My Own Episode of 24

Had about 24 hours in Austin. So naturally, I did a culinary sprint with the aid of my intrepid brother and his family. Here's the rough chronology:

8:03 Schlotzsky's/Cinnabon. Sad to say the Bread Alone on South Lamar closed in favor of Cinnabon. But I also know that those cinnamon treats are a huge hit with the neices, so what's the heck?

8:17 Jo's Coffee, South Congress. Hot coffee. With cinnabons in hand, it was hard, but I resisted the kolaches.

8:59 Las Manitas. Mmmm migas and more coffee. Delightful. Noticed a picture of Ann Richards sitting alone at the counter, oddly enough signed by Meg Ryan. Save Las Mas!

9:47 Austin Farmer's Market. Spent most of the time chatting with chocolate czar Tom Pederson, of the famous Cocoa Puro Kakawa Whole Bean Chocolates. Ate some of a new product, his bits of roasted cocoa bean, aptly called nibs. Nutty goodness.

11:00 Taqueria Arandas. Mostly drank tea, pretended to understand the waitresses' Spanish, and nibbled on chips and tasty salsa.

2:00 Fran's Hamburgers. (OK, three hours is a long time to go without eating, so I snacked on a Cinnabon in the meantime.) Hickory burger and a Dr. Pepper. We narrowly dodged ordering onion rings at the last second. Saw something never seen in all my years at Frans: a salad. Never fear, it came as a side to a chicken fried steak.

I nearly died waiting for dinner, but we finally made it out.

9:45 Fino. RIP the Granite Cafe, welcome tapas place Fino. It was quite tasty and full of the 78703 crowd (even at close to 11 the place was hoppin'). Very enjoyable evening, and the perfect quantity of food after the excesses of the day. The mocha flan was a treat, as was the smoked paprika dipping sauce for the calamari. The star of the night, though, was a lamb cheek ravioli with a brothy sauce. Zoinks.

Not a bad day all in all. I think I set some records somewhere along the way. Of course, all of that food did not stop me from picking up a couple of Round Rock Donuts in the airport on the way out of town the next morning (don't tell my kids!).