life

UPDATE: Austin Gets Raw, Y'all

AG | July 8, 2009 |

9/30/2009

UPDATE: Just got word that Borboleta is now offering bicycle delivery. The bicycle delivery service goes to downtown and Clarksville. It’s provided by Beat the Clock bike messengers. They will deliver to downtown or Clarksville for lunch or dinner. There is a $5 delivery fee and a $20 minimum. Please allow ample time for delivery (currently up to an hour).

Most Austinites are familiar with the raw food movement in some fashion, but many of these same Austinites still don’t “get it.” The reality is, most people like their meals cooked. Can’t say I blame you if you think it’s a bit weird, but I will say this – the “living cuisine” movement is super healthy, and when done well, actually pretty delicious. And downtown dwellers are very fortunate to have a living cuisine restaurant right in the neighborhood (well, technically Clarksville, but RIGHT on the edge of downtown Austin). The name of the place is Borboleta Gourmet.

Borboleta’s food is organic, vegetarian, dairy-free, gluten-free, kosher, soy-free, and trans-fat free. Sounds like everything a true southerner would hate, right? Well, I’m here to tell you – it’s really good. I found out about the restaurant through an E-mail campaign from the restaurant , and I was intrigued enough to stop by. I took the ‘Dillo to Whole Foods, and walked west 4 blocks. Borboleta Gourmet is actually inside Bella Hair Salon (although the entities are not related, I’m told).

You walk in, and the atmosphere is quaint, but polished. It’s a small cafe setting, with only about 6 tables. There are two large commercial refrigerators that house most of the food. I think they are still in the process of “figuring” out the service, but when I ordered, I simply grabbed the covered plate of food I wanted from the refrigerator, gave it to the cashier (who prepped it and touched up the presentation), paid, and chose my seat. The food was delivered only moments later. Easy and quick! And so good.

I like the atmosphere of the place, the fact that it’s raw, vegan, soy-free, etc etc, and that the menu rotates weekly (so it’s consistently different and interesting). You can also order brewed coffee, so it’s not only a good place to eat lunch, but also just chill and read the paper.

Borboleta is the type of unique/eclectic small, local business that I want to see more of in and near downtown Austin. It offers a unique food experience, is convenient, and supports the local economy with a function that a wide-array of folks can enjoy. And it’s just NEAT. I don’t know of another place like it in Austin (with the possible exception of Casa de Luz, but Borboleta is really pretty different from the Casa de Luz concept and vibe, as well). I think downtown Austin residents are lucky to have these kinds of fun and different choices at their disposal and should support them accordingly.

Contact Info: 1221 W Sixth St, Austin, TX 78703, (512) 828-7404, www.borboletagourmet.com

Hours: Mon-Fri: 8-8, Sat: 10-5, Sun: Closed.

Pecan Street Festival This Weekend

Jude Galligan | May 1, 2009 |

If you’re looking for something to do this weekend walk on over to Sixth Street’s old Pecan Street Festival. Let’s see if I can recall the old street names…. 5th Street used to be “Pine”, 4th used to be “Cedar”, 7th used to be “Bois de Arc”. Check out this old map of downtown Austin for more.

Downtown Austin's Hideout Theater Offers Improv Classes

Jude Galligan | April 14, 2009 |

Hideout Theater Offers Improv Classes (link). You can register for a six week workshop beginning May 11th. Class is conveniently scheduled in the evenings.

We’ve seen several shows at the Hideout. It’s easy to walk to and you can drink beer during the show. Perfect, right? If you want to see what improv is all about, then checkout Double Barrel this Friday @ 8pm.

-Jude

The Challenges of Waterloo Park

Jude Galligan | April 8, 2009 |

With vegetation, a natural creek bed, seclusion, and rolling hills, Waterloo Park has the “right stuff” to be the best park in Austin. Flanked on the east and west by Red River Street and ~~San Jacinto Blvd~~ Trinity, respectively, Waterloo Park’s configuration runs north-south length wise between 15th and 12th streets, as Waller Creek meanders through it.

A couple weekends ago, we wanted to check out the “Birth of Cool” exhibit at the Blanton museum, and we decided to walk from our building (Sabine) along Waller Creek through Waterloo Park.

As we walked through Waterloo Park, we were overtaken with its beauty but disappointed in its care. We found a littered creek, overgrown vegetation, and hazardous pathways. One unmarked sinkhole in the middle of the pathway would have seriously injured anyone who didn’t notice it – easily three feet deep.

Waterloo Park sits in an industrial zone

With all of its innate beauty, Waterloo Park is analogous to a gifted MVP baseball player, who somehow gets stuck playing for a losing team.

Waterloo Park sits underutilized inside an industrial zone of competing real estate interests: Travis County, State of Texas, University of Texas, and Brackenridge Hospital.

Tough location, eh?

Hospital parking garages to the east. State of Texas parking garages to the west. Social services and more parking garages to the north. The neighborhood and urban fabric breaks down north of 11th Street. Lack of coordination by the major real estate holders yields nothing of significant neighborhood value to draw a critical mass of pedestrians.

Waterloo Park is a great example of the results of poor urban planning and stakeholder coordination – the park is surrounded with parking garages (blight), is not integrated into the fabric of our neighborhood, and is often inhabited with drug addicts, drunks, and panhandlers. As such, it remains a destination that few people care to visit.

Day six, becoming a model urban neighborhood: what does Downtown Austin need?

Jude Galligan | February 20, 2009 |

Each day this week I am serving up one item, with non-politically correct candor, that Downtown Austin needs to become a model of re-urbanization, as I see it.

Politicians love to talk, form task forces, and spend time doing everything except for making decisions as they are needed. So, this is an appeal to Downtown Austin stakeholders that know how to get things done: the residents, developers, retailers, and land owners.

I want Urbanrail

Take me to the drag. Take me to South Congress. Take me to Zilker. Take me to the airport. 90% of the time I don’t need, or want, to go anywhere else in Austin. An urban rail (pdf) benefits not only downtown, but ALL of the urban core. Complemented by the commuter rail, with an urban rail system in place we can begin to reduce (if not remove) minimum parking requirements for new developments. Reduced parking requirements translates into improved streetscapes, less congestion, and more economically productive land use (more sales taxes, more ad-valorem taxes).

CAMPO TWG you can make this happen.