Doro Travels: Top 5 Things To Do in Austin, Texas
I have loved Austin ever since I binge watched Season 6 of Queer Eye. I loved the culture, the fashion, and the energy. Being a budding tech hub doesn’t hurt its case either ;)
I took a 12 day vacation to Texas in July/ August of 2022 and visited Austin, San Antonio, and Houston - I feel like 4 days per city was a good amount of time as it left me wanting more!
Austin is truly the perfect city for a young professional with an abundance of restaurants, nightlife, activities (indoors and outdoors), and entertainment. You can get by on foot and with car share if you’re taking a vacation here, which is fantastic.
Read on for my top 5 must-dos in Austin, Texas!
Doro Dines: Hydra Estiatorio Happy Hour (Buck a Shuck Oysters)
I woke up yesterday with the oddest craving at 7AM: freshly shucked raw oysters. In this economy, buck-a-shuck oysters are hard to come by, but are still around if you really search… luckily, Hydra and Ebisu are still around.
After work, I called up a friend who also happened to be Downtown and we decided that Hydra was the move based on proximity to our offices (#corporategirlies), buck-a-shuck, and the beautiful space. Hydra is a chic, two-level Mediterranean restaurant in the heart of Downtown Vancouver dishing up some of this city’s freshest raw and cooked seafood. Their happy hour runs from 3-6pm and is perfect for anyone who works a typical 9-5(ish).
If you haven’t been to Hydra yet, please do yourself a favour and add it to your list. And if you see a 5’2” corporate girl eating a dozen oysters like it’s nobody’s business, it’s probably my doppleganger…
Gastown Crawl: The Forge, Kozak Ukrainian Eatery, Oak + Fort, & Is That French?
Earlier this year, I was invited to a Gastown Crawl, hosted by the Gastown Business Improvement Association (BIA), for a summer evening to explore Gastown, Vancouver’s most historic neighbourhood. With over 55 new businesses newly opened in Gastown over the past year, the community is alive again with new spirit and excitement. I frequent Gastown all the freaking time: you can usually find me inhaling sushi at a concerning speed at Momo Sushi, searching for my next statement piece at The Latest Scoop, and fawning over home goods at Old Faithful Shop.
We started the evening at The Forge, a hidden cocktail and whiskey bar at Smith’s Irish Pub, stopped by Kozak Ukrainian Eatery for a treat, trotted over to Blood Alley for a tour of the area’s newest development, attended a special retail preview of Oak + Fort’s newest flagship location, and ended the night with drinks and appies at Is That French, a natural wine and raw bar.
Travel Guide: Austin, San Antonio, & Houston (Texas)
We are back to some airplane lunacy/ blogging as I’m currently in the air, en route from Houston to Vancouver! I just wrapped up a 12 day vacation in Texas, where we visited Austin, San Antonio, and Houston. While the vacation is still fresh in my mind, I wanted to give y’all a rundown of my overall trip.
I’ll also share my favourite restaurant and experience from each city so you can add these ideas to your personal destination guides as well.
Doro Dines: O’SOMAE
I am your very typical millennial: slightly overworked, usually juggling 1-2 side projects, and extremely fond of brunch. During my trip to Toronto in April 2022, I had the opportunity to try a new brunch spot in East Chinatown with 3 amazing friends!
O’SOMAE is located at Gerrard St E and Broadview Ave, located in Toronto’s East Chinatown. Broadview is the closest TTC station (17 min walk or 7 min bus). They serve your typical western brunch fare with poutines, burgers, waffles, bennies, and traditional American breakfasts. O’SOMAE also offers beautiful brunch picnic boxes (takeout only) that appeared to be all the rage during Toronto’s lockdowns last year.
I ordered the chicken and waffles and a duck poutine to share. Allow me to walk you through it!
Doro’s Day Off: Recovery (Massage, Cruffin, & Shabu Shabu)
Last week, I poured 150% of myself into showing up for others and I forgot to show up for myself. Between my dad’s birthday dinner, sitting on a virtual panel, dinner with a friend, a day-long branding workshop, and having contractors at my apartment for 3 days straight, I was completely spent. Even my backup tank was empty.
I realized that I needed some self-love and quality solo-time this weekend, so I booked a body oil massage, treated myself to a cruffin, and indulged in some shabu shabu as a tried and true comfort food for a rainy Vancouver day.
Doro Dines: Canffle
Pastries are my love language. My Instagram algorithm is fully aware this love and while casually scrolling through my Explore page one day, I froze in my tracks. I watched someone place an adorable mini croissant in a wafflemaker and witnessed the holy matrimony between a croissant and waffle. The birth of a croffle. I began to salivate… my tastebuds needed to try it.
When a friend told me that a neighbourhood joint serving croffles and breakfast opened up, I knew I had to go.
Introducing Canffle, a bright, compact cafe in Vancouver serving waffle-based plates with a range of unique, sweet, and savoury toppings. They offer croffles and let me tell you, it was everything I imagined and so much more.
Doro Dines: Osteria Savio Volpe
Savio Volpe is one of my favourite restaurants. It’s classic and homey, the vibes are unpretentious, and the service is impeccable.
Whenever I go to Savio Volpe, I struggle to order because my eyes are usually bigger than my stomach. Everything on the menu sounds delectable, from the beet salad to burrata to roasted chicken. A classic Cantonese saying is, “Eyes wide, stomach narrow,” which applies to every facet of my being.
I asked my server for suggestions on what to order and settled on a burrata to start, a ricotta tortelli as my main, and a scoop of pistachio gelato for dessert.
Every bite was perfection.