Brunch in Austin

Well, Spring is here and every day feels like a good day for brunch. One of the most popular days of the year for bunch is Easter Sunday. So we thought we would share the Statesman’s list of brunch offerings with you. We would love to hear your suggestions as well if you know of a great place. Brunch in Austin will be traveling that weekend so we would love to have a guest blog to report back on the local brunch scene. Contact us if you’re interested.

Here’s what Austin 360 gives us for Easter brunch options:

• The Carillon
• Chez Zee
• El Chile
• Four Seasons Hotel Austin
• Lakeway Resort and Spa
• Mirabelle
• Roaring Fork Stonelake
• Sagra
• Trace
• Urban, an American Grill

and here is the full report.

Enjoy and and send us your notes and ideas.

Austin Bacon Takedown 2011

The 2nd annual Bacon Takedown was held in Austin at Emo’s on March 13 this year.  While not a traditional SXSW event, it was very popular and is rapidly becoming a hit with Austin.  Sponsored by Hormel Black Label Bacon (thanks guys for all the free samples and coupons), this event has become one of my favorite food competitions.  Like many typical vegetarians, bacon is my downfall. So of course, I had to attend.  For a $10 fee, I was able to participate in the people’s judging and experience some divine, and some not so divine, bacon creations.  Not your typical, every-day, breakfast/brunch bacon creations, but  different, unusual, “keep Austin weird” bacon  creations, such as  bacon s’mores, maple bacon pecan pralines, bacon apple crisp and, yes, even candied bacon ice cream with bacon jam.  Bacon definitely came out of its shell at this event—no stereotypical choices here.

A selection of the contenders

Sixteen creative bacon dishes later, I was in bacon heaven AND bacon overload.  Well, not so much bacon overload as sugar overload.  It seems bacon is the new dessert this year.  There was bacon s’mores, maple bacon pecan pralines, vanilla bacon cloud cookies, bacon caramel popcorn, bacon cheesecake truffles, bacon apple crisp, candied bacon ice cream w/ bacon jam (the jam was delish!), perfect 4:25 maple bacon popcorn, bacon candied chips and bacon cupcakes with bacon frosting. Whew! No wonder I was sugared out!

Then there were a few savory dishes, including crack tacos, Baco-Maki, bacon waffles, pineapple bacon bombs, Bunches of Bacon Bar (a granola power bar that was incredible), bacon wrapped pork belly on a stick (I love it—bacon wrapped bacon!), bacon wonton with watermelon salsa, and lots of free samples of pre-cooked bacon by Hormel.  How to chose?

The guest judges, which included Hilah Johnson and Claudia Alarcon, certainly had their work cut out for them.  In the end, they chose their favorite three plus best in savory and best in sweet winners:

1st to Bacon Wonton from team Tres Cochinitas (Three Little Piggies)
2nd to Baco-Maki from team Austin Facial Hair Club
3rd to Bacon Cupcakes from team The Whole Hog
Best Savory to Bacon Wrapped Pork Belly on a Stick from Matt Chalker
Best Sweet to Bacon S’mores from Christy Horton (Epicuriosities)

Congratulations to all the judges’ choice winners.

I have to say, it was challenging to pick my favorite and I am sure for others as well.  Each was so unique and had something surprising to offer.  The People’s Choice Awards were given to:

1st to Bacon Wonton from team Tres Cochinitas (Three Little Piggies)

2nd to Bacon Wrapped Pork Belly on a stick from Matt Chalker (This was my favorite—how could I not vote for bacon wrapped bacon?)

3rd to Bunches of Bacon Bar from Austin Bacon Eaters. (I loved this dish and was totally surprised by the concept.  If this were sold in stores, I would stock up on it today!)

I am proud to note that my top three picks won the people’s choice.  Congratulations.
This event is quirky and different and so definitely Austin weird and I can’t wait until next year. In fact, I might even enter next year.  But in the meantime, I will definitely be following Austin Bacon Eaters on Facebook. If you are into bacon, too, I will see you there.

M.B.

The Woodland Cafe, Austin, TX

Hey folks, well it’s been a while since I have had a chance to go to brunch and post. Holidays and a family emergency have taken quite a bit of time. But, we did go out this morning and tried brunch at The Woodland. We had eaten lunch there previously and really enjoyed the freshness and selection. Those characteristics carried through into our brunch foray.

One thing we like in brunch offerings is variety and we found it here. They have a small selection of traditional breakfast items, plus salads, soups, sandwiches and some specials which included 2 varieties of quiche. I enjoy breakfast foods so when I try a new place I like to sample their basic breakfast offerings to see how they do. I especially like to order poached eggs as that is an excellent test of a chef’s breakfast skills. The Woodland’s chef passed with flying colors – my eggs were done perfectly, soft not rubbery at all, and the yolks were cooked enough to be tasty without being underdone. Great job!

For those who enjoy cocktails with brunch there are a few drink specials, standards like Bloody Mary’s and Mimosa’s plus one called a Back Porch Tea with Charbay Green Tea vodka and Paula’s Texas Lemon, sounds interesting. I stuck with coffee and found it to be a nice dark roast, full bodied and real 1/2 and 1/2. Take note some of you other cafes, please don’t bring plain milk for coffee, it’s just wrong and ruins the taste of good coffee.

The Morning Wood

For my meal I chose a plate called the Morning Wood (ha, ha) which offers 2 eggs any style plus 4 choices from a decent list of options. I had poached eggs, bacon, sourdough toast, hash browns and yogurt. While everything I had was very tasty I would suggest a couple of things  – what were billed as hash browns were really more of a potato cake or hash cake – finely shredded potatoes with seasonings, scallions, and probably some egg and/or flour to bind them. It was a bit mushy in texture, not crisp like I expect hash browns to be, and I had to use a knife to cut it. It tasted OK but wasn’t really what I envisioned. A bit of description would have helped me know what to expect. The bacon was well cooked and nicely salty. I’m not sure if what I got was really sourdough toast and that may have been a communication breakdown. It seemed like plain bread and while it worked fine for sopping up egg yolk it didn’t have a sourdough flavor. Overall, I enjoyed the meal and would gladly eat any of it again.

Biscuit and Sausage Gravy

M. is not an egg eater but loves biscuits and gravy. She got 2 nice sized house-made biscuits with a very tasty and nicely creamy and flavorful gravy with plenty of crumbled sausage that was wonderfully sage-y. This is a dish that this Texas girl grew up on and it definitely made the grade. I’d serve it to my momma (and she knows her biscuit and gravy). There’s no higher compliment in my book!

M. also got a side of granola and yogurt which turned out to be a real highlight. I’m not sure if they make the granola in-house but wherever it comes from, it’s good! Not too sweet, plenty nutty and included good things like flax seeds. We had each thought of getting fruit but the mix included cantaloupe (which M. is allergic to) and watermelon (which I don’t care for) so passed on it. Since neither of those fruits are in season it seems like there might be better choices. I often find that fruit in restaurants is an afterthought and not very good so I wasn’t surprised at this.

Woodland Interior

We noticed nearby diner’s plates of french toast, Eggs Benedict, and sandwiches, all of which looked yummy. We will be back to try some of the other offerings. I am especially interested in trying the tater tots which I hope are house-made and not the frozen variety. I did also appreciate the little details like homemade blueberry jam. One thing that turns me off in nice breakfast places is if they bring me the little packages of grape jelly instead of a decent jam pot. Way to go Woodland, it makes all the difference when you really do care what is served.

I decided long ago that if a place doesn’t seem to care what goes out on the plates, then I won’t go back. If you are in the food business then you MUST care, or find something else to do. I grew up in the restaurant business and was always taught that if I wouldn’t eat it, then never, ever serve it to a customer. This is a place that cares, and it shows.

The Woodland
1716 S. Congress Avenue
Austin, TX 78704
(512) 441-6800
http://www.woodlandaustin.com

If you enjoy brunch and would be interested in doing some guest posts please get in touch, info@brunchinaustin.com. We are doing our best to get around but can’t get out every week and would welcome your input.

Also send us your suggestions for places to try as we are always looking for new places.

Oh, we are really excited about the Gypsy Picnic which is coming up this Saturday, November 6. this gathering of more than 30 of Austin’s food trailers promises to be amazing. It’s all done as a benefit for the Health Alliance for Austin Musicians (HAAM) and you know there will be live music, it is Austin after all. The music lineup includes Junior Brown, J Roddy Walston and the Business, Gary Clark Jr., Ruby Jane, English Teeth and Noise Revival Orchestra.

Check out the cool interactive event site where you can not only see info on all the food trailers you can also create an account and plan your personalized menu. Very nicely done, folks.

And, through and Friday night you can have a chance to win one of 10 $50 gift cards from Central Market. See the event site for details on how to enter.

Event sponsors include: Ziegenbock; Central Market; City of Austin Parks and Recreation; KGSR; News 8 Austin; N2 Wines; and Book People.

Come on out and enjoy this cool event. The weather promises to be one of those perfect Austin Fall days. See you there!

We enjoyed the Launch Party so much that we made the trip back across town on 10/30 to try the full brunch at Manny’s Uptown Kitchen. One thing we love is that they serve breakfast all the time. Since my usual dining companion doesn’t care for eggs it’s really nice that she can get other fare. There are some places around that think breakfast means just egg dishes or things that are all carbs like pancakes/waffles, etc. It’s nice that they offer their full menu so she can get some veggie options.

Both of my experiences at Manny’s have definitely been enhanced by the friendliness and helpfulness of the staff. I spoke with several staff during the Launch Party and was greeted by the hostess on my return. Our waiter for brunch was Dan and he was easygoing, prompt and knowledgeable about the food and options. He made our visit quite nice.

Bacon and Cheddar Omelet

The biggest challenge here is making a choice from the large menu. I really wanted to try a breakfast item and was tempted by the Flapjacks and the Waffle but really needed some protein. And, I didn’t want the standard, eggs, meat, potatoes plate. The offer a couple of dishes that have lots of ingredients like Uncle Leo’s Scramble with lox, eggs, red & green onions and cream cheese which sounded way to rich. Or the Uptown Hash with two fried eggs over a has of corned beef, pastrami, onions, bell peppers, pimento cheese and potato pancakes which sounded overwhelming and I was a bit wary of pimento cheese in a hash. I finally settled on the Bacon and Cheddar Omelet and substituted a bagel for the usual toast. While everything was really tasty the omelet seemed thin and incomplete. It would benefit from from some additional items like onions, peppers or mushrooms. It’s just too plain. The star of the plate was the potato pancake. These beauties are thicker than the typical potato cakes and are wonderfully crispy. The bagel was nicely toasted and the texture perfect and chewy. None of those “fake” bagels that some places serve which are nothing more than rolls with a hole in them.

Wedge Salad

M. opted for the Manny’s Wedge Salad and an order of the Six Cheese Mac. There was no disappointment here – the salad was a classic with real blue cheese crumbles and dressing, bacon, tomatoes and red onions. This qualified M. for the Clean Plate Club. Then came the Six Cheese Mac which isn’t made with macaroni but Manny’s homemade noodles with a “creamy blend of Tillamook & white cheddars, muenster, gruyere, smoked gouda and pecorino cheeses.” They aren’t kidding

Six Cheese Mac

around here, this dish will cause a fight if someone tries to get a bite. If you want comfort food then look no further. A couple of wedges of garlic bread came alongside and were perfectly done.

The servings are more than generous and consequently we were too full for dessert. I will absolutely be back soon to try the Noodle Kugel – those homemade noodles with cream cheese, pineapple and a corn flake topping. I love kugel and this one sounds fabulous.

Other dishes that sound intriguing include:

• Manny’s Chicken and Waffles (I’m told that the chicken is made with matzah flour making it super juicy and crispy)
• Matza Crusted Catfish
• Mama’s Stuffed Cabbage
• Butternut Squash Pierogies in Citrus Brown Butter Sage Sauce
• Loco Joe’s Slow Roast Brisket
• Austin Cheesesteak

There’s lots more available with a great variety to satisfy everyone’s taste. They do offer a soup or salad and a half sandwich for those who prefer that. I have to say that with the variety, quality, and friendliness I found at Manny’s I will definitely be back for more. Thanks folks for making it fun and satisfying.

Manny’s Uptown Kitchen
9503 Research Blvd., Suite 650, Austin, TX 78759 | 512-794-0088
http://www.mannysuptownkitchen.com