Jack Allen's Kitchen Wine Dinner

I recently had a delicious dinner at Jack Allen's kitchen. Now, I know it's down in the great unknown territory of south-west Austin (be careful, there be dragons there), but if you haven't made it down there yet, you really should.

I've eaten there as a regular, run-of-the-mill diner several times now, but those reviews are for another day. This post is about the wonderful wine dinner dinner they invited me to. And I will disclose that I was invited to this fine dinner and hence didn't pay for it (thanks FTC and your new fabulous rules).

First of all, Jack Allen's Kitchen is way way out in southwest Austin. Basically, you go to the Y at Oakhill, take the 71 branch and go a mile. My parents live in that neck of the woods, so its not too far out of the way for me. I can imagine, though, how it might be on the other side of the planet for someone from Pflugerville, but it's well worth the trip. Jack Allen's is the brain child of ex Z-Tejas chef Jack Allen (surprise surprise). He took over the old space where the Y Bar and Grill (then Nunzia's) used to be, and you long time readers will remember how Nunzia's felt about us. So I'm really glad to see something reputable and delicious in it's place.



Like so many of the new mid-dollar restaurants popping up over Austin now, Jack Allen's really focuses on using local ingredients. Their menu is a laundry list of local farms and food producers that brought a little tear to this foodie's eye when she first read. The food is mostly southern and southwestern inspired. It's kind of like everything Z Tejas wishes it normally were but can't be because it's a chain now (and I'll caveat that by saying Z Tejas wine dinners and special menus are delicious, it's just their normal menu that suffers a little).



But enough about other restaurants, it's Jack Allen's you really want to know about. The wine dinner they invited me to a few (cough) months ago was really delicious and interesting. First of all it was multi course, which I am always a sucker for and second, they didn't offer just one wine pairing with each course, they offered two. Now before you accuse me of being a lush, let me describe how awesome this wine pairing was.

The wine portion of the dinner was hosted by local Texas wine producers. For each course, there was one varietal and two wines, one Texas wine, and one other wine that is thought to be a good representation of the varietal. But did you know which was which? No! It was a blind tasting. You would get two small pours of each wine and you had to figure out which was the Texas wine. Sounds like a pretty awesome party doesn't it? It was.

Our welcome wine was a Vermentino. A Vermentino is not a wine you come across a lot, but it's a lovely Italian white wine. It's bright and acidic and is usually made in Corsica. The two Vermentino's they brought were Mandola's and then Gagliardo Favorita.

Mandola's: Fun, popped in my mouth, crisp and acidic, with a nice mineral content, and notes of grapefruit and golden raisin
Gagliardo Favorita: A Sardinian wine. Fruit forward wine with strong flavors of apple, apricot and honey but it had a soapy undertone

Now, I love Texas wines. I am a huge advocate of them. I know a lot of people poo poo them, but I think Texas wines are really unique and interesting. Most of them have such strong and powerful characters, just like everything else in Texas. But sometimes when you compare it to an old world wine, like a Vermentino, with a Texas wine of the same style, the Texas wine just doesn't hold up. So I was really surprised that I enjoyed the Mandola's Vermentino so much. It's bright acidity and mineral notes really made it stand out over the soapy Sardinian wine.

The first course was a Cold smoked and grilled jump shrimp with blackberry and lemon thyme aioli. This shrimp was delicious. It all of the rest of the meal had been horrible (which it wasn't), it would have been worth going to for this shrimp alone. What surprised me the most was how well the thyme, shrimp, and blackberry were together. It's a really different but spectacular combination.


The wine pairing they chose for the shrimp was a Chenin Blanc. They compared a Beringer Chenin Blanc to the local Fall Creek version.

Beringer: Sugary with a mineral overtone and a taste of apricot, melon, and pear
Fall Creek: Golden and red tinged wine with a strong flavor of lemon, golden raisin, dates and candied fruits and a light pear aftertaste with a distinct chemical overtone

Ok, I have to admit, I usually turn my nose up grocery store table wines. But the Beringer Chenin Blanc totally blew me away. It was sweet without being cloying and had nice fruit tones. It paired very well with the shrimp. I gotta tell you folks, for $6.99, thats a great bottle of wine for a light summer dinner (of shrimp of course).

The second course, however, wasn't as strong as the first course of shrimp. It was a Seared Texas Redfish with Texas Citrus Mojo and Wilted Arugula. It just didn't work very well. The taste was rather bland and the textures ended up being homogeneous.

The wine offerings for this course is one of my favorite types of white wine, a Viognier. For having such a fancy, French name, I would argue that most of the great bottles of Viognier out there today are American. California has a few good Viogniers, but the real US Viognier winner are the wineries in Washington. Trust me. The Viogners they chose for this tasting, though, were the Zaca Mesa from Santa Barbara and the local Becker.

Zaca Mesa: A wine from Santa Barbara with flavors of apricot, violet and lavender. High in alcohol content.
Becker: A local Texas wine that's grassy, with a lilac overtone and tastes of green pepper and dill.

In this case, the Texas wine was the winner. The lilac and dill tones of the wine made for a deliciously complex flavor. Plus, I didn't care for this fish course as much, BUT it did pair nicely with the Becker Viognier.

The third course was a Moroccan spiced Texas quail with toasted almond couscous and caramelized peach-honey glaze. The quail was cumin heavy, the couscous was hot and spicy and the glaze was sickly sweet. Individually, each one was too heavily spiced or flavored, but together the heavy spices combined well together. The was the favorite course of my dinner guest and boyfriend. He would NOT stop talking about how awesome this dish was. I thought it was pretty good, but I thought I'd comment that he thought it was amazing.


They paired this spicy, and flavorful course with two wonderful roses, a great selection for this kind of food. This course paired nicely with the Texas rose, the ever present Texas winery, McPherson. It was sweet, with a pop of cherry summer berries and watermelon. The non-Texas comparative Rose, was just not worth mentioning.

The fourth course was a Pecan wood-fired beef tenderloin with shaved yellow grilled corn and cotija. The beef had a salty, smoky crust and a tender texture. The shaved corn with cotija had a casserole-like texture. I felt like I was eating elote casserole and it was delicious! This was a spectacular dish. I've come to find out, they sometimes serve the awesome corn as their veggie side. Make sure you ask for it if you ever go.



They paired this beef course with two Sangioveses. Both were lovely, and to be honest, I couldn't decide which one I liked better. But since I was (cough) getting a little drunk off all he wine, I didn't catch the name of the Chianti Classico vineyard, so we'll have to say the Flat Creek wins, simply because I remembered it.

Flat Creek: Floral with butterscotch and leather undertones
Chianti classico (vineyard unknown): Herby and astringent with heavy tannins. Tasted like a bouquet of flowers with pepper.

After so much decadence, we had to be let down a little by the dessert course. It was a simple but delicious Chocolate truffle. Buttery, smooth, and melt in your mouth delicious. I guess I was looking for something I could really sink my teeth into, but hey, I'm never going to turn down chocolate!

They paired the chocolate with two Bordeaux Blends. The one that stood out the most was the Inwood Estates Magellan. It was herb-y, leathery, smelled of tobacco and had strong, tongue sucking tannins. A very nice Texas wine.

Jack Allen's Kitchen - 8

Green Pastures

In my family, we like brunch. Ok, that's a lie. We LOVE brunch. Every birthday, anniversary, and celebration, seems to surround some sort of brunch. We even have brunch once a month, just because. But last month was my Aunt Mickie's birthday, so what did we do? We went to brunch. And since it was a super special occasion, we decided to go to THE super special occasion brunch restaurant, Green Pastures.

I've heard different opinions of the food at Green Pastures which will be discussed at length in a minute.  Say what you will about the food, but Green Pasture's reputation as a special occasion restaurant is so ingrained in Austin history that it's a force to be reckoned with. People have been coming to Green Pastures for birthday's, anniversaries, engagements, and other special occasions for well over 50 years. And for good reason, the restaurant is in a huge, lovely Victorian and the grounds are well manicured and beautiful.

One of the things they are well noted for, is their huge Sunday brunch buffet. It's one of the larger brunch buffet's in Austin and it's high class all the way. With silver chafing dishes, white linens, ceramic name plates, the class at Green Pastures is in the details.

The buffet is huge. Huge. There is an appetizer table, a small plates table, a salad table, a veggies table, a entrees table, a meat table AND 3 dessert tables. Each table is laden with numerous trays, plates, and cups filled with delectable treats. I'll try my best to review what I've had on my trips to Green Pastures, but their buffet offerings change every week, so you just have to trust that the food is generally pretty good. Some dishes are better than others, the food isn't too horribly original, but all in all the quality of all the food is consistently pretty high.

Here is the small plates portion of the huge buffet table. Check out all the food! Sesame tuna, smoke trout, smoked salmon, little cups of soup or dip, and just different kinds of seafood.


The tomato soup was ok, the white bean dip was pretty awesome (my dad had 2 little cups of them). The seafood is always tasty. Their smoked salmon is always very good, but the trout was a little lacking this time around.

Here is the salad selection on the buffet. I loved the mini wedge salads. What can I say, I'm a sucker for blue cheese and bacon. Sue me. Everything else was just ok. Save your stomach room for the veggies and entrees.



Here is the veggie table. Now, the veggies I've had at Green Pastures have always been really really good. Everyone will attack the buffet and fill up on meat and desserts, but the veggies are the true gems of the buffet. Here are Green Beans, Ginger, Red Pepper and Sweet Corn with Edamame. The sweet corn and edamame was so so tasty. I went back for seconds!



And what fancy schmancy buffet wouldn't include some classic brunch fair. Take these Eggs Benedicts. When is an eggs benedict ever bad? These are pretty typical versions.



Mixed in with the classic brunch entrees are some not so classic brunch fair. Take this roasted pork loin with andouille sausage and fried basil (you had me at fried basil).



It was pretty good, but didn't compare to the best dish on the whole (large and generously laid) table, the Sauteed Flounder with Shrimp, Lobster, Arugula and Fried Capers. Creamy with the flavor of fresh seafood, it melted in my mouth. And the pop in flavor the capers left in my mouth was a nice surprise. D.e.l.i.c.i.o.u.s.



There's even an old school roast beef carver. I think buffet roast beef is overrated and only there because it looks cool, so I didn't bother trying it (but the carver was very nice).



And what huge brunch buffet wouldn't have an equally huge dessert bar? This is only part of the dessert table. It was like 4 times the size of this one picture. Everything I tried was delicious, if a little bit conventional.


And of course when you're done with brunch, you can wonder the beautiful grounds and try to spot the peacocks and peahens. I even saw three little peachicks following a peahen (yeah they're really called peachicks, I googled it).



Next time you're in need of a special occasion brunch and a little peachick spotting, check out Green Pastures.

~Mariah: 8.5

Hoover's

2002 Manor Rd, Austin
(512) 479-0889

13376 US Highway 183 North, Austin
(512) 335-0300

http://www.hooverscooking.com/

I helped my friend celebrate her birthday a few weeks ago. And where did she decide to go? Hoovers. Now I love me some good ole, rib stickin, southern food as much as the next, and at this point in my life, I consider myself somewhat of a connoisseur of chicken fried steak and collard greens. And I have to admit, I’ve had a surprisingly hard time finding quality southern food in this town. When I was a kid, you could go a 100 places in Austin and get a good Chicken Fried Steak, now, I’m hard pressed to name you 5 places that offer it. Maybe that’s a byproduct of people trying to eat healthier today than they did 20 years ago (oh wow, did I just date myself) or maybe it’s a byproduct of Austin’s gentrification. But, Jesus, can’t a girl get a good Chicken Fried Steak anymore??

Anyway, I let my diet barriers drop for one afternoon and had myself a nice, fat, deep fried, hunk of meat covered in cream gravy. It was good, but it wasn’t great. It was much better than that gristly and tasteless Chicken Fried Steak they serve over at Threadgill’s (is it just me or has the quality of food gone way down over there in the last 10 years??). But it paled in comparison to my friends exquisite Chicken Fried Chicken. I swear on everything that is holy that Hoover’s Chicken Fried Chicken is one of the best I have ever eaten. The crunchy flour breading was perfectly deep fried and help up well to the de-crisp-ifying effects of the gravy.


The sides at Hoovers are also worth mentioning (mostly because there are 1000 of them). The Jalapeno Creamed Spinach is amazing. Only one of us ordered it and after the rest of us had tried it, it disappeared quickly. The mustard greens and okra were both very good. The okra breading was crisp and not at all greasy. And the greens were smoky with a little hint of spice to kick it up (a notch, har har). They are, however, on par with what I’ve had at other places around town. The corn bread gets a big thumbs down for being gross and dry. The mac and cheese is tasty, but pretty basic. The yams were ok. And the green beans were yummy, but mostly because they were flavored with my favorite southern ingredient, bacon. Mmmm..

(A random broiled fish one of my friends got, not worth writing home about)

Sooooo, all in all, if you pick your meal properly, you’ll have a great experience at Hoovers. Chicken Fried Chicken, Jalapeno Creamed Corn, Mustard Greens, and Okra are the winners. Enjoy!

~Mariah: 7

Z Tejas

1110 W. 6th Street
Austin, TX 78703
(512) 478-5355

9400 A. Arboretum Blvd
Austin, TX 78759
(512) 346-6328

http://www.ztejas.com/

The first time I dined at ZTejas I was a poor college student being taken out for dinner by my friend and her boyfriend. I was delighted with my jerk chicken salad and could not wait to return. Alas, my budget only afforded such meals on occasion so when I did make it back, it was a treat. It's not that ZTejas is particularly expensive, it's just my budget was more toast and ramen centric.

As the years passed, and paychecks became a part of my life, ZTejas became an old stand by with my core group of girlfriends, particularly for brunch. Then as I branched out and began to explore other places, I became less and less enchanted with the establishment, placing it in the "I won't pitch a fit if my friends want to go but I'll never be the one to suggest it" category. When I went vegetarian, it pretty much went all out the window for me and ZTejas. I've been told they have vegetarian and gluten free menus, but in the past when I've asked for one, the waitstaff has been pretty clueless.

As you might guess, it had been a while since I'd been there when I received an invite to their media preview. I thought it would be a good idea to see what they'd been up to lately. Afterall, Z Tejas and I do share a sordid and complicated past. You can't just turn your back on that kind of history. Plus, if it all went awry, then at least it was free. Turns out they've got a new summer menu that doesn't completely reinvent but may make ZTejas worth visiting again. Although, I'm still not holding my breath to see that vegetarian menu.

I've always been a fan of their cornbread.

The tableside guacamole was very tasty and came topped with pumpkin seeds and cotija cheese. A little pricey at almost $10 an order, but I suppose avocados are fairly expensive.

Yucatan Chile Spiced Shrimp Salad, comes tossed with oranges and watermelon

Crispy Crab Tacos with mango citrus dressing.


Grilled salmon? Looks blackened to me. On a summer vegetable bed of grilled corn, zuchinni.

Ancho and cocoa grilled pork tenderloin on red potato mashers topped with roasted corn, cotija cheese and tarragon aioli. Leslie, my co-diner, said this was an excellent dish.

Ancho fudge pie.

I don't normally eat dessert, but this has been a long time favorite of mine.

And now, the cocktails. None of which blew my mind, but I took one for the team and finished them anyway. ;)

Ginger Pomegranate Rita (or is this the Hibiscus Rita?) with a floating peice of sage.

20th Anniversary Margarita: 6th St Margarita swirled w/ Monin Wildberry Puree, Grand Marnier Liquor, raspberry sugar on the rim

Cazadores Spicy Cucumber Rita.

This last drink was really controversial. I liked it ok, but Leslie nearly spat it out across the table. Logan on the other side of Leslie looked at it a bit cross-eyed too, but Maggie on my left agreed that it was just fine. I think they were going for cucumber refreshing- but the spice really threw that plan off.

So my thoughts? ZTejas is kind of like an exboyfriend you just dated too long. It's comfortable, it's good, you do want to visit every once in a while, but it's hard to get excited about it and some of the same old problems are still there.

My biggest pet peeve about ZTejas has nothing to do with the food. It is the clustermess that happens when you try to check in with the hostess. It always feels like I'm walking into a super packed party no matter how many people are actually dining at the moment. This is particularly bad because hungry people can be really aggressive! Getting my name on the list feels like hard work. A little reorganizing at the entrance would do a lot of good.

By the way, Z Tejas is throwing a 20th anniversary party on September 13th. There's going to be live music (Ray Benson and Asleep at the Wheel), food, drinks and a silent auction benefiting the Lance Armstrong Foundation. Apparently Lance brainstormed the idea for his charity over margaritas at the 6th street location. Tickets are $65 and you can get them at Z Tejas' downtown location or by calling 866.598.3527


Laura

The Screaming Goat

900 W 10th Street
Austin, TX 78703
http://www.thescreaminggoat.com/
(512) 477 GOAT

The first time I went to Screaming Goat I was tasked with picking up breakfast for 15 at my office. I was running late so I tried to call in and order. The phone line was busy for about half an hour. I rushed my procrastinating ass over to their 10th and Lamar location (formerly known as Chuco's) and in a panicked tone asked for 15 breakfast tacos. I apologized to the man behind the counter for such a ridiculous rush order and explained that I had tried to call. He told me he was on the phone right then and there with the phone company trying to get them to fix his messed up second line and hence he was tying up the first one. I eventually got my tacos and made it to work only about 10 minutes late for my meeting and with a $5 gift certificate the man at Screaming Goat had given me as an apology for the whole phone line shenanigans.

My coworkers LOVED the tacos. "Screaming Goat? What kind of a name for a taco stand is that? And, oh, it's so far from Round Rock. Nope, sorry, I'll never make it down there, but keep bringing in the tacos!"

Have I mentioned that since getting laid off I don't miss having to drive to Round Rock for work everyday?

Some of my favorite things about Screaming Goat is that there are $2 beer specials (on Mondays $1.50 Tecates) every day of the week. Food specials start everyday at 4 pm. On Sundays and Thursdays it's 75 cent flautas.

Plate of Flauta's

Having a trivia night and a vegetarian menu gets extra points in my book. Also, when the weather isn't 105 degrees (does anybody remember what that was like???) you can sit pleasantly at their picnic tables outside.

Picnic tables in the back

My favorite item is the migas taco. They offer six different varieties of salsa to accompany your meal ranging from mild to hot. I usually go for verde which definitely has a kick to it. Boyfriend and I usually pick up a few late on Sunday mornings before settling down to watch political tv shows in my living room.

Migas tacos and Gwen Ifill at the same time? Awesome.

-Laura

Perla's

1400 S. Congress Ave.
Austin, TX 78704
512 291 7300

http://www.perlasaustin.com/

(All delectible photos are courtesy of Maggie's Austin. Thanks Maggie and Josh!)

Boy life has been amazingly busy lately! It seems like I’ve been running at full steam for a month now! Bachelor #7 and I didn’t work out, so I’m back on the dating bandwagon again. I’ve even been on two dates this week, but more on those in future posts. I spent a weekend in Seattle, I went to an awesome Bloggers Potluck, I managed to see Star Trek at the IMAX not once, but twice (and I’m totally in love with 4 of the characters). I went to a Derby Party and a BBQ where Lee smoked about 30 pounds of meat (both on the same day no less). And in the midst of all that, I’ve had to arrange the move to my new shiny downtown apartment AND fight my evil health insurance company who thinks the ability to climb 1 flight of stairs on my bum knee is recovered enough deny me any more physical therapy.
I feel a little stretched thin to say the least. It’s hard to believe It’s been almost a month since I last posted! But to be honest, I haven’t been venturing into many new restaurants lately. It seems the bad economic hurricane has finally hit Central Texas, and its effects have been particularly harsh on early 30-somethings. Apparently we’re getting to the age where we’re no longer college-new-hire-cheap but we don’t have enough experience and are thus the first to get cut when the economy takes a dip. Of all my friends in Austin, probably a good 75% are either currently out of work or have been out of work. And while I haven’t been hit by Hurricane Geitner, I have been feeling the effects of its refugees in the form of fewer dinners out with friends.

However, I have managed to get to a few new restaurants (entirely for your benefit of course), by using stealth, guile, and downright trickery. Take Mother’s Day, for instance. Sure, my family could have been thrifty and settle for a perfectly nice meal at home. We could have grilled some salmon, had some fresh fruit and salad, and called it a day. But I, fellow foodies, was looking out for your best interests. I thought why settle for brunch at home, when I could try (and review) a new restaurant! So I sneakily made reservations at Perla’s, a new seafood restaurant on South Congress (where Mars used to be). Who would say no to my Mom’s favorite type of food, seafood? No one!

Now, the first thing we noticed was that parking was a little tricky. My Father and Aunt, who always manage to get rock star parking, found spots in front of the restaurant on the street. I, however, knew about the free parking garage behind Cissi’s, and opted to park there (yes you read that right, there is free parking on SoCo). My brother, however, has neither luck nor SoCo know-how and ended up parking down the street. Use the parking garage, it’s there for a reason.

The second thing you’ll notice about Perla’s is their amazing patio. If you dig back in your memory, you may recall that Mars had a very nice people watching patio, and Perla’s has managed to take that trendy see-and-be-seen patio and transform it into something comfortable and a lot less snooty. The zen and BDSM inspired décor of Mars has been replaced with the softer, gentler feel of a mid-Atlantic boardwalk. The tables are reminiscent of smooth 1950’s wooden speedboat hulls, the sunny yellow chairs and blue and white striped umbrellas remind you of flags on a schooner, and the white painted sisal stools are oh so Atlantic. There’s even a white sanded shuffleboard you can try your hand at. The inside of Perla’s is equally mid-Atlantic and 1000% transformed from Mars’s old décor. Instead of metal and black lacquer, there is distressed wood, sunny yellow paint, and an enormous (and pristinely kept) fish tank.

We seated ourselves in the corner table right next to the patio and surveyed the gigantic menus. Seriously, the menus took up the whole table, and then some. But we managed to balance the menus without a major incident. Everything on the brunch menu sounded really amazing too. Note to oyster lovers – there finally an Austin restaurant offering more than one kind of oyster! There were also smoked fish dishes, egg and fish dishes, fish sandwiches, and an assortment of sides that sounded almost as good as the main dishes. I decided on the Lobster Coddled Eggs. My mom went with the Lobster Rolls and several other folks ordered the Big Blue (a blueberry and banana pancake). My dad, being ever sensible ordered several sides to eat as a meal.

I love, love, love oysters, and even though its not technically oyster season anymore (May is not a "R" month), I thought, what the hell, if they’re offering, I’ll try them. I honestly forget which oysters I picked, but they were tasty. Not as awesome as the oysters I’ve had in Seattle and Vancouver, but better than the gulf oysters we normally get here. There were even accompanied with Mignonette sauce, something you rarely see in Texas. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve come to really love a good, musky vinegar and shallot mignonette sauce with my oysters, but it used to be a treat I’d only get in coastal states. Not anymore. I’ll definitely be going back to Perla’s for an oyster and mignonette dinner in the future.

My father ordered several hush puppies and fried okra as an appetizer and both were very good. The hush puppies had a nice bite to them and were deep fried to a nice golden-brown crispness. I liked them so much a snuck a second one when no one was looking. The okra was probably one of my favorite parts of the whole meal. They were coated in a crisp cornmeal batter and had a very satisfying crunch before the okra goo covers your tongue (okra goo is called mucilage just fyi).

My mom opened her Mother’s Day gifts while sipping a nice (but pricey) mimosa. We all laughed at the silly cards people had given her (while I stole yet another hush puppy, shhh). When the plates arrived, we were greeted with a lovely, light seafood smell. My Lobster coddled eggs were amazing. Layers of baked egg, generous chunks of lobster and the delicate flavor of tarragon all mingled together perfectly. When placed on a crisp home baked cracker, the entire dish was perfection. My mother’s Lobster roll was another story. The generous bread roll was soft on the inside and crispy on the inside and absolutely brimming with large chunks of lobster. But a bite of the mayonnaise covered lobster was rather bland and uninteresting. My mother really loved it though, so I guess if you’re looking for something bland, creamy and fresh, this is the sandwich for you.


I was a little concerned about the pancakes when they came out. They looked kind of gross and dumpy - a huge blueish brown lumpy mess. But one slice into the steamy pancake revealed large chunks of banana and blueberry and an amazingly fresh, naturally flavor. The most disappointing (side) dish were the lobster stock cheese grits my father ordered. I was expecting something amazing and lobster infused, but got run of the mill cheese grits akin to something you’d get at a back-water Texas diner. There wasn’t even a hint of lobster stock.

The dessert, however, was an existential experience. The Wild Blueberry shortcake was nothing less than spectacular. Crisp, butter shortcake and tiny fresh blueberries in a sweet syrup with crème fraiche and sugared thyme. Everything blended perfectly and left for a plate-licking experience that I will definitely be repeating again.

On the whole, the dishes they got right, they got REALLY right, and the dishes they got wrong turned out being so-so. But nothing was outright aweful and the atmosphere is lovely.

Bottom Line: Fresh and Tasty Coastal Favorites with a great patio
Mariah: 8.5

Old Pecan Street Cafe

310 East 6th Street

Austin, TX 78701

(512) 478-2491
http://www.oldpecanstcafe.com/

Since this weekend is the Pecan Street Festival, it only seems fitting to talk about my last dining experience at the Old Pecan Street Cafe. Despite having lived in Austin for 10 years (give or take a short break here and there) I only recently ventured to this restaurant for the first time.

It was a Saturday morning and the evening before I bicycled down to meet some friends at Lavaca Street Pub. At the end of the evening, I was not in the right mental state to ride my bike home through downtown, so I had a friend drop me off at home. This meant that I had to return the next day to retrieve the bicycle.

Boyfriend was in town and we were a bit hungry. I did some quick research for good Saturday brunches at restaurants that we had yet to try and came up with Capitol Brasserie. This was odd as I certainly did not remember this place existing, but I shrugged my shoulders and we ventured there anyway.

The good news: my bike was still there, thanks bike lock! The bad news: Capitol Brasserie was not. Despite all it's online accolades, the place had shut down and been replaced by Imperia. I scrambled into the depths of my mind to remember other places in the area for brunch. To my understanding Sagra and Moonshine were only open for brunch on Sundays. I wasn't in the mood for Taverna and their bottomless mimosas. Driskill - not feeling it. What about the rest of dirty Sixth? Does Parkside do brunch? Then I thought - ah yes, we've never been to Old Pecan Street Cafe.

Walking up to the restaurant we spotted pleasant looking entrees gracing the outdoor tables lined up at the sidewalk. This was a good start.

We entered into the place with lots of natural light and an old timey wooden feel. Antique framed maps and vintage photographs cover the walls and the tables are set with small simple flowers. The restaurant romantically takes you back to a time when Sixth Street was nothing like it is today. No vomiting college students or bride-to-be's in condom veils, just a shady lane with lots of pecan trees and a few restaurants and businesses.

Unfortunately, we would find that the dishes hadn't been updated much since then either.

Boyfriend ordered a raspberry chipotle pork chop that was served with a salad, rice and mixed vegetables. He said the food was alright but that the raspberry sauce was just a bit too sweet for him and the vegetables were overcooked. It looks OK.

I ordered the Crepes d' Epinard- egg crepes filled with fresh baby leaf spinach and blended imported cheese, served with a garden salad, broccoli and cantaloupe. Sounds delicious, right? Well... I'll just make you a diagram.

I appreciate American food and it wasn't terrible per se, but it really could use some sprucing up. A menu revamp or new chef would not at all endanger the charm old-timey feel that the restaurant delivers.

Bottom Line: A really cool and charming well preserved physical space that serves food like your grandmother used to cook if she cooked average quality food in the just barely post-depression era.

Ugh, I feel like I've just punched someone's grandma by saying that.

Laura ~ 5.5

Trio Happy Hour

98 San Jacinto Blvd
Austin, TX 78701
(512) 685-8300
www.fourseasons.com/austin/dining.html

Laura: This week Trio hosted a blogger happy hour to show the foodies around town just what their menu holds and as a way to say "Hey, we know we are located in the Four Seasons Hotel and this is a recession, but we aren't that snooty or expensive, honest!" Mariah and I are always up for checking out a new place, especially when it's well executed, comped and full of kick ass blogger friends.

Mariah: I'd been avoiding this place for months. I'd heard good things about it, but I have to confess, I'm prejudiced. I have a deep loathing of most high end hotel restaurants. They're snooty, a little too polished and full of pretentious food that just doesn't taste all that great. I've experienced more than my fair share while traveling so I expected the same here. While I'm confessing, let me also tell you that the following meal we're about to review was 100% comped. BUT this in no way effects our review. I looked and the prices and honestly weighed it into the review as if we were paying for it.

Mariah: Did I mention they have free (FREE) valet parking. That was another reason I'd been avoiding this place. I didn't want have to pay for the privilege of eating there. I admit I had a fairly negative feeling about this place before we even got there. But the free parking made me feel a little better. Oh, and its REALLY handicapped accessible. The restaurant is on the ground floor of the hotel, but there is an elevator that takes you down if you need it (which I still do).

Laura: We arrived fashionably late to find the food and drink was already a flowing. This time I remembered to bring my camera, a crappy little point and shoot, but a camera nonetheless.

Mariah: We grabbed seats by some of our favorite fellow bloggers, Logan and Rachael of Boots in the Oven and Crystal of Poco-Cocoa. Usually at comped food blogger happy hours (yeah we've been to a couple now) have a selection of wine, around 3 or 4, and a table with 4 or 5 of their appetizers on them. Pretty good, but the Trio folks with their deep pockets had gone all out. They let us order anything and everything off their happy hour menu our little foodie hearts desired. Everyone ordered what they wanted, but it quickly de-evolved into a family style pot luck. Take a little bit and pass. That was how I ended up with a tasty oyster before I'd even sat down to order.

Mariah: I have to confess, I hate cooked oysters. They're usually chewy, too smokey, and have an off taste. But for the sake of y'all I swallowed my pride.. and the oyster too. And it wasn't half bad. The bacon added the obligatory smokey baked oyster flavor without an overpoweringly smokey flavor, that was balanced by the addition of shoestring potatoes. Baked oysters still aren't my favorite, but these are probably about the best I've had. Take that with a grain of salt.

Mariah: Someone else at the table had also ordered the something that isn't on the happy hour menu, braised pork ribs in a muscat grape sauce. Now, I tried a rib and wasn't impressed by the mix of flavors. First of all it was incredibly spicy. So spicy that it almost burned my mouth. But the sauce that was on it, a muscat grape reduction just didn't grab me. So I have another confession. Sometimes for potlucks (with people who aren't foodies) I make a dish a personally abhor, but the uncultured masses always seem to love, meatballs in a grape jelly sauce (with ketchup.. honestly). I know, it turns my stomach too. But I made it as an experiment a few years ago and it turned into such a hit, that I get request to pull it out from time to time. But thats what the sauce on these spare ribs tasted like. Oh, and I found out that pig the spare ribs come from was bought by the chef of the restaurant and ONLY fed pecans. That kind of grosses me out. I know its just as inhumane as foie gras and I still that but it still rubbed me the wrong way a little.

Mariah: But no sooner had a stuffed a rib down my gullet than more food arrived. This time it was seared beef sashimi. The sashimi was on a bed of glass noodles and fava beans. Again, not my favorite dish. The beef was served cold, and tasted of the 2 things I hate most in the world, cilantro and celery.

Laura: They get an A+ for presentation on this one.

Laura: Then there was the wine. I looked up and down the wine list and was fairly impressed. There was a good selection of sparkling, red and white wines. This is the Mum's and was really delicious. At $19 a glass, I can't say I would order it on my own dime at full price, but it's reasonable during happy hour from 5-8 when wine by the glass and appetizers are half price.

Mariah: I honestly don't remember what I ordered. But I ended up having the glasses of white wine (hey I wasn't paying for it) and they were all good. The chablis was the best, but I can't remember the label. Sorry. And then was when I fell in love at first site. I have a soft spot in my heart for anything raw, so when the tuna tartare arrived, I was immediately intrigued. But when I took a bite, I knew I'd fallen in love. The tuna was completely 100% fresh and amazing. It was on a bed of mashed avocado and had a lovely lime vinaigrette. The accompanying sesame crisps were a night and day difference from Paggi House's overpowering taste. They were perfect with the understated tuna. Love. Love. Love.

Laura: When the cheese plates were brought out, the chef was kind enough to give us an in depth description of what they were. Unfortunately I was too busy snapping photos to really listen and Mariah was too busy guzzling her wine to pay attention either.

Laura: Luckily Crystal from Poco-Cocoa and her friend was paying attention and could fill us in later. Thanks Poco Cocoa!

Laura: All the cheese was locally made. The one on the far left was a very subtle goat cheese. And the one on the far right was a really sharp blue cheese. Mariah and I weren't too impressed with this cheese plate until later on when they had moved to room temperature. At that point my favorite was #3. It was soft and rich and perfect with the glass of crisp and mineral flavor rich Chablis I moved on to.

Laura: Um, did I mention the truffle fries? They came with lightly fried crispy rosemary and a lemon butter aoli that was amazing. Sadly there were only 3 vegetarian options on the happy hour menu. This was one of them.

Mariah: OMG! The truffle fried were great. At first I didn't taste the truffle, but the more I ate, the more I tasted the subtle truffle flavor.

Laura: Logan and Rachel from Boots in the Oven ponder the question: What menu item have we missed?

Laura: Oh yeah! Chipotle Mac and Cheese! Eh, it wasn't what I would expect from a Four Season restaurant. It was more like mid to upscale BBQ restaurant Mac and Cheese. At Trio I would expect something more like the Mac and Cheese from Wink. The chipotle didn't complement the pasta and heavy cream correctly. Mariah said they used liquid smoke, but I'm thinking it was more of a vinegar-like Tabasco flavor. And even though this wasn't a perfect dish, I couldn't stop myself from eating it. So there you go, it obviously wasn't that bad.

Mariah: I managed to snag a quarter of a lamb slider. I wasn't a fan. The cumin was way overpowering. I would have liked to have tasted the tzatziki or the lamb for that matter. But the spices just overpowered the burger. I also had a mussel with a blue cheese sauce that was messy to eat but had a really nice flavor. I'd have never thought to combine mussels and blue cheese. I also had a crab fondue covered bruschetta that was really tasty in a "this is sooo bad for me" kind of way. The white cheese fondue was more béchamel-y than fondue-y, but it still had a nice clean flavor that I would totally eat again.

Mariah: But when I saw it. The most amazing thing I'd seen all night.. When I encountered perfect... In the form of smoked shrimp croquettes. Perfectly deep and crispy on the outside, moist and chewy on the inside. The filling of perfectly smoked shrimp oozed out of the steaming croquette. The fennel and green mango slaw was nice, but couldn't fold a candle to the perfectness of the croquette. I even ordered a second plate for dessert. Really.

Laura: We were stuffed and since Mariah and I have no self control whatsoever, we headed outside to check out the patio and physically remove ourselves from the vicinity of the food.

Mariah: The grounds and patio are probably the one thing I liked the most about Trio. The food wasn't all that spectacular, but the view was amazing. Perfectly manicured laws and sweeping views of Lady Bird Lake, punctuated with oases of aderondacks and hammocks.

Laura: We tried perching on the hammock but apparently that just wasn't in the cards for us. And Mariah may have unintentionally flashed the patio patrons in the process, so we sat on the patio near the heaters and did a little bit of people watching. The restaurant backs up to Town Lake. I often pass the Four Seasons when I'm jogging or riding my bike. There is a good sized green space that serves as a buffer between the two. It's executed in a really cool way to make you feel like you are part of the city and the scene, but yet you are a little set back from the sweat and exercise of the trail.

Laura: And there goes Adam and Jodi from Tasty Touring.

Laura: I heard that Bruce Springstein was there soaking up the food and drink too. I didn't really notice. I was more obsessed with how awesome this couple was. They were so happy an in love after all those years. I got a little choked up by them.

Bottom Line: Good food, thorough wine selection with reasonable happy hour prices. Absolutely amazing patio area.


Mariah: 8.5
Laura: 8