Thanks for sticking with me. I know there’s been an uncomfortable amount of radio silence lately, and I apologize for that (notice a recurring theme anyone?). I published my magnum opus last time around in the Dutchie Does Dining piece, which thanks to some props from the lovely Chloe Chiang, the impeccable La Condesa, and my CMO, has accounted for almost half the traffic volume this blog has ever received. Thanks, y’all! So you may (or may not) be wondering, where’s Dutchie been? What’s he been eating/drinking/cooking as of late? What kind of field trips has he been taking?
August was a pretty amazing and exhausting month for the fat kid field tripper. I started the month with a trip to San Francisco, got to play tour guide for LouLou for a week, spent a weekend in Vegas, got to play tour guide for LouLou and Ben for the next week, and then headed to San Francisco (for work) once again, for a week. I’ve spent the last month recovering from this booze and food filled adventure, and will be embarking on another month of insanity in October between OU weekend, two bachelor parties (one in NOLA), KMFBrix visiting town, and Halloween. Enough foreplay, on to the main event.
Editor’s note: I’m writing this with a tall glass of Talisker (my all-time favorite Scotch) accompanying a piece of Truluck’s Carrot Cake (Austin’s best dessert) and listening to some Pharaoh Sanders and John Coltrane. There may be a bit of euphoria flowing through me on this random weeknight. Excuse the hyperbole that is to follow; and the rather detailed description of 16 some restaurants…
San Francisco – Round 1
My younger brother (The Freshman) was going off to his first semester of college, so we decided we had to plan a trip. One of our favorite bands, and the best damn live band I’ve still ever seen (it’s all about stage energy folks), was breaking up, and their final show was to be played on a Sunday in August in San Francisco. It was settled, we would fly to San Francisco early on Friday, stay through Monday, and eat our way through the city…making sure to refrain from passing out just long enough to catch the show. Our flight arrived at close to 10am on Friday morning, and we hopped the BART to our hotel, the Historic Palace Hotel – which we got at $20 less than the Best Western (God Bless Hotwire.com). I had finagled a business meeting with a vendor of mine to take place at a restaurant, and got the guy’s company to pick up the tab. For lunch, we chose the landmark R&G Lounge in Chinatown.
R&G Lounge, as you may have seen on the No Reservations - San Francisco episode, is a rock solid Chinese restaurant near the edge of Chinatown. It fits all of the criteria for a place you want to be eating Chinese food at: You see a ton of Chinese people there (and in this case, not just Chinese Americans), the place is CONSTANTLY busy, and the service is pretty horrible (seriously, if the service is good, they’ve sold out and gotten to Americanized).
The Freshman, the businessman, and myself show up, and they ask if we mind being seated at a table with other people. Being from Texas, and frequenting BBQ joints and the like, this doesn’t seem all too strange. Then they take us upstairs, and set us at one of those massive round tables that serves like 10 people, with like 3 other parties of diners; very strange, especially when talking business for a portion of the meal. The house specialty is a Salt & Pepper Crab, which is basically a ginormous crab that’s lightly battered in a salt and pepper batter, and deep fried. So simple, but here…it’s divine. You get it all over the place, and you’re covered in grease by the end (you still need to break apart the shell), but it’s totally worth it. The “Three Treasures with Black Bean Sauce” is another must – essentially it’s eggplant, peppers, and tofu that are all roasted, stuffed with some awesome shrimp filling, and covered in a black bean sauce. Naturally sweet, texturally contrasting, and sometimes slightly spicy, it’s a winner.
We finished the lunch, and wandered around for a while. I think we might have went shopping and explored Union Square before heading back to the hotel and passing out in an MSG induced coma. I don’t really remember to be all that honest.
Our next meal took us to meeting up with KMFBrix, Dan, and Ota at Foreign Cinema in the Mission. A strong recommendation by KMFBrix, it ended up being the best meal I had that trip for a number of reasons. The ambiance of the restaurant is a major allure – it’s located in a sketchy looking part of the Mission, actually on Mission, in an abandoned movie theater. At night, they play old/eclectic movies on this giant wall in the back (it’s actually 60% open air seating, with giant windows everywhere else). I’ve also read somewhere it’s a Chez Panisse spinoff, which is always a plus. The cocktail menu was absurd, and I believe it’s all changed since we were last there, but I do distinctly remember one of the heavily Amaro flavored cocktails tasting like cough syrup.
Anywho – the food was a real knockout. KMFBrix and I split some oysters (it is important to point out she really enjoys “creamy” oysters), and the table had ordered some mussels (divine) and a seared squid with romesco. Not a negative word to be said about any. For entrees I got the mixed grill (lamb, pork belly, quail, and some other random awesomeness), and I believe KMFBrix did as well. We kinda won at life that night, as we certainly had the best entrees, with The Freshman’s order of risotto being the most disappointing. Note to anyone reading this blog – if you’ve had my risotto, never order it at a restaurant. You will walk away disappointed – restaurants just can’t do it right. Dessert was pretty fantastic as well – a highlight was the crazy interpretation they did of a s’more with a homemade passionfruit marshmallow or some such nonsense. Drinks at the adjoining Laszlo bar are also highly encouraged – although there are cooler places in the Mission to grab a drink.
The next morning, The Freshman and I wake up and walk to the Saturday Morning Farmer’s Market at the Ferry Building. For those not in the know, the Ferry Building…well used to be a Ferry Building. It’s on the bay (Duh) and ferries make frequent stops there. The inside has been renovated/decked out with a bajillion food stalls, selling everything from pickles to cheese to mushrooms to gourmet meats, seafoods, wines, etc. It’s a foodie’s heaven – you can get most anything you would want or need, and better quality than you can expect to find anywhere else. Outside on Saturdays they also have a farmer’s market that is something truly spectacular. Imagine the bounty of the Bay Area’s finest produce and vendors, put them mere feet outside the world famous Ferry Building, and you get my drift.
The Freshman and I did the only logical thing one should do – plan a picnic, buy an inordinate amount of food and a good bottle of wine, and take it to Golden Gate park. Amongst our stops that day were Baccalone (Chris Cosentino of Food Network fame’s cured pig parts stall), Cowgirl Creamery (unfriggin believable cheeses), an Empanada dealer (best I’ve ever had), a great bakery, a wine shop, and a few of the local produce vendors. The bottle of Oakville Zin we purchased might have been the only California wine we drank the entire trip (an absolute shame, I know), and a steal for $20. A quick $15 cab ride, and we were smack dab in the middle of 50 foot trees, having a picnic in Golden Gate Park. Life cannot be more grand.
KMFBrix met up with us later at the Palace Hotel. After trying to figure out what the hell to do until we were to meet with my Catalan buddies who were randomly in town (and Senora Winslow), we walked down to 21st Amendment Brewery for some good local beer and a snack. Located just a few blocks from AT&T Park, the bar was slammed with Giants fans who were lingering around after the game. 21st Amendment produces a good variety of brews (also sold in bottles outside of their brewpub), their USB Extra Special Bitter being my favorite. Some funny confrontations took place when one ultra-drunk guy ordered a Watermelon Heffe and had his manhood questioned by some other ultra-drunk guys. Word to the wise, just don’t drink Watermelon Heffe unless you plan on leaving your mancard at home.
Fast forward past a few glasses of Jameson, one Louis CK comedy special, and KMFBrix almost falling asleep, we catch a quick cab ride to Ryoko’s Sushi to meet up with the Catalans and Senora Winslow. Located in that precocious area of San Francisco resting between Union Square and the Tenderloin, it’s definitely a “dive” sushi bar. You go down a set of stairs, and are hit by the DJ mixing music and generally hot and humid environment you are entering. I remember a lengthy wait, all 12 of us being crammed in a tiny room in the back, a ton of laughs, a ton of sake bombs, a pretty awesome neuken in de keuken conversation…but not much else before heading home. Come here for cheap sushi, tons of sake bombs, and an overall good time. Wouldn’t be the top of my “take a date to a sushi restaurant” list, unless that’s her thing. Well – actually, that should probably be her thing, or else she may suck as a person.
The next morning, The Freshman and I meet up with GoogleBrittany, who had recently moved from Austin to work for Google in the Bay Area. She rocks, but is a vegetarian. Those people frighten me – how a person cannot give in to the awesome power that is pork (or other awesome meats), is totally beyond me. We toured the MOMA in the morning, and went to Yank Sing for some authentic Dim Sum.
The wait, at about 12:30 was about 30 minutes long, but well worth it. I don’t feel the need to elaborate when I can simply say that everything they served me was pretty close to being the best interpretation of that dish I’ve ever had…and that certainly includes nibbles of GoogleBrittany’s veggie dishes. It’s a Dim Sum restaurant that does enough business it can remain open 7 days a week for lunch, and doubles its seating capacity during the weekends. It’s a James Beard award winning Dim Sum restaurant. It’s that good...and that expensive. The soup dumplings and shrimp dumplings were the two absolute winners, however.
Dinner the night of the concert subsisted of Hubert Keller’s Burger Bar – located near the top of the Macy’s Flagship Store in Union Square. Hubert Keller – TV chef of Fleur de Lys fame, is the owner of Burger Bar – and I must say, it’s a mighty fine burger and fries. But also wickedly expensive. Oddly, even with the perfectly cooked burger, the zucchini fries with ranch dressing were the real standouts.
Monday morning The Freshman and I wake up in a state of disarray. Our ears are still ringing, bodies bruised and beaten from the pit and the concert, dehydrated to the extreme, but surprisingly not hungover in the least. Taking GoogleBrittany’s advice, that of Setherton, that of a billion of my other foodie friends, and basically everyone on Yelp, we ventured back to the Mission to check out Tartine Bakery. Let me say this: any restaurant good enough to warrant over 3,000 reviews on Yelp and still be consistently ranked as one of the best restaurants in a city this crazed over food is worth the trip. Best.Breakfast.Ever. You may feel saturated with butter or cream afterwards. It’s normal. You may be wondering WHY THE FUCK IS THERE A 30 MINUTE WAIT ON A MONDAY AT 10AM?!?! DON’T YOU FUCKING MISSION HIPSTERS HAVE JOBS? SHOULDN’T YOU BE GROWING A MUSTACHE OR TRYING TO BRING BACK SHITTY DEAD FASHION SOMEPLACE ELSE?
These are all logical and continuous thoughts when heading to Tartine. And then the moment hits: you order a ham and gruyere croissant, or croque monsieur, or whatever, and as soon as it is in your hands you just forget. It’s massive. Fucking UGE (so huge it doesn’t need an H). And so tremendously tender and flaky. And they only use the best cheese and ham and tomatoes and whatever else they put in it. And you devour it. And bask in the perfection that was everything they bake at Tartine.
These are all logical and continuous thoughts when heading to Tartine. And then the moment hits: you order a ham and gruyere croissant, or croque monsieur, or whatever, and as soon as it is in your hands you just forget. It’s massive. Fucking UGE (so huge it doesn’t need an H). And so tremendously tender and flaky. And they only use the best cheese and ham and tomatoes and whatever else they put in it. And you devour it. And bask in the perfection that was everything they bake at Tartine.
If you are normal, following a Tartine pig-out you walk a few miles and try to lose all the butterfat before true lethargy sets in. But if you are a true fat kid like The Freshman and I, you stroll around the adjacent Delores Park until Bi-Rite Creamery opens up, and get the best.ice.cream.ever. I almost felt guilty for having just eaten what probably equated to 1200 calories for breakfast, and then followed it up by sitting outside of an ice cream shop at 10:50am on a cloudy 58 degree Monday, waiting 10 minutes for it to open. That was until I saw the velvet ropes they had set up that wrap around the block…preparing for the onslaught they knew they would later have. We walk in, as the first customers of the day, and sample everything they have. Sampling not just flavors, but combinations. Did I mention they serve their samples to you in actual, reusable spoons (pretty cool/ ecofriendly)? I finally settled on a mixture of the Salted Caramel and Burnt Vanilla (which contained peanut brittle for awesome texture)? Ice Cream Perfection. Sorry Amy’s…I still love you, but you aren’t quite playing the same game.
Following truly fat kid kind of morning, The Freshman and I just walk, for probably a good 90 minutes or so. I don’t remember where we started (Union Square?), but we ended up at the famous Lombard Street, took some pictures, and caught a taxi to Cotogna for the last meal of the trip. What a meal it was. Recommended by LC – it’s a kickass little Italian joint in Jackson Square with a wood fired oven that cranks out pizza and homemade pastas. After such a heavy breakfast we stuck with a few light menu options – a cold squid, mint, and chili salad that was to die for, some “pole beans” (green beans) with a pomodoro that was surreal in its tangy sweetness and perfectly al dente texture, and a homemade gnocchi. The highlight of the meal for me was actually a summer Aperol spritzer that had some form of homemade rhubarb (or was it strawberry?) bitters, and an infused smoke flavor. The most refreshing cocktail I’ve ever had – perfectly balanced between effervescent, crisp, and mildly sweet all at once.
So concluded a fantastic trip to San Francisco that left me fat, hungover, broke, and exhausted. A few short days later, LouLou arrived from London, and I immediately go back onto a diet consisting of Polvo’s, Taco Deli, Torchy’s, and Asia Café for a week. We then fly out to Vegas on a late night flight on Friday, and return on a redeye on Sunday Night/Monday Morning and proceed to go to work the next day. Brutal, but epic.
Las Vegas
Vegas is a dangerous place for a man like me. Most anywhere is a dangerous place for a man like me. Instead of saying “Go big or go home” I prefer the mantra “Go big, then go home”. Any city with great food, great drinking, great culture, great nightlife, and gambling is too much for me to handle. So I just go overboard. Fortunately for me, Lady Luck was smiling on me during this trip and I walked away from an epic afternoon at the poker tables covering most every expense on my trip, and never lost a penny beyond that point. But I digress…
Immediately after arriving in Vegas, and checking into our rooms, LouLou and I made the short jaunt over to The Cosmopolitan hotel for our 9:45 reservations at Scott Conant’s Scarpetta. First let me start by saying that even in Vegas, The Cosmopolitan is gaudy. Like over the top, WTF, I can’t believe they let someone build this monstrosity gaudy. And in Vegas, that’s a fucking awesome thing. It was actually a bit confusing trying to find the restaurant on a first glance, but once we did, it was beautifully nestled in its own little nook overlooking the Bellagio and the Strip. Of course LouLou got the view of the strip at the table, while I got to stare at the open kitchen. I think we were both happier that way.
The meal was sublime, the service was excellent, and the attention to detail was pretty staggering considering we were on the late shift and they serve an insane amount of clientele at this place. We started with an heirloom tomato salad, and seared scallops with wild mushrooms. The heirloom tomatoes were excellent, but the scallops were absolutely mind blowing. A perfectly seared scallop is a thing of beauty, and texturally one of nature’s great wonders, but paired with fresh porcini’s and sunchokes, it elevated that most perfectly cooked scallop to a whole new level. LouLou stuck with a homemade tagliatelle in a white truffle cream sauce with spring vegetables, the smell alone was intoxicating. I went the ultimate fat kid route and tried the uber-rich, uber-delicious fresh ravioli with duck and foie gras. It tasted exactly like it sounded, and the pillowy texture, with the slightly chewy pasta was remarkable. Having neither the energy nor the stomach we skipped desert and went to gamble.
The meal was sublime, the service was excellent, and the attention to detail was pretty staggering considering we were on the late shift and they serve an insane amount of clientele at this place. We started with an heirloom tomato salad, and seared scallops with wild mushrooms. The heirloom tomatoes were excellent, but the scallops were absolutely mind blowing. A perfectly seared scallop is a thing of beauty, and texturally one of nature’s great wonders, but paired with fresh porcini’s and sunchokes, it elevated that most perfectly cooked scallop to a whole new level. LouLou stuck with a homemade tagliatelle in a white truffle cream sauce with spring vegetables, the smell alone was intoxicating. I went the ultimate fat kid route and tried the uber-rich, uber-delicious fresh ravioli with duck and foie gras. It tasted exactly like it sounded, and the pillowy texture, with the slightly chewy pasta was remarkable. Having neither the energy nor the stomach we skipped desert and went to gamble.
Venturing over to Aria, we sat down at a Pai Gow table and milked the free drinks and low risk game for a few hours. During a trip back from the bathroom LouLou was approached by a gentleman of about 45-50, with a thick mustache, who tapped her on the shoulder and said “Excuse me miss, have we met before? You look so familiar”. After a quick 30 second discussion (they had never met), he tells LouLou “I just won $125,000 tonight. Can I buy you a drink?”. LouLou pats him on the shoulder and says “No. But good for you” and sits back down to a $25 minbet game. Story of the weekend for sure.
Saturday was a pretty chill day: shopping, winning money at the poker table, and poolside before heading back to The Cosmopolitan for dinner at Jose Andres’ Jaleo followed by Diplo playing at The Marquee Nightclub. As a quick side note, Jose Andres is a hero of mine. As much as I love Spain, he loves talking about it, sharing it, and teaching people to cook Spanish food more than I could begin to tell you. I DVR all of the guy’s PBS shows. Yeah, I’m a little bit of a freak/nerd, so sue me. It was SLAMMED in Jaleo when we showed up at 7:45 for our reservation.
They brought out a funky iPad for their cocktail and wine menu, which I had never seen before. Before I get much further, I feel compelled to tell you that I was not at all impressed with Jaleo. The weirdness started when we tried to order a bottle of Cava and they almost brought it out in a Porron. For the uninitiated, check out my Calçot post. Next they served us a “patatas bravas” that was basically a potato chip with a bit of brava sauce and some alioli. Not cool, Jose. They also had the audacity to serve us Jamon Iberico de Bellota (the best jamon on earth), sliced with a meat slicer (as opposed to the traditional long knife), and charge us $20+ for what must have amounted to about .05lbs. The scallop with romesco was good, but the romesco lacked umph (surprising, considering I use a slightly modified romesco recipe from Jose for my own), and the scallop just didn’t compare to Scarpetta the night before. The Croquetta de Jamon was probably the best I’ve ever had however, and while I was disappointed, I can’t say anything they served wasn’t tasty – just didn’t meet expectations. I’m still chomping at the bit to try the “secret” restaurant called “e” located in the back.
They brought out a funky iPad for their cocktail and wine menu, which I had never seen before. Before I get much further, I feel compelled to tell you that I was not at all impressed with Jaleo. The weirdness started when we tried to order a bottle of Cava and they almost brought it out in a Porron. For the uninitiated, check out my Calçot post. Next they served us a “patatas bravas” that was basically a potato chip with a bit of brava sauce and some alioli. Not cool, Jose. They also had the audacity to serve us Jamon Iberico de Bellota (the best jamon on earth), sliced with a meat slicer (as opposed to the traditional long knife), and charge us $20+ for what must have amounted to about .05lbs. The scallop with romesco was good, but the romesco lacked umph (surprising, considering I use a slightly modified romesco recipe from Jose for my own), and the scallop just didn’t compare to Scarpetta the night before. The Croquetta de Jamon was probably the best I’ve ever had however, and while I was disappointed, I can’t say anything they served wasn’t tasty – just didn’t meet expectations. I’m still chomping at the bit to try the “secret” restaurant called “e” located in the back.
We finished up dinner and walked down to Marquee. After seeing multiple sprawling lines; one for VIPs, one for Bottle Service, a few for Guest List, and some line for randoms, I figured we had no shot of getting in. Little did I understand the power a beautiful woman in Vegas commands, or LouLou’s superstealth club skills. In 5 minutes we had walked to the front of every line and were inside. An unnamed watcher of said events later made a comment along the lines of “How on earth did you make it inside in 5 MINUTES?!?!?” We flew back to Austin the next evening with no real awesome food stories to speak of.
San Francisco - Round 2
Round two to San Francisco was for business, but of course you know I ate well. One of the top 5 meals of my life took place on this trip, as did a number of other great meals and adventures.
We started the fat kid field trip with 5 of us grabbing lunch on Monday at Monk’s Kettle in the Mission. Renowned for their beer selection, think of Monk’s Kettle the same way you would think about a great wine bar. You’re there to drink wine. They built everything on the menu to compliment the wine. On its own, the wine is more than enough, but the badass food (and not just snacks) takes everything to a whole new level.
The beers are expensive, but not easy to find anywhere else. The food is brilliantly prepared, and really does compliment the beer. Joy and I were already a beer (or was it two?) in before the rest of the party arrived, and had polished off a round of fried oysters with tabasco aioli and some of the “beer nuts” (chili and sugar roasted hazelnuts). The whole table (practically) ordered the burger, which was spectacular. Sampling a few options, the Yellowtail Kolsch was certainly my favorite beer I tried that afternoon.
The beers are expensive, but not easy to find anywhere else. The food is brilliantly prepared, and really does compliment the beer. Joy and I were already a beer (or was it two?) in before the rest of the party arrived, and had polished off a round of fried oysters with tabasco aioli and some of the “beer nuts” (chili and sugar roasted hazelnuts). The whole table (practically) ordered the burger, which was spectacular. Sampling a few options, the Yellowtail Kolsch was certainly my favorite beer I tried that afternoon.
I met up with KMFBrix later that night for dinner at Flour + Water, also in the Mission. Asahole had seen the restaurant in a recent article, exclaiming it as one of the 10 best places to eat a Pizza in the US. I’d also heard great things about it from LC and her boyfriend Foote, so we met up around 7pm. If I haven’t mentioned yet, KMFBrix is one of the few people (women especially) who embraces the Fat Kid mantra as enthusiastically as I do. Fat Kid is not so much a physical state as it is a mental one – the main purpose/pleasure in life is the next and the best food/beverage manageable. We waited for upwards of an hour for our two-top, and were seated at the end of a massive communal dining table, against the window. I’ve since read, and heard, that Flour + Water is the hardest reservation in all of San Francisco – and based on the steady influx of people in this tiny eatery, it’s very believable. Again – such high expectations resulted in an overall great but mildly disappointing meal. The company couldn’t have been better, but the pizza just lacked that “holy shit” factor that we expected. The starter, an heirloom tomato salad, and the fresh pasta with braised pork, were certainly up to par with Flour + Water’s reputation. I would certainly go back if I was able to snag a reservation, but would stick to the pasta as opposed to the pizza.
Joy and I made a trip to Tartine Bakery the next morning. She didn’t have the heart to tell me she was skeptical that any croissant could be “that good” as I was hyping it up. And then she had it. And admitted, “holy shit, this really is that good”. We also sampled the bread pudding. That was…excessive.
After a full day of Dreamforce sessions, the crew met up at a hotel and decided to go to Betelnut for dinner. While I had booked reservations earlier in the week for 4, I kept calling and expanding it by 1 or 2 people until we had a table of 8. A strong recommendation from a coworker, Betelnut’s Asian Inspired menu was a big hit that night. The food at Betelnut spans almost every cuisine in East Asia (which are all markedly different form one another), and embraces a bit of that tongue-in-cheek tiki bar mentality. It’s difficult to pinpoint where they are being serious, and where they are being ironic (or merely entertaining). The cocktails, while borrowing from that Polynesian / Cantonese thing from decades gone by, offers up one of the best Mojito’s I’ve ever had…and a Thai bird chili cocktail that was pretty epic. The table of 8 must have tried every other menu item, and was at worst, happy with everything ordered. The standouts included the suckling pork (a Tuesday special?), cumin lamb, wagyu beef noodles, Szechuan green beans, and pork belly with scallion pancakes. Overall it was a very enjoyable, very fun, and very satisfying meal, especially for our large party. The fact we took a limo both ways, and got to see Cake play a free show after (in front of ~200 people) didn’t hurt either.
Wednesday night Asahole, Joy, Char, and I went to Town Hall in SOMA for what can only be described as one of the top 5 meals of my life. If you’ve made it this far (I think I’m around 4500 words already), it doesn’t get any better than this. To help clarify – I’m the same guy who thinks Taco Deli is his favorite restaurant in Austin. I’m not the kind to praise classiness for classiness’s sake. I’m also not ashamed to spend $$$ when necessary. High end comfort food may be the best way to describe my sweet spot. My favorite meal of all time (by quite a bit) was at Momofuku Ko in NYC – essentially a combination of Korean and French soul food, elevated to 3 star Michelin levels. What Town Hall does so well is take Southern American Cuisine (with particular influence from New Orleans), and runs it through a mastermind Modern American Chef’s mind. The result hits me perfectly in my sweet spot. The best ingredients, prepared most precisely, in a manner that makes a fat kid weak in the knees.
Besides the best Manhattan I’ve had in a very long time, the 4 of us split a bunch of appetizers, 3 entrees, and basically all of the sides. Tuna tartare served with fried green tomatoes and a tabasco vinaigrette: Are you fucking kidding me? How has no one else thought of this before? How have I not had this before? Superb tuna, impeccable fried green tomatoes, a slightly sweet, spicy, and acidic sauce. I’m salivating just writing this. Buttermilk biscuits with red pepper jelly and prosciutto: a perfect biscuit, with ridiculously high quality butter, a red pepper jelly of legend, and amazing salty prosciutto. Possibly the perfect breakfast / late night drunk snack ever, but I will never know that joy. Veal meatballs with potato puree: the best meatball I’ve ever had, and a creamy potato puree below. Unbeatable. Braised oxtail with I don’t remember: Do I look like the type of man to ever turn down or complain about perfectly braised oxtail? For the mains, we had the buttermilk fried chicken, St Louis ribs, and a pork chop. For sides, we had the tater tots, crispy okra, jambalaya, and padron chilies. The pork chop, chilies, and jambalaya can be described as “really really” good. The rest can likely be described as “I want to eat this until it kills me” good. Perfectly fried chicken – so moist and flavorful, yet crunchy you wonder how it’s possible. A rib unlike anything we do in Texas, but perfectly balanced between smokey, sweet, tender, and crispy. Asahole nearly passed out from excitement upon eating the first bite. Best tater tot I’ve ever encountered is no exaggeration. It was more like a crispy potato croquette, creamy in the middle, structurally sound and crispy on the outside. The fried okra rivaled Perla’s in insane awesomeness. Dessert then blew us away. The coffee and doughnuts were reminiscent of Café Du Monde, and the butterscotch and chocolate pot de crème is un-fuck-wit-able. Just go. Drop what you are doing right now and go. Order what I said, or maybe some other things – they will all be excellent. What the fuck are you still reading this for? Unless you can make it to Momofuku Ko or El Celler de Can Roca more easily (you can’t), this is your best chance at dining perfection in the near term future.
The last night of Dreamforce (and our trip) concluded with dinner at Delfina Pizzeria, and as you guessed, it was in the Mission. Located next to Bi-Rite Grocery, a stone’s throw from Tartine, this was another Setherton recommendation we couldn’t pass up. Joy, Asahole, GoogleBrittany and I met up and had what I believe to be one of the 2-3 best pizzas I’ve ever encountered. Mind you, this was after an approximately 2 hour wait, although at least 45 minutes of that was our fault as we were over at Bi-Rite drinking some cool beers from Russian River Brewing Company that you can’t find in Texas. The pizzas at Delfina most closely resemble the Neapolitan style pizza - in Austin the only place comparable would be Backspace.
It’s all about a well-made crust (a bit crispier than an NYC style pie, but droopier in the center, yet still chewy), balanced flavors, and the highest quality ingredients. Their take on a watermelon and feta salad with mint, chili, and grape tomatoes deserves some high praise. We ordered two pizzas, a broccoli raab pizza, and a guincale and escarole pizza. Both scored in the 9-10 out of 10 ballpark.
It’s all about a well-made crust (a bit crispier than an NYC style pie, but droopier in the center, yet still chewy), balanced flavors, and the highest quality ingredients. Their take on a watermelon and feta salad with mint, chili, and grape tomatoes deserves some high praise. We ordered two pizzas, a broccoli raab pizza, and a guincale and escarole pizza. Both scored in the 9-10 out of 10 ballpark.
The trip ended the next afternoon, but we had one final stop as a group at R&G Lounge before heading to the airport. It’s worth noting that the Chef’s Beef, and Chow Mein (what we commonly call Lo Mein) were home runs, on top of my normal selection. My only real disappointment was the inability to make it to Rickhouse for a bourbon or two. It’s one of the few bars that’s a MUST stop for me the next time I’m in town.
After writing another 5000+ word post on food and drink I just realized I spend most of my free time thinking about food and drink, talking about food and drink, writing about food and drink, and most importantly, consuming food and drink. I had a friend come into town recently and came to the revelation that every vacation I take, every time I show off my city to new people, it’s always a question of “where can we go eat and drink” and “what can we do that can pass the time between eating and drinking?” While I know that not everyone functions like I do, I feel like every city, every culture, every people, have an innate need to come together so they can eat, drink, and be merry. Or maybe they do those things so they have an excuse to come together. And the best (or worst) of any city can be explored via the establishments that offer you the ability to eat, drink, and be merry. San Francisco may allow me an infinite number of possibilities to experience and espouse about its goodness, but with the right guidance any city worth a shit can show off what makes it fun, unique, and amazing. It just takes the guide and enthusiasm, which is entirely why I wrote the Dutchie Does Dining post – to share with everyone how I see and experience the best of Austin. If you’ve made it this far, I challenge you to do the same for others whenever you can. I’m sure they would be more than willing to pay that kindness forward for you some other time.
-The Dutchman
