From the desk of…

  • Austin Land and Cattle Must Try


    Melanie Haupt’s recent review of Austin Land and Cattle Company in the Chronicle has convinced me to get back there and try their bar menu. I like the idea of a really nice restaurant also having a second more-affordable menu. When the prices get cut for Happy Hour (5-7 M-F), it gets even more appealing. A good $9 hamburger is fine, but for $4.50, it’s fantastic. The most enticing item on the menu is the steak sampler with 2 oz pieces of filet, sirloin and ribeye for $11 (9 HH.) That’s the equivalent of a small steak for Sirloin Stockade prices.

  • Dai Due Breakfast Sandwich


    Dai Due is a place I’ve been coming to for a while now. Truth be told, I first heard of it on Bizarre Foods. Yes, I had to have Andrew Zimmern tell me about a place in my own city. That’s just the way it works sometimes. They make their encampment at the Farmers Market Downtown every Saturday (and at Mueller on Sunday.) While most people go to such a market for fresh fruit and vegetables, I just go to eat.

  • Aggie Football A year in the life of a fan


    This was an interesting year as an Aggie football fan. Not only was the season full of exciting (as well as heartbreaking) moments, but I wrote about all of it for the Austin Chronicle. Having to be circumspect after each game was good, though after losses it was hard. Now that I’ve filed my last story of the year, a look back on the high- and low-lights of the year is in order.

  • Man Bites Dog Hot dog in the city


    Hot dogs are one of those foods that can be extremely appetizing on television, beyond its intrinsic ordinariness. For instance, Anthony Bourdain can make some city’s version look like a meal worth getting on an airplane for. Heck, I’ve watched an entire hour on hot dogs around the United States. They all looked good.

  • The GM Steakhouse Austin’s past in one iconic diner


    The GM Steakhouse occupies a special place in Austin’s nostalgic past for me. I knew of it before I moved here and ate there until it’s departure. It exemplified aspects of old Austin that don’t exist any more, while at the same time, it was romanticized beyond its reality. Much can be learned about the transition Austin has undergone–and continues to undergo–as we grow and grow and grow.

  • Ballet Austin’s The Nutcracker Dressing up is fun!


    Last stop on the Christmas-traditions joyride was Ballet Austin’s production of Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker. Our oldest can now sit through half of a church service, so we figured she was ready for the big time, and when it comes to kids, Christmas and classic music, The Nutcracker is the biggest of times.

  • Austin’s Trail of Lights An exercise in tradition & privilege


    Dexter might have had its moments as a television show, but it was never confused for a top-shelf parenting manual. However, not only did it share a brilliant piece of parental advice, but it came from a most unlikely of characters: the Trinity Killer. John Lithgow’s mass murderer might have had his problems (most of which Dexter Morgan solved for him), but he did have a pretty viable facade of domestic bliss, and heck, other than the abusive outbursts, he was probably a pretty decent dad.

  • Alec Soth The Texas Triangle


    Magnum photographer Alec Soth and writer Brad Zellar have finished their tour of Texas, and on Saturday they partied. The Harry Ransom Center hosted a pop-up show of the pair’s Texas Triangle project, a two-week photographic and journalistic exploration of the Lone Star State bounded by Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio.

  • Magnum Photos Objects of Art and History


    The Magnum Photos collection that now resides at the Harry Ransom Center is a beast. The new book Reading Magnum is an attempt to tame it. At 200,000 individual pieces, that’s no easy task, as editor Steven Hoelscher noted during a reading last Thursday sponsored by the Austin Center for Photography.

  • Alec Soth’s American Dream


    Alec Soth’s journey as an artist has been a long and illustrious one, one he shared with a packed audience at the University of Texas Wednesday. He began shooting photography in large format in the style of Stephen Shore, William Eggleston, and Robert Frank, a take on the everyday world that found beauty in unexpected places.