Texas is HUGE!

We were supposed to get an early start this morning but our food comas from last night got the best of us and we slept in until 9:30 or 10.  We packed up our suitcases, squeezed them back into the puzzle that is the backseat of my car, and headed to our last food truck destination, Flip Happy Crepes, for breakfast.

Flip Happy Crepes (http://www.fliphappycrepes.com/) was actually featured on the Food Network TV Show, Throwdown with Bobby Flay, a few years ago where they competed against him to see who made the best crepes and THEY WON!  

They have their own little nook set up in the corner of a gravel parking lot (seems

to be a trend for food trucks around here) with shade, fans blowing, and

great music playing in the background.

The menu gave great and accurate descriptions of the crepes

and they all seemed very reasonably priced for how tasty they were.

Here is the Fried Egg and Ham crepe with scallions and a mornay sauce.

This was a stellar combination because ham and eggs

always go well together, then the mornay sauce (which is essentially

a Bechamel sauce with cheese added to it) which was buttery and

creamy, and then the scallions were the unexpected twist

that made the whole crepe pop with flavor!  I wish we had more time

there because I would have loved to try more.  

It was already 93 degrees outside by 11am, but luckily the

crepe was so good we weren't bothered by the heat!

After our crepes we hit the road and headed for New Mexico.

The open road

We didn't see much...

....except for cool carved out sections of the road...

and tons of windmills!

Pretty blue skies that led us to El Paso, TX for dinner.  

We found a local favorite, Fortis, that got rave reviews so we

were anxious to try it.  

It has won several awards including one of the 50 best Mexican restaurants 

in the whole state of Texas.

Cute indoor seating area 

We weren't super hungry so we ordered guacamole and split an order

of the Beef Flautas that were sooooo good. It is a fried

taco filled with beef and topped with cheese, guacamole, sour

cream, etc.  The best part about it was the beef because you could tell

it was slow roasted in Mexican spices.  The strangest part was that

it wasn't very juicy but it still had this incredible flavor that

I couldn't quite figure out but it was delicious.  

I would highly recommend this restaurant to anyone looking for great and

authentic Mexican food in El Paso, Texas.

After dinner we got back on the road and headed towards Las Cruces, NM.

It's hard to tell, but this is a huge storm cloud that formed in front of us

while we were driving on the highway and it was raining so hard

that it looked like there were three huge twisters coming down from

the clouds.  Really cool to watch!

I was driving and the sign snuck up on mom, but she just 

barely caught in on camera :).  

Now we have made it safely across the entire state of Texas and 

are resting comfortably at the Encanto Hotel

in Las Cruces.  We are hoping to get on the road

around 10:30 tomorrow morning to head to Arizona!

We aren't sure which city we're going to stay in yet, so if anyone has any 

advice on if we should say in Tucson, Phoenix, Scottsdale, or Flagstaff,

let me know!  Any advice is welcome!

So little time, so many food trucks...

As many of you know, Austin has quickly become a mecca for food trucks and it is hard to go a few blocks without seeing a free standing truck or even a trailer park filled with food trucks of all different varieties!  It was an exciting discovery for us because essentially every food type or ethnicity was represented at least once, if not 50 times over, throughout the city so you were never short of options to choose from, and cheap ones at that!

Because we had a limited amount of time to spend in Austin we had to plan our food truck stops carefully as well.  As if we weren't full enough from the sensational meal at Barley Swine we decided to go on a hunt for Bananarchy, the frozen banana food truck that frequently changes its location and posts new coordinates on Twitter.  Luckily it ended up being right down the road from Barley Swine, both on the south side of the river, and it was a small white trailer next to a chalupa trailer that was closed for the evening.

This is their menu with 6 recommended specials but then they 

list all of their potential toppings so you are able

to make your own as well.  You can get either a half

order or a whole.  I was already so full that I just got a half, and I made

my own dipped in chocolate, with peanut butter sauce, toffee bits, and 

chocolate chip cookie crumbles.  It was insane!  See below picture:

They also have bananagram tiles on the ledge where you order

so we decided to leave a few up there.  

I also talked with the girl working there and it turns out that

it is their second summer in business and two girls

started it when they were 22 and 24.  One was an 

English major in college and one never went to college.  They are

now so successful that they are catering large parties and weddings.  

Go Bananarchy!

So at this point it's 10:15pm and most people would have stopped eating hours ago, but we can't help but wonder about this place that our server, Clara, from Barley Swine raved about called the East Side King at the Grackle that served Asian fusion food.  This was a string of words that was too tempting to pass up, so we got back in the car, did some googling on the ipad2 (thanks for loaning us the cool tool dad), and found ourselves north of downtown in the gravel parking lot of a bar where we found two food trucks:

A taco truck 

AND

East Side King!

We met Chris, the friendly cook and cashier, and he helped us with our order.

Then I took our number in case he couldn't find us in the busy parking lot.  

(It was empty- everyone was inside the bar)

Here is the pork belly with rice and kimchi- OMG amazing!  

The pork belly was super tender and of course was

deliciously fatty, the rice was cooked well, and the

kimchi added a nice layer of spice that completed the dish.  SO GOOD!

So between Barley Swine, Bananarchy, and East Side King, it was essentially the perfect night off food!  

Austin is a foodie's dream come true...

Barley Swine

http://barleyswine.com/

As I mentioned in my last post, we went to Barley Swine (on S. Lamar in Austin, TX) for dinner and it was INCREDIBLE.  Bryce Gilmore is the chef and he has crafted a magical menu of small plate treats dotted with words that foodies drool over: foie gras, duck confit, sweetbreads, maple syrup jus, duck fat poached scallops, and the list goes on until dessert.  The restaurant uses a lot of local products from the Austin area and they change the menu seasonally to continue using ingredients that are as fresh as possible.  

They don't accept reservations but you can call ahead to put your name on the list, which was luckily what we did because it was a 45 minute wait.  But since we called on our way into town, by the time we got to our hotel, settled in, and then found the restaurant, it was time for our table to be ready!  It is small, holding only 34 seats, all at high top tables that hold 6 at each table and a few at the bar, and the kitchen is completely open and on display, adding to the lively, bustling vibe that you join upon stepping in the doorway.  

This is the open kitchen and also where Expo is, so we had a great view

of the kitchen and of every dish that came out.  

A few months ago, Food and Wine named Bryce Gilmore as one of the 10 Best 

New Chefs in the Country!  He also just recently went to the Annual

Food and Wine Classic in Aspen and took his entire cooking

staff with him for the event. Everyone was raving about how great of a time 

they had there. Jason even told us that one food tent he went into for an 

event was the size of a football field and it was filled with 

food, beer, wine, etc.  What a dream come true!  

Here is the menu.  They recommend 2-3 small plates per person

since they are meant to be shared.  We took their

advice and ordered 6 to share :).  

The first plate was duck fat poached scallops with some kind of

pesto and romaine tossed with a sesame dressing.  I have had

a poached scallop before, but never one poached in duck

fat, and I have to say it was delicious!  I mean how could you really

go wrong with poaching anything in duck fat, but still, it was

a great balance between the natural sweetness of the 

scallop and the fatty taste of the duck fat.  Then that paired with 

the garlic in the pesto and the subtle Asian flavors in the sesame dressing

was a really neat layering of flavors.  It also came with marinated cucumbers

but they seemed a little too chunky and didn't add much to the flavor combination

so I just ate around them.  

Next was beef tongue with fried bone marrow and a tamarind puree.  This was 

one of the specials that night and the best part was certainly the 

fried bone marrow.  Wow, so rich!

This was the fried sweetbreads with purple potatoes,

pork belly, haricot vert, and a dill butter sauce that I could

drink all on its own it was so good.  Once again, he created

a dish that had incredible balance if you take a little bit

of each component for each bite.  

This was a summer crepe filled with Texas basmati rice and squash, and

then topped with a cream sauce with morel mushrooms.  This was

one of the smoothest crepes I have ever had with the cream sauce

soaking into the rice and the lemon scented squash.  I also couldn't believe

how many morels came on the dish considering they are

so expensive and such a beautiful, woodsy mushroom.  

This was the other special of the evening and it was a grilled duck

breast with huskberries, homemade, toasted bread cubes, and 

a mash of roasted eggplant.  The duck was perfectly

pink, the huskberries (which are like smaller, sweeter versions

of cherry tomatoes) added the sweetness, the bread cubes 

gave a nice crunch to the dish, and the eggplant brought

a smokiness at the end to tie the dish all together.  

This was hands down the best dish of the night and it was entitled: 

Chicken n' Waffles.

Talk about putting their own spin on a Southern classic.  They started with

a homemade waffle and topped it with a duck confit hash that they fried, and

next to that was a piece of perfectly seared foie gras that was so

silky and delicious I can taste its buttery texture as I type this.  Then they

made a maple syrup jus to go over the whole dish that added the perfect

amount of sweetness to balance out the fattiness of the foie gras and the

heartiness of the waffle.  My eyes rolled into the back of my head at 

least twice while eating this dish.  I was sad to see the end of it.  

Part of the staff at Barley Swine and Clara, our awesome server!

We really enjoyed the evening and all of the delicious food.  I can't wait 

to make another trip down to Austin so I can see 

next season's menu!  Thanks so much!

Days 4 & 5- Baton Rouge--- Houston--- San Antonio--- Austin

Mom joins the adventure!  After a great night in Baton Rouge, I went to pick my mom up at the airport and we started the drive to Houston, TX to stay with Katie and J.  The first thing we did was search for a lunch place and found a road side seafood restaurant called Pier 51 Seafood.  

It had decent fried seafood, but the best part

was their special sauce that they made

in house called Landry sauce.  It was

essentially a seafood cream sauce with

bits of seafood in it.  

After that it was only a few hours until we crossed the state line into Texas!  I will commend the state of Texas for putting their welcome center at the same exit where the "Welcome to Texas" sign is since it is super convenient to pull over to pick up maps, get snacks, and also take pictures with the sign/ Texas star.  Many states just have the sign on the side of the road, not at an exit, and if you blink you could miss it.  It's either that or you nearly cause a wreck trying to snap a quick picture of it while driving by at 70 MPH.  

Me acting like a star?  Who knows.  

 Unfortunately, Texans seem to interpret this sign as, "Drive as if you've never

heard of cruise control- the Texas Way." 

View of the skyline driving into Houston.

Passed through Houston, TX to get to Richmond, TX- home of Katie and J. 

I was lucky enough to have seafood gumbo two nights in a row

so that I could see the differences between Louisiana (roux-based) gumbo

and Texas (tomato, okra) gumbo.  I now know that both are

delicious and I think I will combine elements from both

kinds when I try to make my own!

Thank you for hosting us for the evening and for the delicious meal!

Sleepy kitty

One of their many pets.

The next day we got an early start and hit the road so that we could get to San Antonio in time for lunch.  I had read about a great food truck park that had a collection of 15 different food trucks to choose from, and we couldn't wait to see the selection!

Remember the Alamo!  Lots of cool history.  

San Antonio, TX- what a beautiful city along the river.  

Talk about fulfilling the stereotype- state trooper in a cowboy hat in 98 degree Texas weather.

The greatest road-side attraction yet- Buc-ee's- not just a convenience store.  

This place was incredible.  It was about the length of a football field and it had everything you 

could ever want for a road trip or just at all- candy, drinks, pots, pans,

clothing, tools, artwork, etc.  

They even had a whole section of the deli counter devoted to jerky!  I was

skeptical at first but after a sample, I was hooked.  We ordered some to go

and the Sweet and Spicy would be my recommendation.  Advice: eat

jerky only when you're alone or with people that you aren't trying to impress-

it's not a pretty sight.  

The guy working at the register was kind enough to let me try the beaver 

nuggets and I was glad I asked.  They are a sweet, caramel treat similar

to caramel popcorn without the annoyance of them getting stuck

in your teeth.  Apparently things with ridiculous names can be tasty too!

Buc-ee's also had a great pastry/bakery section with cookies,

cakes, pastries, rolls, etc.  We got a sausage, cheese, and jalapeno

hotdog wrap and it was certainly better than any gas station 

food I'd ever had before and for only $1.49.  

After spending entirely too long at Buc-ee's, we got back on the road and headed 

to San Antonio in search of the food truck park. 

We found it!

....and then we realized that there wasn't a single person there.  

Literally.

(We spotted a man in a neighboring parking lot and asked him why

no one was there and he said because it was too hot.  Never

thought I'd hear that from a Texan, but I guess everyone

has their limits and 98 degrees must be theirs.)

So we had to change plans and find a new place for lunch.  I wanted

to try Barbacoa (where the name barbeque originated from and 

was originally slow cooked cow head, but is now used more

to described slow cooked meat with Mexican spices) so I

googled a few places that were famous for it and discovered

Taqueria Datapoint, which was a little north of the city.

It was a quaint place in a small strip shopping center and the 

two waitresses working greeted us only speaking Spanish, which

was exciting because we got to practice our Spanish with them!

I asked our waitress what her favorite thing on the menu was and she said

the carne asada taco and the barbacoa taco, so I got one of each.  

(I tend to always ask the servers what their favorites are because

generally they know the menu the best since they eat the food

a lot and can make great recommendations).  I also ordered

a side of avocados to put on the tacos.  Both were delicious and super

tender, but I would have to say that the carne asada was better than the barbacoa.

Mom got a beef gordita that was also very good with a side of 

caramelized onions and avocado.  

After lunch we got back on the road and headed to Austin! We made a

quick stop along the way at the Premium Outlets and then got into town around 5pm

to our hotel downtown.  

On our way to dinner!

I knew we would only have two meals (one dinner and one breakfast) in 

Austin, so I had to make them count since it is such a foodie town.

I did lots of research and the best two places I found ended up being

owned by the same people.  No wonder they both looked so great!

One is a food truck named Odd Duck and once that became

so successful they opened a permanent restaurant (about 7 months ago)

named Barley Swine, and we ended up choosing this one.  

We left for dinner around 7pm and our culinary adventure did not end

until 11pm, which included 3 different stops along the way.  Needless

to say I am slipping into a food coma, mom is already asleep, and I

will have to describe the good eats tomorrow because I want to do them justice 

because I might have found my favorite place along the way so far!

What a great night!