Dinner: We were invited to taste the food at soon to be open (by the time this publishes, it should have opened for a week) Neapolitan-style pizza bar called The Backspace (just behind Parkside). They've got a fancy wood-fired brick oven pizza that gets up to 700°F on the floor and over 900°F radiating down from the ceiling of the oven. This lets them cook their pizzas in 1.5 to 2 minutes.

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What I Ate: December 7, 2010 (The Backspace)

Lunch: I made a couple tacos of steak and eggs, rice, and grilled vegetable leftovers from Chuy's.

Dinner: Homemade linguine with shrimp and Johnsonville Italian sausage in a butter and cream sauce with grated Parmigiano Reggiano.

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What I Ate: December 6, 2010

Dinner: I made fresh linguine and cooked it with spinach and Johnsonville Italian Sausage. (The recipe for the dish is here.)

Lunch: A quick fast food lunch at McDonald's (Filet-O-Fish and Chicken McNuggets) on the way up to Leander to check out what's in stock at Austin's Furniture Liquidator (by the way, great people and great prices if anyone is looking for furniture in the Austin area).

Lunch: Had Delaware Sub at the Mesa Dr location (near Mopac and Spicewood Springs). The deli fridge/display in the front was nearly empty except for a bottle of sauce or something and there was a sign saying you could buy deli meats (perhaps at some point in time this was true). They had a special going for Saturday - two Italian subs for the price of one with the purchase of two chips and a large drink. So, that's what I ordered. When I went to the fountain, all the labels had been removed except for the second to left one - Diet Pepsi. I asked if Pepsi was the far left one… no response. So, I went back to the register (only 10 ft away) and asked again. The guy looked at me blankly and then said, "Oh man. I'm really tired. I'm sorry, I forgot to mention we only have Diet Pepsi… and iced tea", pointing to the side where the dispenser was. I filled up with lukewarm tea. When the sandwiches arrived, we were hoping against all hope (for we've had several unsatisfying sub sandwich experiences so far in Austin) that these would be good. And… they were excellent. The small sub is 7-in and very filling. The acidic dressing brought out the best in the flavors of the cold cuts and the lettuce and the peppers were just the right amount of hotness to make the sandwich great without unpleasantness. They need a location south of the River!

Dinner: Origami Sushi (110 N Interstate 35 # 200B, Round Rock, TX (512) 238-6522) - Late night dinner. Got there around 9:20pm. No complaints, at least another couple were seated after us. We saw ramen on the menu, so after asking the waiter (who went back to ask the chef) a bunch of questions, we decided to try it. (They don't make the noodles themselves, they do make the soup and it's not intended to be a fancy version of instant noodles but rather like the Japanese meal.) It's nothing like ramen. The noodles are halfway between instant noodles and real ramen (but it's hard to get the texture and flavor of ramen without making it fresh and these aren't too bad considering they are probably dehydrated noodles). Tina ordered the miso ramen (since she generally doesn't like the soy sauce in water taste of shoyu ramen), but when it came it tasted like soy sauce in water (or a really weak chicken broth) with a tiny bit of miso (that Tina had to struggle to taste). It was also served with a bunch of stir fried shredded vegetables and a couple reconstituted shiitake mushrooms. There was a thin layer of shiny oil over the soup which seemed like vegetable oil (probably from the vegetables tossed into the soup) instead of from animals stewed into the broth. Not the worst ramen we've had in the Austin area (that would be Banzai Grill across from Central Market), but not good ramen either. Our waiter asked what we thought and we told him. He said he went to Japan once and loved the ramen and since then he's never ordered ramen anywhere in the US. We told him about a couple places in California and New York to try to get that taste.

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What I Ate: December 4, 2010 (Delaware Sub, Origami)

Dinner: Tina and I went to Hopdoddy (1400 South Congress Avenue, Austin, TX (512) 243-7505) tonight.

Orange + Vanilla Ice Cream Float - disappointing. The soda was not sweet enough and very mild in orange flavor. It wasn't any good until all the ice cream had melted in and was well blended and even then, not a good orange float. Later I realized that they serve Maine Root sodas on their fountain which explains the orange. I enjoy Maine Root's Mandarin Orange on occasion, but I really don't think it makes a good float.

Llano Poblano - Best hamburger bun we've had in Texas so far. Finally, someone who makes a non-sweet bun that has a great crumb, holds up to the burger, and isn't too doughy. The medium-rare beef was very tender, but mildly seasoned. This isn't a problem since each bite of this burger contained some bacon and poblano and the flavors blend together wonderfully.

Magic Mushroom - Strong mushroom flavor and pesto which was good because the Pure Luck Goat Cheese (must be our favorite soft cheese) was also strongly flavored and provided the saltiness the burger needed. Again, the beef (also medium-rare) was mild, but everything together made me feel like it was the perfect burger.
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What I Ate: December 3, 2010 (Hopdoddy Burger Bar)

Dinner: Tina and I went to a food blogger tasting event at Soleil (6550 Comanche Trail, Oasis Village, Austin, TX) at the Oasis on Lake Travis. We showed up about 30 minutes late due to traffic and joined with the rest of the bloggers in the bar trying out different appetizers.

The best thing I tried were the Beau Soleil oysters which they said they had to get because the name matched the restaurant. Luckily, these were very tasty oysters - sweet with a hint of brine.

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What I Ate: December 2, 2010 (Soleil)

Dinner: We went to Artisan Bistro (900 RR 620 S, suite C108, Austin, TX (512) 263-8728) in Lakeway tonight and the food was quite good.

Foie Gras au Torchon - delicate flavor, rich but not overwhelming, but not particularly pretty (visually). Served with poached fruit of some kind (it had the texture of pear, but I cannot be sure - I was half braindead when we got there at 9:20pm) and a sweet bread of some kind (like a banana bread but less moist). Since the last foie gras I had was just a month ago and also served "au torchon" it was hard not to keep thinking about that one (the perfect foie gras at Per Se), but that's just not a fair comparison ($60-70 foie gras vs $12). At $12 this is excellent value since it's a rather large cut and the texture was dense but pleasurable.

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What I Ate: December 1, 2010 (Artisan Bistro)

Lunch: Cocoa Puffs in milk

Dinner: We split an order of Steak Fajitas from Chuy's for dinner.

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What I Ate: November 30, 2010 (Chuy's)

Lunch: Turkey sandwich with Moreno cherry jam, shredded turkey, gravy, and biscuits.

Dinner: Chinese food picked up from Suzi's Chinese Kitchen (1152 South Lamar Boulevard, Austin, TX (512) 441-8400) which was pretty much horrible.

Lunch: We went to Chinatown Restaurant (3407 Greystone Drive, Austin, TX (512) 343-9307) to try out their weekend dim sum.

Most of the items were pretty decent.

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What I Ate: November 28, 2010 (Chinatown Restaurant)