Flavors of the Month: February 2020

Austin restaurants and dishes are featured in my monthly Flavors of the Month posts. Check out this post for recommendations on where to eat next!

Blueberry Scone from Nate’s Baked Goods & Coffee
In my research for my best pastries in Austin post, I stopped by Nate’s Baked Goods & Coffee and it was excellent! Their blueberry scone was packed with blueberries and the texture was perfect. Be sure to check out the post for more recommendations.

Burger from Hopfields
Do you ever get a burger craving? I love this burger from Hopfields because it’s topped with camembert (soft cheese) and caramelized onions.

Dinner at Whataburger
We were pressed for time to get dinner before an Austin Symphony concert, so we stopped by one of the closest and fastest options – Whataburger! I go to Whataburger two or three times a year and if it’s not for breakfast (always a taquito), I’m usually torn between a burger and chicken strips with gravy.

Amazing Cheese and Charcuterie
For my friend Cristina’s birthday, we enjoyed this huge cheese and charcuterie display at her house. Yum! The truffled Marcona almonds and olives were my favorites. I also made a birthday cake (recipe from the cookbook), and it felt like a ‘Nailed It’ episode as I was assembling it. 🙂 But you know how to cover up the mess-ups? Lots and lots of sprinkles!

Smoothie Bowl at Juiceland
After yoga a week before the marathon, this smoothie bowl was excellent! I’ve been wanting to try one of Juiceland’s colorful smoothies. This is the Blue Hullabaloo (hemp milk, banana) with a dragonfruit swirl. To make it a bowl, they top it with granola and fruit. Delicious!

Dinner at MezzeMe
For our first Austin Food Blogger Alliance board meeting of the year, we met at MezzeMe. It’s a local fast-casual Turkish restaurant. I got truffle feta fries and a İçli Köfte (lamb kibbeh), which is fried ground lamb with a thin layer of dough.

Happy Hour at Salty Sow
Our work had a team outing at Salty Sow and we enjoyed a bunch of appetizers and drinks. For dessert, these bananas foster beignets were heavenly! You can’t beat the hot, fried dough with bananas topped with a scoop of honey and nutmeg ice cream.

AFBA Lunch at Taquero Mucho (Complimentary)
Do you remember when the Austin Food Blogger Alliance visited Gabriela’s? The owners of Gabriela’s has opened a new spot on West 6th, a very pink restaurant called Taquero Mucho. They hosted the Austin Food Blogger Alliance for a brunch. We enjoyed pink margaritas, choriqueso, salsa, pink tortillas, and tacos! This restaurant would be a photo-worthy spot for a bachelorette party. They have a parking lot that they will validate but you’ll have to get lucky because it fills up quickly.

Cream Coffins at Zucchini Kill Bakery
In my research for cupcakes and pastries, Zucchini Kill, a vegan bakery, was one of my stops and of course, I had to get some cream coffins. They’re the bakery’s version of a Twinkie. And I couldn’t help but grab some puppy treats for Kaira while I was there.

AFBA Happy Hour at Infinite Monkey Theorem with Austin Rotisserie (Complimentary)
Austin Food Blogger Alliance had a second outing at Infinite Monkey Theorem, an urban winery. (I’m a fan! I posted about them for a blogger event and when AFBA visited last year.) We tried a few of their wines, including a dry-hopped sauv blanc that’s available in cans and their viognier that will be bottled this week. I love the relaxed setting and it’s definitely a fun place to hang out and take out-of-town guests.

Austin Rotisserie is a food truck parked outside the winery. Whether you order a sandwich or their roasted chicken, you can’t go wrong. I loved their Norwegian salmon and their roasted chicken sandwiches, and their ham and cheese sandwich is a solid classic. I would definitely order their rotisserie chicken with potatoes. This food truck is owned by a couple with roots in France and Mexico, so they’ve combined their culinary memories to serve delicious food! Plus, combined with wine, it’s a fun date night!

Happy Hour at Lefty’s Brick Bar
I met up with my friend Sarah for a very quick happy hour. Lefty’s does $5 frozen drinks and I got this strawberry basil snow cone. It was pretty good! I can’t say the same for the extra well-done beignets I got as a snack. But let me tell ya, the East Side is busy when it comes to happy hour. Finding a parking spot is a pain, so get there early or be ready to walk a distance.

Dinner at Hestia
With everything that was happening in February, Will and I pushed celebrating Valentine’s Day until later. We don’t really celebrate the holiday but it’s an excuse for a fancier date night. We usually go somewhere low-key or skip going out the day of because of overpriced prix fixe menus. We were ready to try something new. Hestia, the hottest new restaurant in Austin right now, was the perfect place.

We started with drinks, old fashioned for Will and lil’ birdie (vodka-based) for me. For snacks, we ordered the Wagyu Lardo Toast, Shrimp and Cabbage (like a taco), and the Scallop Herb Sandie. For small plates, we ordered the broccoli and wagyu tartare. I liked the broccoli more, and it was a lot of broccoli with a very strong smoked flavor. For entrees, we ordered the lion’s mane mushroom and the wagyu beef brisket. I liked the mushroom a lot! The brisket was a very hearty (a big piece of meat) dish and it seemed to taste saltier with every bite. For dessert, we had the kakigori, a huge shaved ice with layers of flavors, including honey ice cream in the middle. It definitely makes heads turn when it’s walked to a table. We did our best to try to finish it but we were pretty full.

I had heard the snacks were the best part and it’s true! If/when I return, I would definitely order more snacks. They are bite-size, so I recommend ordering one for each person. For the small plates and entrees, I’d want to try new dishes when I return. I’ve heard the halibut entree was amazing from two friends.

Lastly, I’ll note the restaurant can be pricey, so prepare for that and game plan your menu. On this first visit, I’m not sure some of the dishes (the $16 dessert sticks out in my mind) matched the value, but I enjoyed the experience and would be game to return!