Chef Jesse Griffiths | Recommendations - Find. Eat. Drink.
Chef Jesse Griffiths, Dai Due, Austin, Texas, TX, Recommendations, Ingredients, Where to eat, Where to drink, Where to shop, Recipes, Chef’s Recommendations, Shops, Restaurants, Flour, Ingredients, Cheese, Market, General Store, Butcher, Salumeria, Coffee, BBQ, Barbecue, Italian, Mexican, Chef’s Favorite Restaurants
ANTONELLI’S CHEESE SHOP
Hyde Park
Cheese Shop
Food & Drink
Find | Shops & Markets - Austin, TX
Nobody knows more about cheese than these guys. They’re one of the first shops in town to specialize in cheese and to do it exactly right. They’re extremely knowledgeable and their customer service is unparalleled. You walk in the door and they start feeding you cheese and they know everything about every cheese in there. Their shop is clean and well presented and you can buy the tiniest little piece of cheese from them. They make it a really fun experience because they educate people and they’re bringing in really high quality products. They’ve got a remarkable wholesale campaign where they’re out there selling cheese to restaurants and the restaurants have pretty much given them carte blanche to give them whatever. Any restaurant in town where you walk in that says Antonelli’s, basically means we didn’t even ask what we’re getting.
Recommendations
CALLAHANS GENERAL STORE
Austin
General Store
It’s my favorite place in town. They’re just like an old school supplies and housewares store. For instance, you can go there and get .22 rifle ammunition, baby chickens, ducks, some feed for your horse and everything you need to make a chicken coop and then all kinds of canning supplies. I think as far as food goes in town, they’re the ones that empower people to be able to preserve and grow their own food. It’s just an awesome store with awesome service and it’s kind of an icon here in Austin.
Who
Jesse Griffiths is the owner and chef of Dai Due, an organic and sustainable butcher shop, local farmers market purveyor and supper club in Austin, TX.
Why
Jesse Griffiths honors Texas traditions with his locally grown and raised products, which range from boudin to bratwurst, pickled produce to preserves, chutneys and mustards.
Chef Jesse Griffiths | Recommendations
September 26, 2012
Photo Credit: Jody Horton
Dai Due - Austin, TX
Recommended By
- Chef Jamie Bissonnette of Coppa and Toro in Boston, MA
- Chef Dave Pasternack of Esca in New York, NY
- Chef Rene Ortiz of La Condesa in Austin, TX
Cookbooks
- Afield: A Chef's Guide to Preparing and Cooking Wild Game and Fish [Buy]
SALT AND TIME BUTCHER SHOP AND SALUMERIA
1912 East 7th Street, Austin, TX 79702
T: 512.917.6071
Also available at:
Barton Creek Farmers Market
www.bartoncreekfarmersmarket.org
S. Loop 1 and Highway 360, Austin, TX 78746
Sat: 9am - 1pm
Hope Farmers Market
414 Waller Street, Austin, TX 78702
Sun: 11am - 3pm
East Austin
Butcher Shop
Everything I’ve had from them has been really good. They’re really focused on cured meats, salami, prosciutto and pancetta. Their stuff is very good.
Eat | Restaurants - Austin, TX
CONTIGO
Central Austin
American
It’s one of my favorite places. It’s kind of ranch-style bar food and just really accessible. The chef is such a nice person, he makes pigs-in-blanket and hamburgers and stuff like that. I really trust him, he buys a lot of local produce, a lot of local meats. Very well put together.
FRANKLIN BARBECUE
East Austin
BBQ
I have to admit it’s worth the hype. You have to wait in line for like two hours to get it every day without exception. You have to get there 8:30 in the morning. They open at 11. If you get there at 9:30, they’ll turn you away and they’re not even open yet. It’s good, it’s really good.
JMUELLER
South Austin
BBQ
The brisket is really good. It’s just smoky and super flavorful, with a nice crust on it. It’s all about that part. People down here get real snobby about their brisket. There’s a good back story too, because Franklin pretty much apprenticed under Mueller. John Mueller’s just a cool dude, he knows what he’s doing.
400A West 2nd Street, Austin, TX 78701
T: 512.499.0300 (make a reservation)
Downtown
Mexican
I love Rene Ortiz, he’s a genius. I think that his food is the best in town, it’s so vibrant. Rene isn’t really constrained by any kind of boundaries. He’s a chef of a Mexican restaurant, but he’ll make kimchi and put it on a taco. He works with bright flavors very well. He’s takes what we consider Mexican food to be, very meat, protein and carbohydrate heavy and the palate he works with is a lot of acid and herbs and bright flavors. Every bite you take at that restaurant is sweet and salty and sour and savory and fatty. It’s cold and hot and textured. He’s kind of an artist. I get so excited if I go and eat there.
The pastry chef is pretty much in the same vane as Rene, with a brilliant composition of her plates and her desserts just blow me away. The team of the two it’s unstoppable, it’s wonderful.
OLIVE AND JUNE
3411 Glenview Avenue, Austin, TX 78703
T: 512.467.9898 (make a reservation)
Downtown
Italian
They’re just like the best Italian food I think I’ve ever had in Austin. I trained in Italy and spent a lot of time there and their food tastes like Italy to me. I get a little upset with most people’s concepts of Italian food and this is flawless.
Drink | Coffee - Austin, TX
HOUNDSTOOTH
Allandale / Brentwood
Coffee and Tea
They’re really nice there and I’ll tell you this is my favorite thing, because I can’t stand a surly barista. They offer you a very educated choice of coffees and if you want an espresso they’re going to ask you, ‘Which one do you want?’ They know everything about it. These people care a lot about their products.
BENNU COFFEE
East Austin
Coffee
For a phenomenal pour shot.
Find | Ingredients
ARROWHEAD MILLS
Texas
Flour
We buy only organic all-purpose flour from Arrowhead Mills, which is milled in the Panhandle of Texas. I can’t really tell the difference between flours for taste, but we try to go with organic products for our dry goods whenever possible.
