Yogurino- Paoli, PA

Yogurino is an Italian frozen yogurt franchise with only 3 locations in the United States:  Paoli, Princeton and New York City.  This is not your typical smorgasbord of trendy frozen yogurt.  Simplification is key with only one flavor of yogurt which is 'yogurt.'  It is frozen imported Italian yogurt which is super creamy, rich, and slightly sweet.  It is more bitter than what you will normally find for froyo, but the appeal to that is you know what you are getting. For additional flavors you have to add a selection of sweet fruits, syrups, dried nuts and imported Italian pistachio or hazelnut sauces.  This is a splendid blended treat and with a serving size similar to gelato, this is an indulgent break from your typical frozen yogurts.

Philadelphia Burger Challenge 2016

We slide into the depths of 2016 carried by the momentum (and dare I say popularity?) of last year’s pizza challenge.  It is fun, after all, to find “the best” food categories throughout a city with overwhelming and growing selection.  So, we decided to find the best burger in Philadelphia during the late winter and early spring of 2016.  This poses a greater challenge as it is a well- known fact that Philly knows its burgers and there are plenty to be had around the city. We cultivated out list using a combination of social media, recommendations, personal experiences, and major publications (Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Magazine).  For this challenge, we are considerably more specific than our pizza challenge; we’re just looking at the burgers themselves.  We’re not concerned about atmosphere, drink selections, desserts, or the sides that accompany the burger.  Some places have one burger on the menu, others have multiple.  We will select the one or two items that have the most appeal or popularity per the restaurant staff.   Our selected eateries are spread throughout the city as a matter or circumstance, not intention.  We will give an overall evaluation based on the following:  meat quality & preparation, bun, toppings, and cheese when applicable.  We will set a standard of “medium rare” burger temperature when allowed.  So, get ready to get enticed!

Our listing is a ranking of lowest to highest.

12.  Varga Bar-  941 Spruce Street

Kobe burger with applewood smoked bacon, cheddar, caramelized onions, greens, heirloom tomato and optional fried egg make up the construct of this rather average/ordinary burger.  Points are lost when you order a medium rare burger but it’s presented well done. On the other hand, when delivered as ordered (as was the case with Cassie’s burger) the meat is quite good with the sweet bread and onions add a good contrast to the meat. 

11.  Rex 1516- 1516 South Street

The burger at Rex is the winner of Philadelphia Magazine’s Best Burger 2015.  Well prepared with bacon, homemade pimento cheese, onions and bibb lettuce on a sweet bun.  The optional fried egg is what made the burger the winner this past year.  All together, it’s very tasty, a bit of a mess, but rather busy.  The strong flavors of the bacon and pimento drown out the flavors of the meat.  The lettuce added absolutely nothing. The highlight has to be the bun, a nice addition of sweetness that is meant to balance out the spicy of the pimento cheese, which is pretty spicy. 

10.  Rouge- 208 South 18th Street

This is often on the tops of the city’s best burger list.  A long time favorite of Robert’s, there were high hopes for the Rouge Burger to top the list.  The 1/2 pound patty comes with caramelized onions and gruyere  on brioche.  The bun is sweet with sear that renders it a tad salty.  The caramelized onions and cheese are a couple of the best accompaniments to a burger on the challenge;  it adds its own special flavor without overwhelming the taste of the beef.  Preparation, however, was a bit of an issue.  On this unfortunate time at Rouge one of the two ordered burgers was seriously undercooked.  Ordered medium, this burger came out with room-temperature rare beef in the middle of the patty.  Inconsistency can certainly affect one’s opinion on a place and this was enough to make it almost intolerable.

9.  Mak Attack- Lucky's Last Chance, 4421 Main Street

2 griddle fried 4 oz. paddies plus mac and cheese on a Lisco’s roll.   Initially I thought I was eating a burger with a side of macaroni and cheese.  By the second half of the burger, I felt like was eating a very cheesy burger.  The macaroni added a texture to the cheese which made it seem creamier.

8.  Pub & Kitchen- 1946 Lombard Street

Putting years of old nostalgia aside and forgetting the old burgers from here, we went in with a clean mind and clean slate. The Pub and Kitchen burger comes with two patties, lightly pickled cucumbers, lettuce, onion, and cheddar cheese on a more traditional bun.  This is the closest to good old fashion burger that we tried and they do old fashioned well. Juicy meat and just the right amount of cheese means no added ketchup is required for this guy. 

7.  House Grind Burger- Blue Duck, 2859 Holme Ave.

Beef patty, lettuce, tomato, onion on brioche have all the accompaniments of a standard burger and that is basically what this is.  Better than average, the meat was well prepared and the bun provided some sweetness and body to absorb all the juices.

6.  Sketch- 413 East Girard Ave.

This is a no frills dive where you can draw and color a picture while you wait and potentially have the illustration added to the massive mosaic on the walls. The menu includes kobe beef, plain beef, turkey as well as specials including bison and buffalo chicken.  The sauces range of house made ketchup and chipotle sauce to green goddess and siracha based sauces. They are free, you can try as many as you want, and anything goes. A must have starter is the cheese fries with a nice mixture of cheeses and green onions that add a great touch. We both got slightly different but relatively standard burgers made of beef (kobe beef and beef with onions) with all the toppings and cheese of choice (options are american, chedder, provolone, and swiss). The all american burger with a hipster twist of sauces. Not the best meat on the menu or the best burgers. But the atmosphere and the specials have us wanting to go back anyways.

5.  PB & Bacon- Lucky's Last Chance, 4421 Main St.

Two 4 ounce burger patties with cheese, bacon, and peanut butter on top with a side of raspberry jelly doesn’t sound all that appealing. But when the bacon is done right and the jelly is house made (not to mention a very appropriate bun to hold things together) it is amazing. These are by far some of the best toppings we experienced. The meat is not the center of attention, nor is it meant to be. Its simply there to complete. 

4.  Standard Tap- 901 North Front Street

This has been on many lists as one of the best for years.  A solid staple of Northern Liberties, Standard Tap boasts one burger and only needs one. The Standard burger comes simply with toppings of cheddar cheese, lettuce, onion, and green tomatoes.  The burger was nicely seared and crispy on the outside but tender, juicy on the inside.  The addition of thinly sliced green tomatoes added a sour-sweetness.  

3.  Beast of the Northeast Burger- Blue Duck, 2859 Holme Ave.

This patty is a combination of beef and wild boar.  The addition of the wild boar makes the meat lighter, less fatty but still has plenty of flavor.  Throw on some gouda, tomato jam, bacon and sriracha-coated onion rings and you have a quite a plethora of flavors and textures; sweet, spicy, salty; it’s all included in a given bite.  But here’s the kicker:  these very different flavors blend well on this particular sandwich.  We’ve tried many burgers that throw a bunch of strong flavors on top of a patty.   This version, however, makes all the flavors balance very well with each other and the meat.   Many burger flippers have tried but The Blue Duck succeeded.  

2.  Kensington Quarters- 1310 Frankford Ave.

Kensington Quarters was voted “Best Butcher 2015” by Philadelphia Magazine; it is no wonder their ground kobe beef burger is generating some much press. The meat is top notch and the toppings of cheddar and onions do not overwhelm the meat. All of this is in what has now become the only way to eat a burger, a brioche bun.  They clearly go to great pains to highlight this fact with the meat being done just right and a large patty to make it the obvious center of attention.

1.  Village Whiskey- 118 S. 20th Street

A quiet Sunday early dinner allowed us to sit nicely in the bar area at Village Whiskey where reservations are not accepted. With one of the best additional accompaniments menu for burgers, this one packs a lot of promise. We opted for simple additional of Jasper Hill Cheddar for one and chèvre for the other. With toppings of crisp (and i mean crisp and fresh) bibb lettuce, tomato, and unfortunately thousand island dressing, the meat does most of the talking and the talking is good.  The chèvre cheese was by far the better addition, making one of us extremely jealous of the other but still very satisfied nonetheless.  Prepared just as requested with meat that just melts in your mouth, going back for another shouldn’t be too hard. 

The winner- Village Whiskey's Village Burger with chèvre

Tired Hands Fermentaria- Ardmore, PA

Amidst the blossoming craft brewery and brewpub scene is Tired Hands in Ardmore.  Initially opened as a corner bar in 2012 Tired Hands grew rapidly enough that more space was needed.  The brewery did not close down one operation in favor of another; they simply opened up larger Fermentaria 3 blocks away.  Unlike the initial location the Fermentaria features a full food menu along with their now nationally famous craft beer.  

Their beer can take up an entire post.  The beer was predominantly saison derivatives but the menu expanded to stouts and sours and of course the most popular of all-IPAs. For those of you who are microbrew enthusiasts, they possibility of an entire post about the beer at Tired Hands would be delightful. It is considered by many one of the best micro breweries in the country and holds a pretty strong hold on the designation of best in the state. But alas, this is a food blog.

On a snowy April Saturday night we were joined buy a couple good friends for dinner.  After grabbing some 4 or 8 ounce beers we moved on to “snacks” with pork bell  crispy buns made with kimchi mustard and pickled sesame cucumber all within a nice light bun. The asian flare the kimchi gives it makes it more savory as a whole instead of just some really good pork belly with accompaniments. Also, we got the nachos with chicken. Instead of having gooey nachos with all the toppings, the cheese dip came on the side with the chicken and jalapenos on top. Great gooey cheese is never a bad thing, but the chicken stole my heart with how moist and slightly spicy it was.

Pork belly "crispy buns"

Next up with had our entrees. Three of us opted for various tacos as this is the bulk and the center of the menu. You get two tacos loaded with the toppings. If you are looking for traditional tacos, you have come to the wrong place. While they do have chicken, fish, carnitas, and bean-the most recommended ones on the menu are the odd-balls. The best of the three (pastrami, bean and cheese, and brussel sprout) was by far the brussel sprout. Sautéed and topped with a cold apple slaw and sriracha ranch dressing, it was nicely tied together with a house-made bacon jam. Sweet, earthy, spicy, and meaty all mixed into one makes a great anything let alone a taco.   The pastrami tacos seem to be a unique blend of Eastern Europe and Mexican; the flavors of the accompaniments (carraway slaw, tarragon crema, pickled mustard seed) blend very well together for an outstanding savory and spicy flavor.  The pastrami itself was good but a tad too thick and chewy. The bean and cheese tacos are well mixed but not something to write home about. The salsa verde is pretty copious and lends most of the flavoring. I only ate the one and brought the other home with me (inner portion of taco only as the shell wound be gross as a leftover). 

Black Bean Tacos

Pastrami Tacos

The last entree was lamb belly, lemon-mint yogurt and tabouleh.  Being a huge fan of lamb pork belly, we were very anxious to get a taste of this salty fatty hybrid.  It lived up to our expectations.  Very well prepared, it combined the great taste unique to lamb with the fatty tenderness of great belly.  

Overall our experience at Tired Hands Fermentaria was very positive.  A great selection of beers and food are provided for all taste buds: sour, bitter, sweet, spicy, savory, meaty, veggie, healthy, no-so-healthy.  If you’re thorough you can find a perfect beer to compliment your food selection.  One critique often discussed about this place is the noise.  It is an open facility with little to absorb the many conversations.  It was a packed house during out time there and while it was noisy, it did not prevent or subdue any good conversation.  

Harvest- Moorestown, NJ

Moorestown Mall made a splash a few years back with the notice that they were starting to re-vamp the mall with new restaurants from big name local chefs. While Vetri’s satellite has since closed, Distrito by Garces and some other places still remain including local suburban staple Harvest. With locations throughout the Philly suburbs, the farm-to-table restaurant specializes in locally cultivated meat dishes. 

We went with friends from north Jersey, Eric and Dana, as they were in town for the night. Having a late reservation at 8:30, the place was surprisingly packed at that time and remained so for most of our meal. The server was knowledgable and patient with our decisions, guiding us as far as entrees go. An extensive wine list with well priced bottles was a notable plus early on in the meal.  In addition, there is a well-rounded cocktail list that included a “harvest fig bourbon’ which was a unique take on a classic old fashioned.

With a late dinner, the appetizers were chosen quickly and there were four of them in all. 

A baked goat cheese dish was a nice start and sated our hunger but was not exactly memorable. The charcuterie plate consisted of 4 meats, the liver pate was by far the best with appropriate accompaniments of pickles and mustard. The steak and mushroom flatbread pizza was also underwhelming, with too much cheese and not enough mushroom. Finally, the smoked duck pot stickers were one of the better ones, mainly because they were done just right and accompanied by an amazing cherry marmalade.

We all chose pretty boring entrees. The guys got the filet and the girls got the lamb shank. The lamb shank was on bone and served with a parsnip puree and cranberry demi glaze. While the lamb was done well, the cranberry demiglaze was a little too much on the sweet size. The dish didn’t seemed balanced because of this and made it hard to appreciate the dish as a whole. 

The filet, by contrast, had slightly charred outer but a buttery, tender preparation that was perfectly media rare.  The creamy garlic mashed potatoes and haricot verts serve as good accompaniments.  There was nothing too flashy about the filet, but it was very well prepared and presented.

The experience was overall underwhelming but not overly so. The service was good, especially considering we were kind of a pain in the ass to serve. The wine selection was quite good and the dishes were for the most part well executed if not exactly awe-inspiringly innovative or original. Not returning any time soon but would not say absolutely not if anyone wanted to try it out. 

S. Egidio- Ridgewood, NJ

On a recent visit to North Jersey to visit friends, we went out to a casual, unassuming Friday night dinner in the NYC suburbs.  The destination was S. Egidio, a small Italian bistro in downtown Ridgewood that seats 30-40.  There are no reservations, the wait was approx. one hour on this Friday night.  I did not know what I was getting myself into, assuming this wait was just typical for 8PM on a Friday night in early March.  However, one of their specialty pies is totally worth the 60-90 minutes it takes to get a table.  (Disclaimer:  We did not wait there physically for over an hour.  We called ahead and gave a name.  No tables will be held on a busy night but they seem loyal to first-come first-serve).

S. Egidio appeared on nj.com’s “On the Rise” amongst their NJ Pizza Power Rankings.  This is definitely saying something considering the vast number of pizza shops in all of New Jersey.  It did not crack their list of Top 25 pizzerias just yet but this may be simply due to the fact that S. Egidio only opened in 2014.  The chef and wood-fire oven both hail from Naples.  The authenticity of the pizzas are legit, at least with the simplicity of the ingredients.  The different creations the menu offers never deviate too far from authentic Southern Italian ingredients.  There are some unique ingredients (shaved truffle and chile infused honey to name a few) that add some wonderful character to the pies.  That’s about it.   The menu also offers a variety of appetizers and housemate pasta dishes.  We opted to share a few of each.

The Polpo E Patate was our appetizer of choice.  Until this point I never know the harmony that exists between chilled marinated octopus and rosemary potato.  The flavors work well together but they were also mutually exclusive.  We shared their potato gnocchi with basil pesto, pine nuts, permigiano and pecorino.  This gnocchi was an absolute homerun.  Super soft and creamy, the texture was more reminiscent of ricotta derived gnocchi.  The pesto was very simple and complimented the gnocchi well.  

Gnocchi with basil pesto

Octopus, rosemary potato

The Fiamma pie was how we kicked off the meal.  San marzano tomatoes, spicy soppressata, for di latte added some meat and depth to the pizza.  However, the chile honey stole the show.  Imagine the sweetness and earthiness of honey complemented by some heat in the aftertaste.  Nothing overwhelming, just a perfect blend of sweetness, heat and saltiness from the soppressata.  Our second pie choice was the Carciofotta, a very unique, rich pizza with artichoke creme, for di latte, pancetta, fresh egg and shaved black truffle.  This was one of the more unique pizzas I’ve tasted.  Any truffle (especially truffle oil which is quickly becoming my nemesis) can overpower the flavor of anything that would otherwise be delicious.  However, the artichoke and the pancetta balance out each slice perfectly.  You experience some truffle flavor initially, but that gives way to the saltiness from pancetta and artichoke.  The egg and cheese provide body and depth to the toppings.  More interestingly, the egg was composed of a batter rather than a typical fried egg.  

Fiamma

Carciofotta

The topping options are numerous and most any can satisfy any authentic pizza craving.  The show stealer, however, was the crust.  It was thin with enough firmness to support the toppings.  It was a perfect amount of chewiness/doughiness without tasting undercooked.  There was some flakiness to the outer crust without being particularly crispy.  This crust was hands-down the best I’ve ever had with a pizza.  This is saying something; we’ve visit a decent number of famous Philadelphia gourmet pizza restaurants and not one could match the quality, texture or taste of this crust.  In fact, the overall experience at S. Egidio would easily beat out any of the stops on our Pizza Challenge from last year.  The crust, ingredients and creativity are what big-name Napoli-inspired places like Pizzeria Vetri and Osteria attempted but so far have ultimately failed to accomplish.  Therefore, I beg to ask the question:  Is North Jersey and the New York City suburbs just that far ahead in their quality and expectations of standard gourmet pizza or is S. Egidio just that good?  Regardless, I must tip my hat to Rocco at the restaurant, you better make that Top 25 in May.

La Condesa- Austin, TX

Broken Arrow Ranch is in the hill country outside Austin.  It is home to a unique variety of wildlife from various parts of the globe.  At the ranch, the handlers hunt the desired game with rifles then promptly bleed the animals utilizing electric charges.  This pulse of electricity allows the muscles to spasm and the animals bleed out very quickly on the site they are killed.  The quicker the blood is drained, less pooling and less retention of toxins which can add peculiar flavors to the meat.  The ranch has its own butcher who does everything by hand and a slaughter trailer which is overseen by a state health inspector.  Within minutes to a few short hours, a wild game animal is killed, butchered and the meat is ready for consumption.  Why do I discuss this?  Well, learning about Broken Arrow ranch is what inspired us to try La Condesa in downtown Austin. Chef Rick Lopez of La Condesa utilizes the meat from this ranch particularly venison and wild boar among other things.  

La Condesa is a Mexican-inspired restaurant offering a variety of tapas-style plates to share amongst the guests.  It has a full bar with a large selection of tequilas and mescals that can be upward of $100 a shot for the rare varietals.  

Two of our good friends, Nate and Morgan joined us for this dinner.  We kick-started our 8-course meal with Hamachi Ceviche.  Yellowtail tuna was fresh, light, and the calamansi broth added some citrus notes.  The Habanero truffle oil added some heat to round out a great start to our meal.  

Another highlight was the Veracruzana, a red wine-brazed octopus served with tostadas.  A tender octopus was highly seasoned with charred tomatoes, saffron aioli and picholine olives.  Strong flavors of the spices overtake the flavor of the octopus but only in a good way.  The octopus itself basically served as a base for texture.

red wine-braised octopus, charred tomatoes, picholine olives, saffron aioli, tostadas

So, we highlighted two selections which were seafood based after a long discussion about a local source for game meat.  This is where things become disappointing.  The seafood options were the best plates we had on this particular night.  The land animal items proved to be less than stellar.

The middle of our meal turned to Arabicos Taquitos, seared venison with pickled cucumber (aka pickles), chipotle harissa, fennel pollen yogurt and bacon fat tortilla.  This is where I was expecting La Condessa to start shining.  All the flavors worked very well together but the venison was considerably chewy.  It was served rare but it did not have a clean, tender bite I would have expected.

seared venison, pickled cucumber, chipotle harissa, fennel pollen yogurt, cilantro, bacon fat tortilla

I am a sucker for sweetbreads.  Anytime I see them on a menu I pounce on it.  The sweetbreads  at La Condessa were grilled, adding a unique charred flavor to the meat.  The meat itself was very well prepared, very tender like a great sweetbread.  The plate was a build-your-own taco with the accoutrement of charred cactus paddle and salsas.  The cactus paddle was definitely unique and offered a firm bite but the charred skin added extra bitter taste to an already bitter plant.  Combining all the items on the plate made for a good Mollejas taco but did not complement the sweetbread which just by themselves would’ve sufficed. The flavors just didn’t mesh as well as a dish like that should.

grilled sweetbreads, confit onion, charred cactus paddle, salsa manzana, salsa nopalitos

A couple other plates we indulged included a very good Pollo Rostizado, a chicken mole where the mole sauce was able to appropriately shine, and a pretty good achiote-braised pork shoulder.

La Condessa is definitely a good restaurant.  However, we came into the restaurant with a little too much hype and expectation; unfortunately this was not realized.  The atmosphere was fun and bright, the wait staff was helpful and knowledgable.  While things did not feel rushed, per se, they certainly felt a little disorganized and scattered. Nevertheless, the game selections of the menu, which were the primary draw, fell a tad short.

Looking for the “weirdness” in Austin, TX

Austin is among the fastest growing cities in the country and its food scene likewise sprawls with the city.  This is a hotbed for some of the country’s best BBQ and Tex-Mex cuisine.  However, the open-thinking and trendy population reflect the culinary advancements in the local kitchens.  Rather than ramble about our several stops, we offer a glimpse of some planned and improvised destinations during our long weekend in Austin.

Lambert’s in downtown Austin is rated amongst the best BBQ stops in a BBQ-heavy city.  The look is more of an early 20th century bistro with a modern twist.  It has a full bar with mixology cocktails, craft beers and classic cocktails.  The menu is centered around its BBQ which is mostly also prepared in a modern computerized smoker.  This is a far-cry from the conventional smoke houses and smoke rooms in the BBQ stops in other parts of Texas.  Regarding the menu, the maple and coriander glazed ribs, pulled pork were good but the standout of the meats has to be the brown sugar and coffee rubbed beef brisket.  This is easily the best brisket I ever tried.  The rub produces a delicious crispy bark that is no-way overpowering.  The magic is in the meat itself with a buttery flavor perfectly tender; the knife is rendered useless with this brisket.  Aside from BBQ, the menu features other meat-related options including an appetizer crispy savory wild boar ribs.  These finger foods provide great competition for chicken wings.

Crispy wild boar ribs at Lamberts

Brown sugar & coffee rubbed brisket, maple & coriander crusted pork rib at Lamberts

The two trendy areas of downtown Austin are 6th Street and Rainey Street.  With very different looks they manage to accomplish the simple task of providing a platform for debauchery.  6th street really helps to build the “keep Austin weird” slogan.  Door-to-door bars and restaurants light up the evening with a fluorescent rainbow set amidst corporate high-rises.  This is the spot for classic heavy metal, dive bars and cheap eats.  Casino el Camino on 6th is famous for its burgers and its immense gargoyle that greets you as you pass through the door.  The menu features 6 burgers of varying toppings.  The “hot” buffalo burger is greasy, well prepared and does not disappoint with the heat.  The Pittsburgh with mushrooms, onion, and provolone is hearty and heavy, reminding us that even though it was in the high 70’s in Austin, its still winter. We were recommended to get the chili cheese fries without the chili by a local, which is what we did. The cheese is gooey and there is plenty of it. Add all this bar food goodness to a decent local beer list and the best jukebox in Austin and you have one great vibe. 

Fried chicken sausage at Banger's

Rainey Street is perhaps the most original and unique streets I’ve ever walked down.  This is a two-block stretch by the Colorado River featuring a unique blend of food trucks, restaurants and eateries.  However, these businesses are refined houses; rather than demolish these buildings, they were converted to private businesses.  Ranging from single bungalows to multi-floor villas to a night spot literally built our of shipping containers, the eclectic nature of these places all feature live music and utilize outdoor spaces.  Bangers is an outdoor beer garden, featuring almost 100 drafts and specializes in a variety of sausages.  These include duck, bacon & fig, venison, Texas antelope and their “2nd best dish,” the fried chicken.  Little did I realize this is actually chicken sausage breaded and fried.  The sausage even with the fried better is nothing special, but the mashed potatoes, gravy and accompanying biscuits were reminiscent of southern comfort food.  The duck and fig is a nice sausage with the mix of spicy and a nice sweet from the fig. Neither overpowers the other. On the night we were there Bangers also boasted a large brass band, NOLA style, as our evening entertainment. With 3 sets and some awesome songs, they provided the entertainment for most of the evening’s drinking and eating; marking this meal as the most memorable.

Banger's beer garden

On a side note, Austin has a flourishing craft beer scene.  There is no claim to one particular style of brewing but a variety of lights, darks, hops, malts is offered.  512, Community and Austin Beer Works were some of the breweries we tried.  Bottom line, Austin is definitely a beer drinkers city.

Every Saturday morning Austin has a farmers market at Republic Square Park few blocks south of the capital building.   There is a plethora of local produce, poultry, beef and pork options available.  However, this is also known for different street food options.  A couple of the highlights include a Brazilian cheese crepe with spinach, heart of palm and mild shredded cheese.  It provided a healthy savory start to the day but the crepe itself is not prepared from regular batter.  Butter is melted in a pot and the dry DOUGH? is added with a grinder that evenly disperses the flour.  The butter absorbs this as it cooks which allows for a grainy but less dense dough.   Other offerings included Mexican breakfast tacos, tamales, vegan pastries, local home-made beef jerky and Nepalese salsa.  A kombucha stand offered several varieties for sampling and purchasing (by purchasing, you can but a jar or growler and fill it from a kombucha tap  Refills are a separate cost).  The best food item from this market (and one of the best of this trip) came from the Indian food stand Chai Wallah which makes their own traditional Indian hot food, treats and samosas.  One such Samosa was the beet, paneer and chipotle chili samosa.  Served chilled, this was a filling, desert-like treat.

Farmer's Market at Republic Square Park

"Brazilian crepe" with cheese, spinach, heart of palm

Austin was a highly anticipated trip to explore this “weird” city that embraces its state and local heritage while looking toward new ideas if lifestyle, architecture and of course food.  Regretfully, we did not stop at many of its famed food trucks but we were able to explore a wide range of different food types and cuisines.  For the most part the food was good with a few exceptional standouts.  This city and food scene are growing and this city would definitely be work the stop on another occasion.  Luckily, the city has a vast bike and walking trail network.  This is much needed to burn off all of those extra calories.