Vegan Vacation: Austin, TX

A few weeks ago, I detailed my Lentan Challenge: Veganism.

This included three pre-planned BYE meals - simply because I'd planned for and/or paid for them before deciding to go Vegan for Lent.

As part of my Spring Break, I took a few days off of work, and went to visit a dear friend of mine who now resides in Austin, TX.  She lives very close to the Whole Foods featured in Top Chef Season 9: Texas, when the chefs were in Austin, which is also the Whole Foods Headquarters.  She also showed me that Austin, TX, is a very vegan-friendly city.

Additionally, two of my BYE meals were Austin meals.

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First, the true Vegan options we really looked into were Whole Foods and Kerbey Lane Cafe.

This Whole Foods was amazing.  It was huge, and included things I don't normally see at Whole Foods (like clothing).  It also had a larger variety of bars and seatings than the local DC Whole Foods. I discovered their breakfast taco bar, which included vegan salsas and vegan chorizo.  I similarly discovered that the vegan soy nuggets (pre-packaged) at Whole Foods are amazing.  If you are otherwise a meat-lover, they taste a lot like really good chicken nuggets.

Kerbey Lane was a final day brunch experience.  They have a separate Vegan menu, so I got their breakfast combination which included: Tofu Scramble (like eggs), "Soysage" (soy sausage... totally worthwhile for its name, alone, but also quite delicious and sausagey), blueberry vegan pancakes.  We also ordered a "vegan queso" - which I think was probably a combination of cashews, nutritional yeast, and spices , but the spices really brought it together (I like anything with heat/a little kick).

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We also went to Bess Bistro, which was not meant to be a vegan option (and is apparently Sandra Bullock's restaurant), but had vegan options!  I had a "Veggie Sandwich" for lunch, which was described as "marinated mushrooms, grilled red onion, squash, eggplant, artichoke and olive salad, aged provolone on focaccia" - I got it without the cheese, and the server was super kind to me and double checked that the focaccia was eggless.  The real money glue of the sandwich was the "artichoke and olive salad," which was tangy and greasy and superbly savory.

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As I state above, I also had two of my BYE meals in Austin.

The first was saved for Top Chef Season 9's winner, Paul Qui (who is also coming to DC on March 31st, with one of the runners up, Edward Lee, to teach an "Asian Fusion Redefined" cooking class with wine pairing at Asia Nine, which is, in fact, my third/last BYE meal) - who is the Executive Chef at UCHIKO, and also has a set of food trucks, EAST SIDE KING.

 

We went to the Uchiko happy hour, and pretty much tried everything on their happy hour menu, including brussel sprouts, various pork belly dishes, and specialty sushi.

We then followed happy hour with real dinner by way of take-out from East Side King at the Liberty Bar.  There, we got "Poor Qui's Buns" (it took us hours to realize it's a word play like "poor [Chef] Qui" and also "porky"), Chicken Buns, and Beet Fries.

This extended dinner was phenomenal.  Everything was different - at Uchiko, the pork belly dishes all kind of melted in your mouth, and the brussel sprouts were tasty.  The specialty rolls were very much justly named in that they were special.  Meanwhile, at East Side King, the buns were pillowy, and the beet fries were substantial - thick, dense, delicious (as long as you like beets, and I love me some beets).  I preferred the pork buns over the chicken - I think it was the sauce.

The following day, we did some shopping, and then, in the middle of a huge thunderstorm, we stopped at the original Salt Lick (open pit Texas barbecue, at its finest, and also featured in Top Chef Season 9 - obviously I am a Top Chef fan).  There, instead of trying to decide among my options, I just got a platter.  The sausage and the ribs were delicious, but my heart really was with the brisket (I was advised to request burnt ends as well, with the caramelized burnt bits) and the turkey.  I also LOVED their sides.  The coleslaw was not this mayonnaisey lump of slaw, but rather this very refreshing light slaw with sesame seeds.  Additionally, the potato salad included more mustard than mayonnaise.  I was a huge fan.

My only regret is that my Vegan BYES were liberal with the meat, but included no eggs, cheese, or other dairy (which are things I truly want to eat all of the time).

Perhaps the cooking class will include some bibimbap (fried egg on top).