West Texas Adventures: Marfa

If you haven't heard of Marfa, it's an eclectic, artsy town that is planted in the middle of what-seems to be nowhere.
 

It’s known for several artistic and culinary attractions, including Marfa Prada, which was featured in the Fort Davis post, and the mysterious Marfa lights. We attempted to see the lights one evening, but unfortunately they did not appear for us that night.

Most of our Marfa exploration included grub. Our first bite was at the Pizza Foundation, a refurbished gas station-turned-restaurant and contemporary art gallery. We waited forever for custom-order slices rather than ordering ready-made slices (our bad), but the result was still thin, fresh, gooey yumminess.

We also had a nice dinner out at Cochineal, a top-notch West Texas dining experience with a fresh, eclectic, changing menu. The restaurant is owned by two New York chefs who relocated to Marfa and opened Cochineal's doors in 2008.

Our complete meal derived of small plates included Brussels sprouts baked in cream, a phenomenal garden salad, ratatouille Provençal, country style pork pate and Texas quail over sweet potato puree and cherry wine sauce. Unfortunately, they were out of the shrimp and grits and the date pudding, both items that we were eager to try. The salad - crisp fried goat cheese with roasted golden beets, garden greens, pickled fennel and Toshi’s dressing - was hands down one of the best salads I have ever eaten, and it could have easily been the only thing I ate that night. The Brussels sprouts made it on my list as favorite #2. The rest was good, but a little cold and a bit small. The excessively long wait for the latter items might have also skewed my opinion… or the amazing salad was just too hard to beat.

Our last Marfa foodie adventure happened after we put away a couple of drinks at Planet Marfa.

This bar was so cool and relaxing and had the most unique layout, including a full-scale tepee hut dropped into the ground with a fire pit and seating inside. I wanted to take pictures of every nook and cranny in the place but decided against it, as I would have looked like a total creep while doing so and probably would have embarrassed Jeff in the process. Personally, this bar is a must-visit Marfa stop.

Back to food, across the street from Planet Marfa was the Museum of Electronic Wonders and Late Night Grilled Cheese Parlour, usually open Friday and Saturday nights from 9:30 p.m. –12:30 or 1:00 a.m., serving slam-diggity grilled cheese menu options. The grilled cheeses were out of this world (we had the #2 and #4), and the decor made me feel a little crazy.

 

 

 

 

The owner is also the owner of the Food Shark Mediterranean-by-way-of-West-Texas food trailer, the most talked about eatery in Marfa, but we didn't get to taste test it due to missing its open hours (Tuesday through Friday, 11:30 a.m. –3:00 p.m.).

In Marfa, you not only get quirky food, you also get quirky accommodations. For our last night we stayed at El Cosmico, a camp ground offering tent camping, safari tents, teepees and trailers.

 

 

We chose, due to limited availability/options, the 1953 Vegabond trailer, which fortunately had an indoor toilet and shower.

The place was nostalgic; the weather was perfect (as it was all weekend); and we more than enjoyed the relaxation.

There are many other Marfa hotels, actual hotels, that I've heard of and would like to stay one day as well. Actually, there are MANY things left for us to do and see in Marfa. They just didn't all fall right in timing this trip.

If you are ever interested in visiting Marfa, give me a shout. I have several suggestions and tips based on what we did and didn't do, what I've heard of and what I'd like to do.

All-in-all Marfa was as Marfa as I expected!