stop here for delicious delight.
at last- safely in la and able to fully wax poetic on the austin street cafe. marfa is not only full of art you can hang on your wall; it is also a haven for tasty morsels. on the recommendation of our concierge at the hotel paisano, ian and i stopped for at the austin street cafe lunch on the way out of town. we followed the suggestion on the now two for two theory that all things austin are good. i knew we were in for a treat when i saw on business cards by the door that it was not only open during business hours but, "by appointment" as well. after coming in the door and walking back through the gorgeously minimal-yet-whimsical modern decor, i found the following sign above the counter:
as i am decidedly anti weird syrup, i knew that the chef, lisa copeland, was a woman after my own heart. when she came out from the screened-in porch, she found a crowd of us waiting to order. her animated description of the construction of the smoothie above, which included about six kinds of fruit and fresh mint from the garden as well as frozen grapes to give it the cold slushy smoothie goodness nearly had me tap dancing with excitement. i trusted the rest of my order to her judgment.
even if we had only gotten to sit in this room, we would have been happy, but the food still has ian and me salivating a week later.
i like a good bull hanging around when i eat yummy soup.
ian had the tomato basil soup with salad and a turkey wrap, and i had the huevos gringos: eggs with green tomatoes and balck bean sauce. the fact that the eggs had no cilantro(i'm allergic, but love mexican food) and were garnished instead with fresh parsley from the garden (my favorite) made them an experience the remember. lisa was thrilled to hear that i love parsley so much, and offered me some to take with me.
other excellent menu items included the eggs "lasagne style," meaning with a tomato sauce that looked excellent, as well as an array of tasty baked goods. don't forget to take a muffin with you when you leave. they aren't kidding when they call it a meal in a muffin. we managed to blissfully nibble ours all the way to arizona.
the house is also home to lisa and her husband and co-owner, jack copeland.
we were lucky enough also to get some time to chat with jack after we ate. jack and lisa met in santa fe several decades after growing up barely thirty miles apart, lisa in dc and jack in baltimore. our being from the same crazy city made jack and me fast friends and he was kind enough to give us a tour of their beautiful living quarters. the couple renovated the house very much in the spirit of donald judd, a previous owner. they were grateful for the town's support in this and graciously allowed us to photograph the space.
rumor has it that donald judd installed this tub in the center of the room. it is functional and gets a lot of use, i am told, even though there is also a nearly open air shower that shares the space. i wonder that they even make it into the cafe. i would be soaking and bathing until i became a permanent prune. sinks and a vintage scale from a closed hospital's estate sale complete this room.
the other half of the space includes the bedroom, which also features the major fixture, the bed, in the center. check the remabulous flickr group for more images of their beautiful design.
while the design of the space is incredible, i must confess that what impressed me most was how clean it was and that there was nothing out that would prevent having guests unexpectedly tromp though. i will be thinking of this dynamic duo as i set up my new apartment in la and determine what is really necessary in the space. i am also inspired by the commute of three feet, which jack declared was "unbeatable."
we found the whole place unbeatable altogether and just one more reason to return to marfa. it gets mu award for best bathroom on the trip:
i grabbed lisa, who was mid-table bussing, and jack for a photo with one of their regular customers before heading out:
lisa, a local fan, and jeff say cheese for me.
it is rare to make friends with the entire staff of a restaurant over lunch, but we felt sure we would miss chatting more as we headed out of town. thanks for a remabulous meal! we'll be back.
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