It's kind of funny this places is called
Second. It's so nice, I've eaten there twice... In the past two days.
Is that beyond nice and moving into obsessed territory?
I'll break it up into two posts just to stay on theme. Here's how it happened... Alejandra was supposed to meet a friend of a friend for lunch. She and I had just come out of the S
XSW session about Bravo's use of transmedia in last season's Top Chef. And we were *hungry*. Our new friend
Dave met us outside and ushered us over to Second. It was slammed so we bellied up to barstools and I knew I was home when I saw this:
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| Behind the bar at Second Bar+Kitchen |
If you've ever been to SXSW, you know along with the marathon of sessions, networking and parties comes a cold. In order to ward it off, Second has a "C-Section" drink made with Emergen-C... yep, that is 1000 grams of Vitamin C being made right there:
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| Mixing up a C-Section |
Next up, we needed food STAT, so in went two appetizer orders... first, when I see fried pickles on menu I usually get them. But when you see BUFFALO FRIED PICKLES on a menu, it's like, the law to get them. While sitting at the bar, I sold three more orders to people who sat next to me.
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| Buffalo Fried Pickles |
Alejandra added the Avocado Fundido to the mix. Guacamole with chorizo served with sweet potato chips. Perhaps we should have stopped there... but it just kept going...
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| Avocado Fundido |
I ordered the Fried Egg & Avocado Sandwich which was crunchy, sweet and ooey gooey perfection. I could only finish half, but I sold one to the next guy who sat down. Yes, at this point, I'm pimping out their food to strangers.
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| Avocado & Fried Egg Sandwich |
Now enamored, we asked for a tour. The space is beautiful - lots of light and patio space for an indoor-outdoor feel (despite the monsooning rains that day). The kitchen serves three restaurant concepts in one: Second,
Bar Congress next door and then Austin's only five star experience,
Congress in the evenings.
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| Second Bar+Kitchen from second level looking down |
About this time, more friends joined us and
Chef David Bull came in to do some butchering. We had made such a fuss, he spent some time chatting with us and even shared some rare salmon cheeks with our little crew that had now expanded to include
Addie and
Liz.
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| Chef showing Addie where the cheeks are nestled. |
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| Wild Irish Salmon Cheeks |
We rolled out of there and somehow made it to a bunch more of the SXSW work experience. Though, when I was supposed to go to an early dinner at Barley Swine, I was still full from our lunch experience.
If you're ever in Austin, add this one to your list.
Second Bar+Kitchen is at the corner of 2nd Street and Congress in downtown Austin. Follow their team on Facebook and Twitter for the latest menu additions and specials.