And even though I’m not the Soup Peddler, nor do I play him on TV, David is a dear friend of ours, and Adam worked with him tirelessly to manage the creative and technical design of his new website. All those whimsical hand-drawn illustrations you see? That’s by Austin’s own  Gerren Lamson. Check out Gerren’s website for more of his delicious and inspiring work.

That adorable little girl? It's Mia (aka Soup Peddlerette)

On Friday, The Soup Peddler is having a 10th Anniversary celebration at Juicebox & Soup Peddler on S. Lamar. There will be games and fun to be had and they are giving away free soup and free beer. What’s not to like? I plan to stop by after work and I hope to see you there! Click here for more info.

I’m thrilled that the Soup Peddler now offers the option to pick up soups and salads for us on-the-go planners, and my office is nearby so I often stop in for lunch. And while I’m not a regular Soup Peddler delivery customer, I do like to send Soup Peddler gift certificates to new moms, and friends who could use some help getting dinner on the table when life gets complicated.

Rumor has it that the Soup Peddler will soon offer more goodness — beyond lovingly prepared meals — for sale on their website. Sign up for their email list (that link is on their contact page) to receive weekly menu and business updates from David sprinkled with the occasional essay or poem. Thank you David for doing your part to keep Austin Awesome!

Upscale Eating

• Bistrot Mirabelle: A romantic neighborhood bistro in Mesa Hills serving southern French-inspired dishes for lunch, dinner, and Sunday  brunch. I visited recently for an event and absolutely loved their mussels, along with a chocolate chocolate cookie, and am looking forward to going back with Adam for a date! Located at 8127 Mesa Drive in between Spicewood Springs and Steck, west of MoPac. Make reservations on their website.

• Elizabeth Street Cafe: A cozy spot for French-Vietnamese cuisine, I’ve visited this little gem twice — both for dinner and brunch. Dinner was tasty, but a little uneven, and brunch was delicious. Those looking for a $6 bowl of pho have come to the wrong place — this is high-end, ingredient-driven dining, y’all. Their specialties include noodles, bahn mi, and boulangerie — so those on a low-carb diet beware. I’d go for the crispy vermicelli cakes for breakfast and the house specialty banh mi for lunch or dinner. South First and Elizabeth Street, in the old Bouldin Creek Coffee location. Open breakfast (8 – 11 a.m.), lunch and dinner (11 a.m. – 10:30 p.m.), 7 days a week.
• Lenoir: In late January, this neighborhood bistro offering a price fixe menu of three courses for $30 started by talented and adorable husband-and-wife team Todd Duplechan (TRIO at the Four Seasons) and Jessica Maher (Dai Due, Dishalicious) and  opened in the space formerly occupied by Somnio’s Cafe. Located at 1807 South First between Annie and Mary; Open Tues – Sat, 5-10:30 p.m. Call 512.215.9778 for reservations.

Casual Eating

• Kome: I always think of Kome as Uchiko light — a less expensive, less avant garde version. Soon after we heard that the owners of Sushi-A-Go-Go were opening a full restaurant, we stopped in for a lovely meal. Since then, we haven’t been able to get in without a wait. I’m hearing good things about their lunchtime ramen menu and hope to try it soon. Another thing I love about this place is that it’s biking distance from my house. 49th and Airport Blvd; Open Mon – Sat for lunch and dinner. Call 512.712.5700 for reservations for parties of five or more.

• Lick: Delicious, creamy ice cream made with fresh, local, and organic ingredients made with love. I’ve tried many of the flavors and have yet to find one that I didn’t like — even the roasted beets or caramelized carrots and tarragon are delicious. One of my favorites is the goat cheese, thyme and honey. A perfect place to kick back and relax on a milking stool. Located on S. Lamar just north of Oltorf near Barley Swine; Open Mon – Sun 12:30 p.m. – 10 p.m. (11:30 on Fri & Sat).
• Saigon Street Food Truck: The Yelpers are excited about this Vietnamese pho and banh mi truck on Airport Blvd and I like that it’s close to my house. For all the complainers saying Elizabeth Street is too expensive for a bowl of pho, this place might be for you. Located at 53rd and Airport Blvd; Open Tues – Sat 11 a.m. – 6 p.m.
• Stiles Switch BBQ & Brew: I’d guess even Aaron Franklin is glad to hear another BBQ place has opened up in Austin that’s getting some buzz and taking s0me of the pressure off of him and his pits. And while Stiles Switch may not be the second coming, I have heard some good reviews of the brisket and look forward to enjoying some Q and brew sometime in the near future. Located in the Violet Crown Shopping Center, one of the oldest mini-malls in central Austin, the Stiles Switch space is in the location used as the pool hall in Dazed and Confused. Located on N. Lamar between Koenig and Airport; Open Mon – Sat 11 a.m. – 9 p.m.
• Dock & Roll Diner: Formerly parked in Westlake, this diner will reopen in early February at S. 1st between Elizabeth and Monroe in the same parking lot as Gourdough’s and Izzoz Tacos, next to Elizabeth Street Cafe. I am drooling, drooling at the description of their lobster roll by those who have tried it, and can’t wait to check ‘em out when they get settled at 1503 S. 1st; Open Mon – Sat 11 a.m. – 7 p.m.
• Gourmands: Addie’s review in the Statesman put me over the edge — she had me at “from-scratch potato chips.” According to Addie, this is a soup, sandwich and beer joint that pays attention to details like making their own potato chips, pickled vegetables, and house-sliced deli meats and cheeses. The bar includes 18 draft beers — 9 from local brewers. Located on Webberville Road, just north of E. 7th Street; Open daily 11 a.m. – 2 a..m.
• Hillside Farmacy: According to the Austinist, this Eastside specialty grocery and restaurant from East Side Show Room’s Sonya Cote will offer Stumptown coffee, Belgian beers, cocktails, oysters, cheese, charcuterie and more during breakfast, lunch and dinner. Located on E. 11th near Rosewood Ave and the Texas State Cemetery, in the old Gene’s New Orleans Style Po Boys location.

Eats & Drinks

• drink.well. has a website, a Facebook page, and a Twitter handle, but this North Loop “American Pub” is still in the process of being built out. Once open, possibly next month, they will offer craft beers, wines, and spirits from across the U.S. and will feature pub food. I’m excited about their drink menu, which they are creating with the help of the Tipsy Texan, David Alan. Looks like the makings of a nice little neighborhood bar, and will take some pressure off the popular Tigress down the street. East 53rd between Avenue F and G.

• Easy Tiger, in the former Habana on E. 6th Street, just west of I-35, is one of the few places on 6th Street that I would hang out at on purpose (along with Pete’s Dueling Piano bar, Parkside, and the Driskill). Enter at street level, and Easy Tiger offers coffee, fresh-baked baguettes, croissants and giant German-style pretzels by pedigreed baker, David Norman. Head downstairs and you are in a beer hall filled with tables and chairs, or a patio with a lit-up view of Waller Creek. Easy Tiger offers a full bar and 30 beers on draft, along with housemade meats and other bar food by 24 Diner chef Drew Curren. Open Mon – Sun from 7 a.m. – 2 a.m.
• Hopfields: A bar in walking distance from the UT campus that I’d actually want to go to? Amazing. With a solid beer list, cocktail menu, wine list, and bistro menu, there’s not a lot about Hopfields to complain about. Most of the seating is at communal tables or at the bar, and it feels like the kind of place where  you could go often enough that everyone there would know your name.31st and Guadalupe; Open Tues – Fri 11 a.m. – 12 a.m., Sat until 1 a.m
• Workhorse Bar: Located in the same mini-mall as The Tigress, Workhorse is under construction, but their FB page promises a bar and restaurant with over fifty taps available for draft beer. They plan to promote local breweries and distilleries, and the rest, is a mystery. Sounds like a perfect place to sit my man and his buddies in front of a game while I catch up with my ladies next door. Northloop Blvd just east of Avenue F. My one concern for this area is where will everyone park?!

Neighborhoods

• Airport Boulevard between 35 and Lamar keeps getting awesome(r)! Austinites have long-loved Mrs. Johnson’s Donuts, Quality Seafood, the Lammes candy shop, La Canaria, Casey’s New Orleans Snowballs (open seasonally), and Tamale House (hat tip to Fed Man Walking for helping jog my memory); recent openings on and around Airport over the past year or so include Black Star Coop and Stiles Switch BBQ on Lamar, Kome, Saigon Street Food Truck,  La Chaparrita (in Highland Mall), House Pizzeria, East Side Pies, and opening soon — Your Mom’s Burger Bar.
• North Loop, which is right around the corner from Airport — in fact — East Side Pies could be considered part of this hood, is growing like crazy. With the two new bars I mentioned above opening up in the next month or so, I think North Loop will really cement its identity and continue to grow. Currently, this neighborhood is home to The Tigress and Foreign & Domestic, two of our most-loved food and drink destinations in town.
• S. 1st – Within a couple block radius, S. 1st is home to Elizabeth Street Cafe, the new Bouldin Creek Cafe, Sugar Mama’s Bakeshop (which is expanding), La Mexicana Bakery, Polvos, El Primo, Once Over Coffee Bar, Izzoz, Gourdoughs, and soon, Dock & Roll,  J Mueller BBQ, La Patisserie, and a Thai restaurant from the La Condesa folks that is being built as we speak.

And those are the places I’m most excited to explore in the next few months. What about you?

MORE DELICIOUS FUN COMING SOON (Updated 1/31 at 1:33 p.m.):

• 400 Rabbits Cocktail Lounge (tequila bar/Mexican food) from the Alamo Drafthouse’s Beverage Director Bill Norris and chef John Bullington is set to open at the end of March. It is located at MoPac and Slaughter.
• Freedmen’s: A laid-back lounge in a historic building with retro cocktails and BBQ — opening soon and located at 2402 San Gabriel St.

If you are a food blogger in Austin, I hope you will consider joining the group, and if you have any questions, I’d be happy to help answer them! Without further ado, here’s the post!

AFBA IN 2011: A YEAR IN REVIEW

Monday, January 2, 2012

It’s hard to believe it, but the Austin Food Blogger Alliance is over one year old since it was first conceived. A group of local Austin food bloggers had gotten to know one another during 2009 and 2010 — mostly thanks to our use of Twitter, and to the restaurants and PR firms that invited us to events where we got to know one another. We felt that it was important to start a group that would support each other, and our community, in a somewhat organized way.

In mid-November, 2010, Natanya Anderson, Jodi Bart, Addie Broyles, Michelle Cheng, Adam Holzband, Mando Rayo, Kristi Willis, and Marshall Wright first met in a semi-formal way to discuss the idea.

In January and February 2011, a larger group met to cement the many details involved in starting this group including the name, logo, website, bylaws, membership guidelines, roles, etc. Natanya Anderson, Jodi Bart, Addie Broyles, Jennie Chen, Michelle Cheng, Adam Holzband, Rachelle King, Mike Krell, Rebecca Otis, Mariam Parker, Mando Rayo, Kristi Willis, Kristina Wolter, and Marshall Wright attended at least one of these meetings.

Our goal was to launch in March before SXSW, where a group of us had begun the tradition of writing a group of blog posts that became the “Austin City Guide” to offer restaurant recommendations to SXSW-goers.

On March 8, the Austin Food Blogger Alliance launched with a website, a press release, and a Twitter account.

On March 27, the Austin Food Blogger Alliance Facebook page launched.

On March 29, we hosted an informational happy hour to recruit members at Takoba. Close to 100 people attended, including the founding AFBA board members: Natanya Anderson, Jodi Bart, Addie Broyles, Jennie Chen, Michelle Cheng, Rachelle King, Mike Krell, Rebecca Otis, Mariam Parker, Kristi Willis, and Kristina Wolter .

On March 30, we posted the code of ethics, application form, and a FAQ. At this point, we had our board members, made up of volunteers, and our advisory board, made up of people we respected in the food community.

On April 7, AFBA had accepted a total of 80 members from our first pool of applicants. Everyone who qualified for membership was accepted, of course.

April 20 was the Capital Area Food Bank of Texas event kicking off the SNAP recipe blogging project. A total of 19 members participated by providing recipes and publicizing the program on their blogs.

May 15 was a Farmer’s Market Potluck Lunch social event.

By June 7, AFBA had 101 members.

On June 8, we held an education event an Copyright Laws and Blogging at the AT&T Executive Education and Conference Center. That day, we also created a Twitter list of our members.

On June 9, we launched our blog (note: any member can submit an idea for a post).

On July 30, we held a Pie-luck contest and pie social. Each pie was judged by a panel of experts, and Michael Chu’s pecan pie was the winner.

On August 21, AFBA teamed up with the Alamo Drafthouse to show the movie Waitress, and hold a pie sale benefitting SafePlace, that helped raise over $2,000 for the non-profit.

On Sept. 21, we created a members-only AFBA membership group on Facebook as a place for non-public, non-promotional discussions between members.

On Oct. 9, AFBA held a hands-on food photography workshop.

On Nov. 1, the Austin to Boston Food Swap was announced. Almost 30 AFBA members participated. Check out the blog posts about the swap.

On Nov. 11, the AFBA membership list was posted on our website.

On Dec. 2, bios on our current board of directors was posted to the web. This includes Natanya Anderson (President), Kathryn Hutchison (Vice President), Rachelle King (Treasurer), Michelle Cheng (Secretary), Jodi Bart (Communications), Addie Broyles (Advisory Council), Jennie Chen (Education), Michelle Fandrich (Philanthropy), Mike Krell (Technology), Megan Myers (Membership), and Rebecca Otis (Social).

On Dec. 11, we held our Winter Social and White Elephant Kitchen Gadget Swap.

On Dec. 21, we began collecting a list of AFBA members who would like to be part of our official Volunteer Corps.

As of this writing on Jan. 1, there are 123 members according to our online blog roll.

We have many plans for AFBA in 2012, including a volunteer event at the Capital Area Food Bank on Feb. 9, 2012. We’re so grateful to every board member, member, and volunteer in this special group. If you would like to get involved, please get in touch with one or more of our board members. Our programming and content is really only as good as our volunteers.

Related:

• Add the Austin Food Blogger Alliance blog to your Google Reader
• AFBA and Austin to Boston Food Swap
• Austin Bakes for Japan and an Update

If you dig Israeli food, or are vegetarian or vegan, this is something that likely has you squealing for joy right about now! And to top it off, follow Moses Falafel on Facebook and print out a buy one, get one free coupon to use this Sunday.

I haven’t tried the trailer yet, but I look forward to checking it out soon. However, I was interviewed for an article in this month’s Austin Jewish Outlook, so am sharing that here for those interested in more details.

Eat at Moe’s: Austin’s First Kosher and Israeli Falafel Trailer Launches in January

Sunday, 01 January 2012
By Tonyia Cone

Austinites with a hankering for Israeli falafel need look no further than the parking lot of the Dell Jewish Community Campus for a fix, thanks to Shmuel Haviv and his kosher, vegan food trailer, Moses Falafel.

When Haviv, a Nez Ziona, Israel native, moved to Austin seven months ago, he needed to find work. His father had owned a falafel restaurant in Gedera, Israel, in the 1990s and he wanted to try something similar.

“He had delicious food, Israeli recipe, what people here in Austin don’t have,” he said, explaining that the beans, spices and pitas used to make Israeli falafel differ from those used in Egyptian, Lebanese and Turkish falafel found elsewhere in the city.

Haviv chose to make the food at his trailer kosher and vegan – and will accept both cash and credit cards — so that almost anyone can enjoy his fare. He also decided to prepare his falafels via a trailer so he could serve crowds at various events.

Haviv, who worked as a technician for four years in the Israeli Air Force, bought a 30 year old trailer he found on San Antonio’s Craig’s List and spent the last two months outfitting it for its launch as the home of Moses Falafel.

Tiffany Harelik, author of the blog Trailer Food Diaries and “Trailer Food Diaries: Serving Up the American Dream One Plate at a Time,” explained that Austin’s first food trailer started when Jeff Blank of Hudson’s on the Bend developed the Mighty Cone for the Austin City Limits Music Festival.

Blank turned the concept into a trailer around 2006. A few other key trailers popped up that year too: Flip Happy Crepes, Hey Cupcake and Torchy’s Tacos.

“We really saw a rise in the number of small business entrepreneurs trying their hand at opening their own kitchens on wheels in 2010,” Harelik said, “and now we have over 2,600 people with permits to operate a mobile food unit. Only about 200-300 of those are the ones you see decked out on the streets, and of those only five or six are truly mobile food trucks,” Harelik said.

Other cities around the country are also home to kosher food trailers, like Quick Stop Kosher and Taim Mobile in New York City, Takosher in Los Angeles, and Sixth & Rye in Washington, DC.

Jodi Bart, author of the local food blog Tasty Touring, said, “I think it’s great that there will soon be a kosher falafel trailer in Austin, both to cater to the kosher community, and to educate the non-Jewish majority about kosher food.”

“Recently, a handful of Austin’s early food trailers have transitioned into successful brick and mortar restaurants, showing that food trailers are more of a proving ground for food industry entrepreneurs than a passing trend. As long as the city of Austin’s regulatory environment stays favorable to food trailers doing business, they’ll be here to stay,” she said.

Haviv plans to serve pita with falafel – fried in canola oil — and fixings including hummus, tomato, lettuce, cucumber, tahini and skhug, an Israeli spicy chili pepper sauce.

He joked that he will use jalapenos in the skhug rather than the spicier red peppers that many Israelis prefer and will provide ketchup for Americans who prefer the condiment.

Each pita and falafel will cost $5.50. Half portions will be available for children for $3.50.

While Israelis usually do not have dessert after eating falafel, choosing instead to savor the spicy taste left in their mouths from the food, Haviv will also offer baklava to satiate the American sweet tooth.

Haviv explained that he named the business after his late grandfather and chose a cheery logo with two smiling falafel.

“Something fancier wouldn’t be the real falafel,” he said, noting that in Israel, falafel is a simple food that most can afford.

Initially, Moses Falafel will only be open on some weekday and Sunday afternoons on the Dell Jewish Community Campus. Haviv hopes to eventually add more time each week and a downtown and other locations.

Rabbi Eliezer Langer of Congregation Tiferet Israel, where Haviv is a member, will provide Moses Falafel’s kashrut supervision.

Langer said he finds it fascinating to see food prepared in such a tiny space and thinks it’s tremendous for the Jewish community to have a kosher food trailer available on the Dell Jewish Community Campus with the ability to travel around Austin to other venues and special events.

Haviv first came to the United States four years ago to travel. He started in Amarillo and eventually moved on to Abilene, where he met his fiancée.

The couple wanted to live in a city with a larger Jewish community and Haviv loved Austin, so they moved to Central Texas.

As an Israeli starting a business in the United States, Haviv has had a unique experience.

Preparing for a test required for one of his three food service licenses was challenging.

He translated a study guide into Hebrew, so instead of the two or three days it would take many native English speakers, it took him a month to complete the process.

Haviv also learned that finding suppliers is also very different in the United States than in Israel.

While in Israel he would have gotten pita from the baker across the street and his vegetables from a nearby stand – all kosher — things here are more spread out and complicated.

Harelik said that whenever new vendors ask her what they can do to make it, she tells them to have a unique and limited menu. Since this is Austin’s first kosher trailer, she believes the city will embrace it as another menu to try, regardless of belief systems.

“I think a kosher food trailer will work well in Austin not only with the Jewish community, but with the community as a whole. The typical Austin palette is diverse. For example, several omnivores will eat at vegan trailers because the food is good.”

For Harelik’s blog, visit trailerfooddiaries.blogspot.com.
Bart’s blog can be found at tastytouring.com.

As you may know, I’m a founding board member and communications chair for the Austin Food Blogger Alliance (AFBA), a local ethical, social, educational, and philanthropic organization formed in early 2011. This summer, we connected with Rachel, founder of BostonFoodBloggers.com about doing a food swap — pairing Austin and Boston food bloggers to send care packages to each other. We ended up announcing the swap in November, pairing folks by mid-month, and asking them to get their packages in the mail by mid-December.

I had only the best intentions for my pal — Rachel and I paired up with each other since we were the organizers — but ended up getting side-tracked by a personal matter between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I did my best to put together some fun, Austintatious goodies from Rachel, but my package pales compared to hers. I sent Rachel:

• A copy of Edible Austin, and also the November food issue of Austin Monthly, where I was a contributor to their “Best of Austin” food feature.
• A box of pumpkin seed cheddar Doctor Kracker snackers
• A bottle of hot sauce from Wheatsville Coop
• A bottle of Good Flow Honey
• A Bearded Brothers Maca Chocolate energy bar
• Love Puppies Just What the Dr Ordered brownie (And yes, there is no period in Dr Pepper; the brownie also has pecans, which grow locally in Texas)
• Enchanted Rock Austin Natural Soap made with Balsam, Pine, Cinnamon, Lavender, Sage, and Cedarwood. 10% of the proceeds goes to Enchanted Rock’s Legacy Endowment Fund
• Fat Belly Bakery’s cheddar-jalapeno Bavarian-style pretzels

My Austin to Boston gift basket

Rachel’s package was AWE-INSPIRING. It included some of her favorite foods, along with photos she had taken in Boston of some of her favorite things, with descriptions on the back of each picture.  Her package included:

• Prints of her photos she has taken, including the best beef she has ever eaten (from O Ya), mini cupcakes from The Chocolate Tarte, Chihuly glass art at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts (Adam loves Chihuly), cream of wheat at Neighborhood that Rachel says is the best cream of wheat in the world, Mac and Cheese at Church, and more.
• A coaster that says “Live Poultry Fresh Killed” from Mayflower Poultry, a business that has been around since the 1930s.
• Dozens of holiday cookie recipes from Brookline-based America’s Test Kitchen: 2010 Holiday Cookies Issue
• Wildflower honey from Warm Colors Apiary, purchased at Follow the Honey, a bee-themed store in Cambridge
• Discs of Taza Chocolate — salted caramel and guajillo chile
• Italian plum and wild concord grape jam from Central Bottle
• Mexican chocolate cashews from Q’s Nuts
• Minnie’s Mandelbrot
• Goat’s Milk Vanilla Bean Caramel from Fat Toad Farm
• Chocolate Ginger Bomb Cookies from 3 Little Figs (Chocolately and delicious!)

Rachel's Gift Basket from Boston!

Rachel is clearly a pretty amazing, creative, and giving person. She is from Massachusetts, earned a bachelor’s degree in Neuroscience from the University of Rochester in New York, and a master’s in Science Journalism from Boston University. She’s also a musician; her main project is a band called The Michael J. Epstein Memorial Library, where she mostly plays flute. Her personal food blog is ForkItOverBoston.com, and, as I mentioned earlier, she founded and runs BostonFoodBloggers.com. She has a new day job — as community manager at Tasted Menu. The great news for me is that means I get to meet Rachel in person during SXSW, and hopefully treat her to lunch at Franklin Barbecue while she’s in town.

I’m looking forward to getting the chance to chat with Rachel in person, since we have never talked on the phone. She emailed that she is “super awkward on the phone.” This just makes me that much more excited to meet her in person. Also, I’m happy to have the opportunity to treat her to a meal, since her package blew mine out of the water on all counts.