Odd Duck in April

Odd Duck in April

Odd Duck
Austin, TX

Our latest visit to Odd Duck was to dine with Ben's Mom Penny. She visited us last week and we had an incredible time dining at some of our favorite restaurants in Austin. The Odd Duck menu in April was yet again sublime. It's a little bit lighter than some of the other menus we've tried at Odd Duck. But all of the dishes were packed with a lot of flavor... the main reason this is our favorite restaurant in Austin. This time around the waiter recommended 2-3 dishes each plus dessert. So we shared 11 plates between the three of us. That includes three desserts! My favorite dish hands-down was the duck egg migas, green chile, escabeche and goat feta. I didn't expect too much because it sounded like a brunch menu item, but wow... I was surprised. It was rich, decadent and powerful. The chile and the goat feta also played amazing well off of each other. Everything came together in a single, glorious bite. My second favorite dish was the goat lasagna, spinach, bechamel and brussel sprouts. The goat was tender and all the veggies were colorful and light. Plus the sauce in the skillet really made everything work together. We were also all big fans of the desserts that night. I love that the chefs deliver more than just sweet and creamy flavors... they really go above and beyond. For example, the chocolate ice cream came on a bed of cocoa bits, sea salt and olive oil. It just gave it that extra punch that is often hard to find at other restaurants. Another magnificent feast at Odd Duck is in the books.

East Austin Urban Farm Tour - April 12th

East Austin Urban Farm Tour 2015

East Austin Urban Farm Tour

Springdale Farm

HausBar Farms

Rain Lily Farm

Boggy Creek Farm

I just arrived home after gobbling up some amazing dishes at the East Austin Urban Farm tour. I went last year... and this year all of the tastings and dishes were very impressive. I think all of the vendors really stepped up their offerings. First of all, the urban farm tour is an incredible little Sunday afternoon. For $50, you get to tour these four amazing farms in East Austin. They offer up fresh, local ingredients from a number of restaurants all over Austin. I have to say my favorite bite actually came from the Driskill Hotel. They were stationed at the Springdale Farm. They had this incredibly tender venison on top of a rustic risotto, hot sauce and beets. It was fantastic. I love the hotel and bar, but this dish really put its restaurant on my radar. I look forward to trying it out soon. There were several other standouts including a pea and carrot parfait from Odd Duck. We also enjoyed some incredible local beers, cider, wines and liquors. I look forward to attending next year.

Dinner at Asti Trattoria

Dinner at Asti Trattoria 

Asti Trattoria

Austin, TX

My husband and I found time to have a little date night at Asti Trattoria in Hyde Park. The service, food and atmosphere were all solid. Although we didn't really come away with a wow factor. My favorite bite came from the bruschetta. It's just a bit different from your typical bruschetta. It comes with garlic confit, blistered tomatoes, goat cheese and Italian white anchovies. The saltiness from the anchovies and the creamy goat cheese really makes the flavors stand-out. We also enjoyed the stuffed mushrooms... although they weren't anything special. There were nice flavors in the seafood risotto, but it felt more like a rice dish than actual risotto. The pasta was probably the second favorite of the night. It's called the Capellini Neopolitano with Asti's home made sausage. There were a lot of nice flavors and the sausage was really tender. Finally, we finished the meal with some house made gelato. Everything was really solid, I just wish they cranked up the spices a bit more.  On the plus side, it's pretty easy to make a booking or even walk-in without waiting more than 10 minutes.