🚀 go-pugleaf

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! :-)

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Greg R. Broderick                 [rot13] terto@oynpxubyvb.qlaqaf.bet
                                  [rot13] tnalzrqr@fcrnxrnfl.arg
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