The Alcoholian

Posted by johngl

This photo is from the Original Pig Opening a very short year ago

Regular readers know that I am a huge fan of the Noble Pig. Well, they’ve had a really great first year and, due to high demand for their decidedly hand-made fare, they are getting piggish and assimilated the space next door.

Here’s their press release:

Noble Pig Launches “Noble Pig Deli and Charcuterie” Next Door November 25th

Offerings Include Broad Selection of Artisan Delights, Available to Take Home

Austin, TX John Bates and Brandon Martinez, owners of artisan sandwich shop Noble Pig, are excited to announce the opening of a retail deli and charcuterie counter in the space next door to their current location. The Noble Pig Deli and Charcuterie will be open on November 25^th 2011 and will offer a variety of meats, spreads, pickled items, breads, sweets, and more.

The newly renovated space will have different hours than the restaurant, opening at 10am and closing at 7pm. The Noble Pig Deli and Charcuterie will also expand its seating with additional indoor and outdoor areas.

Items Available in the Noble Pig Deli and Charcuterie

• Jarred items-relishes, mustards, jams, pickles, a line of bread puddings
• House prepared meats, pates, terrines, sliced tongue, beef and duck pastrami, bacon, ham, smoked pork belly, smoked turkey, roast beef, sausages
• Bread-white, wheat, ciabatta and brioche
• Sweets -tarts and other seasonal desserts
• Grab and go ciabatta sandwiches from the Noble Pig catering menu

We want to be the space that people can drop by to pick up what they need for their parties, for their dinners, for their day. More house-cured meats, new freshly baked breads, and a wider variety of house-prepared condiments will all be available, comments Chef/ Owner John Bates.

About Noble Pig

From the bread to the pickles to the meats cured in house, Brandon Martinez and John Bates are dedicated to the artisan sandwich. Across America-from New York to Chicago to Seattle- every city has a delicatessen where pastrami sandwiches or homemade rye bread are legends in their own right.  Bates and Martinez emulate these celebrated places but with their own style, looking through an Austinite’s lens. The Noble Pig philosophy is grounded in the timeless approach of making quality food from quality ingredients, and this age-old artisan attitude is making a refreshing splash in the Austin community.

Noble Pig
11815 620 N. Suite 4
Austin, TX 78750

Posted by johngl

Fellow cooking enthusiast, budding photographer, philosopher, world traveler, travel guide, serious  wine guy, and friend — it’s difficult to pigeon-hole this guy — began blogging about his adventures several months back. He’s also working on a book. His name is Michael Housewright.

I met Michael about eight years ago. As I recall, I was doing some cooking (a prime rib) at a friend’s house. It was just prior to the Fourth of July and he started talking about a fireworks display he was prepping. There is no quicker way to get my attention than to mention explosives (except maybe food, wine, classic cars, wooden boats, white sand beaches, Impressionist Art, and nekkid women — not necessarily in that order). Professionally, he was a wine guy at Central Market at the time. He has an outstanding palate and diligently works to keep it sharp.

He also loves Italy. In fact, he co-founded a company there called Southern Visions, folks that conduct bicycle tours around Puglia. He’s been doing this wine, food, and travel thing professionally for about 15 years.  I’m actually a little surprised he doesn’t have his own show on PBS. Perhaps that will be his next gig.

In the meantime, he’s settled on The Blissful Adventurer – Adventures in Eating, Living, and Photography as the outlet for his boundless creative energy. I highly recommend joining him for his “observations of the absurd and the sublime mostly viewed through the eyes of a well fed wanderer.”

Unlike the Alcoholian, you’ll see pictures of stuff other than food.