Finn + Porter

I was invited by Finn + Porter to sample their new fall menu by Chef Peter Maffei. Located in the downtown Hilton Hotel, Finn + Porter hasn't really been on my radar as an Austin dining destination, but it surely is now. The staff and the food were delightful; here's the rundown of the 14 courses (!!) they presented to myself and my friend. And no, we did not eat all of it, and they were gracious to provide to go boxes! Gracious doesn't even begin to describe the entire staff -- they were fantastic, as was the food.

Lockhart quail with celery root, golden beet, leek, carrot. While not the best photo to start things off with, these little guys were tasty and the different vegetable purees went nicely with it.

Trio of beets with Wateroak Farms chevre, pistachios, arugula, beet vinaigrette. Really pretty simple, and one of my favorite dishes from the whole evening. The addition of pistachio was almost revelatory, and the Wateroak Farms chevre was very mild and incredibly creamy.

Grilled broccoli salad served room temperature, with pickled shallots, golden raisins and sourdough bread. Hey Mom! THIS is how I'll eat my broccoli! Somehow the grilling and the acid from the shallots made this magical, and I am not a broccoli fan. (Until now.)

Crispy Gulf oysters with a masa crust, with arugula, celery, tomato chutney, pickled shallot vinaigrette. A little thick on the crust, but a gorgeous presentation, and a great pop from the tomato chutney.

Soy-glazed Richardson Farms pork belly, with Asian pear, celery, balsamic teriyaki. I rarely have met a pork belly I didn't like, and that sweet little square of Asian pear made these two-bite cubes of savory pork just perfect.

Gulf shrimp with smoked salt, truffled orzo, chives. I think the chef was impressed that I could tell it was smoked salt on the shrimp. I knew they weren't grilled enough to take on the nice smoky flavor on their own. The shrimp on their own were great, but almost overshadowed by the accompanying orzo. Creamy and just the right amount of truffle.

Beef cheek ravioli with little neck clam ragout, root vegetables, arugula. Chef Peter said to get a bite with a little bit of everything, and he was right -- all the tastes together for one big party!

Braised local lamb shank with roasted carrot, mushroom, tarragon, and a rosemary popover. Loved the little cast iron dish the lamb came in; this is really such a perfect fall dish. The popover would have been great if it was served straight from the oven.

Beef short rib with roasted bone marrow, fall root vegetables, and beef consomme. This was another one of my favorites, and it was juicy (and not just from the consomme) and fork-tender.

Striped bass with sourdough crust, broccoli, ricotta gnocchi, sweet potato. I was intrigued by the technique employed here; they took a very think piece of sourdough and basically adhered it to the fish, and pan-sauteed it to give it the look of the skin. It came out really nice and crisp with perfectly flaky fish underneath. Chef Peter called it a grilled cheese without the cheese. The gnocchi was a bit dense for my taste.

Halibut with roasted cauliflower, butternut squash, raisins, verjus. Great use of fall flavors here.

Duck breast with farro, heirloom carrots two ways, raisin puree. This was a huge serving of duck breast , and the raisin puree really went nicely. Duck generally needs something sweet/tart, and the raisin puree was a lovely spin.

Meat trio of Strube Ranch Wagyu strip steak, brined pork chop, and filet mignon, with bacon and potato terrine. For this last entree, they plated three separate meat dishes onto one plate so we could finish with a hearty morsel. We were so stuffed at this point, we could barely eat more than a bite of each. All were delicious, but for me the filet was the standout.

And *finally* dessert! Chocolate peanut butter mousse with toasted marshmallow and banana sorbet. A little sweet and a little savory, and surprisingly fairly light.

Chef Peter brought every dish out to us personally, and he talked about how he tries to find local as much as possible. He started creating the menu earlier this spring, and is already working on concepts for next spring's offerings. Finn + Porter's fall menu has something for everyone, I was just lucky enough to be able to try almost all of it!

Disclaimer: They invited me for a meal, no money exchanged hands. They did not even ask me for a blog post, but I am happy to sing their praises.

Soleil

Q: Where the heck am I???
A: Someplace completely foreign!

I don't think anyone would say the Oasis is known for the food, as it's always been a "drinks and watch the sunset" kind of place, earning the name The Sunset Capital of Texas as it overlooks Lake Travis. A fire, caused by a lightning strike, engulfed the restaurant and their iconic cliffside multi-storied decks in 2005, closing it down. I probably hadn't been out there since the late 1990s, as it's just an area of town I don't get to. And in their defense, I have heard that since the fires, they have been working to elevate the caliber of their food.

So imagine my incredible surprise when I drove down Comanche Trail to the rebuilt Oasis compound. It truly is an oasis in the middle of practically nowhere, a phoenix that has risen from the ashes to use another cliche. The road dead ends into a huge Tuscan villa, that encompasses a number of entities -- the Oasis, Soleil, Uncle Billy's Brew and Cue, Austin Java, and some retail shops and galleries. From the part I could see, it's a beautiful looking compound, and I was beyond shocked to see how it's been rebuilt -- it looks fantastic.

I attended a media tasting recently at Soleil, the very polished younger sibling of the Oasis, serving "new American" cuisine.  Chef Daniel Burton Sanchez is in the process of revising the menu, and he wanted so share some of the new items. I arrived about 7 pm on an overcast day and it had been raining off and on. Coupled with the fact that the sun was going down, I wasn't able to get any great views of the lake or sunset, but I am certain they are there!

We began with appetizers in their bar area, called the Azure Lounge. My favorite of what we tasted was the seared foie gras with Sauterne-mulled apple sauce on toasted brioche.

Once seated in the dining room, our meal began with an amuse bouche' of veal sweetbreads, chantrelle mushrooms, haricot vert, and a mignonette beet dressing. A nice combo of flavors, the beans were perfectly crisp, and the sweetbreads nicely cooked. 

The first course was a large seared scallop on a bed of sweet corn risotto, bacon, and an arbol chile oil. The sweetness of the scallop and corn played perfectly with the savory notes of the bacon and the little bit of heat from the chile oil. Probably my favorite dish of the evening!

The next course was a pan roasted duck breast, butternut squash and edamame stuffed ravioli, and a pumpkin seed pesto. This was some of the most perfectly cooked duck I have ever had! Moist, tender, and lightly pink inside. It was also well-salted, which for me is usually rare.

The third course was braised pork belly on a cilantro parsnip puree. I liked the pork, but I don't think it was as good as the previous proteins! I liked the idea of the puree, but I think it needed a little more acid to brighten the flavors, as it was very earthy.

Dessert was called a "reverse fondue" -- a piece of Camembert cheese, hazelnut brittle, and spheres of green apple adorned the plate. There was a little pitcher of warm caramel sauce to pour over, and the combination of all the flavors together was quite tasty. (If you try this, just note that the rind on a Camembert, while perfectly edible, can be very strong tasting; in this case, by removing the rind so you just have the paste of the cheese, it was perfect with the other elements on the plate.)

Each course was expertly paired with a different wine by sommelier Melissa Hale, who along with Chef Burton, made themselves available for questions and comments. My dining companion Christy of Epicuriosities put it best when she said "This is now a dining destination!" Soleil has absolutely elevated the stature of restaurants near Lake Travis, and I look forward to going back in the near future.