Category Archives: de austinopoli

Love balls & unicorns in the Groover’s Paradise @emmajanzen

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“Enchiladas and barbeque, oh baby whatcha gonna do?” sang the legendary father of Tex-Mex music Doug Sahm. The line comes from the title track of his 1974 release, “Groover’s Paradise,” an ode to the River City — Austin, Texas.

Today, in keeping with a long-running tradition of musician-friendly victuals, Austin has become the sui generis trailer park eatery capital of the world.

A few months ago, I visited the East Side Drive-In park (above) with liquid editor for our city’s paper of record, The Austin American-Statesman, Emma Janzen and her beau Zach Rose.

She posted this account of a wine tasting and pairing that I conducted for them.

What do loved balls and unicorns have to do with all of this? Watch the video and you’ll see…

Thanks again Emma and Zach! :)

honky tonk baby

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These days, Parzen family honkytonking starts earlier in the evening day than it used to: yesterday we took Georgia P to two of our favorite spots for Sunday afternoon jams, Guero’s Taco Bar and Ginny’s Little Longhorn Saloon (our all-time fav).

That’s Ginny above in the photo holding little Georgia P. She came out back to meet Georgia for the first time.

“Mommy’s been coming here a looooong time,” said Tracie P, remembering when she first came to Ginny’s in 1999.

That’s Ginny’s daughter Sharon holding her.

The amazing Dale Watson wasn’t performing this last Sunday as usual but his band was there.

“Dale’s in Atlanta,” said Sharon. “He’s the understudy for John Mellencamp in a play in Atlanta.”

It’s called “Ghost Brothers of Darkland County” – Book by Stephen King; Music & Lyrics by John Mellencamp; Musical Direction by T Bone Burnett.

Of course, Daddy P couldn’t resist a Ginny’s dog. “The best dogs in the world,” as Dale would say.

Tracie P and I are so blessed. We’re going through that tough time that all new parents talk about: “sleep training.” It ain’t easy but her smile and laughter eclipse the fatigue and weariness of any sleepless night…

Where I want to be all the time (the greatest love)

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Unfortunately, I’ve got to leave Austin again tomorrow for a few days. But it sure has been nice to be in one place for a while.

Most early evenings, I tune out around 5 p.m. and play guitar and sing for Georgia P until she’s ready for her bath. All she has to do is look at me and another love song just seems to flow from my finger tips. She’s such an inspiration and such a joy for us…

Breakfast tacos back in the Groover’s Paradise

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Had a to take a few days off to decompress, beat the nasty jetlag, catch up on my sleep, and “love on” Tracie and Georgia P this weekend.

When I travel to Europe for the trade fair, only to stay on to lead a blogger project, I hit the ground running and the pace never slows down… And then, back in Texas, where Tracie P is now a stay-at-home mom and we are a one-income household, my plate is piled high with new clients and editorial responsibilities as we try to make our business grow.

And so early Sunday morning, as baby and mamma still slumbered, I warmed some handmade flour tortillas, melted some colby jack, hard scrambled some eggs with Parmigiano Reggiano, milk, and nutmeg, and topped it all with a dollop of creamy guacamole, a tablespoon of frijoles negros (Goya, of course), and a generous splash of Herdez salsa casera.

There’s a whole wide world of enogastronomic adventure out there… but there’s no place like home…

Happy Monday, yall…

Susumaniello, what a sususurprise! (and Georgia P’s photo shoot)

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Honestly, I really didn’t know what to expect from a 2010 IGT Tarantino Susumaniello (100%) by the Poderi Angelini winery in Manduria (west coast of Puglia).

The craze for indigenous varieties has inspired a number of producers to deliver monovarietal bottlings of grapes that were used strictly for blending in the past.

In the entry for Susumaniello in the landmark Vitigni d’Italia (Grape Varieties of Italy), last revised in 2006, the editors underline the fact that “the grape is never vinified on its own” and is used strictly to produce vino da taglio, i.e., blending wine (employed historically to beef up otherwise “thin” wines).

Unfortunately, some of the well intentioned efforts to champion such indigenous grapes has been misguided (Uva di Troia in purezza, anyone?).

But Angelini’s 2010 Susumaniello was delicious last night: bright and surprisingly light on the palate, with the acidity that we crave, high but balanced alcohol, and juicy, chewy red berry fruit. I loved it, as did the group of wine professionals with whom we tasted it.

Inspired by our tasting, I went into the stustustudio and dug out some footage of my good friend Paolo Cantele pronouncing the grape’s name for us. Phil Collins ain’t got nothing on this baby!

In other news…

Georgia P went to one of her first photo shoots (I am such a stage father!) yesterday with our good friends and AWESOME photographers the Nichols here in Austin yesterday (remember when they shot our wedding?). Here’s a preview… WE LOVE HER SO MUCH! :)

Eat my puccia (in Austin, Texas) cc @PaoloCantele

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Above: The art of the puccia lies in the creativity and freedom of ingredients that you use to dress it. At the puccia truck in Austin, they make a pastrami puccia! I love it!

The word puccia first became part of my gastronomic lexicon when my good friend (and client) Paolo Cantele took me to one of his favorite puccia shops in Lecce (Puglia, Italy).

The puccia is a savory flatbread indigenous to Puglia: it is griddle-fired and then stuffed with a wide variety of toppings — often clashing flavors. When I questioned Paolo’s wisdom off requesting a puccia stuffed with prosciutto and tuna, he didn’t miss a beat in responding “that’s the whole point of the puccia!”

You can imagine my delight when I discovered that Austin — the capital of trailer dining and food trucks in the U.S. — has its own puccia pimp, an Apulian dude named “Lucky” Luciano who runs a puccia truck downtown across from the Whole Foods Market on Lamar on 5th St.

But the coolest thing about Lucky’s puccia is that he embraces American foods in the toppings he uses, like the pastrami puccia above. And of course, all things being equal, in Austin you can pair Lucky’s puccia with Texas beer.

Here’s the Yelp and here’s the Facebook.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Buon weekend, yall! :)

Friuli meets Japan @UchikoAustin

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It’s not everyday that you dine at one of the top Japanese restaurants in the country with the woman who wrote its cookbook. Last night I finally caught up with Jessica Dupuy and executive (and celebrity) chef Tyson Cole who took time out to talk about some of his dishes and his approach to cooking at Uchiko with me and travel and wine writer, my friend Bruce Schoenfeld who was in town on business.

Bruce suggested we pair the [Tocai] Friulano by Livio Felluga with a dish of uni, cuttlefish, and lemongrass (above). The minerality and grassy aromatic character of the wine worked gorgeously with Tyson’s creations. I’ll let the food do the talking…

Nantucket bay scallop with nasturtium blossoms, cantaloupe sorbet, and sherry vinegar.

Buri sashimi with pickeled hakurei turnip, saikyo miso, and crème fraiche.

Abalone nigiri with lemon, maldon, and garlic.

Yokai berry with Atlantic salmon, dinosaur kale, Asian pear, and yuzu.

Dewberry Hills farm chicken, short grain sweet rice, banana leaf, and Thai chili vinegar.

Vita servare: Pediatric CPR Training

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Vita servare is the motto of the Austin-Travis County EMS department. Vita means life in Latin and servare means to make safe, save, keep unharmed, preserve, guard, keep, protect, deliver, rescue (isn’t Latin awesome?).

Yesterday I completed my Pediatric and Adult CPR training at their main office.

I was the only layperson in the class: all the other participants were professional health care providers who were obtaining or renewing their certification (nurses, paramedics, etc.).

After 3 hours of performing CPR on manikins, man, I was exhausted! G-d bless all the folks who do this for living. We’re lucky to have them…

My heart filled with emotion and my blood with adrenaline when I held the infant manikin in my arms for the first time. I hope I never have to perform CPR on Baby P but I’m glad that I’m ready.

We’re just a few weeks away from our due date at this point. The discomfort is not easy to deal with but we’re hanging in there. I’m doing my best to make Tracie P as comfortable as possible. And, every day, I love her all the more for carrying our little one… My Italian friends call her la piccola Parzen…

And, btw, I passed! :)

I highly recommend the class. Here’s the info.

Buona domenica, yall…

What to pour for Alice Feiring in Austin?

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In a remarkable confluence of cosmic events, Comrades Howard and Alice both found themselves in Austin last night: he, to speak at the Austin Film Festival; she, to talk about Natural wine and her new book today at Whole Foods Market (Lamar) and tomorrow at Vino Vino.

When we all met for dinner last night at one of our favorite restaurants in the world, Fonda San Miguel, it was only natural that we would drink López de Heridia. After all, Alice wrote “the book” on the winery.

It may seem facile to pair Mexican cuisine with Spanish wine (for the overly obvious reasons). But the fact of the matter is that the attenuated fruit in the López oxidative style works gloriously well with the intense flavors of great Mexican cooking. The wine paired brilliantly with our mole, for example, where the gentle astringency of the wine played counterpart to the chocolate in the mole.

Tracie P and I are thrilled that Fonda San Miguel wine director Brad Sharp has continued to support these unique wines, even in a world where 99% of his guests ask regularly (and nearly exclusively) for Chard, Cab, Merlot, or Pinot.

After dinner, perhaps inspired by the brio of the evening, Alice insisted that we make a pilgrimage to the chicken coop out back behind Ginny’s Little Longhorn Saloon.

Last night was 100% irony-free at Ginny’s and Sarah and The Tallboys, a country outfit out of Chicago, played a smoking set (imho).

Ginny and daughter Sharon are so sweet to me and Tracie P whenever we visit.

But their wholesome Texas hospitality reached its limits last night when Sharon had to kick out a couple for getting to frisky! Never a dull moment at Ginny’s…

Chili cheese fries, Texas style, at 24 Diner Austin

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Cousins Joanne and Marty were in town for the wedding of their close family friends but they snuck away from festivities for a few hours so we could visit at 24 Diner, where no one could resist the Chili Cheese Fries.

In Texas, the designation chili is highly codified, denoting chili con carne, a dish which rigorously and canonically excludes beans. The sliced jalapeño took this expression of Chili Cheese Fries, an American classic, over the top.

The food at 24 Diner is always solid and the atmosphere is fun. Great location, next to Waterloo Records, and across the street from Book People and the flagship Whole Foods Market.