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.
Polkadots Cupcake Factory (Menu), 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.
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:
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.
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.
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.
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 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).
August 29th, 2009 marked the one year anniversary of Sugar Mama’s Bakeshop. Olivia welcomed this landmark date with a huge backyard birthday party reminiscent of childhood celebrations, complete with food courtesy of Casserole Queens, two giant cakes, ice cream, and vodka from Tito’s (well reminiscent except for the booze part). Hundreds of cupcake lovers braved the heat and long lines to attend the party and from what I observed everyone had a great time.
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!
For as long as I can remember, I have been more than willing to try any food, and really, any drink, at least once. After all, isn’t a sense of culinary adventure the key ingredient to being a foodie? Part of my adventurous nature is inherited from my Mexican lineage – memories of my childhood include pig slaughters, fish frys, and barbacoa for Sunday breakfast. The other side is continually nurtured by wonderful people I meet along the path of food discovery – a motley crew of cooks, mixologists, and people who just love to eat. Mollejas (sweetbreads)? Sure. Chicken liver pate? Bring it on. Duck rillette? Um…do you really have to ask?
