Spec's Monthly Wine Tasting Event. For those unaware - Spec's is a grocery store sized liquor store with several locations all around Austin. All locations have a once a month Wine Tasting Event. The Brodie Lane location has there the first Tuesday of every month which Jen and I attended.
For only $10 you get a Riedel wine glass and a ticket for tastings of 20 different wines. You get a punch card and head around the store to 10 different locations designated with number, balloons, and kiosk with wine distributor. They give you quick info on the wines and pour you a wine tasting. Also, throughout the store there are several food/snack kiosks setup for samples. I remember a salsa kiosk, pecan pie kiosk, several cheese stations, and even sweet leaf tea. It lasts from 5:30-8:00 and they stop promptly at 8:00. We got there right at 7:00 and were just able to get through all the stations.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Monday, December 21, 2009
Dinner Cruise on Town Lake
Jen takes the credit for planning this date.
For those unaware Austin has the largest urban bat population and its quite impressive to see them take over from under Congress bridge on Town Lake. On any given day there are anywhere from 20-200 spectators lined up to see the infamous Austin Bats. Whether from on the bridge, on a grassy knoll next to the bridge, or on a boat you see millions of bats take off in a stream.
Well, Jen found an awesome way to experience this Austin event. http://www.capitalcruises.com/bat-watching/
Capital Cruises has a large boat that takes tons of people and a small private boat for a more romantic and intimate time on the lake. Jen booked us for a dinner cruise and it was tons of fun.
You meet at the Hyatt hotel and get free parking with drink purchase at the bar. Capital cruises then will setup the boat and bring you dinner and drinks for the cruise. You have 2 hours and we spent a relaxing time cruising on the lake. You can watch the bats or just cruise around. We got the fajitas and enjoyed a nice bottle of wine.
For those unaware Austin has the largest urban bat population and its quite impressive to see them take over from under Congress bridge on Town Lake. On any given day there are anywhere from 20-200 spectators lined up to see the infamous Austin Bats. Whether from on the bridge, on a grassy knoll next to the bridge, or on a boat you see millions of bats take off in a stream.
Well, Jen found an awesome way to experience this Austin event. http://www.capitalcruises.com/bat-watching/
Capital Cruises has a large boat that takes tons of people and a small private boat for a more romantic and intimate time on the lake. Jen booked us for a dinner cruise and it was tons of fun.
You meet at the Hyatt hotel and get free parking with drink purchase at the bar. Capital cruises then will setup the boat and bring you dinner and drinks for the cruise. You have 2 hours and we spent a relaxing time cruising on the lake. You can watch the bats or just cruise around. We got the fajitas and enjoyed a nice bottle of wine.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Date at the Domain
This was a date we went on a couple of months ago and was a blast.
Dinner - La Ventana This is the restaurant for the Texas Culinary Academy. Essentially a bunch of culinary students guided by Cordon Bleu Chef run a restaurant right behind the Domain. They have a simple menu with appetizers, salads, main courses, and rotating deserts. 2 courses for $15 or 3 for $20.
One meal/desert is available to be cooked table side which was a lot of fun. They even let me order 2 main courses. The restaurant is run by students and tipping is not expected (but greatly appreciated).
After dinner we headed over to a Viva Chocolato! It is a choclate/wine bar/dessert cafe in the Domain. We got a glass of wine and a chocolate truffle. Plus they have a back room that is rather isolated and great for a date. We did our bible study for the week there and just enjoyed listening to the Jazz music.
My alternative was to go to the Steeping Room for Tea/Coffee, also located in the Domain. They closed a little too early for us so the Viva Chocolato worked well.
Dinner - La Ventana This is the restaurant for the Texas Culinary Academy. Essentially a bunch of culinary students guided by Cordon Bleu Chef run a restaurant right behind the Domain. They have a simple menu with appetizers, salads, main courses, and rotating deserts. 2 courses for $15 or 3 for $20.
One meal/desert is available to be cooked table side which was a lot of fun. They even let me order 2 main courses. The restaurant is run by students and tipping is not expected (but greatly appreciated).
After dinner we headed over to a Viva Chocolato! It is a choclate/wine bar/dessert cafe in the Domain. We got a glass of wine and a chocolate truffle. Plus they have a back room that is rather isolated and great for a date. We did our bible study for the week there and just enjoyed listening to the Jazz music.
My alternative was to go to the Steeping Room for Tea/Coffee, also located in the Domain. They closed a little too early for us so the Viva Chocolato worked well.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Paella Downtown
For those of you looking for a happening date on a Tuesday take a look at Malagra's Tapas and Bar on 2nd Street. This is a unique fun experience that includes food and wine for only $20 a person.
Owner/Chef Alejandro basically starts cooking at 6:00 in the back of the restaurant on a massive skillet. There is space available for 10 people and reservations are strongly recommended. I called at 11:00am day of and got the last 2 spots. According to the Chef he has over 200 different Paella recipes and cooks a different one each week. For those uninformed Paella is a spanish dish close to a dry jumbalaya. On our date night the main protein was chicken and chorizo. In previous Tuesdays he made lamb, scallops/seafood mixture, vegetarian, ...
With Austin traffic we got there at 6:30 and missed the beginning of the cooking experience. The chef had already got the skillet out and started the mixture. They provide recipes on the tables in case you want to cook it at home. During the cooking time the chef explained what he was doing and told some humorous stories. Very laid back atmosphere. I would describe the decor of Malagra as an upscale wine bar.
Cooking the Paella takes roughly an 1.5 hours so we still had close to an hour to enjoy the show. We chose to snack on some calamari and order a glass of wine. When the meal was finally finished you get a huge bowl of paella and a wine pairing picked by Chef Alejandro.
The Paella came out great. You can always tell a good meal and dinner by when everyone at our table had paid no one left for 30 minutes. The chef ate a bowl at the table with us and shook our hands before heading back to the kitchen.
All in all I thought it was a rather successful date night. I had originally planned on following it up with going to Central Market for some hot chocolate and looking at Christmas lights on 38th street, but the weather got cold plus Jen had recorded a movie a couple days earlier.
Owner/Chef Alejandro basically starts cooking at 6:00 in the back of the restaurant on a massive skillet. There is space available for 10 people and reservations are strongly recommended. I called at 11:00am day of and got the last 2 spots. According to the Chef he has over 200 different Paella recipes and cooks a different one each week. For those uninformed Paella is a spanish dish close to a dry jumbalaya. On our date night the main protein was chicken and chorizo. In previous Tuesdays he made lamb, scallops/seafood mixture, vegetarian, ...
With Austin traffic we got there at 6:30 and missed the beginning of the cooking experience. The chef had already got the skillet out and started the mixture. They provide recipes on the tables in case you want to cook it at home. During the cooking time the chef explained what he was doing and told some humorous stories. Very laid back atmosphere. I would describe the decor of Malagra as an upscale wine bar.
Cooking the Paella takes roughly an 1.5 hours so we still had close to an hour to enjoy the show. We chose to snack on some calamari and order a glass of wine. When the meal was finally finished you get a huge bowl of paella and a wine pairing picked by Chef Alejandro.
The Paella came out great. You can always tell a good meal and dinner by when everyone at our table had paid no one left for 30 minutes. The chef ate a bowl at the table with us and shook our hands before heading back to the kitchen.
All in all I thought it was a rather successful date night. I had originally planned on following it up with going to Central Market for some hot chocolate and looking at Christmas lights on 38th street, but the weather got cold plus Jen had recorded a movie a couple days earlier.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Great Date for Valentine's Day
Price: $100
Occassion: Valentine's Day
We'll ignore the flowers and details of Valentine's Day and just focus on the date itself.
I picked her up and headed to Ceramic Lodge. It's right off I-35 / 620 in Roundrock, Tx. Ceramic Lodge is a store that allows you to decorate and paint various ceramic items. My wife, Jen, is a huge wine fan and I found out they have wine goblets there. I called ahead and asked for a reserved table and if it was possible to bring in a bottle of wine. They said it was a great idea and could provide wine openers and glasses if needed. They also suggested I could bring a candle and gift earlier in the day and set it all up (I never found time, but thought it could be a nice touch).
Jen had pretty much no idea where we were going even we we parked the car. I was pleased to see that we were the only ones there except the owner. We sat at our reserved table and the owner gave us a quick run through of our options. Basically you could put stickers on a regular goblet, paint names on a goblet, or use textured paint and create a more rugged glass. We opted for the textured paint.
It took roughly an hour to paint our wine glasses while we polished off a bottle of wine. Once done painting they do all the clean up and you turn in your artwork to be glazed and fired. It is available a week later for pickup.
After painting we headed down to Cool River for Dinner. They had a Valentine's Day special for 3 course meal. Having already drank a bottle of wine we saved skipped on drinks for dinner. Cool River has great food and a very romantic atmosphere.
After dinner we just went across the street to Opal Devine's for an after dinner drink. They have a great dried tomato infused vodka Bloody Mary. We sat and talk for an hour and then headed home.
Occassion: Valentine's Day
We'll ignore the flowers and details of Valentine's Day and just focus on the date itself.
I picked her up and headed to Ceramic Lodge. It's right off I-35 / 620 in Roundrock, Tx. Ceramic Lodge is a store that allows you to decorate and paint various ceramic items. My wife, Jen, is a huge wine fan and I found out they have wine goblets there. I called ahead and asked for a reserved table and if it was possible to bring in a bottle of wine. They said it was a great idea and could provide wine openers and glasses if needed. They also suggested I could bring a candle and gift earlier in the day and set it all up (I never found time, but thought it could be a nice touch).
Jen had pretty much no idea where we were going even we we parked the car. I was pleased to see that we were the only ones there except the owner. We sat at our reserved table and the owner gave us a quick run through of our options. Basically you could put stickers on a regular goblet, paint names on a goblet, or use textured paint and create a more rugged glass. We opted for the textured paint.
It took roughly an hour to paint our wine glasses while we polished off a bottle of wine. Once done painting they do all the clean up and you turn in your artwork to be glazed and fired. It is available a week later for pickup.
After painting we headed down to Cool River for Dinner. They had a Valentine's Day special for 3 course meal. Having already drank a bottle of wine we saved skipped on drinks for dinner. Cool River has great food and a very romantic atmosphere.
After dinner we just went across the street to Opal Devine's for an after dinner drink. They have a great dried tomato infused vodka Bloody Mary. We sat and talk for an hour and then headed home.
Austin Date Night
I have lived and dated in Austin for 15+ years now and find myself routinely planning and going on the same date over the years with just different women. Well, this summer I was lucky enough to find an amazing bride and now am challenged to come up with new ideas. Over the years I have had some successes and some failures in the dating department. Hopefully this blog will detail the success and help anyone reading along to learn from my mistakes or reap the rewards of a successfully planned date.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)