San Antonio

This weekend was spent enoying Stephen's company in San Antonio. We had some great food adventures. I am sorry, but if you date a foodie, especially one who is in culinary school, you will gain a great appreciation for food. Thankfully, Stephen has always been an adventurous eater. And, like me, has an affinity for beer over wine. So to start off our vacation, he put together (by himself) a beer tasting for us to enjoy in the comfort of our bed and breakfast.

Three distinct and equally wonderful brews. If you haven't tried these, try them. Seriously.

Left: Rogue Chocolate Stout If you enjoy a good stout, this one will impress. It has a nice amount of hops to add a great bitter taste to the beer, very reminiscent of chocolate.

Center: Racer 5 IPA by Bear Republic I am a huge fan of IPA's, and this one has to be one of, if not my favorite IPA that exists. It has won awards, and these awards are very well deserved. Words cannot do it justice; try it for yourself!

Right: Paulaner's Heffeweisen A friend of mine made me try this since he knew I was a fan of Heffe's and wheat beers like Blue Moon and Sam Adam's Cherry Wheat. The citrus notes in this one are more reminiscent of lemon and therefore less sweet than other wheat beers out there. It is such a crisp and vibrant beer.

For food: Fruit and veggies. They make me happy.

Meet and cheese. Summer sausage. Gouda, sharp cheddar, provolone, and havarti.

Wheat crackers and wheat tortillas.

It was a great meal, all prepared by Stephen. We were both full of food and definitely on the tipsy side of the world. Those beers have a great kick and leave you happy, giggly, and ready for...well...anything. This was so much more fun that a wine tasting. Beer has a lot to show for how far it has come and definitely should not be snubbed by even the biggest food and drink snob. If all you have had is PBR or Miller and Coors and you dislike beer...well, there you go! Try some great beers. The three mentioned above are a fantastic start.

And now for restaurant in San Antonio that truly impress and won't leave (too much) of a dent in your wallet.

Boudro's Texas Bistro on the Riverwalk. One of the few restaurants on the River Walk that are actually worth it. Not much of a wait and actual good food.

House made veggie chips. Including beet chips! These were wonderful and great to have on the table to munch on. My apetite has been HUGE lately, so it was nice to have these prior to the meal.

I was craving a good burger. This patty was great, as was the shredded chedder and pickled onions. My one complaint...a little too much bread. I find myself deconstructing the more gourmet burgers, because they try to impress with a whole lot of fancy bread. When I eat a burger, I am there for the meat and toppings, I don't know about you. The bread is there to hold everything together, not to intimidate me and make it impossible to take one big bite of the burger.

Nosh

This little place is attached to Silo, and is a great place to go when you don't want a fancy meal, but you want some well thought out food. Actually, when you want up-scale bar food, this is the perfect place.

A wonderful menu of appetizers and small plates.

Asian chicken wings. Grilled. Flavorful, with a cilantro cream dipping sauce.

Flat bread, which changes daily (I think). This day's flatbread has pancetta, goat cheese, and fig.

Huge pieces of fresh fig. This flatbread was all toppings, which is the way I like it. I prefer to get my fill from the toppings without feeling that I have to devour the entire crust to make a dent in my appetite. This flatbread was incredibly satisfying. I am curious to see what other topping combinations the chef comes up with.

Stephen got the fish tacos. These looked great, too.

And for dessert...fresh donut holes with white and dark chocolate truffle sauces.

These balls were like a fried cake. They weren't doughy and almost flaky like fried dough. Instead, they had a great crumb that made for a soft interior, while the exterior was hard and crispy. Great for dipping into the chocolate sauces.

Tre Trattoria

Come here if you want to spend a little extra money. You will need to try to $10 cocktails, like The Refresher shown above. They use high quality spirits and great flavor combinations like melon and mint.

There are many great vegetable and sides options that make for a great starting course if you are trying to save your money by avoding getting a zillion courses, while still trying the best elements of the menu. I ordered the marinate portobello mushrooms. Perfectly cooked, these stips reminded me of escargot. This portion is certianly enough to share, but they didn't stand a chance again me. Stephen does not like mushrooms and usually refuses to even try a bite, so I did not have to share one morsel of this plate!

Stephen ordered the Wagyu Beef meatballs, stuffed with cheese and served on a bed of homemade spagghetti. Stephen doesn't like spagghetti, but he loved these noodles. There is certainly something to be said about fresh pasta.

I also opted for a pasta dish. I ordered the parpadelle, which are large noodles, with pork, fennel, and lemon. The freshness present in every element of this dish made for a satisfying meal.

Waxy O'Connor's

And for some great pub fare on the River Walk, head to Waxy O'Connor's. Stephen ordered the steak sandwich.

And I ordered the Reuben. By far, the best reuben I have ever eaten. What set this Reuben apart: Great rye bread that was nice and thin. I did not need to deconstruct the sandwich in order to eat it. The meat had no fat in it. The saurkraut was thickly piled on, and perfectly pickled. And the thousand island dressing was lightly applied. I didn't feel like I was eating a greasy, dressing soaked sandwich, which is the case with most reubens out in the world.

And the fries? Wow. With some malted vinegar, they also made me very happy. It was very difficult to stop eating all of them.

The food was an amazing part of the trip. We managed to eat at new restaurants for each meal. And even better, we loved every single restaurant we chose. AND...added bonus, we made it through an entire weekend in San Antonio without going to a Mexican Restaurant. Next time, my friends, next time.

The weekend ended on a lovely note. We had an hour to kill before dropping me off at the Austin airport, so we opted for botanical gardens. It was a beautiful day outside, so this was a perfect time to spend some last moments together while walking around and looking at pretty things. Yes, you can do this in a mall, especially n an outlet mall, but I would much rather oggle gorgeous plant life and walk along trails than look through windows at clothes and accesories that I will certainly not be buying while dodigng stressed out people trying to hit me with their shopping bags.

Plus, how can you be sad when you can look at delicate violets and imagine then singing to you as in Alice in Wonderland.

Flowers make me thankful that we live in a world with differences such as colors.

They are so simply beautiful.

We left our vacation feeling sad, but at least we had the impressions of peace and bliss from a stroll through a gorgeous place. I am already counting down the days until I see Stephen again (in one month!) and we have some more nice adventures.