Searsucker in Austin

It’s so cool when online friendships become offline meet-ups, particularly when they happen in fabulous new places. Our Twitter pilot friend PJ just happened to be flying from his home town of Houston to Austin to see Alton Brown when we were in the area. PJ suggested we have dinner at Searsucker.

Searsucker is one of the newer eateries in the Warehouse District, and the 7,000-square-foot space fits in beautifully with the other eclectic offerings.  The decor is vintage Americana meets Anthropologie, and I just wanted to move right in. I’m already figuring out how I can translate the style to our RV!

Our small plate selections included Lobster Mac & Cheese and Spicy Shrimp & Cheddar Bacon Grits.

Chef Brian Malarkey is a “Top Chef “finalist and is currently a judge/mentor on ABC’s new cooking competition show “The Taste” along with Anthony Bourdain, Nigella Lawson and Ludo Lefebvre. His New American menu at Searsucker is innovative and interesting. The “small” plates are actually full-size meals, something PJ and I wished we realized before we ordered four of them! (Mike, a less adventurous eater, stuck with steak and potatoes.) Everything was delicious, and the service was attentive and friendly.

Dessert was the King Sundae. We skipped the caramelized bacon but thoroughly enjoyed the PB Cup ice cream, bruleed bananas, whipped cream, and Cracker Jack bits.

PJ was super excited when Chef Malarkey strolled by our table. He’s apparently not always in the house. We asked our waitress if we could meet Chef, and he came out soon after our request, shaking hands and posing graciously for pictures. PJ was thrilled! Between meeting Chef Malarkey and seeing Alton Brown later in the evening, it was quite a night for him! We were glad to part of the whole thing, especially getting to know PJ in person and enjoying an amazing dinner in an amazing city.

Bob with the Bounder

We always meet interesting people on the road. Bob with the 2001 diesel pusher Bounder was our neighbor at Warrior RV Park in Tulsa.

We started chatting with Bob because he had this really cool slide topper that wrapped around the sides as well as the top of the slide.  Our slide topper was ripped to shreds early in our journey.  We finally took it off completely, and we’ve been looking for just the right the replacement ever since.

We were bummed when Bob told us that the topper had been discontinued. But in the process, Mike was invited into Bob’s spotless rig and got to learn a bit more about him.  Bob was from Worland, Wyoming, which was cool because Mike is from Cheyenne.  Bob’s sole companion was his fluffy white dog Cheebee as his wife had recently passed.  A couple of years ago, his wife had suffered a stroke.  Bob added a lift to the motorhome so that they could continue to enjoy their travels. The lift mechanism was still attached by the door. Bob was in Tulsa to bring his sister home from his wife’s services.  His next stop after winterizing the rig was returning home to Worland.

Bob turned out to be a member of iRV2, one of our favorite forums and the hosts of our first RV rally.  He and Mike are now friends on the forum so they can stay in touch.