Haven’t been writing much lately. Guess I’ve just haven’t been seized with the pathos.
Hey, did I already mention that magazine Eat & Drink Austin that’s been popping up free at area restaurants? I like it. Pretty pictures, good reviews that square up with my experiences at the places they cover (Manny Hattan’s and a short review of the new Hyde Park Bar & Grill location on West Gate this month).
So, I figure I’ve got a fair chance of trusting them when they write about how I should eat at Joe’s Bar and Grill (it was started by one of the co-owners of Louie’s 106, so I don’t see how it could go far wrong in any case). I’m going to order two mini-burgers and a side of macaroni and cheese tomorrow.
They also made the Buenos Aires Cafe on South 1st sound like a really, really good idea. I’m so down.
I also read in this issue, although more in the vein of an announcement than a review, about this new Italian place, Cibo, that opened next to Little City near 10th and Congress. I went to eat there today, and had the Ricotta gnocchi, bathed in basil and olive oil with halved grape tomatoes and…some kind of cheese sprinkled on top. The cheese on top was hard to pick out because it was overpowered by…pretty much everything else. It added a little bit of creamy sharpness. It was good stuff, even if the portions were a little small and the price a little…pricy. It came with a damned good small ciabatta.
They had paninis for $8-10, pasta dishes for $10-$20, tending more toward $20 (the gnocchi were $10.50), and a section called “big plates” that were $40-$50. I didn’t even much look at those. For that kind of money I can think of a couple spaces I’d rather hang out in. I didn’t have my shirt tucked in, and neither did my waiter, but his shirt was a lot nicer than mine. I liked their glasses and plates and silverware; overall, the presentation of the food was nice, too.
A good lunch, but a little too rich for my blood on a very regular basis. They had a prixe fix menu in some kind of communal eating thing on the balcony over the kitchen that filled half the two-story tall space, but I didn’t check it out.
Also, the date’s on the menu, so they must print new ones every day, but I don’t know how much it changes.
I write about restaurants too much.
I kept trying not to think this was funny, but I kept failing. I won’t be buying a bodygroom any time soon, though. I shave my balls with a 3″ lock-back, like any real man would.
