Big Bend: Days 3 and 4

Day 3

This day kicked off with breakfast at Squeeze, which is a great little cafe around the corner from the Paisano.

After so much decadent food, it was nice to have a light breakfast – oats, acai berries, and bananas

Did I mention we stayed at the Paisano?  It is a national historic landmark and famous for being the hotel where the stars stayed during the filming of Giant.  It’s a definite must-see when in Marfa, but I would suggest the Thunderbird or, if you’re on a budget, the Riata Inn.

storm rolling into Marfa. I forgot my camera so this might be a good time to apologize for the lack of quality pics. I do think the iPhone did ok though

Marfa, Alpine, and Fort Davis form a triangle and are each about a 25 minute drive from each other.  After breakfast, we headed over to Fort Davis to check out the fort.  There are also a few shops and historic building to check out in Fort Davis and, if you are there at night, the McDonald Observatory is also worth checking out.

For lunch we headed over to Alpine for lunch at the original Reata.

For those not familiar with Reata, it basically started because the owner of the CF Ranch wanted a good place to eat so he opened Reata in Alpine.  It is also located in downtown Fort Worth.

Tortilla crusted tilapia with rice and green beans

After lunch, we headed back to Marfa to look around/relax before our progressive tapas dinner.  If you have limited time in Marfa, I can’t think of a better way to try Cochineal and Maiya’s.  Both restaurants have exceptional menu offerings, but how do you decide?  You don’t.  You try a little of a lot of things.

First up at Cochineal was split pea soup with rosemary crouton, followed by fried artichokes, and finished up with a pate plate served with spicy mustard and pickles.

I tried it, but I’m still not a pate convert. Those pickles were delish!

At Maiya’s, she started us off with a goat cheese plate (fresh from local cheesemaker Marfa Maid) and endive and grapefruit salad.

Next out was duck served on grits with asparagus.  I don’t like duck and I heard a few others say the same, but we all agreed Maiya’s duck was delicious and didn’t have the gamey taste that it can sometimes have.  And I should confess, my plate of duck was clean at the end.  Maybe I’m a duck convert.

Quack

As if this wasn’t enough, she sent out an incredibly delicious portobello ravioli that had a spicy bechamel sauce.

And if that wasn’t enough, this incredible tapas dinner ended perfectly with a meringue topped with fresh berries.

Day 4

Today started with breakfast at one of the neatest cafes I have ever visited.  Austin Street Cafe is run by a husband and wife team who serve out of their renovated home, which was once owned by Donald Judd.

They are open by announcement or by appointment.  If you are headed to town, you definitely need to call ahead to make sure you can try it.

They served us a delicious egg dish topped with black beans and salsa.

Next up was a tour of Marfa with the Director of Tourism, Tex Toler.  He took us to the top of the courthouse and gave us a great lesson on what brought people to Marfa and what gives it its unique charm.

Marfa water tower from the top of the courthouse

You also need to check out the Marfa book store on Highland Avenue.  It is one of the best independent book retailers in the state.

We had lunch at the Food Shark food trailer located in the middle of town.   I don’t have a picture, but I tried the marfalafel and I give it two thumbs up.

We had the opportunity to check out Malinda Beeman and Allan McClane’s Marfa Maid goat cheese farm.  This was one of my favorite activities.  She is such a treat and it was so interesting to see the process of making chevre and ricotta.

making ricotta

I love knowing the goats are being used to make cheese and not cabrito. 🙂

This trip could not have ended with a more phenomenal evening.  We headed over to the CF ranch for dinner under the stars prepared by Mike Micallef, President of Reata.  Dinner started with Reata’s wedge salad, which is delicious and can be found in the restaurant’s cookbook.

Next up was the biggest ribeye I have ever seen served with asparagus and cheesey grits.

At this point, a fork stuck in me would have read done, but by now you know dinner doesn’t end without dessert.

And dessert was chipotle brownies cooked in a dutch oven served with homemade vanilla and cinnamon ice cream.

Yep, way done.  June and Cynthia also arranged for two astronomers to bring telescopes and high powered flashlights out to the ranch so they could show us constellations, galaxies, and planets.  They were incredibly knowledgable and a West Texas sky provides a great canvas for stargazing.

This was such an incredible trip and one I hope you can take.  Be sure and check out their website for  the other tours they offer.

Road Trip: Big Bend Day 1 & 2

DAY 1

Our group of 14 met at the Midland Airport and began the 3 hour drive to the Gage Hotel in Marathon, a town named by Capt Albion Shepard, a former sea captain, who was reminded of the plains of Marathon, Greece.  Along the way, we stopped at Mi Casita in Fort Stockton for lunch.  I enjoyed their Azteca plate which included two cheese enchiladas with red and green sauce and a taco.

The green sauce had a nice kick to it.

While in Fort Stockton, we paid a visit to Paisano Pete, world’s largest road runner.

We arrived in Marathon mid-afternoon and visited the gallery of James Evans.  He is the photographer who authored “Big Bend Pictures” and “Crazy From the Heat.”  His story of what brought him to that area is very interesting and can be found on his website.  I also visited his wife’s store, the French Grocer.

pretty nice produce dept for middle-of-nowhere West Texas

As mentioned in my last post, this is where we had the cooking demo and incredible dinner by Chef Lou Lambert.  Before the demo, the ladies kicked off the fun with June’s signature cocktail – the Junebug- a mixture of blackberries, mint, sparkling water, and Texas-made vodka.  We also had shrimp cocktail, guacamole, and salsa in the courtyard of the hotel.

Ceviche cocktail – recipe can be found in Lou Lambert’s “Big Ranch, Big City.” Muy delicioso

Followed by dinner and beautiful lightning and thunderstorm

Day 2

We set out early the next day to explore Big Bend and saw the window along the way.

We hiked through the Santa Elena Canyon and had a picnic lunch at Cottonwood park complete with boxed lunched provided by the Gage and wine.

On our drive from Santa Elena Canyon to Marfa, we stopped by Terlingua Ghost Town.

cemetery in Terlingua

We finished the day at Padres in Marfa complete with vocal stylings provided by Primo Carrasco and David Beebe.  A must-see du0 if you find yourself in Marfa on a Wednesday night.

And they serve frito pie in a big, which I always enjoy

More to come!

Texas Toast Culinary Tours: Big Bend and Marfa

This was one of the best trips I have ever taken.  I cannot say enough about June and Cynthia and the people I met while on the culinary tour of Big Bend and Marfa.  While I try to form my thoughts and come down from my food high, I will give you a few highlights that I think make their tour stand out.

Highlight #1 We stayed at the Gage hotel, which every travel book will tell you to do while staying in Marathon.  However, we had a special guest chef who demonstrated buttermilk biscuits and explained the process of trimming and cooking beef tenderloin.

Lou Lambert was there to cook one of the best meals of my life -Lamberts Chopped salad, beef tenderloin with mashed potatoes, and for dessert – Mexican flan.  He came out to talk about the inspiration behind each course and what inspired him to write his book “Big Ranch, Big City.”

Like whoa

Highlight #2 They had Austin Street Cafe, which is only open “occasional sundays & by appointment anytime” open for us.  It is owned by a wonderful couple who have made Marfa their home and have created a beautiful cafe in an historic house once owned by Donald Judd.

Egg casserole with chard fresh from the garden topped with black beans and salsa

Highlight #3 They arranged a hands-on goat cheese cooking class with Malinda Beeman of Marfa Maid dairy.

I think I have found my calling. I just need goats and someone to milk them.

Highlight #4 Dinner under the stars at the Micallef family ranch – owners of Reata restaurant in Alpine and Fort Worth – prepared by Mike himself. It kicked off with Reata’s wedge salad and was followed by one heck of a ribeye served with cheesey grits and asparagus.  For dessert – chipotle chocolate brownies with homemade cinnamon ice cream.  Are you kidding me?  Does life get better than an evening like this?

Well yes it does because they invited two of the most passionate astronomers I have met to bring  telescopes and high powered flashlights out to show us constellations, planets, and galaxies.  As you are probably aware, there are a few more stars visible in West Texas than say, the metroplex.

Highlight #5 It rained.  Out in this area of Texas that needs it so badly we saw a West Texas thunderstorm.

Okay maybe they did not have any control over the rain

There is so much more to share and, after so much indulging, so many miles to run.

Triva- Do you know where the world’s largest road runner is located?

To be continued……

Road Trip to Big Bend!!

I am so excited to tell you that I am headed to one of my favorite places this week.  And I am going there on a culinary tour, which I have never done so I am looking forward to the experience.

Check it out here.  I’ll let you know how it goes when I get back and I should have some really great pictures from way out West Texas.

Some pictures from my last trip to Marfa:

I can’t wait to see this:

Have a great week!  “If you care to find me, look to the Western Sky.”  (Name that musical)

At the South Rim