In Texas, they say everything is BIGGER and that includes personalities and food risks. Interesting enough all the guys here are from California. But, we were in Austin so, when in Rome, right? (Well, when in Austin actually. Ahh, forget it).

Brian and Flo are friends and colleagues from the buzz team. These guys are both stand up gents that I would run into a burning building for. Actually, I have theoretically done that several times for each of them. They have gratefully returned the favor. Brian Mullin is a SoCal boy born on St. Patrick’s Day who races cars and raises 3 kids when he is not selling ice to Eskimos. Flo(Sean Florio) is a NoCal kid who’s life resume reads like a Disney casting call. Homecoming king, quarterback for the football team, semi-pro skiier, ideal husband, perfect dad covers the basic milestones. I’ll let Walt and his “idealistic” storytelling fill in the blanks.

Sean O’Connor is my new best friend in Austin. He is a gregarious and fun loving guy that seems to run on full tilt ALL THE TIME, which makes for a quick bond. Sean jumped right in when we were ordering the appetizers, finding the “crazy stuff” to fill our bellies. Having only spent a couple hours with him I can barely paint a proper picture of his person but he clearly knows how to enjoy LIFE. His recent move from San Fran to Austin will hopefully result in more fun for me on my next visit down. Plus, who doesn’t want a tour of the place where a spray can full of pancake batter was created? For me Sean’s company, Batter Blaster, is like mixing good food and street art. Think Banksy meets Emeril Lagasse. The product almost begs you to make pancakes on anything hot; Intake manifolds, blacktop in 100 degree heat or just inside the window on that greenhouse effected ledge in Starbucks.

Nick Tangborn is Sean’s right hand man and a tall, pompadour capped party machine in his own right. Having worked and played in the music scene for years, he has quickly dialed in the disco in Austin.(Disco meaning rock and roll) Walking into the Continental that night was like seeing the mayor meeting his “citizens”. At dinner, he took part in the risk food between Napster stories and pointing out Stevie Ray Vaughan’s brother at the bar.

I love Austin more and more each time I visit. Now I have two more reasons to add to the list. Three if you count Olivia. Thanks guys for treating me local. Brian and Flo, glad we had the time to break bread and whoop it up a bit without any burning buildings in sight.

A couple weeks ago I was in Austin. You may have heard. In between my BBQ adventures and a trip out to a crepe trailer I had the pleasure of dining on some lamb parts with a crew of true gents. An impromptu “boys night” that well deserves its own post. This post, however, will focus on the food.

After finishing a smoke (not me) and passing Stevie Ray Vaughan’s brother at the bar we settled into a large booth in Olivia Restaurant located on South Lamar in Austin. Olivia has a delicious menu that reads much like the back dumpster of a butcher shop looks. Let me explain.

A week prior to the trip my friend Brian told his old skool buddy Sean we were coming into town and he was bringing “this guy” who has tasted everything. Sean took this as a personal challenge. He was determined to peak my gastronomical interest and trick my tuned palette with some “nasty-bits-turned-good”. Olivia’s menu read like a collision between a whole foods and a key food freight train. Those of you unfamiliar with key food think Family Dollar or that sketchy meat market you pass in the latin neighborhood of your town.

When the waiter stopped by we did not waste any time going for the jugular, literally. Well almost literally. About three inches north. First up was lambs tongue with grilled bosc pears, citrus pan sauce and yaupon honey.

Following the tongue we moved to corazón.(President of the Philippines or in this case spanish for heart) A full plate of grilled lamb hearts stuffed in jalapeños and then wrapped in house bacon were finished with fireman’s 4 syrup.

Next up was a giant plate of lamb fries with whole grain mustard aioli. If you are like me, you discovered what lamb fries were when you watch Chevy Chase in Funny Farm back in the 80′s. If you are NOT like me, they are lamb testicles. Yes. Testicles. Get over it. They are delicious. Just take a look.

We rounded out the appetizers with some San Francisco Molinari salami and a killer bottle of wine.

This lamb trio was delicious. If you just watched the Chevy clip I linked to above, and I hope you did, you saw him spit out his 31st once he found out what they were. That’s the problem with us. We eat with out mind. Those of us with predetermined ideas of what is good, bad and edible miss out. Scroll back up. Read some of the ingredients that were used in preparing these dishes. House cured bacon can’t be bad. Jalepenos and syrup work the hot and sweet parts of the tongue. Who doesn’t love some sweet kick? Chef’s these days are being really inventive with their recipes. Part of that is using ALL of the animal. So next time you see some “weird” stuff on a menu, release your mind and give it a nibble. After all, you eat hotdogs don’t you? You know what hotdogs are made of right?

So if I am so in love with the apps, what could I possibly have followed it up with? As good as those starters were my entree sang. A balsamic braised pork belly with honey crisp apples, twice fried yukon potatoes and fresh cilantro appeared before me and after the first bite, I lost my mind.

The meal ended with a last few sips of wine before the five of us piled into Sean’s truck and headed over to see their friends band at the Continental. That’s par for the course in Austin. Follow your nose to really good food and then follow your ears to really good music. We shut it down at 3am. I woke up for my 7am flight at 7:30am but that is another post. Hell, that is another blog.

Olivia
2043 S Lamar Blvd
Austin, TX 78704
(512) 804-2700

When someone tells you they are taking you to the outskirts of town to a parking lot where great food is made in an old airstream trailer, YOU JUST GO. My friend Brad did just this on my recent trip to Austin. As the story goes, two friends wanted to start making crepes and well…the vid will explain it all.

Last week I spent some time in Austin at my first SXSW conference. Although it was filled with networking, film, dev geeks and some amazing parties, I am going to focus on the BBQ in this post. In Texas the ‘que is nothing to sniffle at and you can pretty much bank on it being good no matter where you go. That said, there has to be a “best”. Roll up your sleeves and lets dig in. Keep in mind I am a rib man. So my litmus test requires at least one rib (pork or beef) in the mix to even judge a joint.

This is chili cheese grits from Lambert’s. Along with the Rib plate pictured at top, this was a fantastic meal. Forgetting it was Sunday, we stumbled into the tail end of a brunch situation. We were afforded a buffet of all the top dishes which made this experience the critical of reviews. Everything was delicious. I would say the sides were on par with the ribs so I give it a solid B+. Lambert’s is a little higher end then the other joints in this review. Rounding out the plate was Prime Rib with Horseradish sauce, mac and cheese, jicama slaw and a deviled egg(nice touch).

Stubb’s was next. Actually it was the first spot I hit straight off the plane. Stubb’s has a super authentic space. A huge outdoor yard where lots of music plays duringthe week. I caught it before the mayham and had a quiet lunch at the bar. Washing down a half slab of pork ribs, cole slaw and collard greens w/bacon and sport peppers with a cold one hit the spot. Stubb’s gets a B on ribs and a B- on the sides.

Next up is Ironworks. right off the bat what I like about this place is that they have beef ribs along with the pork ones. I ordered from a small window by number. 1 beef rib, 6 pork ribs, done. Grabbed a coke and sat silently at a picnic table with a few other patrons elbow deep in sauce and bones. Ironworks gets an A for ribs and for ambiance. They keep it real simple and focus on the food. The dry rub is outstanding with real pink meat on teh inside and sauce is an add on, just the way I like it.

The final contestant was The Salt Lick. This spot is located about 30 minutes out of town. I was lucky enough to get invited to the iMEEM party which was catered by “the lick”. I had heard about this place earlier in the week and was worried about missing it. Pork ribs were AMAZING. A+. A nice dry rub with sauce on the side but the ribs were so tender and meaty that you didn’t even want sauce. I think that is the St. Louis in me. Above is a pic of the brisket sandwich I had at the airport on my morning home. The Salt Lick has an outpost there. Of course, not as good as the real place it was just enough to remind me of those tender pork ribs that were the winners of my own personal rib-off during my time in Austin.

Of course there was more food to be had. I didn’t just eat BBQ. We hit a great crayfish joint and a couple good Mexican spots. Below is teh slide show from SF to Austin with all the morsels packed in.

Lambert’s  BBQ
401 W 2nd Street
Austin, Texas, 78701
512 494 1500

Stubb’s BBQ
801 Red River
Austin, Texas 78701
512.480.8341

Iron Works BBQ
100 Red River
Austin, TX 78701
512-478-4855

The Salt Lick
18001 FM 1826
Driftwood, Texas 78619
512-858-4959