So Uchiko hosted a media event tonight (last night? It’s really late as I’m writing this), and I snapped a few photos of Paul Qui and Tyson Cole as they prepped the gorgeous food samples.
I’ve been to Uchiko a couple of times for dinner since it opened, and I can’t say enough great things about it. The kai jiru! The take nabe! The cobia crudo! The impeccably fresh and clean and perfect nigiri! It helps that we know some of the chefs and managers and waitstaff… and that Justin designed the menus, the chopstick holders, the label for their private sake label, Zero Sen… I’m so proud of him and his work, and it’s so fun to see it in person when we dine at Uchiko.
Anyway! Photos.
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Justin and I spent our Saturday traveling all over Austin to do some food research for the book. We ended up visiting 10 places in one day.
We started out with just one rule: we could only take one bite of each dish, so that we didn’t get full too early in the game. Yeah, that didn’t work. One bite?! Of a hot and tasty migas taco? Of a fresh piece of sake nigiri? Of a cool coconut snow cone?
It was a lot of food! We didn’t eat it all, or even half of it, but it was still a looooong day of eating. We took our little Zumi camera and my Canon Rebel along for the ride, and I put together this video of our day. It’s a good 7 minutes long, so I understand if you don’t have time/desire to watch it. 
For those who do watch it, lemme know what you think!
Happy Monday, everybody!
Weekend Warriors from Crystal Esquivel on Vimeo.
So as we’ve been trying out new restaurants, I’ve been taking photos. Lots of photos. Some with my fancy-pants DSLR, some with my iPhone. I finally took the time to upload a huge batch of them last night, and I added them to my flickr page. I’m not going to blog about all of them (maybe a few), but if you want to see what we’ve been eating lately, you can see them on flickr.
I did notice one recurring theme in all these photos, which I have dubbed Justin in the Corner. Apparently I like to photograph Justin framed in the corner of the photo, with the restaurant background behind him.
At Nau’s Enfield Drug…
At Rockin’ Tomato…
At The County Line…
At Asia Cafe…
At Musashino…
At Chez Nous…
Thanks, babylove, for letting me take and post your photos, and for making every meal a bajillion times better with your presence.
Everyone, thanks so much for your comments on my last post. The ball of light idea really seems to help out… and now I just have to work on remembering it more throughout the day.
So a few weeks back, I trekked out to Cuvee Coffee Roasting Company for their barista training. It was so much fun! We got to tour the place, then learned all about how coffee beans are processed, then learned how to pull espresso, then learned how to make milk-based drinks. So now when I get coffee anywhere, I’m watching their methods and scoping out their machines and appreciating their latte art.
Here are a bajillion photos from that day.
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One of their growers painted these bags for them with the Cuvee logo! They’re so pretty.
More coffee bag art:
Evidence of the morning’s tastings:
The ginormous coffee roaster:
Basic steps for making an espresso drink, as demonstrated by my classmate:
1. Grind the beans
2. Tamp them down
3. Brew
4. Steam the milk
5. Pour the milk into the espresso
If you’re cool, your drinks might look like this:
If you’re me, your drinks might look like this:
So yeah, I need a lot more practice with latte art.
Still, it was so much fun, and it really helped me understand and appreciate coffee more.
Seriously? Why have we never been here before? Little Deli & Pizzeria, a hidden gem in an old funky shopping center in the Crestview neighborhood.
It’s teeny tiny.
There are only four tables inside. And they use huge vegetable cans as pizza stands.
The cheese steak rocks.
The pizza is awesome, hand-tossed with lots of oregano in the sauce.
We love Little Deli!
On Tuesdays, Arkie’s Grill serves chicken and dumplings. I happen to love chicken and dumplings, so I grab my purse and head over for lunch. I’m driving the streets of east Austin, thinking about work and writing and food and love. I pull into the parking lot, and it’s jam-packed… I worry that maybe I’m too late, and they will have sold out of chicken and dumplings.
I find a spot and head inside, and I’m greeted right away by a sweet waitress who remembers me from my last visit. “Sit wherever you’d like, hon!” And so I do. I snag a seat at the counter and listen to the ruckus of a room full of people having lunchtime conversations.
The counter waitress asks what I’d like to drink.
“Water, please. And do you still have chicken and dumplings?” (I’m really worried that they sold out.)
“We sure do. Would you like some?”
I would. I would like some, with coleslaw and scalloped potatoes and turnip greens. I don’t have to wait long until my plate is in front of me, piping hot. The waitress brings over a dinner roll and a corn muffin. It’s a ton of food. I eat.
An older man sits next to me and notes that I’m eating chicken and dumplings. He approves. He orders pork roast with beans, potatoes and greens. He says his name is Deaf Ed.
Deaf Ed spent the morning on a tractor, but the heat was too much, and so he’s done for the day. He likes just about everything they serve at Arkie’s, but his favorite is meatloaf on Mondays.
He’s ready to do some traveling. He wants to see Vietnam again, this time without anyone shooting at him. He wants to visit Thailand and the Holy Land.
Deaf Ed is completely deaf in his left ear and mostly deaf in his right ear as a result of a tumor that grew in his brain. His doctor says the tumor was related to Agent Orange exposure. He had the tumor removed, but as a result, he had to give up SCUBA diving, which he misses dearly. He tells me about his top-quality gear, his underwater cameras and lights, and the islands that he’s visited. He says that diving lets you see the other 90% of the ocean that you miss when you’re just snorkeling. He says the best time to dive is at night, because a whole new host of creatures comes out to hunt – he particularly loved to watch the octopi.
Deaf Ed talks about how the quality of food went downhill when convenience became a priority. He tells me about his grandmother, who used flour, lard, butter, sugar and salt to make some of the best food he’s ever tasted. He says that the chicken and dumplings at Arkie’s are almost as good as his grandmother’s, and that’s saying a lot.
He says he’s probably the only person in the room who knows how to wring a chicken’s neck. He says the only eggs worth eating come from hens you raise yourself.
It’s time for me to head back to work, so I say goodbye to Deaf Ed and pay my bill (which comes to about $7.00). I leave a big tip and head back out into the heat, smiling. Life is good. As stressful as it is to write this book, it has led me to Arkie’s and Deaf Ed and an appreciation for food that lies beyond sushi and pork belly and microgreens. And for that, I’m grateful.
