bluegrass to lonestar

Our first dining experience was a resounding success. Saturday was Lauren’s birthday and after catching a double feature of Pineapple Express and Tropic Thunder, she decided she wanted curry so we walked over to Madam Mam’s, a little Thai restaurant on the strip next to the university. We were quickly squeezed into a tiny table surrounded closely by many other tiny tables. Word seems to be out about this place, before long there was a line out the door. Personal space is not a luxury indulged at Madam Mam’s. The service was terrible, due more to poor organization than the servers who were very nice and apologetic, but all part of the ambiance. We got a free Thai Iced Tea out of it. Dishes were brought out as they were made with Lauren’s curry arriving at least 1/2 an hour before my stir-fry. But the wait was well worth it.

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Last night we went to an award banquet/mixer thing at the Ransom Center for Lauren and the other students who’ve been awarded scholarships.  They had free food, with stuff like sushi, empanadas and brie.  God I love brie.  They also had free wine to help facilitate the socializing.  Everyone crammed into the center of the Ransom Center and mingled for an hour or so.  That was the gist of it.  It wasn’t too bad, but it made me ridiculously nostalgic for art openings in Bloomington.  Hanging out in the Fine Arts building, drunk with my friends, munching crudite.  I don’t want to think that life peaked in Bloomington, but I’ve yet to see any evidence to the contrary.

Austin does not seem to have Kroger, Publix, Marsh or any other middle of the road grocery that I’ve ever heard of. We have been trying out our options.

Option 1: Whole Foods

The first one ever is here as well as the headquarters for the corporation so it’s gigantic. We started off our trial with this one and needless to say we spent a bit more than normal for a weeks worth of food. We were excited to see that they had a generic Whole Foods brand of organic products that cost a bit less, but we were let down by the taste of the stuff. I think we’ll mainly use this place to pick up picnic supplies when we’re going to South Austin for the day. The free samples kick ass though.

Option 2: Wheatsville Co-op

About 2 blocks from our home is this co-op. We walked over Tuesday to check it out. It reminds me a lot of Bloomingfoods except their sandwiches don’t look quite as tasty. They have a small selection but it looks like good stuff. Lots of local beer and food. We picked up a membership pamphlet and we’ll probably join up.

Option 3: Fiesta

When we visited Austin in May we stumbled on this bizarre place. It’s only a 5 minute drive from the apartment. It’s the size of a warehouse with a parrot logo. It has a gigantic selection of South American products. Unfortunately the quality of the products from elsewhere doesn’t seem up to par. I’m intrigued by the large tubs of Mexican mayonesa with lime. They also sell clothes and camping products for some reason.

As of now I think we’re going to pick up the bulk of our stuff at the farmer’s market. Most anything else we can grab from Wheatsville.

We got up this morning and biked down to the farmer’s market. I had intentions of getting a bunch of tomatoes to make some gazpacho, but the only tomatoes in sight were cherry and pear tomatoes. Too small. Maybe it’s been too hot for tomatoes or they are over for the season here? I’ll have to check into that.  The market is basically split into 2 sides, meat, baked goods, and other things on the right, veggies on the left. There is a fish vendor I definitely want to check out. We picked up the makings for a curry, some heirloom peppers, and a bag of coffee beans. By then we had worked up a sweat. Lauren bought herself a birthday hibiscus mint iced tea and we sat down to enjoy it before the arduous uphill bike ride home.

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On Lauren’s birthday we went out to have a few drinks with some friends from her program. Our first stop was the Spider House, a small house converted into a bar with a really cool patio. It’s also only about a 5 minute walk from our place, always a bonus. We grabbed a table in the back, the only one open at the time, and ordered some refreshments. They have a respectable, if small, draft beer selection. I settled on a Live Oak IPA, brewed in Austin. It was a pretty decent IPA and really hit the spot in the muggy heat. The patio is lined with the fat multi-coloured christmas bulbs and what appears to be various scrap metal lamps. The seating also appears to be recycled metal seating of various nature. Lauren was bummed after she noticed we had chosen stationary seats when there were several tables with swing/glider seats. We had a good converstaion about movies, and obsessive fandom before deciding to move on to Nasty’s. 

I had forgotten what it was like to be able to walk to bars. It’s a welcome change. Lauren’s friend Kady had stumbled upon this dive on Yelp and it had some good reviews. Nasty’s sits back from the road wedged between a car lot and an ice cream shop. My first thought upon entering was that I could see hanging out here. An all wooden place with bad lighting, darts and pool tables. It basically looks like a copy of any run of the mill dive bar. They have a good draft beer selection and lots of bottled beers. I saw a sign for Zeigenbock, claiming it was only for Texans, so I had to try it. Not the best idea. It basically tasted like Amberbock which makes sense as I later found out it\’s made by anheuser busch. A persual of the jukebox was disappointing. I miss the Mag Bar. We played a game of darts and I noticed that they had old Packers schedules tacked to the ceiling, an unexpected site in a Texas bar. After darts we went out to the Bier Garten or “outside area” as the sign claimed. It was basically a skinny deck enclosed with a privacy fence. All in all, this place was a dissapointment. I mean come on! You are named Nasty’s for godsake, I expected so much more.