April brought a visit to the new Kemuri Tatsu-ya, a food event, Ethiopian food, and new ice cream flavors!

All the Eats at Live Fire
Live Fire! has been one of my favorite foodie events in Austin. There are always so many good bites from restaurants and I discover new wines I like. This year was no different! The weather was also perfect!

Italic

Bullfight

Dee Dee

Wu Chow

Emmer and Rye

Fluff Bake Bar

Chicken Over Rice at Halal Bros
The first time I ate Halal Bros, I was sitting on a sidewalk downtown at an ungodly hour, probably around 3am. The food truck was a big hit back then. Lucky Austin college kids get a different kind of late night”fast food” that doesn’t require a packed drive-through.  Halal Bros has gone on to open a brick-and-mortar off Guadalupe by campus and now a second location up north off Braker Lane. My usual order of Chicken over Rice brought back my insatiable taste buds. The mixture of the chicken, rice, and sauces is addicting!

Pizza at Desano
There has been no shortage of new pizza spots in Austin, and national restaurant Desano opened their fifth location here recently. Desano specializes in Neapolitan-style and Italian ingredients. The ingredients are verified by an Italian organization so that the pizza is authentic. We started with a Caprese salad, continued with pizzas – the Margherita D.O.P. with mushrooms added and Verdura, and finished with a cannoli. I wouldn’t say it’s my favorite pizza in Austin (this one here) but it’s a good option.

Ice Cream at Lick Honest Ice Creams
It’s hard to sway from favorite ice cream flavors. My go-to is always salted caramel. But with all the new flavors Lick comes up with, it’s fun to try something new! This visit I had the beet and mint and the sweet cream and strawberry. Both were refreshing. I wasn’t sure about the beet ice cream at first but it grew on me with the mint.

Dinner at Taste of Ethiopia
I tried this restaurant YEARS ago and I was glad to return! I was a fan of the two entrees we got – Doro Wat (chicken) and Kitfo (beef). We followed the custom and ate with our hands, scooping the meat into the injera, which is like an airy sourdough tortilla. It was a little strange at first but quickly became natural. The dishes were spicy! I also tried an Ethiopian beer called Meta. I recommend this place if you want to try Ethiopian food! They will kindly explain the traditions and dishes. They have two locations in Austin – one in Pflugerville and another on South Congress.

Turkey Leg at Sherwood Forest Faire
You can’t go to a renaissance festival and not eat a turkey leg! I’ve only been to this festival once before and had a hard time deciding what I wanted to dress up as this year. I didn’t want to spend a lot of money on a costume, so I fished out this animal hood out of my costume box and bought some face makeup. Voila, a wolf!

Crawfish at The Busby Foundation LoneStar Crawfish Festival
The Busby Foundation’s annual crawfish festival raises support for Central Texas families living with the challenges of ALS. It was a fun and inspirational night watching the crowd rally behind the organization and families. Josh Abbott Band was the headliner and the crawfish was delicious!

Bites at CultureMap Tastemakers Event
Events at museums are always so fun! This 2nd Annual event was held at the Bob Bullock Museum and featured some of Texas’ best chefs and restaurants. The slider with foie gras from Lonesome Dove and the pasta from Emmer and Rye were my favorites. 

Lonesome Dove

Emmer and Rye

Matcha Latte at The Factory – Café With a Soul
Gone are the days where it’s weird to meet people from the internet. From blogging conferences to online dating, I’ve been meeting people on the internet for years. A lot of times awkward but exciting and not dangerous. Most recently, I’ve had foodie adventures with people I “meet” on Instagram! Sujin introduced me to her favorite matcha latte in town AND we got to meet in real life and chat. I finally tried my first matcha latte in the cutest coffee shop in Austin. I also enjoyed the Nutella banana waffle. The best part of blogging is the community and I’m glad mine keeps growing!

Dinner at Kemuri Tatsu-ya
Life slowed down a bit so we had dinner at a new restaurant in Austin that has been at the top of my list to try – Kemuri Tatsu-ya. This restaurant is behind my favorite ramen place in town – Ramen Tatsu-ya. This restaurant is an izakaya, a Japanese gastropub, so the dishes were small plates. This made it easy to order many things! We tried: hot pocket, charred shishitos, smoked fish collar, smoked bbq eel, smoked toro brisket, Hamachi sashimi, and the octopus salad. The smoked dishes were definitely our favorites! I also had the matcha cocktail that is served in a lucky cat. Eating outside with flies everywhere was annoying but this restaurant addition is great for Austin!

Try any new restaurants lately? Give me your recommendation!
Have a recipe I should try? Comment below!

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The post Flavors of the Month: April 2017 appeared first on Fearless Captivations.

Meal Simple from HEB
My easy secret for a “home-cooked” meal are Meal Simple trays from HEB! All I have to do is pop it into the oven for about 20 minutes (depending on the dish) and dinner is ready to go! We usually get the garlic pesto salmon, and the stuffed salmon is also a favorite. It’s a great side dish and protein boost with all the vegetables we make!

Juice and Food at Daily Juice
I’ve been indulging in a lot of Daily Juice this month. Daily Juice hosted a special meet-up to try their new packaged meals. I had the chicken and veggie, and it tasted good and was a hearty portion. I’ve also been fueling up on their bottled juices. Balance, Green Firefly, and Crescent Moon are my favorites. I like trying different made-to-order smoothies also. At some of their locations, they’ve also added a salad bar. Lots of fresh additions at Daily Juice!

Pasta at Patrizi’s
Patrizi’s is my favorite Italian place in town, and for once, boyfriend was the one that got invited to a media event and brought me along. We indulged in Carbonara (with coddled egg and bacon), Puttanesca (with olives, capers, and anchovies), an extra humongous meatball, and ricotta cake with blackberry compote for dessert. I learned that Patrizi’s started in Beaumont (south Texas) in 1948, and cousins Matt and Nic brought their grandfather’s creation and recipes to Austin. This is definitely a food trailer to try if you haven’t been!

Banh Mi Tacos from The Peached Tortilla at ACL
These tacos HIT THE SPOT. I love that ACL curates their food park and picks some of Austin’s best.

Brisket Sandwich from Micklethwait Craft Meats at ACL
This brisket sandwich was mouth-watering. I haven’t been to Micklethwait yet, but this was a good reminder that I need to!

Monkey Bread and Frittata for Brunch at L’Oca D’Oro
When friends come into town, you bet brunch is in the plans! My friend Ashley came in for ACL, and we went to L’Oca D’Oro, a newer Italian restaurant in the Mueller neighborhood. The Monkey Bread was huge, fluffy, and a good appetizer. If only I could drizzle more of that caramel with every bite! My entrée was the Frittata with sweet potato and kale. The layers were beautiful, though I was expecting kale in the frittata and not on the side. It was a satisfying brunch dish!

Bites at Moved to Taste Event by Boneshaker Project
Boyfriend and I went to the Moved to Taste Event and indulged in some good eats! My favorites included roasted cauliflower with tahini and harissa sauce and Brussels sprouts from True Food Kitchen, Acai Bowl from Blenders and Bowls, and the Tartare from Oasthouse Kitchen + Bar.

Baby Shower Eats
As I mentioned in this month’s Captivations post, I went to a baby shower for my friend Corey. The hosts did a great job with the food! We had cheese hedgehogs, pinwheels, fruit, and cupcakes. I made a mushroom, spinach and feta quiche for the event.

Bites at Springdale Harvest Fest
Loved the eats at this event at Springdale Farm! I’ve been on an eggplant kick, so this smoked eggplant dish with crunchy okra from Swift’s Attic was one of my favorites. I also love the goat cheese custard bite from Barley Swine. It was a beautiful (and slightly warm) day for the event!

Sour Beers at Blue Owl Brewing
Boyfriend and I swung by Blue Owl Brewing to try their sour beers. Very interesting. I did enjoy the Hop Totem – a sour IPA. The brewery is a cute spot on the east side and they have several beers on tap.

Shellfishapalooza
It was a shellfish fest and it was so, so good! Get the details about this party here.

What delicious things have you been eating lately? Let me know your recommendations below.

Keep up with me elsewhere! You can find me on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Bloglovin’, or Snapchat (@wanderlustanita). You can also subscribe to the exclusive email list.

The post Flavors of the Month: October 2016 appeared first on Fearless Captivations.

Whole30 Homemade Eats
From August 1st-23rd, I mostly ate homemade eats for every meal. Have you ever gone that long without eating out? I definitely haven’t! You can see the recipes I enjoyed in this Whole30 post.

Cupcakes from Polkadots Cupcake Factory
Ok, so I ate cupcakes the morning after Whole30 finished. They were delish!

Eats at The Park
Day 1 of not-Whole30 was celebrated by an Austin Food Blogger Alliance happy hour at The Park’s Domain location. (They also have a South Lamar location.) I had been for drinks and brunch but this was a great reminder of the food offerings. My favorites were the Mini Cornflake Chicken Tacos and the Cinnamon Toast Crunch Fried Ice Cream.

Sangria Fizz

Guacamole Especial – Housemade guacamole finished with diced mango, pomegranate seeds and tropical spices

Mini Cornflake Chicken Tacos – Spicy-sweet corn flake fried chicken topped with shredded coleslaw and mango-chile cream, served on mini flour tortillas

Cinnamon Toast Crunch Fried Ice Cream and Nutella Funnel Cake

Cinnamon Toast Crunch Fried Ice Cream

The post Flavors of the Month: August 2016 appeared first on Fearless Captivations.