Tasty Touring » Tours

Tasty Tuesdays: Edible Austin Eat Drink Local Week

admin — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 03:10:41 +0000

Saturday kicks off Edible Austin Eat Drink Local Week (formerly Eat Local Week), and there are tons of activities to enjoy for some very good causes. Proceeds from the week’s event will be sent to support Urban Roots, the Sustainable Food Center, and of course local small business owners.

Activities kick off with the Urban Farm Bicycle Tour this Saturday ($30 for adults – children under 16 are free).

Other events include:

Springdale Farm’s Pig Roast and Harvest Dinner at 4 p.m. Saturday ($30)
A Coffee and Chocolate Festival at 11 a.m. Sunday at Texas Coffee Traders ($25)
Speakers Wendell Berry and Wes Jackson’s sold out talks on Sunday at the Paramount (sold out but tickets are available on Craigslist)
Alamo Drafthouse showing of Moonstruck with dinner at 7 p.m. Monday ($70)
Better Bites of Austin Holiday Fair at the Domain on Wednesday from 4-9 p.m. (free)
Drink Local Night and Official Drink of Austin contest at the AT&T Center on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. ($35)
Local Brew Fest on Saturday, Dec. 10 at Black Star Co-Op from 1 to 5 p.m. ($20)

For tickets to individual events or for VIP tickets to all of the events above, click here. Note: you save $30 with the VIP ticket if you are sure you will attend all of the events. If not, it may be better to purchase tickets individually.

New this year is an auction of a private culinary experience with a local celebrity chef for eight guests. The bidding starts at $1900 for each chef and you can check out the participating chefs here.

Related:

Montesino Farm Tour and Barn Dance

admin — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 13:43:50 +0000

I’ve always wanted to visit Montesino Farm in Wimberley, and this weekend had three great reasons to make the hour trek. One: You can rent it for events. Two: Slow Food Austin was hosting a tour of the farm. Three: There was a barn dance.

The barn

These are really nice farm apartments (with full kitchen) that you can rent for the weekend.

Montesino Farm Studios

I was hanging out in their outdoor kitchen/bar area when the Montesino herd of Miniature Herefords came by for a snack. They looked huge to me. I later learned that while these cattle are 2/3 the size of regular Herefords, they eat 1/3 the food. When their time has come, they are taken to Harvest House in Johnson City to be killed humanely.

Miniature Hereford cow

This is Melody and David taking our group around the farm. Before Melody started farming, she had been working as a florist. Coming home from her first full day on the farm, she told her mom,

“I’m tired, my body hurts, I’m filthy, I smell like fish guts, and I love it.”

David has worked in agriculture and farming since he was 20, and he is now 34.

Farmers Melody and David

They told us horror stories about drought, flooding, sudden freezes, and other weather challenges. Melody says, “I’m glad I started my career in farming in Texas, there are more pests here than anywhere. If I can do it here, I can do it anywhere.”

Protected crops from the freeze

Their advice for future farmers? “Grow fruit. Everyone wants fruit.”

Later on, it was time for the barn dance! I chatted for a while with Scott, the owner of Montesino Farm and Ranch.

Scott of Montesino Farm & Ranch

And then it was time to enjoy delicious gumbo and pumpkin-pecan pie from the Leaning Pear, and of course, dance!

Beautiful barn dance

One of the bands we danced to was Sour Bridges, and they had the crowd dancing non-stop. It was such a magical, relaxing, and fun day.

Related Link:

Tasty Tuesdays: Best Wedding Venues in Central Texas

Insider’s Tour of French Cheese Culture

admin — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 14:11:18 +0000

I wrote two blog posts for Whole Food’s Whole Story blog — one on a vineyard tour and tasting, and this one, on our extensive cheese tour in Paris. Click here or the image below to check it out.

Special thanks to Antoine Marsot of Interval Export for planning a wonderful day for us. We are also so grateful to Sebastien, the manager of one of the Paris locations of Beillevaire, for opening the store for us during his lunch break and gracefully letting us taste anything in the store.

Le Fantasme Foodie Commence!

admin — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 12:09:38 +0000

Today is the day that Adam and I leave on our Whole Foods Foodie Fantasy trip to Berlin, Amsterdam, Bruges, and Paris. Thank you again for voting for the video and giving us the opportunity to experience the trip of a lifetime.

Being an OCD over-planner, I picked up a couple books from the library and a friend. I’ll admit that I didn’t crack the spine on some of these, but I think setting them next to my bed while I slept may have allowed some of the information to enter my brain through the miracle of osmosis.

Preparing for the trip through osmosis

We couldn’t have planned such an amazing itinerary without the help of friends like David (The Soup Peddler), Danika (Petite Peche & Co.), Sarah (Texpats Abroad), Kelly (Yelp Austin’s community manager), Lauren (Edible Europe), Cathy, Lindsay, and Elizabeth (Whole Foods Market), Ned (Foreign & Domestic), Kari (The Hoffman Agency), my cousin Hannah, and last but certainly not least, my dad.

David and Adam Map it Out

I’d also like to extend a special thanks to Sanneke, Elodie, and Svenja, the Yelp community managers from Amsterdam, Paris, and Berlin, for their insightful recommendations. Finally, three blogs stood out for their fantastic information that really helped us plan — Dutch Grub, David Lebovitz, and Paris by Mouth. We’ll be on the Whole Foods Foodie Fantasy trip through next Friday (Berlin to Paris Intrepid Travel package), and then are added another day or so in Paris, before continuing on to Provence (Avignon, St-Remy, Roussillon, Aix, Cassis, etc. for another week. This will be quite an adventure!

Related:

Get Excited: Surprise Ice Cream Social!

admin — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 22:40:47 +0000

With summer officially a couple days away, those of us in Austin have been battling triple digit heat for weeks already. And while it gets hot in other places during the summer, in Austin, we’ll see over 100 degree days well into September. Add to that our current drought conditions, and we’re a bunch of hibernating grumps down here.

Having recently battled strep throat, thereby spending even more time huddled inside, I’m feeling in need of a pick-me-up, and I know you do too. Also, I want to thank you for supporting my quest to win Whole Foods Foodie Fantasy (and I won!).

My way of saying thank you will be with one of my favorite foods — ICE CREAM!

The time and location of the ice cream social have not yet been determined, and in the hopes of being able to provide everyone who attends with a cup, I won’t be giving much notice. Stay tuned to the Facebook group or Twitter to get the details, which will be released the same day as the event.

Until then, stay cool and check out the Forklore blog on Austin360 for some of Mike Sutter’s favorite cooling treats.

Related:

The Best Gelato in Austin (Teo)
Sweet Treats to Beat the Heat
Four Ounces of Heaven (Brazos Supreme Ice Cream)
Coolhaus Ice Cream Sandwiches