Fabi + Rosi

509 Hearn Street
Austin, TX 78703
(512) 236-0642

http://www.fabiandrosi.com/

Hello fellow foodies. Did all of you get a chance to check out someplace tasty for this last restaurant week? I did. Teddy of Fun With Your Food and I decided we needed a Restaurant Week Girl's Night this year. So we rounded up a few of our favorite ladies to check out my favorite German fusion restaurant Fabi + Rosi. Three courses for $30 and all of it delicious.

The restaurant is in an old house (where Zoot used to be back in the day) with modern furniture. There are hand blown glass bowls holding little candles, black and white paisley wallpaper, that sort of thing. It's very cute, and very romantic (very dark). So romantic, we had problems taking photos of our food, I mean, what else do food bloggers do?

I started with an appetizer of baby octopus with mirepoix, smoked paprika oil. A touch on the bland side considering it had mirepoix and smoked paprika. But the baby octopus was fresh and well prepared. I do believe Teddy licked her plate clean.

I chose the Zwiebelrostbraten, a wagyu sirloin, grilled onions, and German potatoes for my main. How could I go wrong with a name like Zwiebelrostbraten? I can't even pronounce it! Zv-eye-bel-roast-bra-ten maybe?However you pronounce it, the steak was perfect, melt-in-your-mouth delicious. And the french fried onions on top added a nice textural crunch. I wasn't as big of a fan of the potatoes, I thought they were a little over done, but two of my lady friends seemed to love them and even ate some of my leftovers.

I got the Strawberry + Rhubarb Compote with basil ice cream. First, I will say it was incredibly fresh. But after my heavy steak I was looking for a warm cooked compote to top off my meal of decadence. What I got instead was fresh strawberry and rhubarb and a cold sorbet. It was tart; very, very tart. Like mouth sucking tart. I ate it, but just wasn't as happy as I would have been with a strawberry rhubarb cobbler with a creamy ice cream or something of the like. Teddy, though, thought it was amazing. So much so, that she still talks about it. I think you have to be Vegan friendly to love it, though.

~Mariah: 8

Carillon Photo Safari

The University of Texas at Austin

1900 University Ave

Austin, TX 78705

http://www.thecarillonrestaurant.com/

I was recently invited to the Carillon to preview what is now their current menu. If you've never been, you're in for a rare treat. I consider the Carillon one of the best high end restaurants in Austin. The food is delicious and innovative. Plus, they have a killer (read cheap and delicious) Happy Hour. Just remember to park in the garage and have your voucher stamped for free parking.

Nairagi Napoleon - smoked chevre with texas ruby grapefruit, cucumber, and lemon zest

Miso Marinated Mero - with wilted spinach, maitake mushrooms, and carrot-ginger reduction

Olive Oil Poached Beef Tenderloin - with potato puree, artichoke-fennel frito misto, and peppercorn sauce

Chi'lantro

http://www.chilantrobbq.com/

With all the trailers popping up over Austin, which ones should you try first? The trailer that usually pops into my head first is Chi'lantro. It's sometimes tricky to locate (you have to check their website schedule), but once you do, you'll be pleasantly surprised by the innovative trailer food.

The Koreans have always been known for their delicious BBQ and fermented veggie sides. Who would have thought the two together, wrapped in a tortilla, could be so wonderful? You get a choice of beef, pork, chicken or tofu in your taco, topped with delicious Korean salad, onions, cilantro (and you all know how I feel about cilantro), salsa, and sesame seeds. Trust me, it will be the best $5 meal you can get in Austin. But stick to the beef or pork tacos. The tofu tacos aren't very flavorful.

Laura's note: Dude I love the tofu tacos! They are plenty flavorable for my palate. The chili fries are awesome too but very spicy so beware. Chi'lantro was a major part of my weeklong SXSW 2010 diet. It's so convenient, cheap and yummy.

Beef tacos and a chilsung cider

Korean and Mexican. What a great fusion of two different completely different ethnic culinary traditions. Before you know it, someone will have a goulash waffles or bacon donuts.. Oh wait..

Mariah - 9

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

Fino Happy Hour

I recently had a delightful Happy Hour at Fino. Their patio is one of the nicest in Austin, in my opinion and their food is generally pretty good. However, Fino and I have a rather love - hate relationship. I love some of their dishes, but hate others. Sometimes their food is so fresh, innovative and delicious. But other times, I feel like they "over innovate" and their dishes come off as pretentious and not that tasty. But now that I've been to Happy Hour at Fino a few times, I know how to tiptoe through flavor minefields in their perilous menu.

Piquillo Peppers stuffed with Gulf Crab - Quite tasty. Get a few.

Fried Anchovy Olives - Hands down the best (and smallest) thing on the Happy Hour Menu

The Ginger Apricot Daiquiri - A tasty cocktail for a summer afternoon

The Badass Manhatten - Is certainly badass. It had a rich, complex flavor that made me feel I was in an episode of Mad Men

Mussels Escabeche - Only ok. Stick with the peppers. But they do look pretty.

Things to avoid:
The spreads - They always sound delicious, but they've always underwhelmed me
Fried Goat Cheese - Sounds wonderful right? Its not
Fried Calamari - The calamari itself is pretty average, but the mojo sauce served with it is simply disgusting.
Tortilla Espanola - Its like a frittata. I know its a dinner dish in Spain, but I just can get excited about a happy Hour frittata.

I still assert that the most delicious thing on the Fino menu is their Seafood Paella. It's wonderfully addictive. Trust me. So if you go, order some peppers and olives and a drink for Happy Hour and then stay for the paella. You'll thank me.

P.S. Since I see Bill, the Bar Manager at Fino, reads these posts, I will also say that Fino has some of the most innovative drinks in Austin. Every time I go, I get excited when I see what delicious treats are offered up on the drink menu. Keep up the good work Bill!

Tal Ronnen Serves Up Vegan at the Texas Culinary Academy

When I received an invite to attend a free cooking demonstration featuring Chef Tal Ronnen at the Texas Culinary Academy I had to read it three times to make sure I understood it right and then pinch myself to make sure I wasn't dreaming. I awaited the date and excitedly told friends only to hear back "Huh?", "Who?" and "Good for you, never heard of him."

I would reply "Tal Ronnen is the chef who spent 21 days cooking up vegan food for Oprah."

Mariah's response to this was "Oh, working the day time TV circuit, eh?"

At this point I just shook my head and sighed to myself.

Chef Tal Ronnen is one of the top vegan chefs working today. His recipes are creative, inventive and cutting edge. His innovative work and humble demeanor is doing wonders for reforming America's negative diet trends.

Not only is he the guy who cooked for Oprah, he also catered Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi's wedding, Arianna Huffington’s party at the Democratic National Convention, and the first vegan dinner at the U.S. Senate. He's worked in top vegan restaurants all over the U.S. and assisted Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders in opening her restaurant, VegiTerranean in Akron, Ohio. Yes, even Akron, Ohio is going vegan.

On this particular day, Tal was conducting a master vegetarian workshop (as he often does) for students and staff at Le Cordon Bleu College/Texas Culinary Academy. After driving around and around the Domain lost and in a panic, I located the Texas Culinary Academy and found my way to rows of chairs set up for culinary students and media.

Chef Ronnen demonstrates his culinary technique.

After Tal imparted his wisdom on us, small samples of his creations were served up by Texas Culinary Academy students.

Stomachs started growling and small samples were not alleviating the situation. Luckily, TCA staff invited a few bloggers to join them in a luncheon prepared by their students and featuring four courses from Chef Ronnen's new cookbook. I tried to stifle my fan geekdom and graciously accept the invitation.

First Course: Celery Root Soup with Granny Smith Apples and Chive Oil.

The apple chunks accented the light celery flavor of this creamy soup.

Second Course: Ricotta Tortellini with Saffron Cream Sauce

The tortellini was handmade and featured silken tofu with red palm oil instead of egg. The sauce was heavenly rich thanks to a generous helping of cashew cream.

Third Course: Gardein "Chicken" Scaloppini with Shiitake Sake Sauce, Braised Pea Shoots and Crispy Udon Noodle Cakes

The udon noodle cake was a little tough but the rest of the dish was off the chart. Gardein is one of the best meat substitutes out there. Although there was one omnivore at our table who testified that he wouldn't be fooled into thinking it was real chicken, to me the texture and flavor was perfect. My philosophy is that meat substitutes don't have to taste exactly like meat, as long as they taste good. Having said that, I must confess I remember the essence of what chicken tastes like but not the nuances. The shiitake mushroom sauce was a perfect complement to the Gardein and the pea shoots gave the dish that necessary bit of green flavor and color.

Chef Ronnen helped develop Gardein, which is made from vegetables and slow cooked grains. Currently it can be ordered from the distributor for restaurants. For people like you and me, we can pick up seasoned Gardein products at Whole Foods and Central Market. Boyfriend and I tried the hot wings which were very spicy. We forgot to consider if there was gluten in them which boyfriend is mildly allergic to and whoops, we found out there was. So if you've got a gluten allergy I wouldn't recommend trying Gardein. I am disappointed that average individuals can't purchase the product in it's unseasoned form and that the already seasoned portions one can buy are a little on the pricey side. The buffalo wings ended up being about $5 for 8 wings or two portions. For us it would be cost prohibitive to try and serve these products at a get together or party.

Why would a vegetarian or vegan want to eat something that tasted like meat? So many of our food habits and cravings come from the experiences we had in childhood. Certain tastes and textures can invoke feelings of comfort, connectedness, or just being taken care of.

My childhood diet involved a lot of rich foods and animal products. Although I love vegetables and I haven't had chicken in about six years, I often miss the hearty texture and savory nature but do not want to eat actual chicken. Is it moral, environmental or health reasons that steer me away from meat? It's all of the above but mostly I am just uncomfortable with current factory farming practices and how far our society has placed ourselves from the actual food process. We go to the grocery store but we have no idea how the animal was treated, where it came from or what hormones were injected in it. Also we have so much variety to choose from today. Never in history have humans had such varied diets. Why not just choose more vegetables and grains? They are healthier for us and the environment anyway.

Fourth Course: Oven roasted Banana Rum Cheesecake with Spiced Pecan Crust and Maple Rum Sauce

I have tasted some terrible vegan cheesecakes in the past (I'm looking at you Somnio's Cafe) but this was amazing. The texture was smooth and creamy and the banana flavor was finished with a lovely combination of maple syrup and toasted pecans.

I had the priveledge of meeting Tal and getting my copy of The Conscious Cook signed. I am already looking forward to recreating his recipes and making them mine.

East Side Showroom

1100 East 6th Street
Austin, TX 78702-3211
(512) 467-4280

http://eastsideshowroom.com/

There have been some seriously interesting restaurants popping up on the East Side in the last year. To be honest, the East Side's kind of been off my radar since.. always. I know its unfair, but having lived in Austin on and off for 10 years now, the East Side just used to be the one place in town you drove through but never really stopped. However, in the last few years, some of my favorite restaurants have started or migrated to the East Side.

One of my new favorites is the East Side Showroom. I went there on a date last week with a gentleman who is *almost* as cool and awesome as I am. So when he mentioned checking out a restaurant I had never even heard of, I knew a) I had to go out with him b) we had to try this place.

There's no parking, just as an FYI, so you'll have to park in the street. That's usually a big minus in my book, but in this case, it rather adds to the gritty, urban East Austin feel of the place. The outside is rather non-descript, just a building with a screen door. But once you step inside, you are instantly transported to a sort of steampunk, 1930's lounge. The place is amazing to behold. Whoever designed the interior had a real eye for detail. The bar taps are in a giant metal contraption with tubes that run everywhere that would look at home in a submarine. There is a giant chalkboard arch in the dining room where the daily specials are written. The bar pass-through for the servers is a large wooden barrel. And there are interesting knickknacks and tchotchkies strategically placed everywhere. (I apologize in advance for the crappy picture quality, my iPhone's camera isn't so great with dark restaurants).

That's the bar tap! It looks like a something from a submarine right?

The food itself was very imaginative, but the taste was rather ordinary. I like that most of their ingredients are obtained locally. They even have a page in the back of the menu listing the farms they get their produce and meats from. My date and I split a gratin du jour appetizer, which happened to be ham and kale that day. It was very cheese, green and yummy. Kind of an upscale spinach artichoke dip.

I've been trying to eat a little healthier lately so I ordered the curried grits and greens with a farm egg on top. It was good, but the curried grits were a little peppery for my taste. The egg was served over hard (and I was given no other egg style option) which I thought was kind if a shame. An nice runny over easy or poached egg would have really brought the greens and the grits together. My date ordered the special of the day which was a spicy goat dish. I took a bite and am happy to report that the goat didn't taste "goaty."


I generally don't like goat. Most of the goat I've had up to this point in my life, tastes like a goat smells.. awful. But I must confess I have a prejudice towards goats since, growing up, my Aunt had farm full of the distasteful creatures. But they weren't just any goats, they were weird deformed goats. Seriously.

Apparently, she had gotten a reputation in the area for being a kind hearted old lady who wouldn't turn down an animal. So when a local farmer would have a goat that didn't come out quite right, he wouldn't want it besmirch his goat lineage. So the poor thing would get wrapped in a town and dropped off on my Aunts farm. She, of course being a kind hearted lady, would nurse it to health and let it live out its days on her idyllic goat paradise.

I know that sounds all awesome and sweet.. until you actually meet the goats. Now, granted, most of these goats weren't quite right. There were goats with 3 legs, goats with 4 horns, and, honest to God, a goat that had like 6 testicles. It was disturbingly mesmerizing. But despite all their cute deformities, those goats were, at their core, mean and destructive creatures.

They would attack at a moments notice and would ram your butt when you weren't looking. I've been knocked over by more than a few of those vicious bastards. One time a goat got out and managed to eat ALL the bumper stickers off my moms car. Really. We woke up one morning and all the bumper stickers were gone except for one lone piece of sticker hanging out the side of the goat's mouth.

Ever since then, I've generally been averse to eating goat. But flash forward to East Side Showroom. Their goat isn't so bad. I could eat one of their goat dishes and not think that the animal it came from is a trash eating, angry, old billy goat.

Where East Side Showroom really excels though are in their drinks. I WAS on a date, so I sampled more than a few of their cocktails. I don't remember the names of any of them (and they're drink menu isn't posted on their website, shame!) so I can't recall the specific drinks I had, but please be assured that their drinks are creative and tasty. Well except for the special of the day toddy. That one tasted like a smokey hot dog. Avoid that one, unless you like drinking smokey hot dog.

Mariah - 8.5

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

Paggi House

Paggi House
200 Lee Barton Drive
Austin, TX 78704
(512) 473-3700
http://www.paggihouse.com/

Lee: I'm going to let everyone in on a deep, dark secret here at Dining in Austin. The beautiful and amazing bloggers (as well as that ruggedly handsome guest blogger) lead full and busy lives. Oh, there are far many more restaurants that have been experienced and ready to be reviewed than even the prolific postings here would have you believe. Usually if a place doesn't get written up within a couple of days, it's generally put off to the side. Personally speaking, if I can't complete a review for the ladies in a timely manner, I trash it rather than try to review the place from partial memory. Mariah and Laura are even more dedicated to that type of quality and fairness. However, there are some exceptions. There are some places in which the experience is so bad (or good) that it becomes burned into our memories and we could write about it weeks and even months later with perfect clarity. So, let's talk about Paggi House...

Mariah: Lee and I had decided to do one of our spontaneously planned weeknight dinner outings. And since it WAS Austin Restaurant Week, we decided to try someplace neither of us had been before, Paggi House. Oh and I guess I should mention that since it was a weeknight, Lee had his 6 year old son in tow. But he's really well behaved when we go out, so I never mind when he joins us for dinner.

Lee: So, after work, I gathered Austin and we zipped down to meet Mariah for our 6:30 reservations. I had never been to Paggi House before, and didn't know what to expect. I have to admit that I started off pleasantly pleased with what I initially saw. Our reservations were on the patio outside with a table right on the corner giving us an unobstructed view of downtown Austin while we dined. I loved the thought of that. Outside dining with a great view. Sounds like we were off to a good start.

Mariah: I was already running a few minutes late and was a little perturbed that they only had one valet for such a big restaurant and such a small lot. However, as some of you may know, I recently tore the meniscus in my knee and have been hobbling around all month. So, despite the line, I was more than happy to let the complementary valet do the walking (and parking) for me. But when I stepped out of the car, I noticed the parking lot was at the bottom of a hill and the restaurant was at the top and in between my car and the yummy smelling food was a very long stairway. Well crap. My doctor told me no stairs for 3 months to let my knee heal so I looked around for a handicap elevator and was relieved to discover one tucked in the corner of the parking lot. I hobbled over, pressed the buttons and waited.. Nothing happened. I pressed the buttons again. Nothing happened. The damn thing was broken! How could a newly renovated restaurant at the top of a hill not have a working handicap elevator?? But I had dinner plans and I knew I could make it to the top of the stairs, it would just take me 10 minutes to hobble up them. When I got to the top, I was pretty snippy at the hostess "You're handicap elevator is broken." Instead of saying "Oh I'm sorry" she simply said "I know." I could already tell it was going to be one of those nights.

Mariah: We had come to do restaurant week, so we went with their $35 menu. The waitstaff was incredibly friendly and agreeable (do you detect any foreshadowing here). I ordered Creamy Lobster Soup with pear, the Fillet Mignon, and an Apple Galette. I was already frazzled from my battle with the stairs, so ordered a glass of Malbec. Oh, and I was craving the raw meat that night (sorry Laura) so Lee and I decided to split an additional Tuna Tartare appetizer.

Lee: I ordered from the restaurant week menu, too. I chose the Wild Gulf Shrimp, the Fillet Mignon, and the Coffee Creme Financier. I quickly noticed that there wasn't a children's menu. That's quite disappointing to me. On the bright side, I have a standard backup plan for not having a children's menu when I bring Austin. If I can't find anything on the menu for him, we split my meal and supplement ourselves with a trip by Mickey D's on the way home. I know it's not ideal, but I'll save the rant for right now. If anyone wants to see my thoughts on the subject of children's menus at upscale restaurants, feel free to check out my own sorely neglected blog. I did make the suggestion to the waiter that they ought to consider adding such a menu for children, but I did so not expecting that to ever happen.

Mariah: My Malbec was quickly delivered by one of the servers and I took a big long swig. We enjoyed the fine cool evening and helped Austin with his homework. Its genius having the kid do his homework while we wait for food. Good job Lee. He was so cute while he read us a story, drew us a picture and composed and wrote a sentence about said picture. Why can't school always be that fun and easy??

Lee: Yeah. I'll bet that Malbec was good. It was at least delivered. I had ordered a Petite Syrah at the same time that Mariah ordered the Malbec. Minutes before Mariah's Malbec was delivered, a glass of Zinfadel arrived at the table. I explained that neither of ordered a Zin, and the server apologized taking the wine away. After Mariah's wine arrived solo, it quickly dawned on me that the Zin was a wrong order intended for me. So, I inquired about my own glass and had to wait a few minutes longer for it to show up. This little mix up raised a red flag for me, but I chose to ignore it hoping that it would be the last one we saw. Besides, Austin was telling us a story about the picture we drew, and that was more entertaining than trying to figure out the weird wine service.

Mariah: This is where things started to go horribly, horribly wrong. In the middle of Austin's story, another server showed up bearing two glasses of white wine - neither of which we'd ordered. The server explained it was part of the Restaurant Week menu. I initially got really excited. Wine and 3 courses for $35?? It was too good to be true! And it was. When we looked at the menu, we saw that the 3 courses were $35 and the additional wine pairing was $50. Now, I'm not saying that the server is an idiot, but when two people order a prix fixe menu and wine that's NOT in the additional wine pairing list, he should probably assume we don't want the paired wine. Just a hint. We were starting to get a little indignant. They'd already brought the wrong wine once then brought more wine we didn't even order!

Lee: I was starting to see a pattern develop here. As I looked around the patio, I saw that there couldn't have been more than 6 tables of people. It really wasn't very crowded at all. However, in the short amount of time it took to place our order and receiving our drinks, we had been visited by about 4 different staff members. They were starting to stumble over us. Things weren't looking good. Of course, how bad could it get, right?

Mariah: The tuna was fresh, and covered in an unimaginative smoked mayo sauce. There were also sesame crackers that the tuna was supposed to go with, but the sesame in the cracker WAY overpowered the delicate flavor of the tuna. We quickly tossed the crackers to the 6 year old who was more than happy to eat them. The tuna was much better without it. The prix fixe appetizers showed up shortly after and things started getting better. My Creamy Lobster soup was excellent and the sweetness of the pear relish was very inventive and complementary. I liked it alot.

Lee: I agree with Mariah about the tuna. The sesame crackers were completely the wrong choice for that dish. I liked my shrimp appetizer. The shrimp was cooked perfectly, and the potato croquette that came with it provided a very interesting contrast in texture. Of course, I only got one bite with that combination. Austin decided that he wasn't up for shrimp this night, and ate all of the potato croquettes leaving the shrimp by itself. As far as the flavor went, though, it was good. But, it wasn't very imaginative.

Mariah: And just when we thought things were starting to look up for Paggi house, they went right back and fucked it all up again. We were mildly satiated from our 1.5 appetizers a piece and the glasses of wine we were nursing. The kid was happy with his crackers and the shrimp. He read us another book. And we waited for our fillets. He showed me how his Nintendo DS worked. And we waited for our fillets. He played space ship with said Nintendo DS (not approved use, FYI). And we waited for our fillets.

Lee: OK, I do consider myself quite lucky that Austin is so well behaved when we go out to eat. I love that he can enjoy great food like his father does, and that he's not rowdy and doesn't have any interest in running around screaming at the top of his lungs. However, fair is fair. He's only 6. After we had waited over an hour just for entrees, I wouldn't have blamed him if he had jumped up on the table and gave us his best impression of Batman then taken down the waiter to demonstrate how to properly handle a criminal. It was starting to get pretty dang hard keeping him settled. The fact that it was getting cold didn't help matters any. My patience as a parent was certainly put to the test, but I don't blame Austin. I was blaming the restaurant at that point.

Mariah: To be honest, I was getting a little antsy too. The sun had set and the cool-ish spring afternoon had turned into a rapidly colder spring evening. I had on a pretty heavy sweater, but I was starting to get really chilly! I asked the server to bring over another heater, but 15 minutes later when neither the server nor the heater had materialized, we decided to reposition, so I could be closer to our one heat source. The server finally reappeared and apologized for not being able to find a spare heater. At this point we'd been waiting an hour and 15 minutes for two RARE fillet mignons. You throw some meat on a grill for a few minutes and serve! What was the hold up? I got kind of snippy with him. Told him to find out what was taking our food so long and then ordered some decaf coffee to warm me up a little.

Lee: The staff really was stumbling all over themselves! In fact, they were getting worse. By this point, the menagerie of people coming to our table had increased to about 6....and they were all accomplishing absolutely nothing!

Mariah: Our fillets FINALLY arrived after waiting about an hour and a half in the cold with an antsy 6 year old. That was just totally uncalled for. I was ravenous hungry at that point and downright attacked my steak. It was cooked well, the meat was of great quality and it was covered in a nice peppery crust. I enjoyed it, but then, I probably would have enjoyed paper I was so hungry and pissy.

Lee: They actually made me break my sense of decorum! I love my son and I love to hold him all of the time. However, if we're at a restaurant, I prefer to have him mind his manners and be a big boy. To me, that means that he sits in his own seat politely until we are done eating. However, it was getting cold and I could tell that he was ready to start parading around the place. So, I took him onto my lap and we bundled ourselves in our jackets. Austin and I attacked our steak as well when it got there. Mariah is completely accurate about the steaks. I agree.

Mariah: After we finished our fillets, I made my way to the bathroom and was appalled to learn that at Paggi House, the bathroom is in the covered patio outside at the bottom of even more stairs. So, if you're handicap, you have to exit the restaurant, walk around the uncovered servers sidewalk to get to the bathrooms. What if it were raining?? You'd get all wet just because you couldn't maneuver down a few stairs. I thought it was really unconscionable, but maybe I'm just appalled at my new (but temporarily) handicapped status. I'm going to start paying more attention to handicapped facilities in my future reviews.

Lee: While Mariah was trekking to Nepal to go to the bathroom, the desserts arrived. I liked the financier. The coffee creme had a deep flavor that didn't overpower the delicate pastry. However, by the time dessert came to our table, we were practically freezing. So, I wasn't thrilled that it came with ice cream as well. That pretty much got pushed to the side. I was also wanting out of there by then, too. I had originally planned a relaxed evening of having dinner with my son and our friend without having to rush to do anything afterwards. However, it was a school night, and I was suddenly forced to rush to get Austin ready for bed. It was a very good thing we did homework while we waited for food.

Mariah: I didn't care for my Apple Galette at all. It was a small square of puff pastry with some sliced apples with a caramel drizzle and some ice cream. I didn't want the ice cream because I was so damn cold, but whatever, I ate it. The pastry was really dry and tasteless. On the whole, it was really unoriginal. When the bill finally arrived, we were appalled to see they had charged us for all their wine snafus! The bill had not only the misdirected glass of zin but also had the extra price for the wine pairing. And, though I don't normally expect it, I was kind of thinking they might have comped us something. They had royally bungled the evening and I thought at least the pot of decaf I'd had to order to warm myself up would have been an appropriate comp. But no - full price for everything.

Lee: Mariah is neglecting to mention the one last zinger. After getting the check corrected and paying, we stopped at the hostess station to inquire about the handicap elevator again. Even though Mariah had asked about it when she got there several hours earlier, the hostess had no clue about the status of the elevator. Right around that time, a gentleman zipped by us and I heard him say something to the effect of, "Oh, yeah. That's right. I'll fix the elevator right now," as he walked off in the opposite direction of the elevator.

Mariah: Apparently we weren't the only bloggers to have problems. Maggie of Maggie's Concierge service had a similar experience with the inept service. I would have expected this level of incompetent service from a restaurant that had opened a few days before, but not one thats been open almost a year. Sorry Paggi House, but you picked the wrong time to have a bad night.

Bottom Line: Decent high end food, a beautiful patio, but completely incompetent service

Mariah - 4 (7.5 if you judge just the food)
Lee - 4.5
Austin - 40 (A far cry from 140000 million thousand)

Uncorked

900 E 7th St

Austin, TX 78702

(512) 524-2809

http://www.uncorkedtastingroom.com/

After the guy that kissed like a duck, I've had to endure a long string of less than stellar dudes in my dating life. It seems like every guy I’ve gone out with in the last 3 months has been lacking. I mean I do alot of internet dating: match, eharmony, those kinds of things. It really is the best way to meet people in this day and age (if you know how to use it). I DO say I'll go out with just about anyone once, but I have a screening program to filter out the crap. Guys I go out with have to generally be intelligent, interesting, and not a complete troll. Other than that, 60% of dating is chemistry, and you never know who you’re really going to click with. I am always surprised at the people who I end up having the best chemistry with, they’re people I NEVER would have picked based solely on an internet dating profile. But, you'd be amazed at how many internet daters qualify as unintelligent, uninteresting and surprisingly troll-like and I weed them out accordingly. Every once in a while someone truly awful gets through my admittedly porous filter and what commences is a painful few hours, but always a great story.

That is exactly what happened last week to me. I had what has probably been the worst date I’ve been on in years. I met Bachelor #5 (in actuality, he’s Bachelor #18, but since I never talked about Bachelors 5-17, I’ll just refer to him as Bachelor #5) on Match. He had an engineering degree (intelligence – check), was a small business owner, a foodie, and said he liked dancing (interesting – check), and was reasonably attractive (check). We talked on the phone a few times and while he seemed a little stiff, I though, ‘oh he must just be nervous’ - I do realize I can be intimidating to some people. So we arranged to meet up at Uncorked, a new wine bar, to get a few glasses of wine.

I’d actually been there before with Laura a few weeks before. Laura was going through a particularly heinous streak of bad luck. Her car had broken (requiring a downhill clutch pop to make it start) and she'd spent the whole week running around buying and fixing car batteries. THEN as if that weren't enough, her AC had gone out in a freak accident. She’d finally gotten it fixed, but by the time I got to her, she was hot and generally irritable. We decided we needed a wine run, so I suggested Uncorked. We’d both heard of it through Austin Tidbits and had heard whispers that it was a decent place to get a glass of wine. And we were heard right.

It’s conveniently located at 7th and IH-35, perched up on a hill not so conveniently overlooking 35. But if you can look past the highway, the view of downtown is stunning. The inside is equally well appointed. According to Laura, Uncorked used to be a cozy and cheap Mexican dive restaurant. Gone are the traces of refried beans and horchata, replaced with the sophisticated notes of hard wood floors, a gentle sea-foam paintjob, and leather furniture. They’re patio is nicely manicured and when the weather is nice, provides a fabulous view of downtown Austin’s skyline.

Their wine selection is decent, a long list of lots of wines you’ve never heard of. They have wines by the glass, by the bottle, and also have wine flights. Most of you are probably familiar with wine flights, but if you’re not, a wine flight is a small collection of 3 to 5 partial glasses of wine usually of some theme. They are presented from gentlest to boldest and the point is to taste a selection of similar but different wines. It’s a great tool if you’re not familiar with a type of wine and want to experience some of the nuances of the type or you’re like me and just like variety. They also have a small selection of warm and cold plates. I was really excited about the food. I’ve been to most of the wine bars around town and have been disappointed that I haven’t found one wine bar yet that I thought had a good enough blend of 1) wine selection 2) good tapas and 3) nice atmosphere 4) central location. I love the wine selection of Cork and Co, but they have no food (aside from a cheese plate), and their décor is a little chintzy. We won’t even talk about the debacle at Vin Bistro. And though I haven’t written about it (yet), I’ve been to Vino Vino (on a lack-luster date) and found the food excellent, but the selection and décor rather lacking.

So with the excitement of an actual food menu, I ordered the brown butter gnocchi. As some of you readers may remember, one of my favorite dishes at ANY restaurant is the brown butter and sage gnocchi at Primizie. I’ve eaten it a half dozen times, and even have gone so far as to recreate it at home (with decent success too, thank you very much). And if *I* can cook it, a restaurant should be able to cook it and make it taste pretty good. Boy was I wrong. Uncorked managed to serve a TINY plate of gummy gnocchi in a bland, oily butter sauce for an astronomical price. I was less than impressed. The olive plate and cheese plate were much better, but really, how can you mess up olives and cheese?

But, I was impressed by the atmosphere and the selection of wine so I’ve decided it’s a decent place to go on a first date. It’s easy to find, has a nice neutral décor, involves alcohol, and is VERY public – all the things that make a good first date location. So I told Bachelor #5 to meet me there on a Tuesday evening. I could already tell it was going to be a bad date. I could feel a cold coming on, I’d had a crazy day at work, and was generally frazzled. I thought about cancelling, but the lure of some warming alcohol pulled me through.

I arrived before he did, sat at a table by the door and ordered my first glass of wine. I don’t remember what it was, but knowing me, it was probably something Spanish and full of tannins. My date arrived and my first impression was that he was reasonable attractive, but he really should have kept his mouth shut. I immediately felt like I was at a business meeting and not on a date. Within 5 minutes, I knew this guys entire financial portfolio. I knew that small business owner actually meant gas station owner. I knew how much said gas stations were worth, what kind of profit each gas station earned in a year, what kind of financing he had for each, etc. The entire time, Bachelor #5 never smile, never laughed, never said a joke. It was pure business. I drank my 2 glasses of wine, made an excuse about not feeling well (it really wasn’t an excuse though, I really didn’t feel well), and bolted. We sealed the “date” with a rather brisk hand shake and I was out of the parking lot in a cloud of dust before he could even unlock his beamer.

Bottom Line: Wonderful atmosphere and wine, overpriced and unappetizing food – great first date locale

Mariah: 8

Jeffrey's

1204 W Lynn St
Austin, TX 78703
(512) 477-5584

http://www.jeffreysofaustin.com/

Mariah: I don’t know if a lot of you know this (even though it says it on the left hand bar), but I’m working on my 2nd Masters Degree. After the two long years it took to get my first, a fit of stupidity overtook me and I decided “yeah 2 more years of school seems like a great idea.” So I’ve been working diligently at higher education for almost 4 years now. I had a class this summer that has been an absolute nightmare. Every week I had two classes to watch that were each three hours long. As if that weren’t enough, my professor decided we needed not one but two midterms during a shortened summer class, plus a major project, and again, not one, but two finals. Who the hell assigned two finals?? But, after all that work, I was finally finished, so Laura, Elena and I decided for our own respective reasons, to get together to treat ourselves to a nice dinner. We had all wanted to try Jeffrey’s, so when Laura mentioned it, we all readily agreed.

Laura: Despite Jeffrey's being located in my neighborhood, I'd never tried it. I think it's because I've been saving it for a special occasion. Well, what other special occasion is there than the celebration of school ending for Mariah, and a return to Italy for Elena?

Mariah: I arrived a few minutes before our 8:00 reservation and since our table wasn’t ready, I decided to head to the bar for a quick drink. I have been trying to cut back on the alcohol consumption lately, since I’ve officially gained the dreaded “Austin 10” – the 10 pounds everyone gains when they move to Austin. But, I had decided to treat myself a verboten martini that night, since this was a celebration none the less.

Laura: Um, Mariah, I've never heard of this "Austin 10." I call bullshit. Sure it's easy to gain weight on all the delicious food around town, but there's tons of outdoor activity here. So, in theory, it should balance out right? Yeah, I guess not.

Mariah: From the moment my butt hit the barstool, I felt ignored and neglected, which is funny because there was only one other couple at the bar. It took the bartender a full 5 minutes to make eye contact with me before he mumbled something in my general direction. My hearing isn’t so great these days - too many shows at Antone’s in college - but I thought he might have said “what can I get you.” So I ordered the oddest martini on the menu, a “trademarked” (yes, it says that on the menu) Jeffrey’s Rosemary martini. I wasn’t quite sure the bartender heard me, because I waited another 5 minutes before it was even served to me. The martini was exactly what I was looking for, a sharp hit of rosemary followed by a mellow aftertaste of pear and lemon. Not too sweet, not too bitter. I would have loved to have sat at the bar enjoying my celebratory martini but after having waited so long to get it, Elena and Laura had arrived so we made our way to our table.

Laura: I'd been enjoying a pre-dinner bottle of wine with David at Eddie V's before meeting up with Elena for dinner - and running about 10 minutes late all day as usual. When Elena and I got to Jeffrey's it took a while to park. I ended up paralleling in the neighborhood. I should've valeted, but the problem was my car was trashed and COMPLETELY out of gas. I envisioned the valet climbing in to the piles of shoes on my floorboard, makeup strewn about and items meant to be returned haphazardly tossed only to have the car run out of fuel on him.

Mariah: Jeffrey’s is a nice intimate “date” restaurant, everyone there seemed to be in couples. I dare say we were the only single women in the joint. The décor is dark and cozy with modern art adorning the walls. The lighting is minimal and romantic. The table linens are all white and the silverware is actually silver and quite heavy. The table was even laid out properly in a way that would have made Emily Post proud. We were seated promptly at our romantic little table. We perused the menu and honestly had a hard time deciding what to order. Everything looked so tasty! Crispy Oysters on Yucca Root Chips with Habanero Honey Aïoli, Kampachi Ceviche with Citrus Salad & Lemon Agrumato Oil, Duck & Shrimp with Riso Nero Croquette, Confit Cabbage, Pineapple & Honey Ginger Glaze, and these are just a few of the options.

Laura: The restaurant at first seemed incredibly small, but when we were led to our table, I realized that only half the restaurant was visible from the bar area. The decor was charmingly and simply sophesticated.

Mariah: The service had an odd rhythm that I was never quite able to figure out. We were seated promptly and our drink orders were taken and delivered speedily, but our waitress came to take our order very quickly, before we had time to really take in the completeness of the menu.

Laura: I guess she figured you had picked out what you wanted while waiting at the bar.

Mariah: Elena and I ordered Watermelon Gazpacho with basil cream as an appetizer while Laura decided to “drink” her appetizer by way of a glass of Pinot Noir. Once we had finally decided what to order, we set out menus down, and being the social ladies we were, started to talk. We chit chatted about our lives, me about school and the boring guys I’ve been going out with lately, Elena, about her impending wedding and move back to Italy, and Laura about her crazy job that keeps getting crazier and how her GRE scores are about to expire. We talk for what seemed like forever, but the waitress never came back to the table, we saw her here and there about the room, but she never came back. Finally we flagged her down and she came running, gushing “I didn’t want to interrupt your conversation to take your order.” It was quite odd, I’ve never had a server at a high end restaurant NOT take our order because we were talking. Oh well. We ordered, Elena and I again ordering the same thing, Alaskan Halibut with Prosciutto Wrapped Asparagus & Strawberry Balsamic Sauce and Laura ordering the Gnocchi with Mushrooms, Brussel Sprouts, Pecorino & Smoked Tomato Sauce.

Laura: I thought the waitress was sweet. I can understand not wanting to intrude. And they brought us tasters, small servings of an avocado soup with shrimp. I requested mine without the shrimp and then quickly slurped it down. It didn't really stand out as special, but perhaps that's because my version was missing an ingredient to make it pop that the other girls got in their tasters by the way of shrimp.

Mariah: Our soup came out quickly enough after that, so Elena and I settle in to enjoy the Watermelon Gazpacho. The first taste was amazing; a subtly sweet tomato broth with a hint of melon. The taste was nice and earthy but illustrated what I will, from now on, call the “Jeffrey’s Effect.” The Jeffrey’s Effect happens ONLY in high end fusion restaurants where the quality of the food is top notch. The Jeffrey’s Effect occurs when all the elements of a high end fusion dish blend together beautifully, except for one taste/texture/visual element that seems blaringly out of place. For example, with the soup, the taste and general texture of the soup was very pleasing, until you got the basil cream. The cream itself wasn’t bad alone, however the texture was a little too thick for what I would have preferred for soup. It had a thicker, gummy texture, more resembling creamed cheese than crème fraîche. And the flavor of the basil with the melon and lemon was very nice, but the (unnamed) dill was not. The dill was too pungent a flavor for the delicate melon tomato soup.

Mariah: As I enjoyed (and dissected) my soup, we continued to chit chat in a lady-like fashion when the spotty Jeffrey's service struck again. The bus boy tried to remove my soup while I was still eating it. Now granted, I had put my spoon down, but it was because I was in the middle of telling a story. I was telling them about the guy I had gone out with recently who kissed like a duck, and was gesticulating pretty intensely. I told the bus boy I was still eating, and he politely came back a few minutes later. No problem. But after our soup had been removed, the bread guy finally came around and offered us not a basket of fine bread, but one piece of bread. It was a tasty piece of bread, a nice white rosemary bread, slightly crusty round the edges but soft in the middle. But, alas, the bread boy never reappeared again, so I only got to enjoy one piece of it.

Laura: I've heard the duck kisser story several times now, and I can vouch that Mariah does gesticulate wildly while telling it. When the bread came by, I chose the wheat bread and I was glad I wasn't offered more. I would've just filled up on it and to it wasn't that great.

Mariah: As I was finishing my (piece of) bread, our entrees arrived and by god, the Jeffrey’s Effect struck again! My Alaskan Halibut was absolutely perfect. It was lightly crusted in a finely ground nut blend then pan cooked to the perfect doneness. The halibut was moist, tender and flakey, not the dried out white mess I get at most restaurants. The strawberry balsamic sauce was more strawberry and less balsamic, but added a nice savory yet sweet element. It turned out to be more of a thin glaze on the plate than a sauce of substance, but again the flavors melded beautifully with the fish. The blend of green and white asparagus also had a perfectly cooked texture; crisp and firm but yielding to my teeth. The thin strip of prosciutto was an afterthought and didn’t significantly add to the dish. But those crafty chefs could not leave well enough alone, and the Jeffrey’s Effect struck in full force. After I had eaten through the asparagus I discovered a small pile of strawberry balsamic soaked granola.. I think I understand what they were going for, a little crunchy starch to round out an otherwise mostly soft dish. But come on.. granola?!?! A nice pilaf or a fried polenta square would have been a better choice than the dreaded granola turned out to be. The Jeffrey’s Effect marred what was an otherwise perfect dish.

Laura: My food was ok, but I didn't care much for the sauce. The smoked tomato sauce came out unappealingly mesquite. The vegetables were very nice, but the gnocchi needed sauce, and all I had to sop it up with was the smoky mesquite concoction. I blame myself. Somehow when I read the menu I skimmed over the "smoky" part. I think my subconscious just did not want to see it.

Mariah: Dessert was not affected by the lasting residue of the Jeffrey’s Effect. We originally wanted one dessert to split, we do have girlish figures to maintain, but when presented with the dessert menu, we decided to have one each. I went with the Strawberry Shortcake, one of my favorites, Laura went with the Crème Brule, and Elena, of course, picked raspberry and chocolate sorbet. The desserts were excellent! My strawberry shortcake was perfection. The creamy Strawberry Crème Fraîche Ice Cream was light and fluffy with the lovely taste of ripe summer strawberries. The shortcake was more like shortbread, and the buttery almond cookie added a nice crunch to counterbalance the ice cream. Laura’s Crème Brule was rich and dense with the perfect brule crust. I didn’t care as much for Elena’s raspberry and chocolate sorbet, I thought the raspberry was a little cloying, but she seemed quite happy with it.

Laura: I thought the raspberry and chocolate sorbets were the best dessert. They weren't too sweet and that's exactly how I like it. Overall, I liked the food and ambiance at Jeffrey's, but it doesn't suit my taste as well as many other Austin restaurants in it's price range.

Bottom Line: Lots of almost perfect food with a few imperfections

Mariah – 8.0

Laura - 7.0