Paul Qui

Austin’s South by Southwest (SXSW) festival is embracing a much more prominent culinary element this year with SouthBites, a curated line-up of gourmet food trucks and trailers. Paul Qui, executive chef/owner of East Side King and the yet-to-be-opened Qui, is in charge of orchestrating the new event.

According to the SXSW website, “SouthBites is operating for all nine days of SXSW (March 8-16), open to the public and located right across the road from the Austin Convention Center. It will be an essential destination for thousands of hungry music, film, and interactive fans and industry players.”

“SXSW has always been an innovator in music, film, and technology, and I’m excited about being part of the food aspect,” Qui told TEXAS MONTHLY. Details are still being pieced together, and Qui said that the food truck/trailer line-up hasn’t been finalized quite yet.

Tagged: austin, food trailers, food trucks, Layne Lynch, Paul Qui, SouthBites, SXSW

East Side King‘s new food truck will reopen at 6 p.m. on Thursday (October 11) at the Grackle with a revamped menu. “The food is surprisingly refined for a food truck,” Qui told TEXAS MONTHLY. “We have items like saba (mackerel), quail, unagi (eel), and foie, among other delicious surprises.”

To get a sneak peek of what’s to come from East Side King’s Paul Qui and Moto Utsunomiya, check out this video below:

East Side King – The New Grackle from Christian Remde on Vimeo.

Tagged: austin, East Side King, food trailers, Grackle, Layne Lynch, Moto Utsunomiya, Paul Qui

Flickr/Sean Loyless

Equipped with cash, personal utensils, and moist towelettes, a peaceable horde of eaters descended on the Gypsy Picnic Trailer Food Festival the minute the gates opened. Employing a divide-and-conquer approach, they dispersed to the forty or so trailers, only to return minutes (not hours) later with their spoils, ready to load up their commandeered picnic tables with paper boats of bacon fried rice, Loaded Nacho-Dillas, and Jalapeño Shrimp Bopper Salads.

Meanwhile, I sat ensconced in a tent with nine other lucky souls, honored with the opportunity to serve as a judge for the Gypsy Picnic Cook-Off, one of the perks of which was having all kinds of delectable dishes brought to me (the others being my own parking space and an unsullied portable toilet).

After about an hour spent stuffing ourselves, we chose the winners. Austin heavyweight Torchy’s Tacos got Best Taco (Baja Shrimp). East Side King cleaned up, winning both Fan Favorite and Best on a Bun (Poor Qui’s, with roasted pork belly, hoisin, and cucumber kimchee). Kebabalicious got the Best Vegetarian award, for their falafel kebab, and Mmmpanadas’ Traditional Argentinean empanada won the Best Ethnic category. Best Dessert went to Hey Cupcake, for their Pumpkinator. And MamboBerry took Best Drink, for their strawberry basil smoothie (which was, unfortunately, the only entry in the category but still a big hit in the judges’ tent).

It was nice to see everyone having such a good time, since the overall response to the first Gypsy Picnic, last year, was less than charitable, with complaints about long lines, insufficient food, and a bunch of other annoyances you’d expect from an inaugural endeavor of that size.

But, as Oprah says, when you know better you do better. Other than a dust storm here and there and a real-live dustup between Firefly Pies’ wood-fired oven and the fire marshal, there wasn’t much to complain about this year. So kudos to organizers Tiffany Harelik, the Sustainable Food Center, and C3 Presents. I mean, really, live music, beer, activities for kids, rest stations for dogs, and every major food trailer from the area, parked in one beautiful place for nine hours (which solves two of the biggest obstacles to satisfactory trailer dining right there). What more can you ask for? Here’s to next year.

Tagged: East Side King, food trailers, Gypsy Picnic, Hey Cupcake, Kebabalicious, MamboBerry, Torchy's Tacos

I braved a sushi trailer in June and lived to tell about it.

Starting today, I’ll be posting a weekly Trailer Thursday edition of our Eat My Words blog to let you know which food trailers are toothsome and which are tasteless. For my initial foray, I picked one that hasn’t gotten a lot of attention yet: Sushi A-Go-Go, located in the parking lot of a gas station and convenience store in Central Austin.

I confess, I expected to find sushi that didn’t quite compare to the prepacked stuff from Whole Foods. But the Japanese couple that owns the trailer serves around thirty fresh, delicious rolls. Of the four I tried, the highlight was the Sunshine—salmon, avocado, and just-ripe mango. My second-favorite was the Surf and Turf roll: tempura shrimp and grilled beef accompanied by cilantro and green-leaf lettuce. Candied jalapeños lining the inside delivered a spicy-sweet kick, but the slightly bland jalapeño mayo topping didn’t impress. My least-favorite was the fake-tasting “krab salad” in the Fat Samurai roll (honestly, what was I thinking—”krab salad”?). But the Rock ‘n Roll redeemed the experience, with crispy shrimp, carrots, and sprouts.

Although I could have sat down to eat at one of the picnic tables (with umbrellas) beside the trailer, I took everything home, since the smell of the gas station next door was just a little too hard to ignore. One last tip: Be prepared to wait, or call ahead, as rolls are made on the spot.

(Trailer Thursday will report mainly in Austin, where locals are opening more mobile eateries each week than we thought possible. But we’re always on the prowl for new places in other cities or feedback about tried-and-true ones, so add a comment to our site or send us an e-mail.)

Tagged: food trailers, sushi, Trailer Thursday