Burnt-ends cheesecake!

Aside from being really great at his job and making my job so much easier, my coworker John Lakavage is a huge connoisseur of Texas BBQ. Yesterday at the office, he brought a cheesecake that he made. Not just any cheesecake, though. He made it with Freedman's Bar burnt ends that he candied. I wasn't there for the initial cutting, but I made it before it was all gone. Some pics:

Memories of meat at Freedmen's Bar (Austin, TX)

After eating at Stiles Switch, I took several of the members of Twisted Sister to Freedmen's Bar for another meal. The group had a huge spread of meats and sides. They ate. I took pictures. As I mentioned, my iPhone was stolen a couple of days later, so I lost all of my pictures. So many food pics from Freedmen's gone. No pics of the brisket. No pics of the pork belly. No pics of the pit chili. No pics of the German potatoes. No pics of the...you get it. I'll just have to go back and take pics all over again.

Readers' Choice Award: Best Atmosphere of 2012

Winners (tie): Louie Mueller (Taylor), Opie's (Spicewood), Salt Lick (Driftwood), Smitty's (Lockhart) - pictured in this order from top to bottom

Others receiving votes: Cooper's, Franklin, Freedmen's, JMueller, Snow's, Stanley's, Taylor Cafe

Freedmen's set to open in Austin

The Austin-BBQ scene continues to grow, as another restaurant opens tomorrow in the West Campus area of town: Freedman's. From the pictures, seems it's a sit-down, upscale restaurant & bar. Not a typical BBQ joint, but this town will take all comers, so we'll see how it plays out. Our friend The Scrumptious Chef attended last night's soft opening. Read what he has to say about it. Welcome to Austin, Freedmen's!