If your friends invite you to a B.Y.O.B. party it is because they are cheap bastards. However, if they invite you to a B.Y.O.B. restaurant, it might be because they are brilliant!
I would like to shine a spotlight on one of my favorite and most versatile haunts, Torchy's Tacos. Situated on a former car lot between bustling S. 1st St and tranquil (read: usually dry) Bouldin Creek, Torchy's is the most gourmet taco trailer in town. Staffed by former Comida Deluxe chef/ Austin Chronicle Hot Sauce Festival winner Mike Rypka and his crew, Torcy's offers unique chef-quality tacos in the convenience of a walk-up taco cart. Fresh roasted Katz Coffee is perfect with breakfast, and for lunch he offers a variety of Jarritos sodas and Mexican cokes.
And then for dinner...that's where the tipsy texan comes in. Six-pack of Bohemia with those fajitas, anyone? (Better get your own 'cuz this one is for me.) How about washing down that green chile queso with a pitcher of margaritas in a Rubbermaid cereal container? Since Mike's trailer doesn't have a liquor license, you are your own bartender.

Mike's business partner is a landscape architecht who is in the process of finishing up a major beautification project that this bootleg photograph does not show. Once the project is finished, Torchy's Tacos will feature the best Tex-Mex in the sexiest former used car lot in town.

On Saturday we attended a dinner given by the supper club Dai Due. Dai Due (pronounced die DO-ay) serves up a multi-course menu composed entirely of locally-produced ingredients. The duo behind Dai Due are Jesse Griffiths, who once chefed at Vespaio, and his partner Tamara Mayfield, who has a background in sustainable agriculture and who now owns a Green cleaning service.
The theme, menu, and location change for each of the 3-4 dinners they serve monthly. Ours was an Italian menu consisting of 19 different dishes. The meal was amazing, and so was the ambience and setting--this time a private residence called the Dragonfly House.

Many Dai Due dinners are served al fresco at local farms such as Boggy Creek

The dinners are BYOB, and the hosts send out an email suggesting which Texas wine they recommend for each particular meal. They also serve a market-fresh cocktail before the dinner. This week they infused Tito's vodka with local pears and topped it with Topo Chico.
Because of the popularity of the dinners and limited seating capacity, it is recommended that you sign up for their mailing list and register quickly upon receiving the dates.

Mike Rypka has done it again: at his renowned Trailer Park eatery on S. 1st St, he has debuted a fabulous brunch menu which we recently partook of in its entirety.

The Trailer Park concept started with Torchy's Tacos a couple of years ago in an empty lot a block or so up 1st St. Though they have hit a few snags along the way, it appears that the concept is finally starting to bear fruit. After moving the Torchy's trailer here, Rypka opened Shuggies last fall as a burgers & seafood stand. Once the cold weather came they shut down Shuggies to reopen this spring. A few weeks later, brunch.

If a picture could speak a thousand bites, it would be of these grits. Garnished with bacon and cheese and spiked with enough butter to clog a pound cake, the shrimp & grits are the star attraction.

Because Shuggies is in a trailer, they are unable to serve alcohol, so we generously brought our own. Amazingly none of those photos survived. What we did is take two bottles of sparkling wine and mix in a picture with black currant juice and mint syrup. And then we drank it.

The menu consists of
Fried Chicken & Waffle
Pecan-crusted French Toast
Doughnut Holes
"Elvis Cristo"--battered & fried peanut butter & banana sandwich
Shrimp & Grits
Migas
(all are pictured here except the migas)

The donuts were nice and light (as far as donuts go). In my ideal brunch fantasy, I would have had these as an appetizer with my coffee, while I waited for everything else

I felt that the french toast was the only item on the menu that was not a real winner. When we make french toast at Tipsy Manor we soak the bread in the batter til it soaks it up thoroughly and the end result is moist and custard-like on the inside. This toast was pretty dry.

The Elvis Cristo: cornflake-crusted, fried peanut butter & banana sandwich

I had the pleasure of tasting an early prototype of this sandwich a few weeks earlier and chef sampled it to us with a strawberry compote as a topping. When we came for brunch, we just got syrup. The syrup is not a bad accompaniment, but it is kind of repetitive when you've already had syrup with the french toast and the waffle.

Chef Mike with Jenna of Edible Austin. Mike said his girlfriend might get mad if I took this picture. Attn Mike's Girlfriend: Please note that both hands are on the table and that I made him pose for this picture. Thank you.