Pujol is awesome but don't sleep on Quintonil, which might have been the best meal when I was last there. (Though the mole at Pujol was the best dish at a high-end place.)
Nice. Occhipinti is in Austin, just between vintages. Should be available next month. Most ends up in restaurants, but I've seen it at the Austin Wine Merchant.
Dry brine, fresh rosemary, and--right before going onto the grill--fennel pollen. HEB doesn't carry fennel pollen, but it's available on Amazon and is basically fennel seeds on 'roids. The rosemary / fennel combo results in a porchetta-like flavor.
Nope. In fact, I've been using this one somewhat heavily over the past 4 months and haven't changed it yet, though i probably should. It's pretty easy to clean, though after time the residue does build up. Kinda pricey but worth it, I think. Also cool to be able to dial in the temp.
You might want to take a look at the Firefly as well. The new model, while still larger than the Pax, has come down in size. I frequently use it as a portable. It's pure convection and heats up in < 10 secs.