Dinner: We tried Bess Bistro on Pecan (500 W 6th st, Austin, TX (512) 477-2377) for dinner. The food was good enough that I expect we'll return when we're looking for some pleasant comfort food.

Fried Freen Tomatos served atop a caper and crab salad, garnished with sriracha ($10). Fearing too much sriracha, we asked for ours on the side. Tomatoes had a thick crunchy crust. Worked best when eaten with the crab salad and a dab of sriracha.

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What I Ate: September 29, 2010 (Bess Bistro)

Lunch: Craving the flavors of the Lox Sliders from Urban, I decided to make my own version.

Dinner: I served up sous vide rib eye steak (55°C) and 24 hour short ribs (57°C). The short ribs were tender, but I cannot say if they were more tender than the 3 hour short ribs from the night before. I wasn't sure if connective tissue had broken down into gelatin or not.

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What I Ate: September 28, 2010

Lunch: Leftover egg sandwich and hash browns from Urban. I heated both in a convection toaster oven on a sheet of parchment paper for 12 minutes at 350°F and it worked remarkably well. The cheese melted (causing the egg to slide off a little), toast was toasted again, and egg was hot but still had a flowing yolk.

Dinner: By request of Papa to see what the minimum time for cooking beef short ribs sous vide, I cooked a couple pieces at 55°C for 3 hours. The result was very tender and flavorful, but the salt doesn't seem to penetrate very far and none of the excessive connective tissue was broken down so there were stringy and chewy bits. Still, if one is not willing to wait a day for sous vide short ribs, it's possible to prepare it in about 3 hours, but I would probably recommend waiting 24 hours. I've got another bag of short ribs in the water bath at 57°C that will have cooked for 26 hours by the time we eat it, so stay tuned to find out if the second bag is better in texture.

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What I Ate: September 27, 2010

Lunch: We were invited to have brunch at Urban, An American Grill (11301 Domain Drive, Austin, TX (512) 490-1511) where we had a very good meal of what I would describe as North American comfort food. Chef Mizael Saucido (from Bess Bistro and Fonda San Miguel) puts together a remarkable combination of Southern flavors with interior Mexican flair that really resonated with my palate. The lighting was a 50-50 mix of outdoor sunlight streaming in from the large windows and incandescent lighting which made for some challenging color balance issues when photographing.

Mini Chocolate Croissant. This was a small (but well made) croissant served along side a nutella sauce. Simple, but delightful.

Mini Breakfast Tacos and Lox Sliders. Both of these small bites are amazing. The tacos had a perfect balance of eggs, cheese, chorizo, and salsa that allowed you to taste every ingredient without any single one being dominant (and yet all were assertive). The lox sliders were genius - of all the food we tasted, this was perhaps my favorite (the avocado tres leches cake we ended with is the only possible contender). Quail egg, hollandaise, lox, spinach and a honey wheat round - it's the perfect bite-sized Salmon Eggs Florentine.

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What I Ate: September 26, 2010 (Urban, An American Grill)

Lunch: Pastrami Sandwich and Roast Beef Sandwich from Dai Due and Banana Peppers from Milagro

Dinner: We got hungry heading back to Austin from Kyle and stopped at Chili's in Buda. It was not good. We started with the chicken and chile soup which was much too salty. After asking for a glass of hot water and pouring that into the soup (doubling the volume) it was somewhat edible.

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What I Ate: September 25, 2010 (Chili's)

Dinner: Leftovers from El Pollo Rico

Lunch: Leftovers from Foreign & Domestic (Mac & Cheese and Crispy Chicken Thigh)

Dinner: Picked up a whole chicken and carne asada from El Pollo Rico (704 W Stassney Ln, Austin, TX‎ - (512) 326-1161).

Dinner: After not getting enough of the meats that I enjoyed the most the last time I dined at Fogo de Chão (309 East 3rd Street, Austin, TX‎ - (512) 472-0220‎), I decided to eat there again - this time for Austin Restaurant Week where dinner (included dessert) was $35 per person instead of the typical $45.50 (without dessert).

A plate from the extensive salad bar

Gaucho slicing meat

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What I Ate: September 22, 2010 (Fogo de Chao)

Dinner: We paid Foreign & Domestic Food & Drink (306 E 53rd St, Austin, TX‎ - (512) 459-1010‎) a visit for dinner. We started with an order of Popovers ($5). Topped with gruyere, these eggy popovers were delicious.

Crispy Beef Tongue Watercress, Mint, & Horseradish Yogurt ($8). The beef tongue was awesome - great concentrated flavor (especially at the crispy edges) that worked amazingly well with the greens and horseradish sauce. It was so good I was tempted to order another one (but didn't since we had a lot more food to taste).

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What I Ate: September 21, 2010 (Foreign and Domestic Food and Drink)

Lunch: I had Nong Shim Seafood Ramyun with Napa cabbage and egg

Dinner: Leftover fried catfish from Texas Roadhouse with homemade tartar sauce