On Friday, my parents and Josh and I stopped by Hopdoddy to have lunch. I had heard wonderful things about this place, so I was excited to try their burgers. And I am glad I did. I got the Goodnight, which is a burger with bbq sauce and cheese and it was so yummy. The buns they make are so fresh, they grind their own meat, and you can tell that this is a quality burger. I’m glad this place is within walking distance of my house, because I need to go back and try all the other burgers. Next up? Maybe the tuna burger. Mmmmm.

If you live in Austin and like unique bars.. you’ve probably heard of Rainey Street. Taking up residence are places like Lustre Pearl, Bar 96, Clive Bar, and Icenhauer’s. Josh and I had been talking about making a visit there for a few weeks now, and this past Saturday presented us with the perfect opportunity when we heard Icenhauer’s was having its Grand Opening. So even though it was 4:30pm.. we headed over.

Parking on Rainey Street was crazy, even that early in the afternoon, but we managed to snag a spot. Thank you back-up camera on the Prius to help with tight parallel parking! We live relatively close so we may just wind up walking next time.

First up.. what brought us.. Icenhauer’s. I thought the decor was awesome. Great places to lounge. What I wasn’t a fan of was the tv screens in every room playing sports. Kinda messed with the vibe, but whatever. For the sports-lovers out there, they probably see it as a huge plus. I had a drink called the Sarah, which is Deep Eddy Sweet Tea Vodka and Blue Moon Belgian White. It was very tasty, and I want to go back and try more of their specialty cocktails. Josh wound up having one of the beers on draft. I love how they have games you can sit around and play, like a fancy version of pick-up sticks, connect four and jenga.

Next up.. Clive Bar. We walked in and chatted with the very nice bartender while we decided what to drink. He was nice enough to make me a martini just how I like it.. half gin, half vodka, dirty. Josh described that he wanted something a bit made lime and citrusy, so the bartender made some sort of amazing drink for him. We snagged a table indoors and sat in the famed white peacock chairs and had a lovely time hanging out.

We caught a glimpse of the bike snake in front of G’Raj Mahal..

And finally.. we had to stop at Lustre Pearl. We shared a drink and headed out to the backyard area to watch a band play. Unfortunately, we heard one song before I think they went on break, but we still had a nice time hanging out. Can’t wait to come back to all these places again soon!

A few weeks ago I met my friend Katie Walsh to snap some photos at East Side Show Room. She was writing an article for Serious Eats, and needed some awesome photos. I jumped on the chance, because not only did I get to eat some amazing food and drink some amazing cocktails, but I had been dying to take photos of the food and amazing space. Enjoy!

I did a shoot this past summer that was so amazing. What made it so amazing? When someone is so passionate about something, or so proud of something, it is great that their enthusiasm comes through in those photos.

Seth Mazow has won Home Slice’s H.O.E.S. (Hands on an Eggplant Sub) contest the past two years. Which got him free pizza for each of those years from Home Slice. It was perfect, because he and his lovely wife, Erin lived off of South Congress a few blocks down from Home Slice. Yes, I said LIVED. They moved off to California a couple of months ago where his wife is going to school. So guess who isn’t going to be YOUR or MY competition this year?

One major downside of him moving is that he couldn’t take to California the subs he’s been keeping in his freezer. Those subs he held his hand on that got him that victory. And so, he enlisted me to do a photo shoot of he, Erin and the subs.. and the process of throwing the subs away into the Home Slice dumpster.

End of an era. Beginning of one for you?

This past Sunday, Josh and I decided to head over to La Condesa for brunch. We’d been to La Condesa a couple of times before, but only for their amazing cocktails, so it was nice to actually order food this time.

And we ordered a BUNCH of food. Crab tostada appetizer (my favorite), two brunch dishes that were so amazingly different and delicious, and two desserts. And let’s not forget the orange marmelade margarita and the horchata.

Of course before we dug into every dish, I snapped a few quick photos.