February 22, 2009: La Condesa and “Out and About”
Last night, the
media and VIP preview party at new Mexico City-inspired dining
hotspot La Condesa brought out all the pretty people.
The new chic restaurant on West Second Street was packed
to the two-story rafters with folks, all sipping incredible
hand-crafted cocktails. After lusting after the
watermelon martini that I kept seeing go by in other hands, I
settled on a terrific margarita and admired the great design of
the space.
After mingling with
friends, we ditched the crowd and checked out the cellar -
actually a dry storage space from the long-departed J.P.
Schneider Store, which is now the home to Lamberts Downtown BBQ across the street (Lamberts chef-partner Larry
McGuire is a co-owner of La Condesa). The refitted space
includes two private rooms that will definitely be hosting some
exceptional private parties soon (we eaves-dropped on one being
planned on the spot).
Up the glass-enclosed
stairway over the dining room, we found the soon-to-open
Malverde bar. The view is spectacular - along Second
Street and past City Hall to
the river. The space is very comfortable, with low white
leather sectionals and lots of room both inside and out for
conversations.
We missed a chance to
taste any of the food - the waiters were swarmed the minute
they set foot outside the kitchen - but the regular menu
promised such exciting ingredients such as homemade wild boar
chorizo. We wanted to stick around for the presentation
of the suckling pig, but the night wore on and we had other
events to attend.
This afternoon, we were
honored to share a live chat on Michael Barnes “Out and
About” blog with our friend Mark Erwin, who just launched
the new social website StandardQuestion.com. Check out the discussions about our
respective sites at www.Austin360.com/outandabout.