Austin City Limits

As I am heading towards the Austin City Limits theatre for their 11:00 am tour, I do a double take as I pass a life size cow sculpture outside the Three Forks Steakhouse.  Well, what an appropriate addition – a cow outside a steak house - interesting and eye-catching.  Although I think I’m glad it was not on site when we ate here last year - too much of a connection with the real thing perhaps for me.   

I wander on and there is another cow sculpture – this time with a football motif.  Well this is University of Texas territory.

But then I pass “Flowerida Cow”.  What is going on??

 

But I need to get to the theatre in time for the tour so I decide to come back later to check out the “Texas Moosicians” cow strategically placed at the entrance to the ACL theatre.

Every weekday there is a free tour at 11:00 am of this very cool recording studio/theater.  I have not yet been able to attend one of the tapings or concerts but I at least want to see what all the hype is about.   I don’t think I’ve seen anything like this.   Everything is black:  the seats, the walls, and the stage.  There are bars, which you don’t really notice at first as they too are done all in black, right on the stage floor and on each of the 3 tiers of seats.    Apparently no expense was spared on this extremely high tech and state of the art theatre.   And because of its intimacy, all seats should be good.

This music “venue” (this is a unique place - it is hard to call it a theater or a recording studio) hosts 60 to 100 concerts a year plus it is the home of the PBS series Austin City Limits, the longest running music series in American History.   Tapings are done ahead of time:  one of my favorite groups, Cold Play, was taped a few months ago for this year’s New Year’s Eve show.  Tickets for the tapings are quite difficult to get, concerts are much easier.    But at the very least  I highly recommend the tour!   Austin City Limits at the Moody Theatre (the official name of this site) is just one more indication that Austin has pretty valid rights to holding the title of music capital of the world. 

 

(I find out later that Cow Parade Austin is hosting 74 individually painted cows in and around Austin.  They will be auctioned off for charity on Nov. 13^th at the ACL theatre. These cow auctions have been done in many cities for charity.  It is an interesting concept for some special "cow related" places.   

Eataly, New York City

When my daughter kept texting me about this neat Italian market I should visit, I was a bit surprised at what I thought was her continued misspelling. My spell check continues to go crazy.  Eataly is a very large 36,000 square foot building – totally open inside -  with different restaurant “areas” specializing in pasta and pizza, fish, desserts, and vegetables. Everything is homemade of course from fresh local ingredients using traditional Italian techniques. And there are tons of Italian and some local food items to buy and take home.  Olive oils, risottos (so many kinds…), vinegars, canned beans, dried pastas, fresh pastas, cheeses, wines, beers, coffees, cookbooks, and on and on.

This is a very, very cool market.  If I lived in the area I would come here often to either pick up some great ingredients to cook at home or to have lunch, dinner, coffee, or to have an aperitif while watching mozzarella being made.  As an out-of -towner I would and will come for lunch and pick up some Italian food gifts for friends and for myself.  Located at 23^rd and Fifth Avenue, right across from Madison Square Park, this whole area has gone from seedy (in the 1990’s) to very appealing and a destination point.  Madison Square Park itself has undergone a total transformation and has an intriguing history.  New York is continuing to surprise me with the revival of so many areas.  First the Meatpacking District and now, just a day later, the Madison Square Park District.

It was good I had a focus for lunch because this could be an over-whelming place.  So, continuing on my quest to find the perfect pasta with tomato sauce, I headed to the pasta area. The lines were a bit long so I opted for a seat at the bar since I was a single and ordered a Spaghetti al Pomodoro.    Italian wines by the glass were plentiful and my very handsome Italian waiter and I decided on one and then he brought Italian bread tied up so cutely in parchment paper, and olive oil for dipping of course. 

Another woman was soon seated next to me.   From Los Angeles, she was a distributor of Italian cheese and was checking out the market.  She proceeded to order a Pizza Margherita plus the Pasta Pomodoro.  Goodness…   And she did eat pretty much everything!  Perhaps she is also a runner.  I would run in order to eat that much but my knees just wouldn’t take it.   Well, I do love to watch other people enjoy their food.   We had a great discussion about Italian food and cheese and enjoyed critiquing the food.  I thought my Pasta Pomodoro was very good.  The freshly made pasta was perfectly al dente and just the right texture.  But I would like to see last night’s sauce from Scarpetta with today’s pasta…

You would think pasta with tomato sauce is the newest delicacy.  While we were still eating and conversing a woman who was just leaving noticed that we were having the Pasta Pomodoro and stopped and said that she had also had the pasta and was wondering,  “Did we think it was a bit salty”?   I can see that I could enlist some others on my quest.  There are obviously others that understand my obsession.

Tonight:  Back to the Meatpacking District for dinner on this trip’s last night in New York.  Pastis at the corner of 9th Ave. and 12th St. has great atmosphere.  It is a quintessential French bistro with very typical French bistro food.  I have to say though that the food flavor doesn’t quite have that “je ne sais quoi”?  Sometimes you just have to have sourdough bread in San Francisco, bistro food in France and steamed crabs on the Eastern Shore.  I think it must be the water.

Meatpacking District – Day 2

Today I want to see what the latest evolution has brought to the Meatpacking District – from slaughterhouses to sex shops to fashion central – gracious! The place must be experiencing some identity issues.   So I put on walking shoes and head back across town through the increasingly busy and increasingly young Murray Hill District, stroll through Times Square, as usual gawking at the spectacular billboards (where is the Calvin Klein underwear model ad that is always here?) skirt the Garment District wishing I knew someone in the know, pass through historic but still a bit run down Chelsea and then finally arrive at 14^th and Washington Street in the midst of what I try to envision as a former bustling commercial meatpacking area.  Things are quite calm and quiet - actually kind of nice after the bustle of Midtown.  What I am not seeing is what one travel site describes as:  “West 14th Street, the Meatpacking District’s main artery, has turned into a Rodeo Drive of sorts.”  Uh, I don’t think so.   Instead envision warehouses and old buildings with first floors converted to a series of stylish small boutiques and restaurants.  The new,  hip Standard Hotel is a bit of a landmark and while I’m sure the hotel is a great addition to the area, the building itself reminds me of a 1950’s badly done low-rise office building in a suburban strip mall.  Perhaps it is just too hip for me.    However the attached restaurant – the Standard Grill - looks very appealing and I will definitely return at some point for lunch or dinner.

There are however some nice boutiques, the Chelsea Market is worth a trip to the area on its own merits, and there are great restaurants.

Everyone in the area is very pleased and proud of the newly opened High Line; a mile long elevated linear park straddling parts of Chelsea and the Meatpacking District – from Gansevoort Street to West 34^th Street.  The original High Line was built (opening in 1934) to elevate railroad tracks above ground to improve safety on the streets.  Hitherto, with freight trains on the same roadway with horse, motor and pedestrian traffic, 10^th Avenue was known as Death Avenue and men on horses would ride in front of trains waving red flags. With the elevated tracks, freight cars were able to connect directly to factories and warehouses and trains would roll right inside these buildings.   By the 1960’s, as rail shipments saw large declines due to interstate trucking, the high line was used less and less and finally was abandoned.   In the late 1990’s efforts started to preserve the High Line and renovate the elevated area as a public open space – really quite an imaginative use!  It does spruce up the area and provides a great place to view the Hudson River.  And there are street vendors, sidewalk artists and the occasional musician trying to make a buck or two.   But I think I have had my fill of the Meatpacking District for at least the afternoon. We will be back tonight for another dinner in the area but until then, off to Eataly to work on my pasta quest.   (to be continued…)

Meatpacking District, New York City

I do remember never daring to venture into the Meatpacking District when living in NYC in the early 80’s and after a bit of research into the area after my recent visit, things are coming back to me…    In the early 1900’s, the area was home to slaughterhouses and packing plants but by the 1980’s, it had become a center for drug dealing, prostitution, sex clubs etc. etc.  Oh dear.  Well, you can imagine my reticence when my daughter said I really should spend some time in this area – “there is the new Diane von Furstenberg headquarters and boutique, the Chelsea Market, a big new Apple store, several boutique hotels and many of the newest “in” restaurants including:  Pastis, Buddakan, Spice Market, Scarpetta, and the Standard Grill.”  What a turnaround.  The area is I guess now quite fashionable; more boring perhaps but at least visitable.

We started with dinner at Scarpetta.  I love this restaurant.  It is small, intimate, busy, but a bit loud.  The food is excellent.  Appetizers we enjoyed were:  a tuna susci – raw tuna with marinated vegetables, beautifully presented; a roasted beet salad; and a braised short ribs of beef appetizer with faro risotto.  The white wine we ordered was an Italian Falanghina 2009 by Taburno – very crisp and flavorful, similar to a Pinot Grigio but more interesting.  For a main course I thought this would be a great place to start my new quest:  the search for the best of one of my all time favorite dishes - pasta with tomato sauce.   It was an auspicious start - Scarpetta has a good one – labeled simply “spaghetti with tomato and basil”.  There is Parmesan cheese incorporated in the sauce, which made for a great flavor.   The only negative was that the homemade pasta was a bit too gummy for my taste.  But tomorrow is another day and hopefully another pasta.  (to be continued...)

Dogmersfield Park, England

We are staying in the countryside about 40 miles outside of London at the Four Seasons Hotel Hampshire, in the village of Dogmersfield.  When we arrive, we take an afternoon four mile stroll through the grounds and surrounding countryside:  cross the meadow, skirt the keeper’s cottage, continue along the cow and separate bull enclosures (don’t bother the bull!), past the pigsty (quite neat and tidy I must say), a short crossing through a bit of forest, coming out by the canal complete with swans, pass under a charming stone bridge, then another, then another, hop over the wooden fence to continue on the path back to the meadow leading to the Manor.   I do love the English countryside.  I could live here…

We see the Manor in the distance – still nary a person in sight.    The geese are plentiful however.  Oh my, they must be eating everything in sight.  I must ask the woodsmen to be a bit more alert.  As we return to the Manor through the last vestiges of the crisp September afternoon sun, I am hoping the staff has been diligent while we were out.    There is always so much to be done:  the silver polishing, the beating of the comforters, the hearths to be laid.  And of course we have guests coming for dinner tonight…

All right – well just for a moment I forgot myself.  I suppose I’ll just have to wait for the start of the second series of Downton Abbey – but sadly not until January 2012 in the U.S.

I know that most of these old estates have incredible history.  Dogmersfield Park is no exception. On the travel route between the coastal port of Southampton and London, this estate is where the future first wife of Henry VIII met her future husbands.  Catherine of Aragon was on the way from France to London and met Henry VII’s sons, Prince Arthur, the heir to the throne, and Prince Henry, his younger brother, at Dogmersfield. Arthur married Catherine but then died at the age of 15.  At Henry VII’s death, young Henry was proclaimed King and he then married his brother’s widow.   This was allowable in the Catholic religion but Henry later used this as a rationale for divorcing his long time queen and thus was spawned the great HBO series “The Tudors”! 

There are of course many historic properties in England offering accommodations and many I'm sure more charming and intimate than this.  However, even though this is a large hotel and is a bit skewed towards the corporate clientele, the Four Seasons has done a great job of maintaining the sense of the “old manor” even though the current building is essentially a very well done renovation of the Elizabethan style house originally built on the site in 1728.  For leisure activities there is of course hiking, and skeet shooting which I highly recommend - wellington boots and waterproof mackintoshes provided!  The service and food at the hotel is top drawer.   The estate is close to Windsor Castle and to the village of Chawton, where the home of Jane Austen is open to visitors and where she wrote Mansfield Park, Emma and Persuasion.   Unfortunately I was too busy skeet shooting and having tea and scones in the library and imagining myself as the lady of the manor and so did not get to Chawton…

Truffle Season In London

London seems to have the best Italian restaurants outside of Italy.  And it just happens to be black truffle season in London.  I really don’t know much about truffles but now I know there is a season for them, and that the white truffle season begins a bit later than black truffle season, and that black truffles are fabulously expensive and white even more so.

We had dinner with London friends at the lovely Eleven Park Walk in Chelsea and tried their special truffle menu. Pasta with truffles, carpaccio with truffles, risotto with truffles – everything with generous amounts of fresh black truffle shaved over the dish tableside and all absolutely delicious.  A 2006 Brunello di Montalcino paired perfectly with the unique aroma and taste of the truffle.

It is easy to understand why Americans love England.  It is such a civilized place.  Very few high-rise buildings in central London to mar the historic charm, taxis with very pleasant gentleman drivers and practically large enough to stand in, and we can mostly understand the language!

Our hotel in London was the charming Cadogan hotel in the heart of Knightsbridge - a lovely, small, old world hotel with a great location in a residential neighborhood and only a short walk to major sights.  We stayed in the Lillie Langtry suite.  Lillie Langtry, a mistress for some time of the future king of England, Edward VII, sold her flat at 21 Pont St. to the Cadogan hotel owners and then she proceeded to live in her old bedroom, which was then part of the hotel.   There is also an Oscar Wilde Suite – room 118.  Wilde was staying in this room when he was arrested in 1895 for some activities thought unsavory in that time period.  (The arrest was the subject of the poet laureate John Betjeman’s poem The Arrest of Oscar Wilde at the Cadogan Hotel.)

Eleven Park Walk

11 Park Walk, Chelsea, London

www.11parkwalk.co.uk

Cadogan London

75 Sloane Street

Knightsbridge, London

www.cadogan.com

Austin, Texas

I have visited Austin about 10 times over the past 3 years and I’m still a bit befuddled on how to describe this 4^th largest city in Texas:  scrappy, unpretentious, small town, up-scale, scruffy, hip, university town, music town, high tech town.  Nothing and everything seems to fit.

I do feel that the gutsy decision to do a major revitalization of downtown Austin has turned out remarkably well.   I haven’t been back for about a year and was pleasantly surprised on my recent visit to see that the 2^nd Street renovations have been pretty much completed.  A new “W” hotel – (wow – I haven’t seen the rooms but its bars, restaurants, sitting areas, fireplace lounge, etc. etc. are very cool and cosmopolitan like all W hotels but still in keeping with the hip Texas western vibe), the new music studio and theatre for Austin City Limits (home of the long running PBS series by the same name) and numerous luxury high-rise residences, trendy restaurants and boutique shops are complete and open for business.  

Downtown Austin fortunately still continues to feel like a small town even though it is: home to the University of Texas (50,000 students in Austin alone), the self-described “music capital of the world” (and it’s 6^th Street is probably the coolest place for checking out live whatever is the current music trend), the capital of this the 2^nd most populous state in the country, the site of the now famous annual South by Southwest music, film and high tech festival (you might remember hearing about the “start-up buses”–heading from major cities to SXSW), and the site of the Republic of Texas Biker Rally (and it’s a big one – I have been in town when this is going on – beautiful motorcycles and very!...!  interesting people).

Growing up in the era of Dallas, the oil boom, and John Wayne movies, I have always been a bit in awe of Texas and its history but even more so after visiting the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum, which I highly recommend, and even more in awe after touring the State Capital.   It is an impressive building.  It is the largest (of course - this is Texas), state capital in the country, and while not larger square footage wise, it is a smidgen taller than the US capital in DC.   The guide on my tour seemed to indicate that this was done to make a not so subtle statement about states’ rights.

Texas is a big state and has a big history.   Settlers from the US and from Mexico carved out a life in this inhospitable territory and became first and foremost Texans.  Wanting independence from Mexico, Texans organized to win their independence, and after many bloody battles (the Alamo one of the most famous), the Republic of Texas was declared in 1836 and was an independent nation until it chose to join the United States in 1845.  I must say I understand the little bit of arrogance and streak of independence that continues to permeate the Texas mystique.  I think it has earned the right.

A food aside:  I suppose beef has fed the growth of this bigger than life state.  Austin is known for its beef barbecue and there are plenty of barbecue restaurants and dives and hangouts at which to gorge oneself.   But this town also fosters top-notch Mexican food and I did find the second best fish tacos I’ve ever had right downtown in Austin.   First place still has to go to Firewood Pizza in Murphy, California.   But Cantina Laredo on 3^rd St. in Austin has “Tacos de Pescado”, made with mahi mahi, queso fresco, marinated vegetables and a chipotle aioli, served with fresh homemade tortillas.

Run Don’t Walk for Basil

There is a short time in the summer where basil is plentiful and inexpensive and it is now.  I may be preaching to the choir here but I cannot recommend too highly having pesto in the freezer to use throughout the year. I am never without it:

• for emergency crostini
• to make the easy and delicious salmon baked in parchment you can find in my August 14th blog
• to add a small spoonful to bean or minestrone soups - adds great flavor and looks lovely
• to spread on bread and top with a tomato slice for the kids when they come home from school
• to put under the skin of a bone-in chicken breast before baking
• and of course for spaghetti with pesto (pesto pasta in a lovely bowl, surround with in-season tomato wedges).

I just bought 3 good leafy bunches and made a batch of pesto for the freezer.  You probably already have your own recipe.  Mine is 4 cups of basil leaves, 6 cloves of garlic, olive oil to make a smooth paste, ½ cup pine nuts, and ½ cup grated Parmesan.   I use the Cuisinart to blend and then mound large spoonfuls on a cookie sheet and then freeze.  When frozen, I like to wrap each one in parchment (twist the ends like a candy wrapper).  This is totally not necessary as they will keep well all together in a zip lock bag but it just appeals to me to grab one wrapped in paper – and no messy fingers!

(Freshly made and frozen is so much better than the expensive jars of pesto found in grocery gourmet aisles.  But I must confess that I tried Costco’s Kirkland brand a few months ago and thought it was excellent. It came in a huge jar so I proceeded to freeze small portions in an ice cube tray because it was a bit runnier than my homemade pesto.)

New York City – La Bonne Soupe to the Rescue

It is pouring rain and the US Open matches have been cancelled for the evening.  Drat!  I have ventured out two times this morning and have gotten completely soaked each time – especially my shoes.  I now understand why my daughter insists that rain boots are such a necessity here.  My third time out I don’t want to venture too far but it’s past lunchtime and I’m famished.  Fortunately our hotel is almost around the corner from our old standby - La Bonne Soupe at 48 W. 55th.  The waiter who seats me does not look askance at my wet shoes and dripping clothes, sweet man.  We have been coming to this restaurant for the last 25 years and the menu has stayed pretty much the same.   The restaurant did undergo a renovation in 2009 and I feel consequently has lost some of its worn wood, creaky stair, timeless charm but the bright new bistro look is I suppose a nice change.

We typically order the fondue and salad with a carafe of the house wine – an inexpensive, casual, fun dinner or lunch.  But what I think really keeps us coming back is the salad dressing.   We love this dressing!  20 years ago we asked the cook for the recipe and fortunately one of our party spoke Spanish as the chef couldn’t speak English (yes wacky...).  He proceeded to give us his recipe but it was for gallons of the dressing - 4 cups of Dijon mustard, 8 gallons of oil, etc. etc.  Well, we pared his recipe down and came up with something we could use (thank you Bill!).  This is basically a vinaigrette recipe but the special ingredient is a smidgen of chicken broth which gives the dressing a bit more body, flavor and creaminess.

A few years ago the restaurant came out with its own cookbook which I would not highly recommend especially since I will give you the ingredients for our version of this tasty salad dressing.

La Bonne Soupe Vinaigrette

• 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 1 shallot, finely minced
• 1/3 cup good white wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon chicken broth
• 2 teaspoons dijon mustard
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil (not olive oil!)
• Salt & freshly ground pepper

Gazpacho in Philadelphia

Smoked Heirloom Tomato Gazpacho:  Heirloom tomatoes, cucumbers, red peppers, red onions, scallions, garlic, salt, parsley – all smoked for 20 minutes or so.  Olive oil, sherry vinegar, tomato juice, jalapeno, touch of sugar.  Puree in blender.   Garnish:  dried sweet corn, avocado slices, thinly sliced radish, pea shoots.  Serve in cold bowl (cold drink, cold glass; cold soup, cold bowl…)

Tomato season has finally arrived in California but apparently it has been in full swing on the East Coast for some time now.   We had dinner in the lively and lovely Rittenhouse square area, home to some great restaurants, boutiques and the lovely historic square.  Our restaurant was the Alma de Cuba restaurant.   The food was superb:  Black bean soup (with rice croquettas and a drizzle of crema fresca on top served in an appealing oblong bowl), smoked heirloom tomato gazpacho, a remarkable creamy coconut quinoa main course with chayote squash and an unforgettable chocolate dessert crepe with streusel crumbles.

Most memorable was the gazpacho – it was excellent.  I love gazpacho, order it wherever I find it, and feel I am a bit of an aficionado on the subject of this fresh, light, tomato based soup.  I asked for the ingredients from our very competent and gracious server who proceeded to write them down for me but only after double-checking with the chef to make sure she had included everything in that evening’s soup.  She also told me about the video that was made featuring the chef preparing his signature gazpacho:  "Chef Alfonso's gazpacho".  The ingredients for the soup are “cold smoked”.  I really don’t know if I will take the time to cold smoke my ingredients.   It is probably best that one doesn’t perfectly replicate all the wonderful dishes at restaurants.  The memories of those meals are sometimes best left on their own.   But I will indeed make my version of this gazpacho with these ingredients and garnishes and most especially I will remember to chill the bowls…

I have many gazpacho recipes in my files but I’d like to share one that think is simple and excellent.  It happens to be from the South Beach Diet Cookbook – one of my all time favorite cookbooks. 

South Beach Diet Gazpacho:

• 2 1/2 cups tomato or vegetable juice
• 1 cup peeled, seeded, finely chopped fresh tomatoes
• 1/2 cup finely chopped celery
• 1/2 cup finely chopped cucumber
• 1/2 cup finely chopped green onion
• 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 large clove garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Combine everything in a glass or stainless steel bowl.  Cover and refrigerate overnight.  Serve cold.  

Serves 5
117 calories per serving.