Thursday-  Live Fire at the Salt Lick then Dessert Dinner at Trace by Pichet Ong 

Beautiful evening at the Salt Lick. The long line is for Franklin's BBQ. Shocker.

Jester King lineup

A scrumptious pinotage blend from Cape Classics

John Bullington smokes an entire cow for his delicious meaty sandwich

I like pie! Especially if it is from Bud "The Pieman" Royer at Royer's Round Top Cafe

The lovely Paula from Paula's Texas Orange

Trace pastry chef Janina O'Leary (left) with Pichet Ong (right)

Barely Buzzed- creama panna cotta, Round Rock honey, lavender

Cream Soda- market berry vanilla swirl ice cream, black pepper genoise, Dr. Pepper reduction

Smoked chocolate cream beignet, caramelized white chocolate ice cream

Assorted Petit Fours

Friday-  Secret Dessert Party at Hotel St Cecilia

Austin's own Philip Speer (foreground) with his pastry chef from Uchiko Andrew Lewis (background)

Sam Mason formerly of wd~50, currently at Empire Mayonnaise

Pichet Ong owner/chef P*ONG, Village Tart, The Spot, Bubble Lounge, and Batch

Christina Tosi from Momofuku Milk Bar

Popping bottles at the Hotel St Cecilia

Sunday-  More Morimoto

Morimoto's Japanese fishing song elicited a Grito from the crowd. Texas fusion.

"TEXAS! Very, very hot."

Central Market threw a lovely soiree last week at the French Legation to celebrate their love of all thing French.  Today, May 9th, kicks off their in store celebration Passport France through May 22.  Cooking demos, cheese, wine, and pastry specials will rule the aisles in a Francophile’s dream.  I am rushing over to the bakery tomorrow to pick up some more of the Kouign Amann pastries I sampled at the Legation.  These deeply caramelized cakes of butter and sugar are all the rage in Paris right now.  At $4.99 for 4, I think I will be drinking cafe au lait and dreaming of the Left Bank soon.

Morimoto makes me dream of sushi.

It took me awhile but I think I am finally recovered from the bacchanalia that came to Austin at the end of April.  The inaugural Austin Wine and Food Fest had a few logistical issues like high winds that led to a film of dust that covered everyone and everything and timing for the demos could have been better.  But for the most part, it was a success.  I was proud to play a role at the fest as the lead in charge of volunteer checkin.  I also serve with the Austin Food Bloggers Alliance as Volunteer Coordinator which led to the opportunity.  So I spent a good portion of the actual fest at Auditorium Shores working instead of drinking and eating as much as I would have liked to.  Fortunately, there were several periphery events before that I was able to enjoy.  Plus it was fun to have a behind the scenes view of the first year.  It will be interesting to see how they adjust going forward.

Now for my food porn.  First up was the fantastic dinner that Columbus Salame sponsored at the Carillon.  Columbus is an artisan salame maker out of San Francisco that makes truly stellar handcrafted meats.  Each of the courses included some of their product.  As always, Josh Watkins and Plinio Sandalio gave me mouthgasms with their delicious dishes.  You can find Columbus locally at Central Market and Antonelli’s.

I <3 salame!

Pre dinner tasting

Mache * Watermelon * Secchi * Minus 8 Syrup

Seared Diver Scallop * Fresno * Basil * Granny Smith * Crespone

Hawaiian Blue Prawns * Finocchiona * Charred Tomato * Corn Butter * Cilantro

Smoked Bandera Quail * Cacciatore * Morels * Texas Vinegar

Pork Belly * Felino * Artichokes * Brown Butter * Preserved Meyer Lemon

Almond Cake * Fennel butter * Hot Sopressata Caramel * Fennel Chips * Hot Sopressata Brittle * Olive Oil Ice Cream

Stay tuned for Part 2.  Dessert dinner, Live Fire meat and pie, secret dessert party, and more Morimoto.

This is the lovely, luscious lemon tart I recently had at the W restaurant Trace.  Turns out the pastry chef Janina O’Leary is a former protege of Pichet Ong, one of the best pastry chefs in the country.  He will be in town for the upcoming inaugural Austin Food and Wine Fest.  On Thursday night, Ong will be at Trace for a dessert dinner.  I am so excited about this one, I will be leaving the Austin Food and Wine Alliance Live Fire event early to make it downtown in time for the dessert royalty.  If you are a dessert groupie like me, call for reservations now.  Here is the description from the Facebook page.

New post up at Greenling blog for a decadent gluten free brownie recipe.

Recipe up on Greenling blog!

The March/April issue of InFluential magazine is out and I have an article on pages 56-57.  Go on a foodie world tour without having to leave the city limits!

Posted a new recipe on Greenling blog for fried cheese curds

I am now blogging for Greenling!  See my first post here http://www.greenling.com/blog/uncategorized/homemade-veggie-bouillon

Greenling is an organic and local food delivery service in Texas. Greenling works with local farms whenever possible to bring you the freshest produce, dairy, meats, breads, and groceries right to your door for the same prices as the grocery store with free delivery. Visit www.greenling.com to learn more and sign up for your Local Box.

    Roasted tomato sorbet with cherub tomato confit and chevre fondant from Philip Speer of Uchi/Uchiko.

Austin has a ton of dessert options, from trailers to fine dining to bakeries you are sure to find something to satisfy that sweet tooth.

Two of the best restaurants in town are Uchi and her sister restaurant Uchiko.  You may have heard of them, Tyson Cole won a James Beard Award last year for best chef Southwest and if there is any justice in the world, Paul Qui will be crowned Top Chef tomorrow night.  As ethereal as their food is, I always save room for dessert.  Sometimes two.

Peanut butter semifreddo with apple-miso sorbet from Philip Speer at Uchi/Uchiko

Director of Culinary Operations at Uchi and designer of desserts Philip Speer was just nominated for a James Beard Award for the third time.  His plates are as beautiful as they are tasty.  Speer uses familiar flavors and combines them with bold techniques to make a sophisticated presentation.  One of his biggest sellers is the peanut butter semifreddo which came to him one day when he was making a sack lunch for his daughter.

My next post talks about the Social Hour they offer at both restaurants.  If you go, make sure to try the desserts as well.

Guanja chocolate terrine with grapfruit segments, candied baguette, and chupa nut puree from Plinio Sandalio at the Carillon.

The Carillon is the restaurant located at the AT&T Executive Center on the University of Texas Campus.  This is one of the best restaurants in town that nobody seems to know about.  It is probably due to the fact that it is located in a hotel/conference center run by UT and is only open to staff for breakfast and lunch but it opens for fine dining to the public in the evening and it is outstanding.  I have been a huge fan of the executive chef, Josh Watkins, since his days at the Driskill.  As much as I love Watkins’ food, his dessert program did not do justice to his high caliber food.  That problem was recently resolved with the addition on Plinio Sandalio to the team.

Foreground- Goat cheese cheesecake/mango pudding/candied cashews Background- carrot cake fritters/ mustardo/cream cheese/candied pecans from Plinio Sandalio at the Carillon

Sandalio originally comes from Bolivia but spent most of his life growing up in Houston.  He is known for his daring desserts that combine savory elements like foie gras or offer surprising twists like flavored pop rocks. I always look forward to his inventive design.

Huge tip-  the restaurant validates for its parking garage.  It is one of the few places downtown you do not have to worry about parking.

Additional fine dining desserts:

Steven Cak from Parkside presented this beautiful beet dessert at the Dessert Project on Sunday

One of my all time favorites is the Chocolate Soup at Wink

Tons of pastry cases around town including many Mexican bakeries that you should try but that is subject to a whole separate post.  Here are a few of my favorite European style bakeries:

La Patisserie offers gorgeous macarons as well as French pastries and tasty sandwiches.

Walton's Fancy and Staple is owned by Sandra Bullock and offers delicious desserts and sandwiches on fresh baked bread

Vespaio Enoteca offers cookies, breads, pastries, cakes, tarts and more next to a gourmet deli case capable of stocking a picnic basket with tasty treats as well as a sit down area with a menu, full bar, and espresso.

Do not forget the trailers!  Far more delicious desserts than I can count but here are a few of my favorites:

Holy cacao offers those cute little cake balls and homemade s'more fixings but my favorite from here is the iced hot chocolate. The incredibly decadent hot chocolate is mixed with chocolate ice cream and mixed into a refreshing beverage sure to cool you down and quell even the biggest chocolate craving.

La Boite recently changed suppliers for their almond croissants but I am happy to report they are still as close as you can get to Paris. They also sell beautiful macarons, delicious coffee drinks, and the award winning Confituras preserves.

Gordough's has relocated to 1503 S. 1st along with Izzoz and Dock and Roll. Gordoughs offers huge fresh fried donuts with an abundance of topping options. My favorite is the Flying Pig topped with bacon strips and maple icing.

One of the first trailers to start the wave, Hey Cupcake has the tastiest cupcakes in town. They offer several varieties but my favorite is the Double Dose, chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. They have several locations around town including a brick and mortar.