If you are a food blogger in Austin, I hope you will consider joining the group, and if you have any questions, I’d be happy to help answer them! Without further ado, here’s the post!

AFBA IN 2011: A YEAR IN REVIEW

Monday, January 2, 2012

It’s hard to believe it, but the Austin Food Blogger Alliance is over one year old since it was first conceived. A group of local Austin food bloggers had gotten to know one another during 2009 and 2010 — mostly thanks to our use of Twitter, and to the restaurants and PR firms that invited us to events where we got to know one another. We felt that it was important to start a group that would support each other, and our community, in a somewhat organized way.

In mid-November, 2010, Natanya Anderson, Jodi Bart, Addie Broyles, Michelle Cheng, Adam Holzband, Mando Rayo, Kristi Willis, and Marshall Wright first met in a semi-formal way to discuss the idea.

In January and February 2011, a larger group met to cement the many details involved in starting this group including the name, logo, website, bylaws, membership guidelines, roles, etc. Natanya Anderson, Jodi Bart, Addie Broyles, Jennie Chen, Michelle Cheng, Adam Holzband, Rachelle King, Mike Krell, Rebecca Otis, Mariam Parker, Mando Rayo, Kristi Willis, Kristina Wolter, and Marshall Wright attended at least one of these meetings.

Our goal was to launch in March before SXSW, where a group of us had begun the tradition of writing a group of blog posts that became the “Austin City Guide” to offer restaurant recommendations to SXSW-goers.

On March 8, the Austin Food Blogger Alliance launched with a website, a press release, and a Twitter account.

On March 27, the Austin Food Blogger Alliance Facebook page launched.

On March 29, we hosted an informational happy hour to recruit members at Takoba. Close to 100 people attended, including the founding AFBA board members: Natanya Anderson, Jodi Bart, Addie Broyles, Jennie Chen, Michelle Cheng, Rachelle King, Mike Krell, Rebecca Otis, Mariam Parker, Kristi Willis, and Kristina Wolter .

On March 30, we posted the code of ethics, application form, and a FAQ. At this point, we had our board members, made up of volunteers, and our advisory board, made up of people we respected in the food community.

On April 7, AFBA had accepted a total of 80 members from our first pool of applicants. Everyone who qualified for membership was accepted, of course.

April 20 was the Capital Area Food Bank of Texas event kicking off the SNAP recipe blogging project. A total of 19 members participated by providing recipes and publicizing the program on their blogs.

May 15 was a Farmer’s Market Potluck Lunch social event.

By June 7, AFBA had 101 members.

On June 8, we held an education event an Copyright Laws and Blogging at the AT&T Executive Education and Conference Center. That day, we also created a Twitter list of our members.

On June 9, we launched our blog (note: any member can submit an idea for a post).

On July 30, we held a Pie-luck contest and pie social. Each pie was judged by a panel of experts, and Michael Chu’s pecan pie was the winner.

On August 21, AFBA teamed up with the Alamo Drafthouse to show the movie Waitress, and hold a pie sale benefitting SafePlace, that helped raise over $2,000 for the non-profit.

On Sept. 21, we created a members-only AFBA membership group on Facebook as a place for non-public, non-promotional discussions between members.

On Oct. 9, AFBA held a hands-on food photography workshop.

On Nov. 1, the Austin to Boston Food Swap was announced. Almost 30 AFBA members participated. Check out the blog posts about the swap.

On Nov. 11, the AFBA membership list was posted on our website.

On Dec. 2, bios on our current board of directors was posted to the web. This includes Natanya Anderson (President), Kathryn Hutchison (Vice President), Rachelle King (Treasurer), Michelle Cheng (Secretary), Jodi Bart (Communications), Addie Broyles (Advisory Council), Jennie Chen (Education), Michelle Fandrich (Philanthropy), Mike Krell (Technology), Megan Myers (Membership), and Rebecca Otis (Social).

On Dec. 11, we held our Winter Social and White Elephant Kitchen Gadget Swap.

On Dec. 21, we began collecting a list of AFBA members who would like to be part of our official Volunteer Corps.

As of this writing on Jan. 1, there are 123 members according to our online blog roll.

We have many plans for AFBA in 2012, including a volunteer event at the Capital Area Food Bank on Feb. 9, 2012. We’re so grateful to every board member, member, and volunteer in this special group. If you would like to get involved, please get in touch with one or more of our board members. Our programming and content is really only as good as our volunteers.

Related:

• Add the Austin Food Blogger Alliance blog to your Google Reader
• AFBA and Austin to Boston Food Swap
• Austin Bakes for Japan and an Update

If you dig Israeli food, or are vegetarian or vegan, this is something that likely has you squealing for joy right about now! And to top it off, follow Moses Falafel on Facebook and print out a buy one, get one free coupon to use this Sunday.

I haven’t tried the trailer yet, but I look forward to checking it out soon. However, I was interviewed for an article in this month’s Austin Jewish Outlook, so am sharing that here for those interested in more details.

Eat at Moe’s: Austin’s First Kosher and Israeli Falafel Trailer Launches in January

Sunday, 01 January 2012
By Tonyia Cone

Austinites with a hankering for Israeli falafel need look no further than the parking lot of the Dell Jewish Community Campus for a fix, thanks to Shmuel Haviv and his kosher, vegan food trailer, Moses Falafel.

When Haviv, a Nez Ziona, Israel native, moved to Austin seven months ago, he needed to find work. His father had owned a falafel restaurant in Gedera, Israel, in the 1990s and he wanted to try something similar.

“He had delicious food, Israeli recipe, what people here in Austin don’t have,” he said, explaining that the beans, spices and pitas used to make Israeli falafel differ from those used in Egyptian, Lebanese and Turkish falafel found elsewhere in the city.

Haviv chose to make the food at his trailer kosher and vegan – and will accept both cash and credit cards — so that almost anyone can enjoy his fare. He also decided to prepare his falafels via a trailer so he could serve crowds at various events.

Haviv, who worked as a technician for four years in the Israeli Air Force, bought a 30 year old trailer he found on San Antonio’s Craig’s List and spent the last two months outfitting it for its launch as the home of Moses Falafel.

Tiffany Harelik, author of the blog Trailer Food Diaries and “Trailer Food Diaries: Serving Up the American Dream One Plate at a Time,” explained that Austin’s first food trailer started when Jeff Blank of Hudson’s on the Bend developed the Mighty Cone for the Austin City Limits Music Festival.

Blank turned the concept into a trailer around 2006. A few other key trailers popped up that year too: Flip Happy Crepes, Hey Cupcake and Torchy’s Tacos.

“We really saw a rise in the number of small business entrepreneurs trying their hand at opening their own kitchens on wheels in 2010,” Harelik said, “and now we have over 2,600 people with permits to operate a mobile food unit. Only about 200-300 of those are the ones you see decked out on the streets, and of those only five or six are truly mobile food trucks,” Harelik said.

Other cities around the country are also home to kosher food trailers, like Quick Stop Kosher and Taim Mobile in New York City, Takosher in Los Angeles, and Sixth & Rye in Washington, DC.

Jodi Bart, author of the local food blog Tasty Touring, said, “I think it’s great that there will soon be a kosher falafel trailer in Austin, both to cater to the kosher community, and to educate the non-Jewish majority about kosher food.”

“Recently, a handful of Austin’s early food trailers have transitioned into successful brick and mortar restaurants, showing that food trailers are more of a proving ground for food industry entrepreneurs than a passing trend. As long as the city of Austin’s regulatory environment stays favorable to food trailers doing business, they’ll be here to stay,” she said.

Haviv plans to serve pita with falafel – fried in canola oil — and fixings including hummus, tomato, lettuce, cucumber, tahini and skhug, an Israeli spicy chili pepper sauce.

He joked that he will use jalapenos in the skhug rather than the spicier red peppers that many Israelis prefer and will provide ketchup for Americans who prefer the condiment.

Each pita and falafel will cost $5.50. Half portions will be available for children for $3.50.

While Israelis usually do not have dessert after eating falafel, choosing instead to savor the spicy taste left in their mouths from the food, Haviv will also offer baklava to satiate the American sweet tooth.

Haviv explained that he named the business after his late grandfather and chose a cheery logo with two smiling falafel.

“Something fancier wouldn’t be the real falafel,” he said, noting that in Israel, falafel is a simple food that most can afford.

Initially, Moses Falafel will only be open on some weekday and Sunday afternoons on the Dell Jewish Community Campus. Haviv hopes to eventually add more time each week and a downtown and other locations.

Rabbi Eliezer Langer of Congregation Tiferet Israel, where Haviv is a member, will provide Moses Falafel’s kashrut supervision.

Langer said he finds it fascinating to see food prepared in such a tiny space and thinks it’s tremendous for the Jewish community to have a kosher food trailer available on the Dell Jewish Community Campus with the ability to travel around Austin to other venues and special events.

Haviv first came to the United States four years ago to travel. He started in Amarillo and eventually moved on to Abilene, where he met his fiancée.

The couple wanted to live in a city with a larger Jewish community and Haviv loved Austin, so they moved to Central Texas.

As an Israeli starting a business in the United States, Haviv has had a unique experience.

Preparing for a test required for one of his three food service licenses was challenging.

He translated a study guide into Hebrew, so instead of the two or three days it would take many native English speakers, it took him a month to complete the process.

Haviv also learned that finding suppliers is also very different in the United States than in Israel.

While in Israel he would have gotten pita from the baker across the street and his vegetables from a nearby stand – all kosher — things here are more spread out and complicated.

Harelik said that whenever new vendors ask her what they can do to make it, she tells them to have a unique and limited menu. Since this is Austin’s first kosher trailer, she believes the city will embrace it as another menu to try, regardless of belief systems.

“I think a kosher food trailer will work well in Austin not only with the Jewish community, but with the community as a whole. The typical Austin palette is diverse. For example, several omnivores will eat at vegan trailers because the food is good.”

For Harelik’s blog, visit trailerfooddiaries.blogspot.com.
Bart’s blog can be found at tastytouring.com.

Overall, I lost two pounds, my energy level was high, I slept well, and my skin was even clearer during the program. I gave myself license for the last week and a half of the year to kind of go back to my old habits, but I’m resolving to eat more protein, veggies, and more frequent meals in the New Year to continue my progress.

As you know, I offered to write four blog posts about my experience with Snap in exchange for them subsidizing two-thirds of the cost of the 21-day program, and since this is my final post, I asked Snap if they would partner with me on a giveaway. Leave a comment below, and one lucky reader chosen at random will receive three Snap Kitchen meals — one breakfast, one lunch, and one dinner!

I recommend the following three dishes to the winner, and don’t forget to supplement with a morning and afternoon snack to ensure that you get enough calories for the day!

Breakfast: Banana Pancakes with a side of fruit

Lunch: Buffalo Quinoa Hash

Dinner: Vegetable Lasagna

Leave your comment below on what changes you will make in your diet in 2012 — or your thoughts on Snap Kitchen, and similar healthy prepared meal companies! One lucky commenter will win breakfast, lunch, and dinner on Snap!

Related:

• Snap Kitchen’s Snap Commit Program
• Snap Kitchen: Some Favorite Dishes
• Snap Kitchen: How It Works

Photo courtesy of Sagra Austin

For this edition of Tasty Tuesdays, feel free to share your favorite bars, bartenders, and individual cocktails. Some of mine, in no particular order, include:

Bars

• The Tigress
• Contigo
• East Side Show Room
• Sagra
• La Condesa
• Bar Congress
• Fino
• Peche

Cocktail Historian

• David Alan, aka The Tipsy Texan

Cocktails

• Anything with ginger beer (Moscow Mule, Dark and Stormy)
• Drinks with fresh herbs
• Hot Toddies with whiskey
• Pimm’s Cup
• French 75

What about you?

Related:

• August 2009 “Best Cocktail in Austin” – Tasty Tuesdays