This is my third post about East Side Show Room.

....but I can't help it.

It's too photogenic!

East Side Show Room is the restaurant equivalent of that friend who looks good no matter what they do. Make-up, no make-up, cocktail dress, sweat pants, coiffed or shaved head. I've never seen my East Side Show Room look anything less than ravishing.

My friends Kelly and Ashley and I visited ESSR last night for wine and desserts.  Here is what we saw! 

(Note to SXSW attendees. Before the madness begins, plan yourselves a stop on Austin's east side to visit this local treasure. I promise you won't be sorry.)

I love East Side Show Room, even when you have to wait.

It's true. You do have to wait a while to get your food, or even your drink, at East Side Show Room.

But I don't care. I love it anyway.

Last night, I joined a handful of friends at ESSR while R. stayed home and practiced drums. Have I told you about R. and his drum zen state? I don't think I have. Well, this man can play drums for hours, which is equal parts unfathomable and astounding to a person like me, a person with the attention span/memory of a goldfish. I have always hoped that by marrying him some of his super hobby powers will rub off on me, and I think it's working because, guess what? This blog just had it's two-year-old birthday! Good job, blog.

Anyway, Kerissa - cute short black bob below - made it into a lot of these pictures, as well she should. She's a teacher and she works for Filter! Talk about hip. You'll also see friends Andrew, Marty, and Frank.

Marty and Frank are on the bottom right, and don't you love the quizzical look Frank is giving him? Especially since Marty is grinning madly. Almost like he's UP to something.

More very adorable people, Chris and Ashley. You may remember Ashley from when we were talking about red lips a while ago, and she inspired me to try out red lips too. I think we are on the verge of a tidier street style here in Austin, and red lips are just the beginning.

Also, you would have loved this so much Reader. There was a jug band playing at ESSR, and while I'm not certain of this I'm going to venture a guess and say they were No Prospects. ESSR's website calendar doesn't say for sure but judging by the band's description this sounds about right. Anyway, a while back, you know how The Gourds did a cover of "Gin & Juice" and essentially blew everyone's mind? Well....

That is a picture of No Prospects covering Ludacris' "What's Your Fantasy!" It was GENIUS and very much a crowd sing-along. (It's a little embarrassing to open your mouth and realize you know every word to that dirty, filthy song.)

Finally, we made a New Year's Resolution list. This was a collective effort made by all of the lovely people here who I did and did not get pictures of, as well as a second group I like to call "The Gang," i.e. a stack of postcards with pictures of 70's catalogue men that I carry around for laughs. The Gang was featured on my wedding invitations and now they are helping turn New Year's Resolutions into reality. I'll show them to you sometime as truly, there's not much The Gang can't do. Except look bad in tidy whities.

I'm afraid to tell you that my resolution for 2010 is frightfully vague - "BALANCE" - but, oh well. I'm thinking it'll be more like a mantra as that is what I need sometimes.

The new foodie bait: East Side Show Room

"You have to eat there."

"Oh my God, it's gorgeous."

"I PLAN TO DELIVER MY FIRST-BORN CHILD THERE."

Our friends' breathless reviews of the East Side Show Room were getting to be a little much. So naturally, R. and I had to go.

Open exactly 11 days, East Side Show Room is a '20s/'30s-style bistro on east 6th, right next to Shangri La. We heard about it through our buddy Dan who works for Farm to Table, a service that delivers food from local farmers to area restaurants.

East Side Show Room is equal parts pre-Depression music hall, French cabaret, and Amélie. Every detail is impossibly quaint, right now to the small Mason jars you sip wine out of. (Note to gentlemen: Date Night solid gold.)

R. and I ate on the back patio, but my bathroom sleuthing skills and I sussed out the rest of the premises.



See those pics? That's the bathroom!

For dinner, we split a summer tarragon salad and a lamb / goat burger (forgot to snap pics of those), and since it was Pay Day, we celebrated our replenished bank accounts with a lavender-cayenne chocolate torte.

(You can't see it here, but R. is peering down at this torte like a wildebeest in heat. Quite unsettling, actually.)

When we arrived at East Side Show Room, it was already PACKED. With moody low lighting, a seasonal menu and a warm, neighborhood-eatery vibe, it's no surprise this place already has an evangelistic clientele in less than two weeks.

Before leaving I handed Mickie Danae, East Side Show Room's owner, my card and begged her to let me interview her. For Austinist, this blog, A.V. Austin, the nearest bathroom stall wall....whatever. The public needs to know.

Speaking of writing. On a COMPLETELY different topic entirely, my interview with Pink Nasty and Black Nasty will appear on The Deli early next week. I announce it because if you know anything, anything at all about the Nasty siblings, you know it will be.....how shall we put this, "entertaining?" (The NSFW kind of entertaining.) Possibly the best interviewees I've ever had.