Austin Slide Show

We jumped on the opportunity to get away last weekend and traveled to Austin, Texas. A long time friend of mine, Cheryl Ruhmann-Botelho, was celebrating her recent marriage by throwing an incredible dinner party at the Four Seasons. Although the wedding party was the reason for our trip, some of the other highlights of our stay were captured in the following side show. Hanging out in the hip SoCo (South Congress) district, dinning around town, a trip to the largest Whole Foods (a raw foodists dream store), time at the pool, watching the famous Austin bats fly and spending time with good friends made for a perfect long weekend.

I had an amazing entree/salad the first evening for dinner at La Traviata. You can see it in the beginning of the slide show for a visual. It was a beautiful combination of zucchini, green olives, pistachios, italian parsley, fresh mint. I ordered it without the pecorino but they substituted shaved jicama (brilliant). I'm guessing the dressing/marinade was a zesty lemon vinegarette. It was so delicious and fresh. I also had their special salad of the evening which was put together from local fresh produce. I wish I'd have gotten a photo of it's vibrancy as well.
Besides a brief run through the Saturday morning Austin Farmer's Market, our trip to Whole Foods at 6th & Lamar (their flagship store, attached to WF's corporate offices) was honestly my personal highlight of the trip. As a bonafide foodie and I nearly teared up when I arrived at the raw section of the store. Not only did they have a separate raw deli with impressive offerings (see the slide show), they also had a chef making raw dishes fresh to order. There was a class happening later in the day and I would have loved to attend that. The whole store was amazing and the salad bar made me want to rip my clothes off and dive in to the gigantic & numerous troughs of leafy greens. I've never seen such an impressive salad bar in my life. My husband was also nearly intoxicated from the sights and sounds all around us. Perhaps that's because he found the organic wine tasting area of the store rather quickly. If you get a chance to visit this mega store, please go check it out.