this is life in austin & aspen

Have you guys heard much about FLAVORS of Austin? It’s like Austin Restaurant Week or Go Texan week where a restaurant sets up a multi-course prix-fixe meal, but there’s only one restaurant a week for every week in the next year. 52 weeks, 52 restaurants.

To get this party started, newbie Frank hosted a kick-off party; through tomorrow they’re offering a $12 hot dog flight featuring 5 different dogs. Upcoming restaurants include Cipollina, Satay, and Primizie.

But back to Frank, whose riff on a flag from the pages of our Texas history books is hilarious … it’s the image below, only with a weenie instead of a cannon.

(Image from this Texas history site)

As a Texas native and history buff, I LOVE THIS.

In fact, this Friday, October 2nd, marks the anniversary of the day considered to be the first battle of the Texas Revolution, when the residents of Gonzales flew their “Come and Take It” flag with their “Come and Take It” cannon and incited the first battle of the revolution. The cannon was a Spanish-made, bronze artillery piece of six-pound caliber and was the object of contention between the Mexican military and Anglo-Celtic colonists. (Sort of the same scenario as the Alamo, minus the Mexican military actually giving the colonists the weaponry to fight them off … but the ballsy Texan storyline still rings true)

Anyway, none of this has much to do with THE BEST BLOODY MARY I HAVE EVER DRANK. I do not like bloody marys. I am not a big tomato fan and the thought of drinking tomato juice and vodka makes me want to throw up. But one glance at the dolled up mason jar of juice and I had to try. Such a sucker.

(Note that I am in the upstairs bar area, which has low ceilings, the floor of your elementary school gym, exposed brick, and a sweet view of the rest of the restaurant. It is my new favorite spot.)

Skewer of olive, cheese, and banana pepper, thick slice of over-crispy (just how I like it) bacon, and salt-and-pepper rimmed glass? The devil is in the details. My hotdoggin’ companion says the devil is in the horseradish, as in that it has any at all. We also heard whispers of fennel. The perfectly burly bartender said he makes the mix with ZingZang (even I know that’s the best) and then adds 12 other spices. We’ve identified 2, only 10 more to go.

They’re going to start carrying the mix in their store. Yes, their little general store, with grab-and-go items like Lucky Layla drinkable yogurt and granola bars, treats like that flat taffy I loved as a kid and Butters Brownies, and Texas specialties like lavender-infused everything from raspberry chipotle sauce to salsa.

When I went to Frank with girlfriends for happy hour, we weren’t overly impressed. Sure, the place is cute and rustic and modern at the same time, but the dogs were average at best and two of the girls suffered from heartburn. We’re not that old. In fact, we’re really not old at all. Anyway, I’m glad I got to go back again and sample their more gourmet offerings, because that’s where it’s at.  Looks like The Hungry Engineer got more samples than I did, and check there for photos, but I adored the Jalapeno Venison Sausage with Blueberry Coulis and Butter Kase Cheese … not as spicy as I’d like, but I loved the smokey flavor and the tart blueberry. Yum.

They use local meats whenever possible, and most of their gourmet items are happy, free-ranging animals. But their pork isn’t, so when I crunched into that crispy crispy tomato-soaked piece of bacon, I felt a little pang of guilt. And drinking the bacon-infused vodka and Maker’s Mark, which is infused with bacon for at least 48 hours and frozen for the same time before being double-strained, I feel the same pang.

I AM excited about their brunch menu, which relies heavily on local farms for meat, and because they brought out piping hot beignets (Grandma’s house! NOLA! ah, the memories) and the coffeemaster gave us vacuum-filtered coffee in a special thingy. A sneak peek at the upcoming brunch menu revealed some awesomeness with a Southern flair. With Bloody Marys that good, I could definitely deal with brunch here. Look for it at the earliest next weekend, but probably in two weekends.

If you tried Frank once and got heartburn, it might be worth another shot …