Category Archives: de austinopoli

Splash pad! Texas summer living (Baby P 2013 update)

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splash pad austin

Not much news to report here at Camp Parzen other than the not-so-breaking news that we are very very pregnant and ready for Baby P 2013 to arrive.

Her due date is July 15 (next Monday) and so far, the many predictions that she would come early have not panned out.

At this point, especially with temperatures reaching the mid to high 90s every day, Tracie P needs to spend as much time as she can off her feet.

I’ve been doing all the shopping, cooking, and cleaning and Georgia P and I get out as much as we can.

Yesterday, we made our first visit to an Austin “splash pad,” an invention so ingenious that I’d like to kiss the person who thought it up.

In essence, it’s a playground with colorful fountains and it’s so much better than a pool (especially for a toddler like Georgia P). The water is reclaimed after ever cycle (assuaging its environmental impact), there is no danger of drowning, and the fountains create just enough cool air to keep it pleasant on the sidelines for the parents watching over their kids.

Georgia P LOVED IT!

harsh times for disenfranchised women but good tortillas in Texas capital

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herdez salsa

Those crazy-assed Texan republicans have nearly prevailed in delivering some of the the most restrictive reproductive policies in the U.S. And when they’re done, they will have closed all but a handful of Planned Parenthood clinics through out the state (one of the richest in the U.S., home to its fourth-largest city, and the fastest growing in the nation). The few remaining will nearly all be in major urban centers. As a result, financially challenged families living in rural areas will have virtually no access to affordable women’s health services. And services in the big cities will be more limited.

But it’s hard to find a bad tortilla in this town, capital of the Lone Star State.

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Of men, mice, olive oil tacos & news from La Calle del Taco (Reynosa, Mexico)

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olive oil taco best mexican

Above: At the Austin Ale House, Chef Emilio Oliva is making tortillas and refried beans using extra-virgin olive oil instead of lard. Currently, the pulled pork tacos are a speciality item. If he made them a regular item, I might have to eat there once a day.

To hear Chef Emilio Oliva tell the story, the taqueros who work on the famous Calle del Taco — where taquerías line the street — in his native Reynosa, Mexico, risk their lives daily.

“I come from a town of men and mice,” he told me.

The patrons of the calle, he said, are often armed and if they don’t like your cooking, they might decide to end your career right then and there.

His advice for the taqueros of this rough border town (on the Texan frontier)?

“If you can’t cook a good greasy taco, you might as well go to Wisconsin and pick cotton.”

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Wagoneers at the Continental Club #honktonking #atx

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wagoneers continental club

Sugaroo, the agency that represents my music in film and television, also represents the alt-country americana legends the Wagoneers, who are now in Sunday-evening residence at the Continental Club here in Austin (one of our favorite honkytonks).

Sugaroo’s founder/owner and my very old and dear friend, Michael, was in Texas this weekend for meetings and he and I caught the show last night.

It was pretty amazing: they played their first record (1988, a landmark release that launched alt-country in the U.S.) in its entirety, in sequence, and then played their new as-of-yet unreleased record in its entirety. What a show!

Michael told me that he hopes to see the new disk out sometime in 2014.

In the meantime, here’s their site.

Jeremiah was a bullfrog!

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jeremiah bullfrog

Georgia P and I had a fun Saturday afternoon together while mommy and Baby P 2013 rested.

jeremiah bullfrog 2

how Cajuns fry

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cajun frying oil

As soon as I typed the title for this post, I realized it was an amphiboly.

It could be construed as how Cajuns fry their food or how does one fry a Cajun.

Tracie P sent me to the store last week to get some peanut oil to fry up this year’s first batch of fried green tomatoes.

I couldn’t resist snapping a photo of this jug of Cajun Injector Cottonseed “Premium” Frying Oil.

Food shopping in Texas is as commercialized and homogenized as anywhere else in the U.S. But “regional” brands still appear in mainstream supermarkets.

Another one that gets a lot of mileage at our house is Boudreaux’s Butt Paste.

Upcoming dinners with @TonyVallone @CiaoBelloHou & @DonkeyAndGoat @SottoLA

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barolo villero brovia

Above: I paid less than $100 “on premise” for this 2003 Barolo Villero by Brovia at a restaurant in Houston. Unbelievable.

The Houston food and wine scene continues to amaze me. In part because of how disappointing, uninformed, and naive it can be at times. In part because of the unbridled talent and the extreme value that you find there in the most unlikely places.

A few weeks ago, I had a superb bottle of wine from one of my favorite producers, the 2003 Barolo Villero by Brovia, one of the few growers who released their crus from the 2003 vintage. The wine was simply stunning.

But the most incredible thing about the experience was that I paid less than retail for it. Even more more unbelievable was how difficult it was to navigate the restaurant’s tablet-based wine list, out of date and poorly organized.

I wrote about the frustrating but rewarding experience today for the Houston Press.

There are some Houston restaurateurs and wine professionals who never seem to leave the Houston bubble and they sadly remain unaware of what’s going on in the world beyond.

And then there’s my friend and client Tony.

tony vallone houston

Above: Tony Vallone is one of the most dynamic Italian restaurateurs in the country imho. I’m so proud to call him my friend and client.

In the words of one Houston food critic, he’s the dude who “virtually defined” fine dining in Houston over the last four decades (his first Tony’s opened in 1965).

I’ve enjoyed some amazing meals in his restaurants and I’m excited to share the news that he and I will be speaking at a Sicilian Regional Cuisine dinner on June 26 at his Tony’s casual restaurant Ciao Bello.

Tony’s half Sicilian and half Neapolitan and he travels to Italy every year (he just got back from a trip to Chicago for the Fancy Food festival, Sicily, and Paris).

I’ve spoken about Italian wine at a number of dinners in Tony’s restaurants but we’ve never presented together. I couldn’t be more thrilled.

tracey brandt donkey goat

Above: Tracey Brandt of Donkey & Goat recently came to Austin to present her family’s wines.

Another event I’d like to bring to your attention is a wine dinner at Sotto in Los Angeles where I co-curate the wine list.

On June 25, Tracey Brandt (above) of the Donkey & Goat winery will be presenting her family’s wines.

I’m super bummed that I won’t be able to be there (I’m grounded until Baby P 2013 gets here in mid-July).

But I highly recommend the dinner and the wines to you. Donkey & Goat is one of the Parzen family’s official wines: we drink them regularly at home, mamma Judy (my mom) drinks them in La Jolla (the rosé is her favorite), and Rev. B (my father-in-law) loves him some Donkey & Goat Helluva Pinot Noir.

I’m very proud that we feature the wines at Sotto.

That’s all the news that fits today… Have a great weekend, yall! Buon weekend!

every American town should have a Frank @HotDogsColdBeer

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chicago dog

Above: The Chicago dog at Frank in Austin, Texas.

Thanksgiving turkey? Apple pie? Burger and fries?

Is there any dish that embodies the American culinary spirit more than the hot dog?

Even the French love hot dogs…

polish sausage

Above: Polish sausage with the works.

Yesterday, I finally made it to Frank, Austin’s local temple to hot dog and hipsterdom.

If ever there were an asylum run by the inmates, it would be Frank.

I got there mid-afternoon and every seat at the bar was occupied by handlebar mustaches, pierced nostrils, tattoo sleeves, and Pabst Blue Ribbon beer. The scene was a mirror reflection, minus the beer cans, of the bar staff.

ice tea ball jar

Above: Drinks are served in ball jars.

I loved Frank. I loved its Austinite originality. I loved its unabashed embrace of americana. I loved its affordability and approachability. AND Frank is both family- and hipster-friendly.

And who doesn’t like a hot dog?

To not love the hot dog would just be flat-out, downright unAmerican!

Happy summer, yall

bbq brisket porn @StilesSwitchBBQ

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bbq porn

Just had to share this image, snapped the other night at Stiles Switch BBQ in Austin, where my client Vino Vino organized a wine dinner, pairing the Piedmontese wines of Incisa della Rocchetta and classic Texas bbq.

Note the “smoke ring,” the pink ring on the edge of each slice of brisket. It is one of the top criteria by which bbq is judged in competition.

It’s an indication of the evenness applied in “low [temperature] and slow” smoking.

At the dinner, I sat next to winemaker Filiberto Massone, who asked me why Texans like their meat burnt.

In fact, the black outer ring is not burnt meat but rather the smoked dry rub, the sine qua non of Texas bbq.

I thought the brisket at Stiles Switch was outstanding on Saturday night. Highly recommended…

And btw, Stiles Switch is located in one of Austin’s oldest shopping malls, the Violet Crown, built in the 1950s, and then later the backdrop for the movie Dazed and Confused.

I once asked owner Shane Stiles, a handsome and affable guy, if I could take his photo.

He said, “sure,” and stood there behind the counter expressionless.

I said, “hey, you need to smile!”

He looked over at his pit master, with his sweat-stained baseball cap and t-shirt covered in soot.

“There are no smiles in bbq,” he told me with a grimace worthy of Jack Palance.

Grignolino & bbq tomorrow @StilesSwitchBBQ @VinoVinoWine & please read @EricAsimov

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stiles switch

Above: Barbecue from Stiles Switch in Austin. Image via Fed Man Walking, a blog authored by former Austin American-Statesman folklore and food columnist Mike Sutter. Click here for his review of the restaurant.

When I first moved to Austin at the end of 2008, there really weren’t a lot of great bbq options in town. You had to drive out to Driftwood (Salt Lick), down to Lockhart (Kreutz et alia), or up to Llano (the original Cooper’s) for the real deal (although Sam’s on East 12th was always good in a pinch).

Then, in 2011, the Austin bbq war happened. A number of new and highly competitive places opened, including the highly praised Franklin’s. The not-so-collegial conflict was punctuated by thieves stealing raw brisket from the local supermarket chain H-E-B by stuffing them in their pants.

Although Franklin’s remains the darling of the national media, Stiles Switch (on the north side of town) emerged as one of the winners of the conflagration and was recently voted one of the top 50 bbq destinations in Texas by Texas Monthly.

It’s where Tracie P and I get our bbq and it’s also where my client Vino Vino will be hosting a dinner tomorrow night with the wines of Marchesi Incisa della Rocchetta — Grignolino and Barbera. $35 for bbq and Grignolino sounds pretty good to me

Tomorrow afternoon, Vino Vino will also be hosting its annual rosé wine festival, Pink Fest, one of the best wine events in town.

I’ll be at both happenings. Come out and taste with me if you’re in town!

In other news…

Please read Eric the Red’s EXCELLENT article today in the Times, “If Only the Grapes Were the Whole Story.”

“Think of wine as food,” he writes. “Concerns about where food comes from and how it’s grown, processed or raised ought to be extended to wine. If we ourselves don’t set standards for quality and authenticity, who will?”

Buon weekend e buona lettura, yall!