SXSW: Where To Find The Best Eats
It's time again for South by Southwest (SXSW), the annual interactive, music, and creative-palooza in Austin, Texas. For festival-goers who want to avoid the usual dusty lines for hot dogs and overpriced pizza slices, here's a look at some of the more food-friendly panels and after-parties:
Foodspotting's Street Food Fest is the hub for Austin's food trailers. Attendees can try bites from Clem's Hot Diggity Dogs, Hey Cupcake, Lucky J's, Yumé Burger, and others. It costs nothing to attend, and visitors can partake in kareoke cabaret while snacking on meat pies from Boomerang and Kimchi fries from Chi'lantro. Enough said. If the festival dates seem too far away, this Secret Menu Scavenger Hunt is a way to find the featured fare early. (Saturday, March 10)
Anyone who's been to Roberta's and Vinegar Hill House knows the Brooklyn food scene is alive and well; the "Rise of the Brooklyn Food Scene" brings together some of Brooklyn's food artisans — Momofuku Milk Bar's Christina Tosi and Brooklyn Brew Shop's Erica Shea, for starters — to talk about what's cookin' in Kings County. (Sunday, March 11)
It's no secret that chef célèbre Anthony Bourdain loves Austin. This trip, he shares his views on social media in the "Digital Debauchery with Anthony Bourdain" panel. Hear from Bourdain and his crew on the success of his live-stream pub crawls, "live-Twatting" wrap parties, and his no-holds-barred take on his growing online foodie community. (Tuesday, March 13)
Fans of the Snacky Tune's radio show on Heritage Radio Network can catch the live act in Austin. Brooklyn's Darin and Greg Bresnitz combine the best of SXSW — music and food — in the "Snacky Tunes: Food, Music and Internet Radio" panel. The pair, plus chef Richard Blais and editor of Stereogum.com Armit Singh, will also discuss the rise of Internet radio shows. (Friday, March 16)
At Rachael Ray's party at Stubb's BBQ musical acts Train and Billy Gibbons will perform while guests snack on dishes like "brisket on a biscuit" with barbecue sauce, vegetarian and gluten-free nachos, and refried beans. (Saturday, March 17)