Our neighborhood’s food trailer park was closed earlier this month to make way for a new JW Marriott hotel to be built at the corner of Second and Congress. Construction is scheduled to start in August.
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Category Archives: Food
A Taste of Health: Austin Chef Showdown
Today Bill and I walked over to the Taste of Health: Austin Chef Showdown at the Mexican American Cultural Center. The Mayor’s Health and Fitness Council sponsored this free event to promote local restaurants that serve healthy entrees. Fifteen chefs competed.
The Showdown rules included: no fake food, no trans-fat or hydrogenated oils, no added sugar or sweeteners, and use of lean, low-fat or reduced-fat protein. At least half of the entree had to be vegetables.
Bill and I spent a half-hour wandering around the different tents and tasting the free samples. Several hundred people were there when we were, but the chefs were prepared and there were no long lines at any of the booths. Austinites usually come out in droves for free food so I suspect this wasn’t well-publicized. But I’d say the organizers met their goal since we now have a few more restaurants that we want to try.
Celebrity judges awarded prizes for Fast Food, Kid’s Food, Tex-Mex, Southern Cooking and Other. The public also voted to award Best In Show. Since we had arrived early, we did not stay until the end to hear who won. Here’s the three restaurants that I voted for:
Judges’ Hill: Mesquite smoked pan seared salmon
Galaxy Cafe: Asian seared tuna salad
Hoover’s: RawBella Platter (Black-eyed peas wrap)
La Peña
I’m always on the lookout for a good breakfast taco. So when I’d heard that La Peña on Congress Avenue sells the best ones in town, I just had to investigate. Bill and I have walked by this building many times but never went inside.
I was very surprised to discover that La Peña is actually an art gallery that also sells some food. Founder Cynthia Perez created this gallery to showcase Latino art in downtown Austin. Usually the word peña means “rocky outcrop or summit” in Spanish, but it can also refer to “a grass-roots community meeting place where popular folklore and other artistic expressions accompanied by food and drink are showcased.” Cynthia and her sister Lidia used to own Las Manitas Avenue Cafe, a popular Mexican restaurant that used to be on Congress Avenue as well. I remember the controversy in 2008 when Las Manitas was closed to make way for a new Marriott hotel. (Construction on the hotel was subsequently delayed and is supposed to begin later this year.)
La Peña’s current exhibit “The Amazing Talavera Style” displays painted ceramics made by fifth-grade students from East Austin’s Sanchez Elementary School. Another definition may be needed here: talavera is a type of Mexican pottery with a milkish-white glaze. The children’s creations are very colorful and creative. The upcoming exhibit, “Healing Manadalas” by Juan Pabloe Gutierrez, features traditional cut paper techniques and opens later this month.
Now about those breakfast tacos: La Peña contains a small food counter called Congress Avenue Grocery that sells pastries, coffee, soft drinks, and breakfast tacos. The tacos actually come from Elsi’s Restaurant, located north of downtown on Burnet Road. My egg-and-potato taco was quite delicious, maybe not the very best in Austin since it’s not made-to-order, but I will certainly return for more.
Trailer Food: Second and Congress
Food trailers and trucks are extremely popular in Austin. There are “trailer courts” all over the place, including on South Congress, South First, and up near the University of Texas. Several web sites are dedicated to Austin’s trailer scene, such as foodtrailersaustin.com, austinfoodcarts.com, or bestaustinfoodtrucks.com.
Bill and I don’t have to go far for a trailer food fix: our neighborhood has a trailer court in the parking lot at Second and Congress. Most of these trailers serve the downtown office crowd and are only open on weekdays.
Turf N Surf Po’ Boys is my favorite of the bunch. Their large selection of Po’ Boys are also available as two soft tacos instead. Bill usually orders the Blackened Shrimp Po’ Boy. I love their Blackened Chicken in tacos. This trailer is also open on Friday and Saturday evenings.
The Chi’Lantro Korean BBQ Tacos truck travels around Austin but often parks in our neighborhood lot. This cuisine melds “Korean tastes and tradition with Texas’ rich Hispanic culture.” I couldn’t quite imagine this combination, but it is an interesting and unique mixture for tacos and burritos.
Kebabalicious advertises “turkish style wraps.” Their Falafel Wraps and Lamb Wraps taste as good as they smell.
Snap is a remote outpost of Snap Kitchen on Sixth Street, featuring healthy, ready-to-eat meals. Their Quinoa Muesli is delicious, with bits of raisins, cranberries and apples mixed in.
One other trailer is parked on the lot, Patika Coffee, but I can’t comment on this one since we have no coffee drinkers in our household!
Cowboy Breakfast: 2012
Today I attended my second Cowboy Breakfast. This free event across the lake at Auditorium Shores promoted the upcoming Star of Texas Fair and Rodeo. This was a very educational experience for me, just like last year’s breakfast. Here is what I learned:
Cowboys eat catfish toes for breakfast.
Cowboys like to lasso unsuspecting small children. Cowboys also like to lean on pickup trucks.
Cowboys know how to make excellent biscuits.
Cowboys are talented line dance leaders.
Cowboys have a serious boot fetish.
Cowboys like cowboy coffee. I learned this last year and it is still true.
Cowboys saddle up on longhorns, who appear to tolerate the situation.
Cowboys also saddle up on Harleys.