Austin Food and Wine Festival

[WillTravelForFood]

Got to spend some time at the Austin Food and Wine festival the other day.

If you have the opportunity to go in future editions, it's typically a lot of fun. The individual tickets may seem a little pricey, but chalk it up to "food as entertainment" and the number of hours you can attend, and the dollar cost average evens out a smidge

It does help if you are okay day drinking. LOTS of beer, wine, and liquor to be had, with no obligation to finish any given glass - there were some heavy heavy pours if you knew who to ask. Or you could go back for 2nds. or 3rds.

Isolated highlights, and by no means is this a complete list. Every Single Thing We Ate was FANTASTIC:

• grilled lamb from Tim Love's Lonesome Dove
• Paul Qui's chicken skin ramen
• Brisket nachos from H.E.B.
• Some short rib from the Puerto Rico booth
• All the Top Chefs who were present -- Jo Chan, Brooke Williamson, Sarah Grueneberg, Tiffany Derry, etc etc etc
• Grilled oysters
• Just getting nibbles fresh off the staffed firepit as they brought platters to the serving tent
• Sushi from various places in various configurations
• Fresh grilled burgers
• Pumpkin hummus
• beef tartare
• fresh Frittes with homemade aioli
• Ooni was doing fresh pizzas constantly

honestly - way too many good bites of food from various Austin and nearby Texas-area restaurants to mention. We did some damage hitting practically every food booth available and should have taken better notes about what we were eating and were it was from. But we were on a food coma / food high and simply lost track as we shoved vittles into our pie holes. No idea how we missed the king crab legs, but by the time we were made aware of them, they were out.

And yet somehow, we ran out of time to be able to try everything. (technically, we were FULL. And HAPPY. We gave it a go, honest). As food festivals go, Austin is one of our favorites.

A+
highly recommended
Five Star!

Kudos to the AF+W staff and participants for a job well done.

[GolfGeezer]

One of my biggest regrets is never having made it to Austin as a "foodie" in love with BBQ. Sounds like the festival is a great way to experience what the food scene there has to offer (plus the people of course!).

As a surrogate, we just watched the 3rd episode of "Somebody Feed Phil " on Netflix. The best part is that he does not, in this episode, visit the "names" like Franklin, but treats us to his visit to a number of unusual places most of have never heard of. Check it out when you can.

[ItsAllGoneToTheDogs]

you're making me want to travel for food

[WillTravelForFood]

Austin is worth a visit

[ItsAllGoneToTheDogs]

I was in Austin a few years ago for work, some nerdy stuff at Capitol Factory... ate at Torchy's, wasn't impressed. Cool city, it's kinda SF 2.0.

[WillTravelForFood]

Nice thing is they really embrace Austin’s music scene too, music is everywhere, dancing, smiles…

here’s a recap from a previous year to give a feel