Austin

(From May 2012)

 New chef de cuisine Grant Macdonald is a far piece from home, having come to us from the wilds of Canada (more specifically, the decidedly civilized Four Seasons in Vancouver). But he has wholeheartedly embraced our native foodstuffs, putting them to good use in dishes like the enormously tasty grilled Texas quail with a swipe of prickly pear sauce and a Gulf seafood steam pot with grouper (a tad overcooked), clams, shrimp, chorizo, and a luscious broth that begged for a whole basket of bread. Alas, a smoked Texas ribeye was a bit tough and chewy, though it had a marvelous crusty, brown-butter-graced exterior. Ambience is a mite bit more relaxed than one usually finds at a Four Seasons. But then again, we were outside (happily so), on a beautiful spring evening, on a most pleasant patio overlooking Lady Bird Lake and verdure lawns dotted with hammocks—which a member of our party took full advantage of. Welcome to Austin, Chef Macdonald. Bar.

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(From March 2011) Everything is still coming up roses for the lionized Number 10 quarterback at this rather bizarre shrine to Texas’s national championship victory. Copper chain mail curtains, a life-size Longhorn encrusted in pennies, and arrays of glittering burnt-orange tiles have transformed the cavernous space that once housed MTV Real World residents and more recently a Tex-Mex franchise. Rare lamb chops, with more baaa left in the center than we like, were a tasty enough starter and provided more bang for the buck than our entrée, a lovely but spendy Texas wagyu strip steak (both the spinach and the mac and cheese involved a grainy béchamel). Bar.

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