User-Agent: Xnews/05.08.12 X-PGP-Key-ID: 0xC826BB6E X-PGP-Fingerprint: 748A 9AA3 9514 B188 02A3 92A7 B6E8 F761 C826 BB6E Lines: 102 NNTP-Posting-Host: 66.93.26.173 X-Trace: sv3-XBwAM3ipLdhg9YIPEdfb+tOnGOKdZMJCE+ZdjXgkgP72nEumOqj3QFr++ypuMJCfnWgsAqh8U768cn17Fj3VI3X3hhrc0QjhI83u0XEKW++ockkunT2hoDKkKryq8yq8wJmNcAq X-Complaints-To: [email removed] X-DMCA-Complaints-To: [email removed] X-Abuse-and-DMCA-Info: Please be sure to forward a copy of ALL headers X-Abuse-and-DMCA-Info: Otherwise we will be unable to process your complaint properly X-Postfilter: 1.1 Xref: usenet.INS.cwru.edu austin.food:32723 HiHi: A while back, I'd asked both groups for recommendations for a place to take my Mom and sibs in Austin for an extra-nice night out for dinner. Of the many great recommendations, I ended up choosing Green Pastures for our evening out, which was a GREAT recommendation -- THANKS! THIS RESTAURANT DESERVES TO BE MUCH MUCH BUSIER THAN IT WAS!!! This weekend, I _finally_ made it up to Austin to see the folks, and to execute my scheme :-). We had dinner reservations for Friday evening, at 7:30 PM, but were a few minutes late, due to the gawdawful Austin traffic on I-35. :-S The first thing that struck me about the place was the grounds and building -- the restaurant is housed in a late 1800's-era plantation house, with immaculately landscaped lawns surrounding the restaurant, festooned with centuries-old live oak trees and numerous peacocks (kinda loud, but fun :-). The interior of the restaurant is, if anything, even more striking. It is full of the original (or a _damned_ close reproduction) hand-carved pecan wood woodwork -- the stairway bannisters and window casings are especially well-done. There's also a silver serving piece cabinet in the room that's to the right and further to the back that has some gorgeous larger pieces (I don't think that they're silverplate, either ;-)). Overall, the atmosphere was very much like being invited to someone's house for a fine dinner, and very unlike being in a restaurant -- a VERY comfortable place to enjoy an evening out! The service was impeccable, and paced in the way that only a VERY expert wait person could accomplish. A couple of us are smokers, and we wandered outside for a stroll and smoke in between courses, without (apparently) phasing our waitress at all -- she simply took it in stride. Our waitress insured, of course, that none of our glasses ever got even close to empty, that we always had (freshly-baked ?) rolls on our plates and that we never even needed to ask for anything -- it was like she was reading our minds, which, IMO, is the sign of a _really_ good wait person. She was incredibly attentive to details, without the least bit of fussiness or hovering. Last, but certainly not least, the food and drink was outstanding. We started with a bottle of Echelon Pinot Noir, which I'm going to be picking up a few bottles of, from Spec's -- very tasty, not overpowering like so many red wines, with an excellent bouquet. The five of us split a tempura-fried lobster tail appetizer, which was EXCELLENT. I found myself wanting more (which is the purpose of an appetizer, after all). A couple of us had salads -- my sister had a field green salad, which I didn't sample, and I'd had a spinach salad, topped with a very mild Danish blue cheese, bacon, (a few) onions, and pistachios, with a creamy balsamic vinaigrette dressing that perfectly offset the bite of the blue cheese. My salad was outstanding! For our entrees, My mom had the smoked (yes, smoked) ribeye, which had been smoked with either pecan or oak wood (I'm almost certain it was pecan), and topped with a mound of lump crab meat. It was fork- tender and delicious, but a bit rich for my tastes. I'd probably have smoked the rib roast for about 2/3 the time. My sister (vegeterian) had gnocci and various sauteed vegetables, which I didn't partake of. My brother had sauteed pheasant (which we kept wondering if it wasn't really one of the peacocks which had gotten too loud :-)) in a reduced stock sauce with prosciutto and a few other goodies. I tried a bite of this, and I'd quite possibly order it next time. It was VERY rich, however. My sister and I both had beef tenderloin, served on a bed of incredibly thinly-sliced potatoes au gratin and topped with morel mushrooms, a wine reduction sauce, and a sunny-side-up fried quail egg (which I didn't eat). The beef quality was the best that I have ever had (better than Sullivan's, Morton's of Chicago (in Houston) or Ruth's Chris Steakhouse). By comparison, I'd grade Ruth's Chris steaks as borderline Prime-Choice grade, while this meat was most certainly the higher end of Prime, almost Kobe beef tender. I ordered my steak cooked rare, and was very glad that I'd done so -- anything more well done would have been an insult to a good steer! :-) After that, none of us had room to even think about eating any dessert, though several of us had coffee, which tasted like really good coffee smells. My mom, a long-time coffee addict remarked that it was the best cup of coffee that she'd had in a long time. The price for the five of us, including the one bottle of wine that we had shared, but not including the tip was VERY reasonable for what we got -- around 200.00. I personally think of it as a great bargain! :-) Unfortunately, we were one of only four or five parties (that we saw) at the restaurant the entire evening. There may have been more upstairs, but we didn't venture up there. I understand that the restaurant does a majority of its business from major formal parties -- wedding receptions, rehearsal dinners, and the like, but this place still deserves to be FAR FAR busier than this! It ranks high in the list of best evenings-out that I've ever had (and my family made similar comments). Like dinner at a very good friend's, or family members' house, if that friend or family member is also a gourmet chef. Next place to try -- Cafe Annie in Houston! :-)
Austin, TX