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My father, brother and I capped four consecutive barbecue lunches with a pie stop in Marble Falls. Blue Bonnet Café is named for a local flower that lines Hill Country roads in the spring. The café has been open since 1930, the current owners are John and Belinda Kemper, and yes, they offer Pie Happy Hour. We were clearly in the right place. Most of the house-baked pies involve cream or high-top meringue. Peanut Butter Cream featured crumbled peanuts and a dish of chocolate sauce. My chocoholic brother selected Chocolate Cream, which was semi sweet and dusted with cocoa powder. Coconut Cream sported toasted coconut shavings. We’ve eaten better pie in Texas Hill Country, but Blue Bonnet Café definitely delivered a sweet ending to our gluttonous day-trip.

Four hours later, we clearly didn’t need any more food, but we all had fond memories of Hoover’s Cooking, Hoover Alexander’s soul food spot in northeast Austin. Since we’re only in Texas once a year, might as well make it count, no matter how much damage we do to our stomachs. Hoover is a native Texan who credits his mother Dorothy as an important influence. He also seems to have a sense of humor. On his restaurant’s colorful sign, the apostrophe in Hoover’s is a green chile pepper, and he wears a sausage link necklace. We quickly received a complimentary basket of dry cornbread muffins and fluffy sweet potato biscuits.

Glazed and charbroiled ham steak was succulent and smoky, served with a dish of “Jezebel” sauce, a mixture of horseradish, orange marmalade and pineapple. My accompaniments were spicy jalapeño creamed spinach and buttered cabbage.

Hoover’s always offers a top-flight list of sides, plus blackboard specials. My father ordered meatloaf, a half-pound blend of chuck, onions, bell peppers and spices. His sides were fried okra and cinnamon-tinged candied yams. My brother also ordered the meatloaf, but since he’s a traditionalist, opted for mashed potatoes with gravy and smoky green beans seasoned with pork. The pitcher of lemonade was the perfect balance of sweet and tart. Was the dinner at Hoover’s Cooking worth the additional damage to our stomachs? Absolutely.

Incredibly, after all our consumption, my dad was craving ice cream, so driving back to the hotel, he swung the car by Amy’s and said, “If I can find a spot, we’re going.” Of course we found a spot out front. It was gastro-destiny. Coconut tres leches was tempting, but my stomach might have imploded. My dad got a small cup of coffee, and Eric got a small cup of chocolate. They skipped “crush ins.” Must have been watching their figures.

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Before driving to the airport and heading our separate ways, we always stop at The Salt Lick BBQ, a now legendary barbecue restaurant that has reduced two family members to tears. The Salt Lick has become a Hill Country tourist attraction.

The Salt Lick is happy to usher diners (including me) behind their hand-built pit to take photos.

We ordered family style dinner ($18.95 per person), all you can eat pork ribs, brisket and pork sausage. As always, the brisket was luscious. The ribs could have been meatier, but sported caramelized skins. The sausage had taut skin and massive flavor. We of course requested refills with burnt ends, the prized outside pieces of brisket that are caramelized and chewy from smoke-buffeted applications of sauce. The dinner comes with helpings of German potato salad (with mustard and onions), cole slaw (with celery seed), pinto beans and white bread. We received a bowl of the Salt Lick’s classic vinegar and mustard-based barbecue sauce, plus a habanero version that was a lighter shade of orange, with more kick. For dessert, my father insisted on ordering a peach cobbler. After downing burnt ends, I could only manage a bite each of cobbler and vanilla ice cream. After eating five other barbecue meals at some of the most highly lauded spots in Texas Hill Country, we still had supreme respect for The Salt Lick. Sure, the Lick has a booth in the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport food court, but consistently high quality has kept the original location a deserving gastro-destination.

A week after we returned home, Texas Monthly published their latest Top 50. Turns out the new #1 barbecue joint in the state, Snow’s Barbeque in Lexington, is just an hour from Austin, and there are five other spots within easy driving distance of the state capitol that we haven’t eaten at, including Opie’s Barbecue in Spicewood, Mann’s Smokehouse Bar-BQ in Austin, Taylor Café in Taylor, Whup’s Boomerang Barbecue in Marlin, and City Meat Market in Giddings. On the trip, we debated the benefits of returning for a fourth state meal. With six new places to try, the debate is over.