantly after a remodeling several years ago. There are better Diner options driving a few minutes down Lakeville to Northern Blvd.

The Scobee brings back memories. I practically lived there during my senior year in high school and during summers in college. If you ever saw a group hanging out wearing tuxedo shirts and black pants, that might have been us, the bartenders and Captains from Leonard’s, the catering hall on Northern. After working 16 hour days and then closing down the sunset grille bar (two doors down from Scobee, it changed names a few times and is now a drug store I think) we would be in Scobee until the sun came up. If you ever went to a Bar Mitzvah at Leonards and thought the bartenders were unusually surly, it was because we were working in a huge pink building on two hours of sleep. Thought this is an interesting web site on diners across the country. diner city

What a cool topic. For value, I like Costco and World Market. WM had a strong selection of everyday wines (under $15). Sometimes you can find excellent values at Costco, I bought a few bottles of a nice Chateauneuf-du-Pape (too lazy to go downstairs to see who the producer was) for $18 when everyone else in Austin had it for $29. Grapevine Market is wonderful, they also have some interesting items in their gourmet department. Chuck and the rest of the team there are willing and able to offer super suggestions. I am happy they started to carry Tablas Creek . Central Market probably offers the best balance of selection and value in Austin. Seth and Natasha have pointed me to some gems, but a few of the other folks there occasionally offered less than stellar suggestions. I probably buy more wine there than any other wine shop in town. Austin Wine Merchant – I have found them to be so incredibly helpful and their wine tasting on Saturday is like a free wine class. They love to sit around and share their vast knowledge of wine with anyone who comes through the door. When I was just starting to appreciate Southern Rhone wines, one of the owners spent 45 minutes with we explaining all about the region, different producers and their styles, etc. They also keep track of the wine you buy so they quickly learn your likes/dislikes. The only problem with them is that they are expensive and have a limited selection of wines under $20, they do have a great selection of upper end wines. If you sign up for their weekly email, they announce on Wednesday what wines they will be tasting on Saturday. I like Wiggy’s, do not know why? Maybe it is the worn wooden floors in the back room, the boxes of wine stacked to the ceiling, their strong selection of Bordeauxs…who knows. I have never left that place without buying a few bottles.

Thought I would bring this thread to the surface again. I will be spending a week in Torquay and really appreciate any additional restaurant thoughts. I will have a rent car and be willing to drive a decent distance for an interesting restaurant or destination.

Does anyone have experience with the New Braunfels Bandera smoker? It looks like the fire box could be used as a good small grill and vertical smoker would hold enough meat for the entire neighborhood. What are the pro/con issues of a vertical smoker? picture this

I am late in responding to this one. Finally made it to Lamberts, albeit just for dessert. The timing was funny, coinciding with the post. Claire797, You did a great job of describing the décor and ambiance. We split the chocolate buttermilk cake, and the two of us could not finish the large piece. I probably could have, but Sharon took away my fork after she felt I had eaten enough. It was the rare chocolate cake that did not disappoint me, it was moist and dense with a rich chocolate flavor. In most restaurants I am saddened to find myself served a chocolate cake that is too heavy, too sweet and lacking in true chocolate flavor. Our friends ordered the tapioca pudding and a piece of the banana cream pie. The pudding was ok and the pie was fabulous. We are defiantly planning on going back for dinner. With the spate of restaurant closings, I feel obligated to support this promising new addition to the Austin dining scene.