Hot Luck Fest’s The Hi-Lo @ Fair Market (5/19)

…and now for something completely different.

The wife and I love to cook. We like to make things that taste good. We like to go places to eat things. I’ve put notes in show reviews about our diners beforehand, whether a pretzel at Easy Tiger, a burger at Salt and Time or a series of small plates at Second. When James Moody and Aaron Franklin announced their collaboration to bring a new feel to the normal food festival, I was pretty interested. That they would tie in some music related events, I though, “cool.” And while the music is my normal, I really wanted to see how they’d break from the norms of a food fest. Enter the Hot Luck Fest.

So, tune this out if you don’t want to see pics of delicious things. Let’s get weird and talk about the delicious.

I was only able to attend one major event for Hot Luck. It was The Hi Lo at Fair Market, a location well known for hosting SxSW big-sponsor events. With a mix of indoor and outdoor space, it lent well to hosting a such an event. Upon entry, you were greeted by volunteers handing on a sample glass for your beverage sampling needs. Several local and not-so-local breweries were on hand along with spirits from Flor De Cana, Deep Eddy and Dickel to name a few. There were a few wines represented, but with the food lineup, best to stick with cocktails, through the wife found the Montinore Estate Rose from Oregon (plenty of Oregon partnerships for Hot Luck) to be delicious and sturdy enough to hold up to sticky and smoky, over the top small plates.

I must apologize to vegetarian/vegan friends.

The easily found first food booth was Aaron’s; it was mashed potatoes with brisket. Now, you may think that sounds basic as fuck, but the juices from the brisket pot roast, the just so acidity in the mashed potatoes meant a silly simple, but deliciously heavy start. He was rocking a hair net and spent plenty of time politicking. The next thing on my first walk-through, Uchi/Uchiko’s Tyson Cole had a tuna and pressed watermelon dish that was the EXACT opposite of Aaron’s palette wrecker. Light, but full of flavor, the contrasts in that one bite were astounding. Crunch and a sweet/acid play from the watermelon challenged the tuna’s fatty feel while a crack of sea salt and hint of Thai chili finished it off. Maybe the best thing served…

Simplicity again, L’Oca D’Ora’s team made Ricotta Zeppole, basically a cheese donut, and it was perfect. Balance was found via tang in the cheese versus hits from a sweet glaze. So good. But then there was the insane. That big beef bone that dude is gnawing on was from Adam Sappington, part of that Oregon connection; he was cooking mastadon sizes tomahawk rib eyes that were sliced and then served over baguette with smoked porcini and bone marrow butter. It was a meaty victory, where the sliced medium-rare steak actually wasn’t the richest part of the dish making it a balancer. Other notables came via Launderette and Second, a curried shortrib taco and shortrib with greens in the form of a spring onion jam, respectively. Dessert was won for me by Callie Speer and a brownie waffle with some cold brew iced cream and whipped creme fraiche, though Jeffrey’s Jennifer Tucker busted out a strawberry upside down cake that was worthy of honorable mention.

Beverage wise, I give a spin on whisky/lemonade a run courtesy of Dickel, but really enjoyed the palette-cleansing via the Independence Brewing Redbud Berliner Weisse. I have been on a wicked dry cider, sour beer kick lately thanks the local bounty, the Redbud was perfect to cut through the richest dish.

Is Hot Luck the Food Festival Austin needs? No. There are plenty. Is it the Fest Austin deserves? Sure. It isn’t afraid to embrace a cold Lone Star or challenge fine dining with … fine dining. The Hi Lo party was relaxed, well organized and never too crowded and all I hoped it would be. Congrats on a solid first pass.