Ranch 616

Ranch 616 is kinda a guy's place. There are dead stuffed things on the wall (bison, something else with antlers), and the silverware is completely over-sized and heavy. Comfy leather booths, and various western-themed paraphernalia decorate the walls. But then there are the funky chandeliers, modern-retro light fixtures, and a plethora of glittery ball ornaments hanging from the ceiling. The women's room has a deer head mounted in one of the stalls, with rolls of toilet paper on it's multi-pointed rack. A longhorn steer head is mounted in there too, with tp on both of its horns. Very tongue in cheek. (Speaking of which, I sat directly under the bison head in the corner booth, and couldn't help but feel like I was going to get slobbered on all throughout my meal.)

When we arrived around 6:15 pm, I think there was one other table seated, and a few patrons at the bar. Our server was friendly and helpful throughout the night, but unfortunately, the food was not always up to par. I started with a $9 sangria, and while it did have a smidge of brandy and Paula's Texas Orange liquor in it, it wasn't exactly large or potent enough for what I consider a good $9 cocktail. All of the drinks seem to be on the pricey side.

For apps, we ordered the fried oysters (apparently one of their signature dishes) and calamari. Both come with a chipotle tartar sauce (I'd call it aioli) and a green goddess dressing. The calamari was thicker sliced tubes, but no tentacles that I could tell, but fried well. The oysters though, were a bit on the soggy side, like perhaps they'd been sitting around a bit. And they needed salt.

There were a number of dishes on the nightly specials list. The most intriguing was Lamb Three Ways, which I opted to split with a friend. Two of each Australian lamb chops, in three different styles, a rosemary grilled, a tamarind glazed, and a chicken fried, on "fresh mint mashed and roasted fingerling potatoes, with demi-glace, and sauteed green beans." We asked for the chops to be medium-rare. What came was a huge disappointment. Only the 2 chicken fried were tender and approaching medium rare. The other 4 were well done, and a bit tough. Furthermore, there was not a hint of tamarind to be tasted, nor mint in the potatoes. The rosemary one was fine, but again, over cooked. The demi-glace was rather tasty, but when 2 people split a plate (which we had told the waiter up front), it would have been nice to bring the plates out already split, because someone (in this case, me) is going to miss out on the demi, as it's not really something you can spoon onto your share. I did dip one chop into it as my companion raved about it, but certainly didn't get to experience enough of it. Not sure I understand the description of the potatoes; there were no roasted fingerlings on our plate, so were the potatoes first roasted THEN mashed? But that's not how the menu description read. At least the green beans weren't overcooked....

Two diners had the Tenderloin 616, which they both proclaimed to be fabulous, and another had the Jalapeno Maize Trout, in which the skin was left on, then the fish was breaded & cooked. The skin made it a bit unappealing, and slightly hard to remove from under all the tortilla chips it was crusted with.

We discussed it, and ultimately did tell the waiter about the lamb issues when he came by to pick up our plates. In retrospect, I wish we had told him sooner, and had the plate redone, but we were a group of 6 and had such a fun-filled evening, that it would have been a buzzkill all around. We had previously arranged for two of their dessert specials (Callebaut chocolate & banana fried pies with Amy's Mexican vanilla ice cream) to be brought with candles for a birthday surprise for one member of our party. They were tasty! The waiter told us at the end that he had spoken to the chef about the lamb, and they comped the desserts as an apology, which was gracious and appreciated.

It was a fun evening, with 5 dear friends and a lot of laughter. Our waiter was patient and helpful, but if the food isn't 1) what was advertised 2) prepared how you asked for it, and 3) really remarkable, what is my impetus for returning? The decor was worth it though!

Red's Porch

There's a new kid in town, one certainly worth paying a visit to.

You know the non-descript Citibank building on South Lamar, between Enterprise Rent a Car and Chris' Little Chicago hot dog trailer? The back side of the bank building used to be a State Farm Insurance training facility, but has been empty for quite some time. Red's Porch, named for the owner's red 1964 Lincoln convertible, has renovated the spot, giving it a great modern, yet retro feel, and added on a huge upstairs porch with great views of the greenbelt below. (You could actually see water running! I think our drought is over.)

I got an invitation to attend a tasting; there were a couple of dates and times, and I RSVPd and said I was bringing two guests. What I expected was a casual buffet-style tasting, with a bit of explanation about the dishes. What we got was a private tasting with two other people and the undivided attention from the owner, Davis Tucker, the man behind North by Northwest up by the Arboretum. All of the staff couldn't have been nicer, and while Davis gave us background info & stories on many of the dishes, he honestly wanted feedback on what we were trying. They consider their food "1/2 Tex Mex, 1/2 Cajun, 1/2 Southern" (that's a lot of halfs), or as Davis said "It's just food I really like to eat!" No harm in that! And so on the whole, I am happy to proclaim the food was great! Some of the mixed drinks missed their mark a little bit, but there's a ton of stuff on tap. What follows is the play by play of our tastings.

First, a miniature version of their Porch Rita, with Sauza Hornitos, Grand Marnier, oj and sweet & sour. Nice, not too sweet. Would certainly be good on a hot day. Blue cheese stuffed green olives and chili cheese fries followed. Olives were milder, with a great crust, and not greasy; served with marinara. The chili (no beans!) on the fries was tasty, a very dark brown color, with a bit of cumin taste, but not overpowering. On the menu, it said the fries are tossed in parmesan before getting the cheese & chili treatment; we didn't taste any parm, and asked Davis about it. He confirmed that they were not done with parm (though if you order fries from the sides menu, those are), and he would get it corrected for the final version of the menu. They are still undergoing some tweaking, and also because of that, they don't have the menu online yet. He said give them a week or two.
Round two was the South Austin Red Sangria, my favorite of the cocktails. It just goes down easy. Might be nice to offer a pitcher of sangria on the menu... just sayin'! The veggie enchiladas came with, a good blend of grilled zucchini, mushrooms, & onions with a spicy chile de arbol cream sauce, that I think would go well with a lot of things! Beans (refried or charro) and rice accompany all the Tex Mex dishes; they brought us the charro beans, and I have to say, they taste like what my grandmother in Las Cruces, NM (and subsequently my mom and aunts) used to make. The pintos are stewed with a ham hock (ooops, don't tell the vegetarians, hee hee!), and take on almost a creamy consistency. Davis said that's how he used to have them growing up in south Texas.
Next up was the Diablo -- Basil Hayden's bourbon (which I found out is small-batch bourbon made by the Jim Beam family), amaretto, cranberry juice, a splash of Maine Root Ginger Beer, and raspberries. I didn't get a ginger beer taste, and unfortunately, this one tasted like cough syrup to me. One of the men at our table who is a bourbon fan, commented "It's a girly touch to a man's drink." Sorry! The Smokey Goat burger though, was fantastic! Served on a sourdough bun, this nice fat burger had house-smoked bacon (the magic word!), tiny, crispy fried onions, and goat cheese. And served with fries. This was one of my favorites.
But, it's a toss up between the burger and the chicken fried ribeye. With bacon cream gravy (again, bacon!). The batter for this was crisp and flavorful, and fried perfectly. They come with a side of smashed potatoes, which have the lightest hint of horseradish. Apparently the same gravy is on their homemade biscuits too.... next time... (Sorry, the picture doesn't do it justice at all!)
Not that we weren't satiated already, but the last cocktail was the Eleanor Rigby, made with their own fig & vanilla infused Tito's vodka, Mathilde cassis, and oj. Davis said that Rigby's was a liquor store in London, and he's a fan of the Beatles, so it all fits as a cocktail name. The Tito's was very smooth, and very vanilla-y; didn't really pick up on the fig, and not sure I got the cassis flavor either. It kind of reminded me of sipping on an orange creamsicle. But, it did seem to go with the dessert course, which was one of everything on the menu! Kahlua pecan pie, peach cobbler, chocolate bread pudding, banana pudding, and.... fried Snickers. I could tell it was a premade pie shell, but surprisingly, it had a nice taste & flakiness you usually don't get with those. The Snickers are coated in a funnel cake batter, and could have been a touch crispier on the outside, but great semi-melted pieces of Snickers on the inside. Davis did say they are tweaking that one a bit.
Then, he took us on a tour out back and upstairs. There's a 27' silver trailer off the side patio, which is available for private functions. The patio is currently tented, and the back of it is where the trailer sits. Adjacent are the stairs to the upstairs porch, which is about 95% finished from the looks of it. By the time we went up, it was getting dark, and it had been windy all day, but you do get a great view to the west over the greenbelt. A full bar is available up there too, and they are going to put some sides up on the porch so it won't be so drafty.
Leaving around 6:45 pm, it was nice to see the place filling up, with families, happy hour folk, and other diners. They've made great use of the existing architecture; as it was an inspection garage for State Farm, they've kept (and no doubt updated) the garage doors, which in warmer times, can easily be thrown open, leading to the patio. One wall back in the lounge area is covered with slicks from old board games. The place may seat close to 300 when in full swing, but it doesn't feel vast, it's got a very comfortable feel. So combined with great food and an experienced owner, it should lead to good times in the neighborhood.

Frank, a brunch update

I had heard through the grapevine that Frank's Sunday brunch was fantastic. That grapevine did not lie! I started with a lovely chai tea, though I seriously contemplated a mimosa or one of their other lovely cocktails, but my friend was not drinking, so I opted not to as well. I got the fried chicken with bacon belgian waffles, and a side of the hash brown casserole. My friend got the corned beef hash with two eggs.

My waffles were thick, and crisp, and of course hard to go wrong with pieces of nice slab bacon inside. The chicken (your choice of breast or leg, I went breast) had a beautiful thick crust, and not a drop of grease to be seen. They serve it with maple syrup, though I was almost tempted to ask for a little gravy too. I do love me some sweet and savory combos! The hash brown casserole was rich, I think with cream cheese, and also some shredded onions in it too. My friend's hash had nice crispy bits of meat & taters, though we've now realized hers was supposed to come with toast and apple butter, and it didn't. I was hungry, but couldn't finish it all, but that's okay, because now I have tasty leftovers! We also got a great view of our neighbors food, which included the sausage plate, with 4 different types of sausage patties and a big ole biscuit!

I am posting a pic of the menu, because they don't have it on their website. You can't really see the top of it, but in the first section, you can pick any 4 items for $13, or get them a la carte, like my hash browns. I think everything sounds like it's worth trying!

Asti

Asti , and it's sibling FINO are owned by local chefs/restauranteurs Emmett and Lisa Fox. They first hired local chef Jason Donoho as a Sous Chef for Asti; he soon moved to FINO, and quickly earned the Executive Chef title. He's now Executive of both spots, splitting his time between the two and elevating the menu at Asti as he goes. Formally known as Asti Trattoria, it's an Italian place in Hyde Park with a focus on clean, simple, seasonal food. The interior has a sleek modern feel, but still a neighborhood comfort spot. There's a small bar area, and the open-air kitchen is there for all to see what's on the stove. The Chef was not at Asti last night, so it was a good test to see what his kitchen could accomplish without him there.

My evening was spent with two dear friends whom I haven't seen in ages. We are all food people, so our evening at was spent laughing and going "mmmmmm" over all of the food. We shared everything, and experienced friendly, attentive, but unobtrusive service throughout the meal.

Things started with vermouth cocktails; a combo of sweet and dry vermouths, club soda, with an orange twist on the rocks. Yum! Asti does not serve spirits, but I don't think they need to if they can come up with nice vermouth drinks. I am not a big vermouth drinker, but in my book, it complimented everything we ate.

First up food-wise was a white bean puree on a crostini; velvety smooth, it practically melted in your mouth. Next up was the suppli, rice balls with mozzarella in them, rolled in breadcrumbs & fried; these were served with a spicy tomato sauce, large flakes of parmesan, and fried basil leaves. I am well-familiar with the suppli at Enoteca, which are more creamy; these had a really great crunchy crust on them, and the tomato sauce was very vibrant.


The lamb pie (pizza) was next. As I have written before, I love lamb, so for me, it could have used a touch more lamb in place of some of the bountiful black olives. But it was delicious. Their crust was crisp on the bottom, with a touch of cornmeal or semolina, and the edges of the pizza still nicely chewy. It went nicely too with the infused olive oil (fennel & sundried tomatoes) they had brought with foccacia bread. The lamb itself was pieces from the leg or shoulder, that were slightly crisp on the outer part, but still tender.


The seared scallops with handmade pasta followed. A regular order has 3 large scallops; they split the dish amongst 3 plates, so we each had our own extremely tender pasta on the bottom, the most perfectly seared scallop ever, scallions, a touch of lemon, and a hint of truffle butter. Called mandilli pasta (not a pasta style I am familiar with), it's something between an extremely wide papparadelle noodle and a long, ribbony sheet of pasta. All the flavors balanced each other perfectly.

Two side dishes arrived with the scallops, the Swiss chard with pine nuts & currants, and large white beans with guanciale (like panchetta), both well done, and the chard certainly adding a nice pop of green color. Lastly, we had the butternut squash risotto with brown butter, chestnuts & fried sage. The kitchen also split this 3 ways for us. This was the only dish that faltered a little; the risotto was underdone, so it was a bit more crunchy than creamy, but the flavors all together were fantastic. What's not to like about butternut squash and sage with a toasty butter sauce?

Okay, so we weren't totally done. There was a tiny bit of room left for the Affugato with beignets. The concept of affugato is a small cup of vanilla gelato and a separate cup of hot espresso that you pour over the gelato so it gets all melty. You then dunk your beignet into the warm espresso sauce. (I guess I'd consider it more a donut because it was round with a hole in it, whereas I think of a beignet as square. Semantics for fried goodness!)Now we were stuffed, and pretty much rolled on out of there. We had arrived at 6:30pm, and not long after, all the tables were filled, and people were waiting it out. Not bad for a neighborhood place that's been there for 9 years. And I would happily go back for lunch or dinner.

Confession time: my dining companions are the mother and aunt of Chef Donoho. In his absence, we were treated royally, but it appeared that the tables around us were getting fabulous service and food as well. My friends are extremely proud of the work Jason has done, and he should be proud of his staff who executed everything to almost near perfection.

Lamb Meatballs

I love lamb.

I especially love lamb when I can get it locally at the farmer's market. I've bought lamb a couple times now from Loncito's at the Sunset Valley Farmer's Market. The first time was earlier this summer after Loncito himself and Lou Lambert taught a class on lamb at the north Central Market cooking school. They made a lamb rillette with the shoulder, but after talking to him at the farmer's market, he suggested the neck bones. You basically just plop the bones in olive oil, and let it simmer for a couple of hours. The meat fell right off the bones, and it was to die for. Particularly when served as suggested as a little sandwich with some mustard and chutney; the acidity in the chutney helps cut the fat while enhancing the flavor. It was, in a word, incredible.

This past Saturday, I got a pound of ground lamb from them. (Also fresh mint from one of the stands, and I can't remember the name, oops!) I made a meatball recipe that I have made a few times before, but never with the locally procured lamb. It's a recipe from epicurious.com, and I've adapted it slightly over time. One of the key things to remember when making meatballs is to not overwork the meat, as that will make them stiffer. The currants add a nice touch of sweetness, and the sesame seeds nice texture.

This recipe also makes me reminisce, as I was in Morocco exactly a year ago, eating lamb and seeing sesame plants for the first time. :)

Sesame Lamb Meatballs with Mint Yogurt Dip, makes 18 golf ball sized meatballs
1 cup plain Greek yogurt
1/4 cup fresh mint leaves, minced
1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp. salt, or to taste
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1/3 cup onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp. fresh mint leaves, minced
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground allspice
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 lb. ground lamb
1 cup fresh bread crumbs, finely ground
1 large egg, beaten lightly
2 - 3 Tbsp. dried currants
1/4 cup black sesame seeds
1/4 cup white sesame seeds

-- In a small bowl, combine yogurt, mint, lemon juice & salt. Combine well and set aside. This can be made ahead and refrigerated. Best when made at least 30 minutes before eating so flavors can meld.
-- Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
-- In a medium skillet, heat oil over med-low heat, and saute onion & garlic until softened. Let cool slightly.
-- In a large bowl, place onion mixture; add mint, salt, allspice, & cinnamon and combine well.
-- Add lamb, bread crumbs, egg, & currants. Mix thoroughly (with hands is best), but do not over mix or squeeze too hard.
-- Form balls; I make golf-ball sized ones.
-- Combine both the sesame seeds on a small plate. Roll the meatballs in the seeds, lightly patting them on and shaking off excess.
-- Place on a wire rack that is set in a baking sheet (so fat can drip into the baking sheet). Place the meatballs on the rack, evenly spacing them.
-- Bake for about 12 minutes, or until just cooked through. Let cool slightly before serving with the yogurt dip.

* I think I may have cooked these in a skillet once, rather than the oven, but not totally sure. I think it would work just fine. I did manage to set my smoke detector off when I made them the other night, as the dripping fat was apparently getting rather hot in the oven!