I can’t believe that it is September already! Since Labor Day weekend, I have been concentrated on painting the inside of our house these past two weeks, but I am glad to say that I am almost finished with the upstairs portions. Our house is old, so we rather than dry-wall we have these word boards that used to have wall paper on top of them. While I initially liked the “log cabin” feel, it turned out that there was just too much brown: hard wood floors, wood walls and wood ceiling. The new coat of paint has brightened things up considerably, but man, that wood just wanted to suck up the paint. At any rate, that is why the quick bites were skipped last week, but they are back in action now!
- You all know that I am very much a carnivore. But my love of meat doesn’t mean that I don’t appreciate a vegetarian meal every once and a while. San Antonio Jane and I decided to stop by Green at the Pearl Brewery for dinner the other night. On her recommendation I ordered the veggie burger that was called “The Big Nasty Burger.” I don’t know about you, but I would have never that that you could call a veggie burger the “Big Nasty!” The homemade veggie patty was topped with tons of cheese, guacamole and grilled mushrooms along with faux bacon. Pretty good!
- Our team at work recently went to Beto’s over on the North part of Alamo Heights. While I do think that their prices are a little high (then again, they are in the ’09), their food certainly lives up to the bill. My trick to save a little cash is to order off of their lunch or dinner menu. Not only is it priced right, you get the luxury of trying something different throughout the week. Thursday’s special were the al pastor tacos along with a black bean soup. While I enjoyed the taco, I will be coming back for the black bean soup. The beans were pureed and topped with the creamy poblano sauce that gave it a little bit of a kick. This is one of my favorite soups in the city, right up there with the crab bisque at Lüke, caldo at Mama Margie’s and chicken noodle soup at Carrabbas.
- This weekend Nao, the restaurant associated with the Culinary Institute of America, is celebrating Mexican Independence on September 13, 14 and 16 with a three-course dinner called Menu El Grito (named after the shout that celebrates the occasion). Priced at $35, the menu includes tuna brulee with mole negro, red pozole of shrimp and pressed pork belly and cazuela de chocolate y caramel.
- For all you backyard gardening enthusiasts, there is a Backyard Expo at Madison High School from 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. tomorrow, hosted by the local branch of Texas A&M. The cost is $35 for adults and children 16 and under can attend for free. Participants can not only learn how to cultivate a backyard garden, but are able to choose from a variety of courses including beekeeping, canning, drying food and backyard chickens!
- California based El Pollo Loco, the fast food restaurant known for grilling chickens, is adding in a little San Antonio flair by offering puffy tacos this month. Throughout September you will be able to try their chicken and chorizo, chicken avocado and poblano and chicken guacamole varieties at one of their six San Antonio locations.
- If you didn’t see the news, SA Flavor now has an intern! Stephanie Hall is a student at the Incarnate Word and will be contributing posts to the blog, assisting with some social media efforts, helping out with creating a newsletter and even working on a special project. You can get a chance to learn about Stephanie from her previous post; one thing that really jumped out to me was that she wants to be that friend who let’s each of you know some of the greatest spots to eat in town! I am happy to be working with Stephanie and she has already jumped out to a quick start!
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