For Day 3, Evan couldn’t make it to Intelligentsia for coffee with us. We met up with Elmond and this was my favorite coffee shop of the trip. Very simple and modern decor. We got the hot Vanilla latte and latte and breakfast tacos that was brought over from Tacodeli. The lattes were much stronger than yesterday’s coffee and tasted better too. More milky and frothy and full of sustenance.
Bean & Cheese. Organic refried black beans and jack cheese. I loved this taco! The bean and cheese was soooo good. The beans were a smooth and flavorful texture.
Migas. Scrambled eggs with tomatoes, onions, jalapeños, tortilla chips & jack cheese. This was also very good! Can’t tell there were tortilla chips in it though!
Vince and I are now obsessed with these breakfast tacos.
It was still really early and while waiting for everyone to wake up, we did a small stroll through a park and accidentally found the flagship Whole Foods with the atx sign. We took pictures in front of it.
Eventually everyone woke up and we met up at the hotel lobby to Uber to our watering hole spot. We did a small hike to the most shallow part of Main Access Point and found out to our dismay that it was all dried up. We weren’t the only ones who didn’t check beforehand. A lot of people also hiked with swim stuff and gear to also be disappointed. The highest water level was less than 2 feet high. I was disappointed but also not surprised because it is the end of summer. Sadness.
We then tried to Lyft to Barton Springs Pool, where it was so overly crowded and seemed like all of Austin locals went! It was pretty much a man made big whirl river pool. We looked from outside for a while but decided to hang out by a kids playground for a bit before going back to Zanzibar, where we got a slush strawberry drink and went in the pool for a little bit before dinner. I did do a Yelp check in for free nachos and pineapple salsa, which took so long to come that it did while we were already walking out. Oh well! At least it was gonna be for free anyway.
Finally, our second and last nice dinner was at Juniper. We did something different at this restaurant. We decided to not order one of everything, skip all the salads and picked a few to order 3 of 4 of so we could indulge in more than just a tiny bite of something goodness. The host also gave us a round of complimentary champagne flutes to celebrate our bachelor/bachelorette.
BUTTERFLY IN THE SKY SPRITZ.
Butterfly Pea Tea Gin | Lemon | Soda | Prosecco | Butterfly Tea. I loved this drink! It was a colorful purple after they poured the butterfly tea in. The drink was also light and refreshing and mildly sweet. Can’t taste the alcohol!
SPRING NEGRONI. Haymans Royal Dock | Ramazzotti Rosato | Alessio Bianco | Bruto Americano. Vince ordered this because it was a negroni but he was not impressed by it.
FRESH FOCACCIA. whipped ricotta, texas olive oil, black pepper. This focaccia bread was so tall and big with large holes inside. They were considerate enough to give 9 pieces of bread so that we each would get a whole piece even though we only ordered 1 order of it.
PUFFY POTATO. dijon créme, fine herbs. This was everyone’s favorite! The potato was done so it was a soft, pillowy, smooth texture of creamy potato on the inside. Very flavorful and light. I could eat like 10 of these as a yummy comforting snack while watching tv at home. The Dijon Creme was also very good to dip in. Reminds me of Japanese potato croquette with kewpie Mayo.
HAMACHI CRUDO. english cucumber, honeydew, chive. Vince’s favorite! It was very refreshing and light. Not too heavy on the sauces. Vince kept rambling on and on about this appetizer. It is his favorite fish crudo.
RISOTTO. tomato leaf pesto, parmesan, lemon. The risotto was lightly al dente and the presentation was interesting because it was spread out thin on a large plate.
CACIO E PEPE. black pepper, pecorino, texas olive oil. I was so surprised and pleased with this dish because normally it is not creamy or cheesy enough for me, but this pasta was sooo delicious!
CAMPANELLE. braised chicken thighs, pickled ramp, crispy garlic. This pasta was also very tasty and creamy. The pasta shape was interesting. Not as memorable as the Pepe. The sauce was also light.
GNOCCHI SARDI. ‘nduja, lobster, garlic bread crumbs. Hmm I was disappointed in this gnocchi dish. I couldn’t even tell there was potato in it and I don’t think this was a real gnocchi. It was just like regular pasta to me. Sadness!!
PAN ROASTED HALIBUT. baby corn, mushroom escabeche. Halibut was flaky too but I liked Arlo’s halibut more. The mushroom sauce was very good though.
STRAWBERRY GRANITA. whipped elderflower panna cotta, fennel pollen. This looked like crushed hot Cheetos. I feel like the strawberry ice overpowered the hazelnut gelato because I didn’t get any elderflower from the Panna cotta.
AFFOGATO. hazelnut gelato. This had a cool presentation and I actually liked the gelato. I think this converted me to order affogatos more.
Only my sister was able to snag a last minute code to get through this speakeasy gate. It felt very exclusive. We had to walk down an artistically tagged wall to a basement under the sidewalk to a secret doorway. We were eventually greeted by complimentary champagne in coupe glasses. The menu had to be read with glow in the dark light to illuminate the rest of the wordings.
The speakeasy was called Here Nor There. I like the name. I kind of get it. In terms spirit if a secret speakeasy with no actual confirmed location, it makes sense. Finding it was fun. Trying to get an exclusive gate code was exciting.
Milk and honey. Mount Gay Black Barrel, Plantation 5, Plantation OFTD, Clement Cane Bleu, Myer’s Original Dark Rum, Calvados, Martel, Batavia Arrack, homemade lemon sherbet, gunpowder green tea, clarified milk, clarified lemon, pineapple, salt, trade route salts. I loved the tea cup that this drink came in. Truc said I would like this place because of the tea cup this drink comes in. It was so elegant and classy. My drink tasted like a refreshing light cup of tea. I couldn’t even taste the alcohol from it but I still got a nice buzz from it.
Coffee and cigarettes. Citadelle, Aperol, coffee, Cointreau, Mediterranean tonic. Vince got this drink and it had a large bubble for him to pop that was very entertaining. It provided the smoky flavors.
Cookies and cream. Jameson, horchata, Koji, toasted marshmallow. I did not like this drink at all! It sounded cool and sweet but it tasted gross of Jameson.
