It’s a good time for Japanese food lovers in Austin. No matter where you live in the capital of Texas, there’s bound to be a Sushi restaurant nearby – especially downtown. Of course, not all Japanese restaurants are created equal, but for a medium sized city, Austin has it’s fair share of high end sushi.

Recently, the TastingBuds were invited to a sake tasting dinner at the well known and respected Kenichi on 5th and Congress. The reason for the celebration? The Austin branch of Kenichi has a new sake sommielier and they wanted to highlight the their vast sake selection and their ability to pair each type of sake with their creative and delicious food offerings.

Before the first course, the fine folks at Kenichi started us off with a very nice shiso infused mojito. Shiso, for those not familiar with the herb is quite popular in Japanese cuisine. The flavor, depending on variety can range from oregano to basil or even mint. The slightly basil \ mint flavor of the drink was a welcome change from the standard mojito, but it might not be for everyone.

The first course served was Red Snapper Salad with pine nuts, orange sauce, shishito peppers and sunflower sprouts, paired with Gekkeikan Horin junmai Daiginjo. The dish was light and the orange complimented the Red Snapper well. The sake was light, sweet and paired with the snapper well.

Next up were seared Sea Scallops with yuzu, candied ginger, and peanut butter miso paired with Soaring Cloud Junmai Dai Ginjo Sho. Peanut butter miso? Can they do that? Yes they can – it was quite unique and tasty.

Then we had Sansho pepper Escolar in a truffle sauce with sauteed portabella mushrooms paired with Tozai “Voices in the Mist” Ginjo Nigori. Many of my fellow bloggers thought that this was the best dish of the night. The escolar had a good, meaty flavor and paired nicely with the mushrooms. The mushrooms were slightly overpowering to my palate but others loved everything about the combination.

Next was Tuna and Miso Fois Gras with pear, grispy garlic, and truffled ponzu paired with “Kariho Namahage “Devil’s Mask” Junmai Yamahai. This was one of the highlights of the meal… how good you may ask?

One week later and I haven’t been able to shut up about the tuna and foie gras pairing – something about the meeting of the rich yet slightly subtle foie gras and the light but still flavorful tuna had me yapping about it with everyone.

I also thought the Devil’s Mask sake was the best of the bunch of sakes we sampled – definitely try this out if you get the chance.

The following dish was Yellowtail belly Temari sushi with orange mustard sauce, scallions, and red shiso from Bella verde farms. This also gets a nomination for the best dish of the night. I really appreciate a very light yet intensely flavorful dish and this temari delivered.

The sake pairing was Kenichi’s own “Tanuki Magic” branded Junmai Daiginjo, which was quite tasty and cool because it’s named after a mythical animal.

Also, shiso might be one of my favorite herbs in the world, and it’s quite hard to find fresh, so bonus points for that.

We then had Japanese traditional akaushi beef, king oyster mushrooms, and a poached quail egg paired with Kanbara “Wings of Fortune” Junmai Ginjo Nama. The akaushi beef is of a grade higher than kobe / waygu beef. Originally only for the Japanese market, there was a temporary loophole that allowed for the export of the cows to America, and now this high grade beef is raised right here in Texas.

Finally we ate green tea Tiramisu with Japanese chestnuts paired with Gekkeikan “Zipang” Sparkling Sake. I do love green tea desserts, and this particular tiramisu was light and tasted amazing.

Also, the “Zipang” sparkling sake it was paired with is a lot better than it sounds, and actually very enjoyable. It had a light yogurty taste to it that was great with the tiramisu.

The sake certainly tied the meal together and it complimented each dish nicely. Kenichi has an impressive and expansive sake list. Many thanks go out to Kenichi’s Level Two sake sommelier, Adam Faraizl. Apparently, there are only a handful of level Two sake sommeliers in the world, so we were lucky to be in such good hands during the meal.

We hope you enjoyed our photos from this amazing meal and we are grateful to Kenichi for allowing us to sample the new menu with the many sake offerings. I had personally never been to Kenichi and was impressed with the service and sophistication of their food. Also, I appreciate the fact that they use local ingredients whenever possible, and they went to great lengths to accommodate our gluten free friends.

If you are looking for a good place in Austin for modern Japanese food expertly paired with different types of sake, definitely give Kenichi a try.

Uchiko, the second incarnation of Tyson Cole’s celebrated, cutting edge, Austin based Japanese restaurant Uchi, is currently in the midst of a soft opening. I stopped by yesterday to check out what all the buzz is about and take advantage of the 50% discount being offered to early visitors who want to try out the not yet finalized menu.

This post is less of a review and more of a pictorial and personal representation of the soft opening experience, because things will likely change once Uchiko opens it’s doors officially on July 6th, 2010.

Akami Te – Big Eye Tuna, watermelon, coriander, cilantro – interesting, subtle flavors but not the best thing I had

Deep fried onigiri with bacon, pickled banh mi veggies, bonito flakes, and cilantro – you should definitely get this porky greasy goodness.

Take Nabi – japanese mushroom, koshi hikari, farm fresh egg, bushi – really tasty, the rice and egg are amazingly flavorful and I love bonito flakes, the mushrooms a bit too sweet though.

Kai Jiru – Atlantic Mussels, heirloom tomato water, basil blossom, celery – one of the cheapest things on the menu might just be the best – who knew that tomato, basil, celery and mussels were such a magical combination? Do not hesitate in ordering this

Hirame – Atlantic flounder, black lime, shiso, quinoa candy – a miss for me, not a fan of the quinoa candy and the flounder is overpowered by the other “stuff”

Hotate – raw diver scallop with avacado – amazingly tender, fatty, and delicious. You are supposed to flip this over so the scallop touches your tounge – get this for sure.

Madai – Japanese bream, shiso, meyer lemon zest, olive oil – shiso is a bit overpowering – definitely eat this in one bite, as the lemon zest balances it out the sweetness / herbiness of the shiso, but the bream is too mild to stand up to the other flavors

Toledo roll – Big Eye Tuna, bitter greens, chorizo, avacado, almond, grilled garlic mousse – flavors are all good and work well, but the chorizo is a bit tough at times and the toasted almonds have a crunch that’s a little odd to find in a roll, garlic mousse is amazing though

Usagi Yaki – Rabbit Torchon, pear mostarda, pureed peas, slow poached egg – get this now! The torchon is incredibly tender and flavorful (think much better pulled pork) and all of the ingredients compliment each other very well. I liked the mild sweetness of the pear, it was not overpowering at all.

Uchiko – Tyson Cole and Paul Qui

Well, that’s about it. I definitely enjoyed the 50% discount in exchange for being a guinea pig and I would highly recommend Uchiko to others, especially at this price. The soft opening runs through July 4th but reservations are pretty much all snatched up except for on Sunday.

You can still walk in, but I would show up exactly when the restaurant opens at 5pm to ensure a spot and a short wait.

Happy high end tasting,
Peter

Polkadots Cupcake Factory, now fast approaching its 2nd anniversary, was one of the first cupcake shops to open up in the Austin area. We’re glad to see them thrive in an increasingly crowded Austin cupcake market, and the TastingBuds are fans of Polkadots, as shown in our Austin Cupcake Comparison Test from last year.

Peter recently visited the Polkadots kitchen to chat with Olga Lee, one half of the couple that owns Polkadots. She was hard at work, but had time to chat at the store, which specializes in custom cakes, cookies, and of course various types of cupcakes.

TastingBuds: You quit a lucrative consulting job to follow your dreams of going to culinary school and running a cupcake shop. What was going through your head, and what made you decide to take the big leap?

Olga Lee: Everything is possible. While I was working in my tiny cubicle, I was thinking that one day I was going to be the BOSS and living to life with extreme happiness. When I was young, I thought money was everything. Boy… I was wrong!!!

I got my Engineering degree dreaming that I would be happy and living life to the fullest. Nope. While I was working at the office, I was a machine, doing the same thing again and again.

Now, I love working with my hands and making cute little things, so (working in the cake shop) I feel like I have accomplished something at the end of the day.

What’s the best part about running a cupcake store?
I choose my holidays and how long I want to work! Oh.. and the thank you notes and the criticism from customers (good or bad).

What’s the most important thing you’ve learned about running a business in the food industry?
It’s not easy. Things never turn out the way you think they’re going turn out. There’s always a problem with equipment. Broken ovens, sinks, coffee machines, AC, you name it. Also it’s hard keeping low costs and low overhead!

What’s the biggest challenge you guys face?
Managing employees, finding ones that you can trust who are loyal, hardworking, and get to work on time. One of my girls is “graduating” from Polkadots, she is going to French pastry school in Chicago. I am very proud of her!

Describe your average customer. Also, what are their favorite flavors?
We have customers of all ages, ranging from 11 months old up to their 80s! The salon next door sends us a lot of customers, and they do hair for older ladies. One of them used to be Lady Bird Johnson.

The favorites are red velvet and black bottom cake (chocolate cake with cream cheese and chocolate chips baked in – http://www.flickr.com/photos/polkadotsaustin/2986514209/)

You also do custom cakes – What are your favorite cakes to make?
Ones that are clean, simple, modern, and of course ones with polkadots!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/polkadotsaustin/4464540177/in/set-72157605868046367/

What do you enjoy doing when not making cupcakes?
When I am not working, I like to go work out at Pure Austin (*support local businesses!), eat dinner with friends, play tennis, do yoga, make arts and crafts (cross-stitching), and catch up on sleep.

What are your favorite foods (other than cupcakes)?
I love meat! Especially rib eye, sausages, and Korean BBQ. Also, hot and spicy food (Indonesian and Thai) and donuts for sweets.

After a long day in the kitchen baking and decorating, what do you cook for yourself when you go home?
I don’t have time to make fancy meals – my favorite quick foods are curry ramen, eggs, and pre-marinated chicken fajitas from HEB!

Thanks for the interview Olga, and best of luck to you and Polkadots in the future.

You can read more about Polkadots on their official website at www.polkadotscupcakefactory.com.

Happy Tasting!
-Peter

Photos courtesy of Peter Tsai Photography

Food Photo Friday is back, and this week’s installment is all about Austin Food Trailers and Food Trucks. Everyone knows that Food Trailers are all the rage in Austin now, and I’d wager that if you are downtown or on South Congress, you’re probably less than 3 blocks away from a food trailer or 5.

Over the months the TastingBuds have visited many of these hidden gems around town, and we’d like to share some of the photos we’ve taken along the way:

Mamboberry, which had the best tasting Froyo (Frozen Yogurt) in our comparison last year, at it’s South Congress location. The first image is of Mighty Cone (owned by Hudson’s on the Bend), also in the same food trailer park on SoCo.

Local favorite and guilty pleasure, Gourdough’s. This airstream trailer is the home of a bacon donut, a fried chicken donut, and about 20 other kinds of gourmet sweet donuts. I really liked the Canadian bacon flavor and something called Grandma’s pie.

Lucky J’s Fried Chicken and Waffles at it’s old location on Burnet Rd. Not bad, but their chicken is the darkest fried chicken I’ve ever had. I think they put a lot of herbs in the batter that make it turn a dark brown when fried.

Odd Duck Farm to Trailer – fancy farm raised, rich, local food for a low price (but portions are small). Anthony Bourdain supposedly dropped by here last week in addition to Gourdough’s, East Side King, and Perla’s.

One more photo from the South Lamar complex shared by – Austin Brevita, Odd Duck, and Gourdoughs. This is the seating area that faces South Lamar and the shopping complex that houses Highball and the Alamo Drafthouse.

Crepes Mille – South Congress based Airstream Trailer

When we went to Crepes Mille, we tried the rotisserrie chicken and crepes Benedict. Both were excellent. Next time I go, I really want to try the sticky Mango crepe!

Holy Cacao, where they concoct many different flavors of lollipop sized cake balls dipped in chocolate. This trailer is in the South Austin Trailer Park & Eatery next to Torchy’s.

We hope you enjoyed the TastingBuds photos of Food Trucks and Trailers (courtesy of Peter Tsai Photography). If you are looking for a comprehensive directory of the Food Trucks in Austin, Austin Food Carts has taken this to task. Check them out!

What are your favorite food trailers? Have photos of your own to share? Leave us a comment!

Thanks and happy Tasting!
Peter

The Tastingbuds were honored to attend the grand opening luncheon of Maggiano’s Little Italy on Monday, March 1st at it’s new location in the upscale Domain. While it is new to Austin, many of you may already be acquainted with Maggiano’s – there are more than 40 locations throughout the US.

I grew up in Atlanta, home one of the older Maggiano’s… where everyone knows it as a nice, Italian inspired restaurant that is a safe go-to place to take a date or to celebrate a special occasion.

How does the Austin location stack up, and how do we think Maggiano’s will fare in the already crowded Austin Restaurant scene?

Here’s the lowdown:
At the luncheon, we got to sample about 12 Italian inspired dishes (pictured below in the gallery). Overall, the food was quite solid and flavorful – there was an emphasis on using the freshest ingredients and almost everything was made from scratch. Of the food, the sea bass and tomato caprese were my favorites – I also enjoyed the calamari for the nice, tangy tartar sauce that accompanied it. To me, he desserts were the standout of the meal – the tirimisu, chocolate cake, and apple torte were all excellent.

Maggiano’s isn’t the most authentic Italian place around, but they aren’t really trying to be. They are more of an Italian inspired restaurant and their emphasis is more on dining experience and service. Speaking of service, the head chef was very accommodating on our visit. He personally came to our table and honored special requests for any food allergies and was well prepared to create vegetarian or gluten free versions of dishes on the menu. We were reassured that this was a regular occurrence and special requests are handled readily.

Will Maggiano’s do well in the Domain (where there are already 2 high end Italian restaurants)? We think so. The biggest thing that stood out for us was the fact that Maggiano’s is HUGE (18000 sq ft according to their rep) and the interior is more reminiscent of a nice older hotel than a restaurant. They have a couple of very nice hotel ballroom sized banquet spaces, and I have a feeling Maggiano’s will be a strong player in the Austin large corporate event / wedding market. Since they aren’t necessarily playing in the same space as other Italian restaurants, they should do just fine.

Overall, we were pleased with Maggiano’s. Even though it is a chain restaurant, the food is very good and they do care about fresh ingredients and try to buy local where they can. They also have a strong focus on customer service. While prices are moderate to expensive, you do get what you pay for. If you would like to check out Maggiano’s yourself, it’s across from Dillard’s in the Domain.

Happy Tasting!
Peter

Last September, Peter and I attended the Franklin BBQ preview party (see Backyard Eats post). The tasty bbq and fun, backyard atmosphere won us over immediately. Since they had their grand opening in December, we decided to return to see how things were going.

We arrived well before noon, and several of the picnic tables were already occupied with an early lunch crowd. The menu is perfectly simple: sandwiches, sides a la carte, and for heftier appetites, plates with your choice of meat, a side, and bread. Drinks include Sweet Leaf Tea, soft drinks and bottled water stored in a very cool vintage ice box.

I opted for the brisket sandwich, a potato salad side, and an ice-cold Topo Chico. For about $10 I got a full meal – a steal for a high quality lunch. The sandwich was heavy with thick slices of moist, flavorful brisket, and the espresso infused bbq sauce was the perfect complement.

Peter got the pulled pork sandwich, the pork is delicious as we mentioned in our previous post.

Next time he wants to try the Tipsy Texan Sandwich (half chopped beef, half sausage) – named after none other than the Tipsy Texan himself, David Allen (who happened to be at Franklin BBQ the same day we were).

As we ate, the lunch-time line continued to grow, and owner Aaron Franklin was behind the counter furiously working to keep up with customer orders. Once the rush was over, I got to chat with Aaron for a few minutes. He said business is booming, especially during lunch, and he usually sells out of everything by closing time at 4pm. Get there early if you want to pick up some plates for dinner!

Check their website for hours and directions: http://www.franklinbarbecue.com/

Many of you got to check out Franklin BBQ on the recent Trailer Tour – Let us know what you thought about it in the comments!

Happy tasting,
Kristina + Peter

Congrats to Seth Mazow for pulling off another victory in the Hands on an Eggplant Sandwich competition at local favorite, Home Slice Pizza. This year’s time on a sub was approx 31 hours – but the payoff was great… a year of free pizza. If you don’t know what the heck we are talking about, check out Seth’s website Year of the Pizza, or read the Tastingbuds interview with Seth here.

• The final 3 – Seth can feel victory

• The final 3 – still time for joking around

• The final 3 – Interested passer-bys and sleeping on a sub

• Cute Eggplant Sign

I first met Seth Mazow from Year of the Pizza at the Austin Bleetup (Blogger Meetup). He was one of those interesting guys that everyone wanted to talk to. Reason? Seth has cool perspectives on life and is excited about whatever he does. On top of that, he recently won a whole year of free pizza from Austin’s Home Slice Pizza by keeping his hand on an eggplant sub for 7 hours. How cool / funny is that?

Intrigued by his funny story and his even funnier blog, I set up a meeting with Seth to ask him a few questions and snap a few pictures for an interview to be featured on the TastingBuds.

I met up with a newly shaven Seth in front of Home Slice at about 5:45. After taking a few pics outside, we walked into the restaurant where we were greeted very warmly by all sorts of people – almost everyone there knows Seth since he’s in there all the time.

We grabbed a well lit seat by the window for the sake of picture taking and pondered what kind of pizza to get. Since he is the expert on all things Home Slice, I decided to try Seth’s favorite topping: anchovies. This is despite the fact that I have never liked them, but who knows? It had been about 5 years since I had them, and maybe I would like them this time.

For the next hour, I snapped pictures of him over a large fried eggplant (amazing!), red pepper (tasty!), green olive, and anchovy (eh… good for the first slice but too salty after that) and we had a little chat.

1. Peter From TastingBuds: How is the blog www.theyearofthepizza.com coming along? What inspired you to start the the site and what is your ultimate goal with the blog?

Seth: Year of the Pizza is lots of fun. It helps me practice my writing, photography and social media skills, and gives me a way to share my experiences with people in a more in depth way than telling them “no, I’m not tired of pizza yet”.

2. TastingBuds: I’m intrigued by the “paying pizza forward” section of your blog where you take a stranger out to dinner and that same stranger picks one of their friends to get the next free meal. What was the inspiration for that and what insights have you gained from your conversations with these strangers?

Seth: I had the idea when I was trying to think of ways I could use my deal to do some good. I initially thought about inviting a whole bunch of homeless people to pizza, but I figured it might turn out to be a faucet I’d have a hard time turning off, and didn’t think Home Slice would like the word getting out among the homeless that it was a great place to score free pizza.

But I’ve thought about these types of ideas before. At the end of my freshmen year of college, I was scheduled to go on a game show called Greed, which was simliar to Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. I figured I had a good chance of making a lot more money than I knew what to do with, so I was going to hitchhike home that summer (from LA to Dallas) and leave $10k or $20k in the glove compartments of the folks who picked me up. They would be doing a good deed at some risk to themselves, and should be rewarded. The show ended up getting canceled before I went on so I didn’t come into high cotton, but I went ahead and hitchhiked home anyway, and have been interested in helping out the random amongst us ever since.

TastingBuds Note *** It came up after the official interview that Seth had lived abroad in India doing volunteer work as part of his philosophy of helping out other people

3. TastingBuds: Imagine it’s your last day of The Year of Pizza with no more free pizza after that. What toppings do you order on your last pizza and what is going though your mind?

Double anchovies, green olives, garlic, fried eggplant, mushrooms, extra cheese, roasted red peppers. What’s going through my mind? Must win again tomorrow!

• Cost of delicious pizza? $0.00 dollars, AKA $FREE.99

4. TastingBuds: Your fiance recently re-proposed to you at Home Slice (apparently just to double seal the deal) by ordering a pizza that had “Marry Me” spelled out in peppers. I tried Googling “pizza marry me” and your blog was the only result to come up. Do you think this original idea will become a trend?

I hope so, but I doubt it. Although there’s plenty of pizza-themed weddings, with pizza instead of wedding cake, wedding cakes that look like pizza, etc.

5. TastingBuds: Do you ever get tired of answering questions about The Year of Pizza? What else do you like to do?

Not really, I enjoy seeing the looks of disbelief and awe in people’s eyes. When I’m not eating pizza, I enjoy the outdoors, bicycle culture, brewing and drinking beer, reading, politics, hitchhiking, tacos, and ridiculousness in all its forms.

TastingBuds Final Notes
Seth’s Free Year of Pizza began in November of 2008, so he’s approaching the end of his Year of Pizza and will have to defend his title soon. If you haven’t already checked out his blog, Seth has provided answers to many commonly asked questions not covered in our interview here.

Thanks and Happy Tasting,
Peter

I had the chance to swing by YummyYo a few weeks ago and it’s very solid. Their original tart flavor is probably a bit better than Yogurt Spot and their green tea flavor is excellent as well. I would rank them both as 2nd in taste behind Mamboberry. I also got to try their cookies and cream flavor which was surprisingly excellent (not chemical-y tasting like some of the other yogurt places around town).

The interior is close to being on par with Yogurt Spot, although due to it’s heart of downtown location, the seating area at Yummy Yo isn’t quite as large. Probably also due to the size of the shop, Yummy Yo has a smaller selection than the other shops in town, with 8 flavors vs 16 at most others. 4 of the flavors are there on a permanent basis and the other 4 swap out every once in a while.

Parking might be an issue at YummyYo especially at night when everyone starts to filter into the restaurants and bars. During the day it isn’t so bad but you might have to pay a meter during the weekdays between 8:30-5:30.

YummyYo is a great option if you are downtown on west 2nd street and you want a quick dessert. I’m not sure how many people know about this place since it’s a little hidden and surrounded by so many other restaurants, but by all means check this place out and head over to the 360 building for a quick treat if you are in the area.

Sugar Mama’s used the birthday party to make the announcement that they would now be selling mini pies. To launch their new product in style, Olivia hosted a ridiculously messy mini pie eating contest… Austin Cupcake Smackdown 1.0 eating champion Chris Floyd defeated all other challengers and took home the first prize valued at $350!

Chris Floyd (right) showing us how it’s done

We wish Sugar Mama’s and Olivia all the best and many continued years of success. Thanks for reading, and enjoy the photos from the eating contest!

-Peter

Leslie Cochran waits for delicious food from the Casserole Queens

The full field of pie eaters

Sugar Mama’s backyard