Join CB&TL for complimentary beverages and enjoy some precious art from very strong and talented children.

Reception March 13th from 5-9p with DJ Echo DaFunk. Libations from sponsor Aspen Magazine. There will be a discussion with Andrea Shenk on the Emerging Collector from 5 – 5:30pm.

Verbatim: marked by strict and particular and complete accordance with fact; “an exact mind”; “an exact copy”; “hit the exact center of the target.”

With our show this month “Verbatim”, we ask you to look at both the direct target hit by the artist’s intention, and to question how we as the audience either respond “word for word” and “eye for eye” or if our digestion of the work and interpretation takes us beyond this visual-verbatim experience.

The show will be on view March 10th – April 22nd at LivAspenArt Gallery /  414 East Cooper Avenue. / LivAspenArt.com

Bread and beer. Things I shouldn’t eat but happen to love. [Sidenote: there's a new bakery in Aspen on the mall under the Psychic called Annette's and the bread there is TO DIE FOR, so to speak, as I ate almost half a loaf and spent the rest of the night with sores in my mouth and farting. Sorry that's gross. But I'm pretty sure I can thank the high gluten factor for that. But there's sourdough...] Back to Easy Tiger, 709 E. Sixth Street, the long-awaited new bake shop and beer garden (this post has it opening in May … of 2011)  from the 24 Diner people.

The key players:

Bread: Artisan baker David Norman [creds: Grand Central Bakery (leading artisan bakery in Pacific Northwest), TriBakery (supplying NY greats such as Tribeca Grill and Nobu), Ecce Panis (NY, NJ) and Bouley Bakery (NY)]. Breads: baguettes, French country levain, rye bread, German pretzels, Danish, turnovers and more all day long.

Beer: Billy Caruso [creds: CIA graduate and 24 Diner sommelier] Cocktails, wine, unique bombers, and 30 craft beers on tap: local Real Ale and Jester King and boutique domestics such as Avery, Lagunitas and Ommegang.

Meat: Andrew Curren [creds: CIA valedictorian, worked for top New York restaurateurs Danny Meyer and Jonathan Waxman, nom for People’s Best New Chef from Food & Wine magazine/CNN’s Eatocracy, Top Chef: Texas] House-cured meats: housemade sausages, jerky, corned beef and pastrami, as well as homemade krauts, relishes and peperonata.

Decor: Veronica Koltuniak [creds: clients include Madonna, Courteney Cox, and Jennifer Lopez] The Royal Tenenbaums: “Turn-of-the-century building meets end-of-the-century kitsch.”

Seriously. Someone go and report back. I can’t put myself in another gluten coma.

easytigeraustin.com / twitter.com/EasyTigerATX / facebook.com/EasyTigerATX

The second location of Chef Tyson Cole’s critically-acclaimed restaurant, Uchi, will open to the public on February 2^nd.  In the iconic former Felix space on Westheimer near the corner of Montrose. Offerings from the kitchen and sushi bar showcase his signature style of combining unexpected textures and flavors, pushing the boundaries of Japanese cuisine, drawing flavor inspiration from numerous points around the globe and mixing traditional master knife work with cutting-edge techniques.

Acclaimed pastry chef Philip Speer ends things on a sweet note with his ground-breaking desserts that showcase familiar flavors in completely original forms and combinations. Chef Cole is pleased to name Kaz Edwards of the original Uchi as chef de cuisine in Houston.  Monica Glenn, longtime protégé of Philip Speer, will be pastry chef.

The transformation of the building from the Felix space was helmed by (obviously) Michael Hsu, who also designed almost every impressive restaurant space in Austin including Uchi, Uchiko, Malverde, and so on.

“We have been looking forward to becoming a part of the Houston community for many months,” says Chef Tyson Cole, recent winner of James Beard Foundation Best Chef Southwest. “It’s a thrill to open our doors.”

904 Westheimer / Houston, Texas 77006

Just another reason to visit: Austin hotspot and “Best New Restaurant” James Beard Foundation Award nominee La Condesa just opened an outpost (view my coverage of the Austin location’s drinks here and food here). La Condesa Napa Valley, 1320 Main Street, St. Helena (707.967.8111; www.lacondesanapavalley.com) still features the vision of executive chef Rene Ortiz, blending traditional and innovative Mexican, an extensive tequila selection, artisanal cocktail menu, and California-driven wine list.

“The Napa Valley is one of the most beautiful places in the country, and its breadth of produce and ingredients is unparalleled,” says owner Jesse Herman.  ”We’re excited to work hand-in-hand with the region’s growers and producers to combine the flavors of the Napa Valley with the spirit of La Condesa.”

La Condesa Napa Valley sources locally whenever possible and Ortiz has designed many new menu items that highlight ingredients from Northern California and Bay Area purveyors. The Napa Valley location also serves favorites from the Austin menu, including Taquitos Arábicos (seared venison, pickled cucumber, chipotle harissa, fennel pollen yogurt and cilantro rolled in a bacon-fat tortilla); Hongo Y Huitlacoche Huaraches (crispy masa flat breads topped with wild mushrooms, huitlacoche, yellow corn, farmer’s cheese, queso chihuahua, epazote and a dash of truffle oil); and Cangrejo Tostadas (lump crab meat, green mango, grapefruit, tomato, chives and chipotle mayo).

Food is cooked over a wood-fired grill imported from Texas to add an essential Lone Star flavor to the menu. La Condesa Napa Valley’s menu of unique cocktails is overseen by the 2011 42Below Cocktail World Cup national champion, Nate Wales but still features faves like El Cubico and all fresh juices.

The interior of an historic building has been retrofitted to reflect the interior, quirky Mexican of the Austin location, including the whimsical art of Ortiz’s brother.

The restaurant is open nightly for dinner, from 5-10p, Sunday through Wednesday and from 5-11p, Thursday through Saturday.  Lunch will be served from 11:30a to 2:30p, Monday through Friday; and brunch service will be available from 10a to 3p on Saturday and Sunday. Take me there!

The multi-level boutique features Emiko’s Beth Elis line, a high-end wedding dress line. Beth Elis has been featured in Brides, The Knot, and The Wedding Channel. Because Emiko is a study in contradictions–her degree from Carnegie Mellon is in Electrical and Computer Engineering–naturally her boutique would feature all sorts of fashions, from casual to formal, relaxed to stiff, practical to impossible … plus hard-to-find books, antique furnishings, and rare paper products.

Want some names? Try chocolates from Maison Bouche, leather pillows from Beirn, books from DAP and Assouline, and all sorts of goodies from Ittala, Lafco, Soolip, Libretto, Triple C Design, Modern Alchemy, and Design Abroad.

Of course, there’s still the outdoor garden for dinner parties, baby and bridal showers, teas, happy hours, and even small weddings. What more could you want, really?

Welcome to the nabe.

Thanks to some serious dumps of snow the past couple of days, “rumor” has it Aspen Mountain is opening Saturday!! Skiing four days earlier than we thought! SkiCo hasn’t officially announced it, but everyone knows it’s true!!

Of course, the hardcore have already been doing it … Chris Davenport was floating through powder on Back of Belle yesterday, while my lovely Vermonster was skinning up the mountain with five of his closest friends. The skiiers are nuts out here!!

Burger, tuna burger, parmesan truffle fries, sweet potato fries

But I have to admit that’s where the fun stops. EatAspen reported the meat was local, but at the restaurant they were certain that it wasn’t in fact local. So a burger was out for me, leaving me with the tuna burger as my only option.

The tuna burger (sans bun), while pretty, was nothing special. Not even the exciting-sounding wasabi mayo was good, and it was barely spicy. The fries were good, but again nothing out of the ordinary. We couldn’t taste the truffle in the parmesan truffle fries, though the parm was good. The sweet potato fries were a great, crispy texture but otherwise unremarkable.

Their adult milkshakes are highly touted, but at $11 seem a bit, erm, stiff. They have creative flavor combos, so perhaps I will give them a shot in the future.

Others have liked CP’S Burger far more than I did. But for me? I’ll stick to Belly Up’s amazing double burger and fabulous sweet potato fries, J Bar’s uberexpensive but astoundingly delicious burger, or making them myself (did you know Clark’s puts their old free-range meat on sale for $4/lb on Sundays?!).

Everyone loves the Bachelor Bars (an article I wrote in 2007!): Molotov, The Marq, Chuggin’ Monkey, Dizzy Rooster, and Thirsty Nickel. In the old Mother Egan’s spot next door to Molotov, the brothers bachelor (Brad, Chad, & Wes Womack) and partner Jason Carrier have reinvented the pub with a distinctly Southern flare. They’ve been open for a few weeks now–and they’ve already hosted a Maxim party–and have gotten rave reviews on yelp, with people very excited about the laid-back but slightly upscale atmosphere.

The GRAND OPENING of The Dogwood Austin kicks off at 4pm today, Wednesday August 25th!

Free apps from 6-8pm (or maybe 10? reports vary) and the first 250 guests will receive a complimentary gift (rumored to be a free T-shirt stuffed in a mason jar they’ll fill with free Sweet Tea Vodka all night long)! $4 featured drink menu.

Perhaps the best thing about Dogwood? An only-in-Austin tap of frozen Deep Eddy Sweet Tea Vodka, surrounded by metal and ice so it’ll always be freeeeeezing cold. Graham’s Texas Tea may be better than Deep Eddy, but it doesn’t come out of frozen tap (except maybe at your house). Also, four sangrias (one made with whiskey!), 6 local beers on tap, and a “Skinny Menu” for summer lovers watching their calories.

Southern boys are just so thoughtful, aren’t they?

[Update: Addie, who knows all the food news in town, kindly posted that Uchiko will officially open on July 5]

From Uchiko’s blog on Sunday:

“We’ve been in the Uchiko space for 3 days now, and my what a lovely space and kitchen it is! Training and tasting staff like mad and on schedule to do staff of staff mock service today and tomorrow and start invite tastings to the public on wednesday. So glad we scheduled this time to get things as close to right as we can before opening.”

I read Tolly’s great interview with Paul Qui, new exec chef at Uchiko, and was so jealous of her getting to sample his creative dishes, and so curious as to when Uchiko would open … looks like today(ish). I’m definitely going to have to stop by when I’m back in town! I mean, look at some of the pics they posted!