I’ve been thinking about all of the great Austin food secrets for a while now — things I have learned over the years from friends, articles, and personal experiences. To be honest, I was worried about some of these secrets getting out. What if too many people take advantage and they aren’t sustainable or less special?
But then I realized that in sharing our knowledge and secrets with each other, we become inspired to give back even more and the entire community benefits. Many of the businesses below have earned a …

Last night, Adam and I began putting together dinner at around 8 p.m. I had picked up tilapia and these huge beautiful artichokes at Whole Foods at lunch yesterday. We decided to make oven-roasted artichokes and mango salsa with sauteed fish. We were missing a few simple ingredients — limes and cilantro for the salsa, lemons for the artichokes.
I volunteered to run out to the store. Adam lives just north of the Mueller development in East Austin and the closest stores to his house are Randalls and Casa Grande. Normally, …