I had the opportunity to attend this year’s Austin leg of the Food Experiments.

The Food Experiments are a cooking competition put on by Brooklyn Brewery in which local chefs prepare small dishes in a certain category. In our case, it was tacos.

There are various prizes for the contestants, and the people’s choice winner gets to go to New York and compete in the national event.

The event was held at ND between East 5th and 6th. I went with Lindsey, and she forgot her ID, so we had to give up a pretty premium parking space.

Everyone got a ticket for one free beer with their tacos, which was nice of Brooklyn Brewery.

There were quite a few people there.

The competitors. As you can see, there were a lot of elaborate tacos. My favorites were 4, 7, 12, and 16.

These were Lindsey’s favorite tacos, and my second favorite. They were out of veggies for the tacos by the time we got there, but the pork was so delicious that it didn’t matter. The only El Alto in Austin that I know of is under 35 across from the Austin Chronicle HQ. It doesn’t look like the sort of place that would be making tacos with beer.

These were the most experimental tacos. You wouldn’t think tomatillo ice cream would be good, but the spiciness mixed perfectly with the sweetness.

Some folks went all in on presentation. The Holy Smokers came in character with their Grec-Mex tacos. They were made with gyro meat on little pitas with feta. They won second in the judges choice for best taco.

Talking Tacos went the classic route — lengua, onions, and cilantro. It was so tender that Lindsey didn’t even realize she’d eaten lengua.

You can’t have a food competition in this day and age without pork belly showing up. This pb taco did not disappoint.

With our plates polished off, it was time to wait for the judges.

The winner! My personal favorite, Sous Me Alchemy. I didn’t get a picture of their taco, as it was too delicious to keep around, but they had the works, full spread — sour cream, pico, salsas, guacamole — it was delicious.

Sous Me Alchemy will compete against the winners from other cities in New York this December. 

I assume that most of y’all are familiar with Eeyore, the perpetually despondent donkey of Hundred Acre Wood. His clinical depression has brought joy to millions of children. He seems like the perfect mascot for a bizarre semi-sincere, semi-silly, semi-ironic, pagan festival/collegiate goof/family carnival right?

Well, that’s the role he plays in Austin’s Eeyore’s Birthday Party. EBP is essentially whatever the reveler wants it to be. Wikipedia has a pretty good summary.

I went to this year’s fete with my roommate Aaron. We ate a turkey leg, pet a donkey, and bore witness to some pendulous exposed hippie breasts. All in all, a success.

The event was at Pease Park, the turnout was pretty good, so Aaron and I had to park all the way in West Campus.

In case you need to stock up on amulets before the party. I don’t know if these people had vendor’s licenses.

These were tied up basically everywhere. I suppose they’re pretty cool.

The first thing you find upon entering the park is a cadre of small children assaulting each other whilst their parents watch passively. Poor hippie form.

The next thing you see is lots of people in costume. There were a few groups of girls dressed like this. It didn’t seem like a great idea, as it was basically an invitation for lecherous old men in Grateful Dead shirts to leer at them and take photos. I only took this photo for documentation.

There were lots of vendors selling food and drinks. There were tons of beer tents, but I didn’t see any drunken behavior. In fact, for all of the grooviness, there wasn’t much marijuana either. People seemed to respect the family atmosphere.

The spirit of fraternity ruled the day, as strangers pitched in to help right this capsized recycling can.

Tigger was giving out prizes to kids. He was preternaturally sweet.

Aaron got a hug!

Tie-dye was pretty much the go-to if you didn’t want to dress up, but lots of people wanted to dress up.

Here’s Bumble-lady and Bumble-Dog. She had the right idea with the parasol, it was quite hot.

Any takers?

I call him “Chief Vibrams.”

Most of the little girls at the event were wearing fairy wings. I can’t imagine what it’s like for a little kid to go to a park and see all of these grown-ups acting and dressing so oddly. It’s probably fun for most kids. I was frightened by E.T. as a child, so I likely would have been terrified.

Even the fetuses were getting in on the fun!

This dude really loves drug puns. I like to think that he didn’t even know it was Eeyore’s Birthday and he was just heading out to the park to show off.

Some of the folks looked like they’d be more at home in their costumes than in the clothing of polite society.

This guy had the right idea. His costume is practical and tasteful. I have yet to parse the meaning of his shirt though. It has a sideways Facebook thumb and the word “Men.” Anyone have any ideas?

This guy is either Pooh or an Ewok. Yub nub honey!

I didn’t realize it until I looked at the picture, but this woman is wearing body paint. There were a few ladies in body paint or just topless, but it didn’t seem out of place.

A lot of people were picnicking up in the shady wooded area.

This adorable child was trying to give away his apple. I cannot adequately convey how cute this was.

There were 3 or 4 different drum circles. The appeal was lost on me, but a lot people seemed to enjoy them. I wonder what these children’s home lives are like? I bet they eat a lot of soy.

I named this guy Jimmy Page.

I’m not sure what a Maypole is for, but there was a big one in the middle of the park. It was like something out of Harvest Moon.

There was a field of hula hoops, it was like Cirque du Soleil out there! 

As with most public events in Austin, there were lots of dogs. They got free water. Patrons were not so blessed.

Also there was a goat. Aaron held it. I watched it eat a leaf.

Aaron didn’t hold the iguana. If you’re curious, he’s sitting on a cape.

Folks were wishing Eeyore a happy birthday. I’m not sure how they deliver these banners to him.

After a long day of adventuring, we paid our respects to the man himself. Aaron channeled his inner Christopher Robin.

This Saturday, I went to the KLBJ Dog Day Afternoon. 

The main event was a wiener dog race, which is pretty self-explanatory.

It’s a race that’s run by wiener dogs. Here they are all lined up.

They’re off!

It’s poetry in motion, you guys.

Clearly the black and brown dachshund is not familiar with Aesop’s Fables, or he would know that the tortoise always beats the hare. We need to enroll him or her in some literacy courses.

There was also a doggy talent show. This dude was good at jumping. 

These other dogs seem surprisingly interested in their jumping companion. I wonder if somewhere in there there’s a dog who’s really into post-colonial studies who is just livid about this display of anthropocentrism.

One of the booths was doing dog tattoos. This dog is really going to regret this decision when it grows up and has kids.

It’s peace sign. So contrived, dog. Who are you rebelling against anyway? At least it’s not an asian character.

Here’s a dog tattoo in action. It’s weird, right?

There was a big emphasis on adoption at the event, which was nice, although this bandana seems to prey on the needy.

Here are some boring, poorly framed photos of booths.

These folks were toying with this adoptable dachshund’s emotions. 

That’s all the story I have on this event, but I do have way too many picture of dogs, which I will post below (with commentary). Also, full disclosure, I intern at KLBJ’s parent company, but I came to this event on my own time, because I really like dogs.

Now, enjoy some dog photos.

This dog is a comic book enthusiast. He told me that he enjoys the works of 80’s innovators like Frank Miller and Alan Moore, but finds most of the 90’s adult imprints to be shallow and derivative. Just kidding, you guys. Dogs can’t read! We already talked about this earlier.

I don’t know what kind of dog this is, but it’s very pretty. I would name it Pharaoh. It also licked my camera.

You don’t get a proper sense of scale, but this is the biggest boston terrier that I’ve ever seen. It looked like it was pushing 40 lbs. 

For comparison, here’s a picture of my dog, Maisy. She’s about 20 lbs. I love her. 

This dog looks like Norma Desmond.

I hate to play into stereotypes, but there was a German Shepherd adoption booth, and all the people running it looked like they had CHLs.

This husky pup is representing Texas with his name tag.

Look how stoked this dog is! It’s so stoked that it can’t even get its ears working. Pull yourself together, you rascal!

There weren’t a whole lot of big dogs at the park. I imagine that they are difficult to transport. There was a great dane adoption truck though. One of my friends had a really friendly great dane named Tethys, after the Greek sea goddess (but y’all already knew that). She used to drool on me when I tried to play World of Warcraft, really got me steamed.

It was hard to get a picture of this pup because he was jumping all over the place, he’s pretty cute.

Not only is this dachshund snow-camouflage colored, but he has a skull and crossbones tattoo. This dog has some deep-seeded issues.

This dog looks British.

These dogs are an illustration of what’s wrong with the dog youth of America. Constantly coddled by their parents and the school systems. They have no drive to succeed and no conception of hard work. 

This is my boss Mikela’s dog. His name is Franklin. He did not do well in the wiener race, and Mikela got very agitated. I’m worried for his safety.

This dog just doesn’t give an eff.

This dog looks like Walter Sobchak.

My friend, David, has a dog like this, but she’s missing a leg. David is unbelievably cruel to her. Shame on you, David.

I liked the perspective in this photo. Also, that’s the peace sign dachshund from earlier.

There were lots of chihuahua’s out there. At this point, I see so many chihuahuas, that I don’t really consider them dogs. They’re basically cats.

I like this picture. I should be a dog portraiteur.

This dog stole a smooch from somebody. What a dog! Ha ha! Just a little canine humor.

Here’s another great dane. I wonder if it also hates World of Warcraft?

Puppy!

Puppy that looks like Hugh Jackman!

Inquisitive dachshund with multicolored eyebrows!

Look at this dude’s eyes!

Let’s have a real good time! Let’s have a real good time! Let’s! Have a real good time! Let’s have a real good time!

(Photo courtesy of Tamir’s Facebook)

I recently had the chance to interview my friend, Tamir Kalifa, who plays in the local band Mother Falcon. 

Mother Falcon has a pretty unique sound, combining a miss-mash of orchestral instruments with indie-rock sensibilities. They’ve won a  couple of Austin Music Awards and are pretty great.

You should check out their website and buy their album. 

Tamir and I met in Hebrew class last year, and his expertise was very helpful for a goy like myself.

Download it here!

Texas’ spring game was this past Saturday, and as a devoted Longhorn fan, I went and took pictures.

I won’t bore you by explaining how much football means to the people of Texas, you’ve heard it all before, but as a city with no professional sports franchises, the Longhorns are particularly dear to the people of Austin. (Though you may not know it judging by the spring game attendance).  

This spring game also featured the unveiling of a statue of Ricky Williams, UT’s second Heisman winner, prior to the game.

As you can see, it was a madhouse trying to get into the stadium.

In a rare display of modesty, Belmont allowed the serfs to park in the parking garage by the stadium. This guy is really stoked on the ‘Horns.

As I was walking in, Mack Brown was on the PA thanking the “50,000 fans who came out here today.” I’ll let you judge the veracity of Mack’s attendance numbers.

Bevo was there.

Remember what I said earlier about Belmont being uncharacteristically modest? Well, they were true to form here, as this was as close as fans were allowed to get the statue unveiling. 

You’re looking live, at a photo of a video of Brent Musburger.

Ricky was there too, obviously.

Ricky’s mom shoots a photo of him after the unveiling.

After the ceremony, Texas wider receiver commit Cayleb Jones signs autographs for some fans. Behind him, a surly athletics department worker tries to shoo them away.

This dog is disappointed by Mack Brown’s inability to develop a power running game.

This guy was putting on a clinic in swag, tailgating solo with a bag of Ruffles.

Here are some cheerleaders, also Case McCoy in the background.

This guy was more interested in his toy cars than the action on the field. He’s lucky that Connor Brewer adopted number 7, or else his parents would have just been cruelly outfitting him in a Garret Gilbert jersey.

Running back DJ Monroe broke off a 60 yard touchdown on the 1st offense’s first possession. I didn’t shoot much game action, because UT only equips us with one lens, and the zoom is… unspectacular.

At halftime, I tried to check out the Ricky Statue, this is as close as I could get, about 15 yards. I do like that metal Ricky is rocking the dreads.

Second half! Carrington Byndom defenses a pass to Mike Davis. I don’t remember who threw this ball, but Case threw an egregious pick in the end zone, so we can pretend this was it.

Game over! Look at those pretty flags!

The players split up to sing the eyes with both side of the stadium. The west side got most of them.

Running back Jeremy Hills greeted some fans.

Before joining his team as they headed back to the locker room.

Sunburned and placated by their football methadone, the fans left the stadium.

I went out to Zilker Park this weekend to shoot a little video.

Zilker is an Austin institution. It hosts ACL in the Fall and Blues on the Green in the Summer. 

On this particular day, it hosted lots of people and dogs out to enjoy the sunny day.

There’s a languidness to the park that I tried to convey in the video. The thing that stands out to you as you’re out there is just how open and how quiet it is. The expansiveness of the place just dissipates sound. You can be 30 feet from someone and only hear the low whoosh of the wind.

It’s oddly lonely if you’re just wandering around with a camera.

Here is a photo of my beautiful girlfriend, Lindsey (I am also in the photo).

Unfortunately, Lindsey lives in Lubbock and our time together is necessarily limited by distance and finance. 

Every so often, she makes it down to Austin and we get to go on dates!

She came down both the weekend of Valentine’s Day and the weekend after, so we went on lots of dates!

The camera on my cell phone is broken, but hers is not, so all of these lovely photos are courtesy of Lindsey (except the establishing shots, which come from THE INTERNET!!!!)

PS, Lindsey hates when I write about her on THE INTERNET, so her participation will be minimized.

Destination One: Max’s Wine Dive

(We went at brunch, so it didn’t look like this, this is from Max’s website)

Max’s strives to be both upscale and casual, and I’d say they pull this off well. The interior of the place is cozy and replete with wine bottles, but the waitstaff is very casual — sporting jeans and black t-shirts with the slogan “Fried Chicken and Champagne?… Why the hell not?!”

Our waitress reminded me very much of Melissa McCarthy’s character in Bridesmaids, she was fun.

We started with Mimosas, which were $3.75 (which I felt was a little much) and the Pumpkin French Toast (brioche soaked in rich spiced pumpkin custard, topped with freshly whipped cream and pecans).

The Pumpkin French Toast was the highlight of the meal for me (except the pecans). The pumpkin custard provided just enough deviation from standard french toast flavor to be really spectacular. Unfortunately, Max’s dedication to throwing all of these flavor twists at diners didn’t pay off with the other dishes. 

For our main courses, I ordered the Fried Egg Sandwich (Three fried eggs drizzled with truffle oil, topped with house-made bacon, gruyere, green leaf lettuce, hothouse tomato, and garlic black truffle aioli, sandwiched between two pieces of fresh-baked bread and served with hand-cut chips) while Lindsey went with Max’s Famous Chicken and Waffles (Thigh, leg, & breast marinated in jalapeno buttermilk, deep fried low & slow, on a big ol’ waffle).

My sandwich would have been awesome, except that they went HAM with the gruyere and aioli, to the point that it totally overwhelmed any other flavor. 

Lindsey’s meal was pretty good, but, once again, Max’s tried to do a little too much by infusing the syrup with a jalapeño flavor.

You’re on notice Max’s, stop trying to get fancy.

Max’s Wine Dive Final Score

Romanticness:  (4/5 Smooches)

Tastiness:  (3/5 Jeff Maddens)

Expensiveness:  (4/5 Sad Wallets)

Our next date wasn’t really a date. We decided to stay at home and watch Lost and order in.

Destination Two: Home! (With East Side Pies)

(Photo via Poco-cocoa.com)

East Side Pies is one of my favorite places to eat in East Austin, and it’s about a half-mile from my house, so I eat here frequently. The employees are usually surly and the free water is usually warm, but the pizza is so good that I don’t really care. I’m not one of those Yelp corncobs.

Lindsey is aberrant in that she doesn’t like pepperoni on her pizza, and I am aberrant in that I am a child and refuse to eat vegetables —  as such, getting pizza is a strain on our relationship.

Fortunately, East Side Pies has just the pizza for us, the SMORS — italian sausage, mushrooms, roasted onions, roasted red peppers, and spinach.

Look how yummy that looks! (It was yummy). 

With such a universally appealing pizza in the house, the only discord was me making fun of Lost! (Come on you guys, Kate sucks)

East Side Pies Final Score

Romanticness: (2/5 Smooches)

Tastiness: (5/5 Jeff Maddens)

Expensiveness: (1/5 Sad Wallets)

The next evening we wanted sushi, and we also didn’t want to spend much money, so we went to Uchi for happy hour.

Destination Three: Uchi

Uchi has been a beacon of the Austin restaurant scene for a while now, and for good reason. The food is interesting and complex, the service is great, and the prices aren’t outrageous.

The Sake Social hour is one of the better happy hour deals in town, so we had to take advantage.

We ordered every tasting on this menu, with the exception of the Kakiage. We also got the Negihama Roll and the Brussels Sprouts (which are tempura fried).

Pictured from left to right, comic book style, are the Hama Chili, the Bacon Steakie, Brussels Sprouts, the Walu Walu, and the Machi Cure. (Uchiviche and the Negihama roll are sadly absent).

I’m a sushi purist, so my favorite was the Hama Chili, which really allowed you to taste the flavor of the yellowtail, without a whole lot of complication. Lindsey likes elaborate things, so she was drawn to the Machi Cure. 

I would gladly eat any of the dishes, and the final price for all of them was for less than our brunch at Max’s. If you want a cheap, semi-fancy date, Uchi happy hour is where it’s at.

Uchi Final Score

Romanticness: (4/5 Smooches)

Tastiness:  (5/5 Jeff Maddens)

Expensiveness: (3/5 Sad Wallets)

Since we love brunch, we decided to have brunch again!

Destination Four: Sagra

(Photo via Austin Citysearch)

Lindsey and I had actually eaten at Sagra before, for Valentine’s Day, but forgot to take any pictures, so you guys don’t get to read about that. The waiter was super friendly, and really sold us on the brunch, particularly the $1 mimosas.

Lindsey ordered the Eggs Sagra, which featured a salad, roasted potatoes, and two poached eggs on focaccia with hollandaise sauce. I don’t like hollandaise, so i wasn’t big on her eggs. I did snake several potatoes though.

I ordered Casarecci all Arriabiata which had homemade sausage, mozzarella, and spicy tomato sauce. It was more on the “unch” side of brunch, but I still enjoyed it. 

I don’t think either of us were really blown away by the meal though.

Sagra Final Score

Romanticness: (3/5 Smooches)

Tastiness: (3/5 Jeff Maddens)

Expensiveness: (3/5 Sad Wallets)

Our last visit was a place that I picked out special for Lindsey, as it serves her favorite food.

Destination Five: Frank

(Photo via Videocityguide)

Frank is a restaurant that specializes in hot dogs, hence the name.

They immediately got into my good graces by having Austin Beerworks on tap.

Because I am cheap, I opted not to get too fancy with my hot dogs. I had the Carolina Pork It (100% Vienna beef, stuffed with cheese, wrapped in bacon and deep fried; Grilled coleslaw, house made green chile pimento cheese) and a regular hot dog in a pretzel bun.

(I really wanted my regular dog to be in the “flap jacket” which basically turns it into a corn dog, but they were out). Sadly, Lindsey didn’t think my hot dogs were cool enough to take pictures of.

Both of my dogs were wonderful explosions of fatty goodness.

Lindsey got the Notorious P.I.G (House-made pork, bacon, jalapeno & sage sausage with macaroni & cheese, Texas BBQ sauce). Surprisingly, she mowed down the whole thing.

She also ordered one of the special cocktails, the Red Headed Stranger (House-made bacon-infused Tito’s Vodka, Frank bloody mary mix, garnished with bacon, cheddar cheese, jalapeno stuffed olive, peperoncini). 

I don’t like bloody marys, so I did not sample it (except to eat the bacon) but she seemed to enjoy that as well.

Frank Final Score

Romanticness: (1/5 Smooches, unless your gal is really into pig)

Tastiness: (4/5 Jeff Maddens)

Expensiveness: (2/5 Sad Wallets)

I hope this has been helpful to you fellas (and ladies) who are out there trying to impress your sweetie. If there’s anyone who knows about relationships, it’s me.

Big news you guys, the 2012 Big 12 football schedule has been released! My beloved University of Texas Longhorns play in Austin, which means you get to read about them!

I hope y’all are ready for some hot sports takes!

Here’s a graphic that I borrowed from the Longhorn Network Facebook page, thanks LHN!

Patsies (No Jinx)

As you can see, the early home schedule is uninspired, I feel like we’ve been playing Wyoming for 100 years, and it’s rarely interesting. (Maybe they can be our new Thanksgiving rival).

The New Mexico game does bring former ESPN broadcaster and twice-baked potato Bob Davie to Austin as the new head coach of the New Mexico Lobos. Davie was brought in after former coach Mike Locksley was fired for punching (also fielding atrocious football teams).

West F’n Virginia

The meh-ness of the first two home games is offset by the spectacularness of WVU on October 6. 

Not only is WVU a good football team, they’re helmed by a fantastically skulleted, Red Bull swigging, casino ruckus causing prince — Dana Holgorsen.

(Pictured: Poet-Patriot-Lover)

WVU also brings a breed of rowdy fan hitherto-fore unseen in Big 12 waters — the hillbilly!

I have an odd fascination with hill people, I attribute this mostly to Justified and my love of the banjo, so I’m all kinds of excited for this game.

OU (Sucks)

This isn’t a home game, but it does hold important ramifications for Austin at large.

Somehow, the Big 12 schedule makers thought that it would be a good idea to put this game on the same weekend as the Austin City Limits Music Festival. 

I’ve depicted the wisdom of this decision in the following art.

I call it “Elvis’ Colon.”

Baylor

I have nothing to say about Baylor.

Iowa State

I happen to like Iowa State quite a bit, aside from them knocking off Ok. State last year and subjecting us to a torturous SEC circle-hug. 

They are surprisingly competitive every year, and Paul Rhoads may be my favorite coach in the Big 12 (despite is frustratingly difficult to spell last name).

TCU

I’ve never met a single person who attended TCU that I like. It’s as if you took the worst of the fratty McCombs types and then knocked 400 points off of their SAT score and parked them in the cultural wasteland that is DFW.

Good times, you guys.

I went to the Texas Bowl once when TCU played Houston (my father is a Coug). A few rows in front of us, three TCU jack-offs were getting drunk and loud and being all around jackasses. By mid-way through the 2nd quarter, one of them had taken his shirt off and was twirling it around his head like a stripper.

TCU beat Houston, and as we were leaving, Chippendale started mouthing off about his team’s mighty Texas Bowl win. 

Being a gentleman, I maintained a stoic outside demeanor, but inside, I was warmed by the thought of his cockroach team trying to compete with the Longhorns.

Well, times have changed, and I’m not as excited about playing TCU. It also sucks that the game is on Saturday. It will be weird to have a Thanksgiving without a Texas game on TV.

As I’ve documented previously, I’m a big fan of Austin’s local craft breweries, so when I heard that South Austin Brewing Company was having a grand opening party (with free beer!) I was thrilled. 

So, I loaded up two of my roommates, Erik and Matt, and we headed south down 35 to the brewery.

Erik. (Looking fly)

Matt. (Looking like a predator)

SABC is located in an industrial area on East St. Elmo road, just south of 71. (Almost every brewery I’ve visited in the city is housed in an industrial area, I believe it’s some sort of city regulation). 

When we arrive, we were greeted by the SABC van (very fetching) and an intimidating line.

A guy behind us scouted ahead and reported that there were roughly 150 people between us and the brewery. This was bad news for Matt, as he was trying to profile in a thin cotton hoodie and it wasn’t working out for him. Erik and I had dressed appropriately for the deceptively chilly day.

There was a Yume Burger truck posted up beside the brewery, tempting all of the passersby. We eventually gave in to its siren song, but not on the first go-around.

We made it inside after about 30 minutes in line and grabbed our beers. We were given three drink tickets apiece, which could be redeemed for either the Saison D’Austin or the Belgian Style Golden Ale.

Erik opted for the Golden Ale.

Matt opted to double fist both of them. (Just kidding you guys! He’s holding mine so that I could take a picture).

Matt also went with the Golden Ale, while I chose the Saison, which is my favorite style of beer. 

I can only assume that my roommates opted for the Golden Ale because they saw it described as “light bodied” and they are cowardly.

Here’s the saison! It’s not quite this dark in real life, that’s more a result of my shoddy camerawork. It was sweet, with just a touch of hops. It was punchier than most saisons, you could tell that it was 8% abv. 

We sipped our beers and listened to The Everydudes kick the jams. Let me tell you guys, jams were getting kicked all over the place. It was a bad place to be if you were a jam, cause you were getting straight up assaulted.

There was merch for sale, but I didn’t buy any because AlcoholEdu said that owning a shirt with a beer on it is a sign of alcoholism. 

By this point, the place had started to get pretty packed. 

Luckily, friendly folks were on hand to keep all of the patrons hydrated. Including, y’all’s truly. 

I refilled my cup with the Golden Ale. (Once again, my camerawork really shines).

The Golden Ale was everything the whiteboard said it would be — light, fruity, and easy drinking. A good summer beer, or beer for someone just getting into craft brews.

In the words of Erik, “I think the saison is better, but it’s too hard for me to drink.” (Erik just had his first beer a week ago).

For my final beer, I grabbed another saison, and then we rolled out in search of sustenance.

It was not a long and rigid search, as Yume Burger was right outside!

Yume is the brainchild of Eric Silverstein (of the Peached Tortilla) and Marc Tamiso (a professional chef). They present a reinterpretation of the Japanese hamburger (which was an interpretation of the American hamburger, MEATCEPTION!!!).

For your average burger-eating Joe (Joe Burger), it basically means that they make hamburgers with japanese toppings.

Erik got a Japajam, which is a burger topped with a fried egg, jalapeño jack, crispy onion strings, and Japanese barbecue sauce.

Matt chose the Oishii, which was made with tempura whitefish, wasabi slaw, Japanese tartar sauce, and Japanese pickles. No beef on this one.

Here’s Matt eating. Note the lens flare, stole that one from my main man Jim Cameron.

I chose the best option, the Po-ku. It’s a burger, with a pork belly strip, wasabi slaw, and Japanese pickles. After we mowed down our burgers, we bounced.

I’d like to offer a big thank you to South Austin Brewing!

Their beers both receive the KDFD stamp of approval. This stamp of approval is worth more than the Chronicle’s Best of Austin!