Big Red Car here. It is cold in the ATX. It will last until Friday when it is supposed to be 70F again.

In this cold, you require some tender, loving care. You need some comfort food.

You need blueberry pancakes at the Counter Cafe.

First, let’s make damn sure we’re all on the same wave length here, dear friends. This used to be an Austin secret and it is a discreet and intimate space. Do not tell anyone who has just immigrated from California. They have to discover it themselves. Rules are rules.

Second, the blueberry pancakes themselves. I will go right for the kill. Here they are.

This is a single pancake — blueberry pancake — cut in half. They are big. Then you stack them and butter them and maple syrup them. [Pro tip: get some extra maple syrup right up front and ask the folks to melt you some butter. Trust me on this.] Let them rest for sixty seconds.

You’re going to want some spicy sausage patties. Very nicely spiced. You will want an Arnold Palmer, tart enough to cut the sweetness of the blueberry pancakes.

When you bite into them, you will savor them like Christmas. Like the Fourth of July fireworks.

The Counter Cafe is a little place. Notice how little here.

They haven’t taken down their Christmas decorations yet. They like to take their time and make changes slowly. The Boss’s table is the empty one at the lower right corner of the picture.

These blueberry pancakes are what are known as “world peace” pancakes — the kind of pancakes that if everyone in the Middle East ate them at the same time, world peace would break out.

Many a tribulation has found its irrelevance after a good breakfast of blueberry pancakes at the Counter Cafe. [Do not tell any more hipsters or California immigrants about this place. It’s our little secret and you are very good at keeping secrets. Right? Uh, right?]

But, hey, what the Hell do I really know anyway? I’m just a Big Red Car. Counter Cafe closes early so get there right now. Say “comfort food.”