Mat Diablo is Sr. Program Manager at Slacker Radio.
What was the food highlight of your year?
My food highlight of the year doesn’t change much from year to year. It’s going home for the holidays and eating family-style Basque food at the JT Basque Bar & Dining Room in my hometown of Gardnerville, NV. They make a traditional cocktail called a Picon Punch that is the perfect accompaniment to tongue stew, cabbage soup, and lamb chops. That, and the fried oysters at Ranch 616 in Austin.
What was the music highlight of your year?
This was a year of finally getting to see bands that I loved as a kid but was either too young or too remote to have seen the first time around. This included, but was not limited to:
RFTC’s first show back at Bar Pink in SD, and then again on Halloween and at Riot Fest
The Dismemberment Plan, Superchunk, and Chuck Regan at Riot Fest Denver
The Ocean Blue at SXSW and Satellite in LA
The Residents at the Belly Up
And of course- the almighty Knapsack at The Void in SD.
Also, I flew to Reno for one night to see The Bronx play some shitty tweeker bar, I won $2500 at the casino across the street, and The Bronx killed everybody (as usual).
Honorable mention goes to Melt Banana and Retox at the Casbah, Parquet Courts at ACL, Twin Shadow at Casbah, and Speedy Ortiz at Soda Bar in SD.
Was there a moment when food and music came together in a memorable way?
A traditional sushi restaurant called Sushi Tadokoro opened up near the Casbah, and they’ve got the freshest sashimi, nicest chefs, and best omakase in town. It’s nice to have a… lighter alternative to La Posta, Dos Brasas, or El Zarape on show nights.