Because Austin is smack in the middle of Texas, there are many destinations nearby for day trips or overnight visits. There’s something for you within a 1-2 hour drive, whether an outdoor adventure or a relaxing evening sipping wine at a bed and breakfast.
In this Texas Hill Country edition of the Austin Food Bloggers 2012 City Guide, we’re going to explore hidden gems to the West of Austin in the Texas Hill Country.
Click through to read about cool spots to visit in the Texas Hill Country
| I’ve you haven’t made a trip out to the Texas Hill Country, you should definitely go. Just an hour or so outside of Austin we have a wealth of natural beauty and cool small towns full of great restaurants, wineries, and B&Bs. I try to make it out to the Hill Country at least once a year to visit natural wonders like Enchanted Rock or Hamilton Pool and to enjoy some Texas wine and brews.
So, when Chevy Texan offered me the chance to drive a new Chevy Camaro out to the Hill Country as part of their Driving the Heartland campaign, I jumped on the opportunity (it’s hard to say no to a cool ride out to a fun place). This Food Photo Friday post highlights some of the best and tastiest parts of the trip which covered several cities and food related locations. Click through to view all of the photos from my Texas Hill Country trip |
Ever since I cut the cord on cable TV about a year ago, I’ve been enjoying Hulu, Netflix, and Amazon Instant Watch for their wide selection of movies, TV shows, and more recently, their wealth of documentaries about food and the food industry.
As foodies, we tend to have a niche within the food world that we are drawn towards. Some foodies love pigging out on BBQ, some enjoy the finer foods in life, some are all about eating local, while other foodies are about vegetarian or gluten free living.
While we might know a lot about our particular area, I find it fascinating to learn about other foodies’ interests and deepen my knowledge on a particular food subject.
As the non-cooking Tasting Bud, I put myself in a precarious situation when I inadvertently volunteered to supervise the craft services department for a feature film production. We filmed for 21 days over the course of the hottest month of summer 2010, and each of those days, I fed and watered anywhere between 50 and 125 cast, crew, and extras. Costco, both Austin locations, became my best friends, and I spent more than the GDP of a small country on ice and water. Did I mention it was hot?
The Simpsons are cultural icons that have been a part of American and world pop culture for 20 years. During this time the show has featured played host to countless celebrities, politicians, and tentacled aliens and have parodied many cultural phenomenon in their 20+ year run.
With a show this popular, you know you’ve made it when the Simpsons make fun of you, and last week the Simpsons’s was all about poking fun at foodies! If you like food and haven’t seen the episode “The Food Wife” yet, you should watch this hilarious show about the food blog that Marge, Bart, and Lisa called “The 3 Mouthkateers”
The Austin chefs featured on “Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations” for bringing delicious Japanese inspired foods to the local trailer scene are at it again – opening their 3rd East Side King trailer in 2 years. While all 3 East Side King trailer locations feature Asian inspired menus, each location serves up slightly different cuisine.
The Liberty and Grackle ESK locations feature larger portions that likely require utensils, but the new Shangri-La location is all about the Bao, which are small, portable Asian Buns that are perfect for eating with your hands.
To learn more about the new East Side King Restaurant Click here
Happy Cinco de Mayo! Let’s celebrate with sombreros, Mexican beers, and a first from the TastingBuds! Yes, we are entering the age of new media with 720p HD video!
The following post is a video review of a new product that I heard about on the Diggnation show. The guys on the show liked the Limebrero, a hybrid fruit juicer / funnel that fits a standard beer bottle, so I thought I would give it a try.
I chatted with the Limebrero guys on Twitter asking if I could do a review for our food blog, and a few days later they not only sent me a Limebrero for review, they also included another product called the Lime Funnel.
Did the Limebrero work as advertised? Is this gadget actually more convenient than the old fashioned way of squeezing a lime into your favorite Mexican beverage (Dos XX in this case)?
To find out, either watch the short 2 minute video review, or click through for the answer.
My parents are both from Taiwan. I grew up listening to post WWII stories from the mother country – you know the ones about working hard on the farm, walking barefoot to school, and barely having enough to eat. That last point is very important – because they didn’t have much food when they were children, my parents appreciate food and view it much more fondly than your average Joe. I have a feeling that most people in Taiwan have a reverence for food in the same way my parents do.
So where can you find authentic Taiwanese food in Austin where they care about food quality as much as they do “back home”? My favorite Taiwanese place in Austin is Rice Bowl Cafe, where you can get a little taste of the “motherland” here in the Live Music Capital of the World.
To read more about Rice Bowl Cafe – Taiwanese Food in Austin, Texas click here
It’s always great to see good restaurants evolve and refine their menu as they continue to experiment and take their food to new places. The Peached Tortilla (which happens to be one of my favorite food trucks in town) is no exception, as owner and fellow Atlanta to Austin transplant Eric Silverstein (@peachedtortilla) and chef Lou Cantu (@Lou_PeachedTort) have been getting more and more creative with their fushion / mashup style mobile food.
If you haven’t been to the trailer in a while, today’s post shows off some of their newest creations in picture form.
Click through to see more pictures from the Peached Tortilla
Last week, fellow Tasting Bud Peter and I attended a small gathering at the recently open Haddingtons (Link to Menu), new restaurant in downtown Austin. Prior to the event, I looked at the restaurant website, which described it as “an American tavern with rustic cuisine”, bringing to mind hearty, season-inspired meals and a beer selection rivaling the best pubs in town. They had not yet posted a menu (see full menu below), so I was excited to see what Chef Zack Northcutt had created.