SXSW

well, i've put this one off, because it's a big one. south by southwest. i ate unusual amounts of good food. something else unusual, this entry will contain a MEAT thing....mainly by accident (don't worry; i didn't eat any).

our first night in, td and i ended up at this delicious pizza place called east side pizza. it was new york style, thin and crispy, and there were tons of gourmet toppings. ryan's roommate worked there so i got the hook up with a pesto-based pizza with AVOCADO on it. check it out http://www.eastsidepizza.com/.

the next morning, we hit up cisco's, a local favorite (according to my limited sources) with authentic mexican. this was my first inadvertent encounter with meat. apparently cheese enchilada is quite beefy in texas.


as you can see, meaty red sauce above. still it was a good crispy taco. for a mid afternoon snack, we were served the most interesting free vegan goodies while we watched bands at emo's. it was barbeque-flavored coconut meat (texture) with collard greens and homemade pickles. DELICIOUS. i have no idea how to replicate this and wish i had the recipe. the collards were vinegary and much less sweet than what we're used to in AL.

we went to some place to dinner that night and i got a veggie burg but it wasn't any good so i didn't write the name down...

the next day i picked up a free veggie wrap for lunch at an outdoor show (not too much flavor but all the veggies had been food-processed which i did like) . that day for dinner i had the BEST MEAL EVER.

blue dahlia bistro. mostly vegetarian, you can peep the menu here: http://www.bluedahliabistro.com/menu_sept09.pdf. i had the porcini ravioli with basil pesto and parmesan shavings. on the side were mesclun greens you could dress yourself with good balsamic and EVOO. so so good.

the next day i had free birds for lunch, a local burrito place. legit. pretty much just a burrito place but it was enjoyable. for dinner we got more east side pizza.

in short, there was much good food to be had. any meals i did not mention above were either mediocre, or prepared by kate, a roommate at the house i crashed in who was a yummy and vegetarian friendly cook.

and unrelated to food though this may be, get your ass to austin if you have the chance. it's FUN