Day 2 started with perfect weather. About 23-25 celsius, sunny with an occasional cool breeze. Since I'm not used to this ideal weather, I wanted to take full advantage of it by visiting the Auditorium Shores by Lady Bird Lake. There's a really rad bike trail and a great space to take your dog in for a dip.
The iconic Stevie Ray statue is located here, so I took my best tourist shot right by it.
Next, I met up with the Octopus Project (whom I saw perform the night before at the Highball) at Prototype Vintage. You know I 'm a sucker for a good vintage find, so I picked up a pretty suede clutch. Yvonne scored a pair of killer cream-colored leather boots. I may or may not have had an influence in that purchase. "Forget it, just get it."
To make sure we got the best of this weather, it was a must to hang out at Barton Springs. It gets pretty hot here in Austin in the summer, so this is the spot where the locals come to cool off. The waters stays around a sweet 65 degrees, even in the height of the heat.
At Barton Springs, we chatted about the new album Octopus Project is working on (they've done the writing and about to head into recording).
After soaking up some much needed sun, we headed to the most badass cinema there is- the Alamo Drafthouse.
It takes old school to the max. They've got a great selection of big box office flicks mixed in with independent and international films... AND you can order, drink and eat right at your seat- they bring it all to you.
Just down the street, was my food highlight of the trip so far: Uchi. Trey who is the head chef at Uchi was also on Iron Chef (where he was robbed of the title, as any Austinite will tell you). It's a bit of a splurge, but so worth it. We tried about 7 different dishes and every one of them, I completely ate my share and loved.
The dishes are not typical of a sushi restaurant. It's Japanese with an Austin fusion. For example, the M aguro Sashimi is prepared with goat cheese with cracked pepper, fuji apple and pumpkin seed oil. Imagine that for a second... and it's about ten times more delicious. I wish I could take Uchi home to Toronto with me.
The awful picture above is from my bb of the Machi Cure with maplewood-smoked baby yellowtail with yucca chips, Asian pear, marcona almonds and garlic brittle. This dish was created by Chef Trey on Iron Chef, and was so popular that it made it as a permanent feature on the menu at Uchi.