Trip to Texas part 1: so many salsas!

Howdy! I’m back—how I missed y'all! I don’t think in recent years I’ve spent this much time off-line, and while I’m a bit behind with so many interweb-machine activities—such as e-mail, blog reading, or catching up on the latest trashy celeb news—it was still very relaxing hanging out with friends and family in the warm and welcoming Lone Star State.

My first stop in Texas was in Austin. I was only there for less than 24 hours, but I got my fair share of solid food and an array of salsas. I stayed with my friends Monica and John, and as Monica's baby girl is due any day now, instead of grubbing at a BBQ joint or grabbing a chicken-fried steak, we opted to have a multi-course meal at a fancy restaurant that she’d be less inclined to bring her soon-to-be newborn to in the near future. (And while we're on the subject of newborns, be sure and stop by Good American Wife and say hello to Anne's first child, Walter—he's super sweet and cute!)

Monica chose Wink, a place I’d never heard of but I was delighted with how fresh and delicious our food was. Granted, when I travel to Texas my focus is pretty singular—only foods from the Texan Trinity of bbq, Tex-Mex or home cooking will do. But I've been closed minded, and this restaurant had an exquisitely creative menu with most of the meats (save for the Hudson Valley fois gras), seafood, cheeses, fruits and vegetables sourced from local farms and fishermen. One of my courses featured Gulf shrimp, and it had been so long since I’d had the real thing I’d forgotten the sweet, mineral flavor these contain, especially when right off the boat. For dessert we shared a goat-cheese plate with the cheeses coming from Pure Luck Organic Farm in nearby Dripping Springs. If you have access to their cheeses, you must try them—these were some of the creamiest, most flavorful (without being too earthy) goat cheeses I’d ever had the pleasure of eating. They paired equally well with fruit or honey, but were also a joy to eat straight off the knife.
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