I think I have a new favorite restaurant here in Austin: South Congress Cafe. (Don’t worry, Trudy’s; you’re still up in the top two.) We went to South Congress Cafe for lunch a few weeks ago (it’s just a few blocks from where I get my hair cut), and we tried it for dinner on Saturday. It was a mob, but holy smokes, it was delicious. Great food, good service, a full bar (with 3 different flavors of Grey Goose!), good wine… and did I mention the great food? Unfortunately, I didn’t have my camera, but the next time we go — and we’ll be going again soon, I’m sure — I’ll take some pictures. But in the meantime…

A few weeks ago, AEJ and I had dinner with the Junkins at a restaurant here in Austin called Jeffrey’s (not to be confused with the SNL-parodied clothing store in Manhattan, which you can tell is way too cool for school from their all-black-and-white-text-only website). Jeffrey’s — the restaurant — is a much more approachable experience, and considerably tastier.

AEJ started with this awesome tuna tartare.

I started with beef carpaccio.

For her main course, AEJ had a steak with this awesome scalloped potato thing. Man alive, it was a tasty treat. (The steak is hiding behind the potato thing.)

I opted for the fish, which I have to say was… delicious.

Deserts, unfortunately, were really ugly. Oh wait – no they weren’t.

Everything was great. It’s a lot pricier than, say, South Congress Cafe, but it makes for a lovely and tasty evening.

Now I’m starving. What the hell is for dinner?

I got a new lens yesterday — the Canon 24-70mm f/2.8 L. I think this is going to be my new all-purpose lens. I enjoyed using the 35mm f/1.4, but I don’t think my copy is very good, as anything shot faster than f/2 is usually out of focus.  I’ll be selling that lens, as well as my Canon 24-105mm f/4 L. The new 24-70 will focus a lot closer than the 24-105 did (making it great for restaurant use), pictures are a lot prettier at f/2.8 than at f/4, and a zoom is more versatile than a 35mm prime.

When I was playing with the lens last night, I took two pictures — one with the flash, and one without. My one piece of advice to anybody taking a picture with any camera: do not ever use a direct flash. You might get a shot with a flash that you couldn’t get otherwise, but it’s almost always going to look like arse. I would say that I’ll never post a picture on here with a flash (although I did it once to illuminate an otherwise “scary” ride on the Santa Cruz boardwalk), but just to make a point, here’s a picture of Loki with no flash, taken last night:

And here’s a shot with a flash.

See? Even Loki can’t withstand the harshness of a flash. Imagine how your sushi would feel.

Back to work!  Can your middle school band play in syncopated 5/4? If so, the piece I’m writing for Deer Path Middle School will be the perfect piece for you. If not, but you want the band to learn to play in syncopated 5/4, the piece I’m writing for Deer Path Middle School will be the perfect piece for you. And did I mention the cheese grater?

Last Friday night, Frank Ticheli organized a dinner for a bunch of composers who were at the TMEA convention.  We went to Mi Tierra.  It was a zoo, but it was popular for a reason: it’s a fun place to eat.   Oh, and they put a mustachioed President Obama on the cover of their menu. “Yes We Can — Serve you a tasty enchilada combo.”

Here, Michael Markowski (left) and Joel Puckett show their respective “Hello, ladies,” greetings.

Hooray! The mariachi guys are here! Puckett requests his favorite song, “Ramblin’ Man.”  Guitar dude is stumped.

Puckett later asked why the bass player always has the highest voice. We thought about it, and it’s true. The Police? Highest voice: Sting. The Beatles? Highest voice: Paul. Go ahead. Prove us wrong.

Finally, the drinks arrived. Steve Bryant was thrilled.

When the food arrived, we were all pretty psyched, but no one as much as Frank Ticheli.

Frank told us that he’s going to buy a new car this spring. I suggested that he should be driving a BMW 7-series. Sure, this is a $100K car, but you are Frank Ticheli, I insisted. Frank said he couldn’t afford it, but I insisted that he couldn’t afford not to get it. I told him that he should be living according to this credo: “You can always make more money, Frank. You can’t always make more memories.” I am, I’d like to think, the best shopping enabler alive today. You’re welcome, Economy.