The Art of Doing Austin: Co-Starring Alyssa

Naturally when your foodie friend comes to town, your first stop is happy hour at Uchiko

Tobacco Cream: chocolate sorbet, maple budino, huckleberry, scotch

"Wow, you can really taste the tobacco in this."

" . . . But um, there's no tobacco in it."

A quick stop at Cheer up Charlie's for the Texas Book Festival's Indie Book Festival

Gettin' sweet on the Velvet Elvis painting at Lala's

Doing shots with strangers and singing R. Kelly to the bar is probably the best way to make friends

Shiner (they put a bird on it)

At Mayfield Park

"There's a surprise at this park."

"Are peacocks the surprise?"

Seasoned barbacoa tacos at Chapala's

Then margaritas at Polvo's

Followed by Dr. Dog at Stubb's

Sipping a beet shrub at the downtown farmer's market on Saturday morning

An amazing 10 course meal at Odd Duck

Not pictured: 

Bread & spent grain with cultured butter

Mustard seed tator tots with smoked fish dip

Carrots roasted in hay with chevre and pistachio crumb

Goat heart salad with sesame, arugala and wild rice

Chicken fried chicken egg with mushrooms and hot sauce

Boudin grits, pickled shrimp, fried pig skin

Grilled quail, chile, orange, roasted cauliflower

Goat rolled in pasta, mole, butternut squash, mesquite

Bread pudding, malted ice cream, beer caramel

Meyer lemon mousse, beet panna cotta, lavender honey

Everything comes full circle: When Alyssa visited Austin last time, we spent a quiet night as the only patrons at The Brixton, and this guy was our bartender. A day later, an excited Alyssa exclaimed from the backseat of Nathan's car, "I KNEW it!" and eagerly pointed to Miletus' mug from the IFC show Whisker Wars. We went back to The Brixton the next day, but unfortunately he was not there.

Flash forward a couple of years, and the two of us find ourselves at an Austin Facial Hair Club sponsored event at the Mohawk, and who do we happen to run into? The man himself. I excitedly near-shoved her into him while hissing "TALK TO HIM." When we told him he was our bartender a few years back, he immediately knew we were talking about the Brixton. Even though Alyssa met many of her bearded heroes that night, this meet was my favorite of the night.

Day trippin' in San Antonio

. . . And I finally made it to the Alamo for the first time

Now, I can never forget

It's hard for me to imagine how we fit all of this into five days, especially considering all of the things we did that were NOT pictured here at all (breakfast from Tous Les Jours, Mount Bonnell, post-show drinks at the Firehouse Lounge, Kerbey Lane Cafe, drinks at the Moontower Saloon, Sunday brunch at Jack Allen's Kitchen, pizza ordered in from East Side Pies, the San Antonio Riverwalk, barbecue at Black's in Lockhart, and a movie at the Alamo Drafthouse - plus an entire hungover day on the couch watching movies and The Chappelle Show). 

There's a ton to do at any given time in Austin - there were lots of things still on our list to try that we simply didn't have time to get to, and had the weather been a tad warmer, there would have been more still. There's nothing quite like finally feeling like you know a place - and after spending seven years living in the Austin area, I feel acquainted enough to bring in my guests on the best of the magic.