Austin Restaurant Week

Great event, tried 2 places: Perry’s Steak House and Fogo de Chao, both were great, I will plan more and try more next year. I liked both places very much.

As Keri B. so eloquently FUCed me — yes I got «layed» thanks to ARW so how could I not give it 5 stars?!?
35.00 for 3 courses of orgasmic food in a 5 star resort surrounded by lovely hard wood and the greenbelt. Yes Yes is all I can say at high pitched screams and sultry voice!

Austin Restaurant Week, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways:
1. You are bodacious, the way you offer scrumptious 3 course meals from our city’s finest restaurants for $ 25 – 35. I give you $$ for value.
2. You are generous, donating 5% of proceeds to local non-​profits like AIDS Services of Austin and Sustainable Food Center.
3. You are delicious! Two of the best meals I’ve eaten all year happened because of Restaurant Week. I’ll tell all about those as soon as I’m done counting.
4. You don’t stay gone too long. Every Spring and Fall, I get to sample special prix fixe menus while stimulating the local economy and supporting local causes.
Two lady friends and I selected Perla’s menu to try for the first week. I’ve been hesitant to go because I hear that place is spendy. It was a stunning meal, and fortunately everything on the Restaurant Week menu is on Perla’s permanent menu. (Some places create special menus just for RW). I started with the Gazpacho with Manchego Toast. The cool soup was served just the way I like it with a good blend of smooth liquid and crisp vegetables topped with a drizzle of olive oil. The real rock star was the perfectly crunchy manchego toast — so creamy and earthy and toasty! For the main course, all 3 of us ordered the Lobster Roll and each of us instantly fell in love. The lobster salad is so simply composed and succulent that the drawn butter for dipping seems unnecessary. The roll at first glance seems like it would be overly crusty and hard to eat, but it turns out to be a brioche roll that serves as the ideal bed for the lobster. You can either listen to the little angel on your right shoulder and choose slaw on the side, or you can indulge your little devil and choose the fries. We decided on a round-​robin approach to dessert and ordered one of each — Chocolate & Earl Grey pots de crème, Blueberry shortcake, and Coconut fried pie with caramel ice cream. Hands down, the pots de crème was the stand-​out with it’s rich deep chocolate-​y goodness. Coconut fried pie with caramel ice cream was my second favorite. The blueberry shortcake had such potential, if only they had used big fresh flowery tasting Texas blueberries! Alas, these were small and unfrozen. It hardly mattered at that point because we were all too full to take more than a few bites of dessert.
Last night, a considerably larger group dined at Parkside and it was also an amazing meal. Parkside created a special menu for RW, and smartly offered half price sparkling wine (by the glass AND bottle). We ordered a bottle of Prosecco and one sparkling Rose and both were nearly gone before the appetizers arrived. Because you can’t get these dishes outside of RW, I’m not going to go into too much detail BUT… I started with the savory goat cheese, beets, truffle — which came with grilled bread. Duck confit with braised greens for main course and finished it off with cinnamon sugar donut holes. Each dish was a work of art.

Okay, the five stars is hands down for the whole program. Being able to go to restaurants that I’d ordinarily never be able to afford is an exciting prospect. I can’t wait for the future sessions! This was my first experience with any restaurant week, and it went off without a hitch.
Dining partner and I chose Truluck’s. We were both somewhat pleased. The service was nothing short of perfect, however our disappointment was placed with the food. It was not bad at all. Nothing was bad, it just seemed to be less than what we expected.
Oh! Except the grilled char! It was perfect and I’d go there any day for that, even though I probably couldn’t afford it ordinarily. The char was perfect. The carrot cake was also pretty great.

If you’re headed to Perry’s during Austin Restaurant Week, know this: they do not short you on the portions here. Had Fred Flintstone happened out from behind a giant column like John Goodman on a bender, I would not have been surprised given the massive (and I’m talking *massive*.like the size of my car) pork chop that hit the table. There was lots going on there.
It’s a gorgeous space as has been noted, and it occurred to me that there’s a bit of a NYC style steakhouse vibe at play. That said, there’s no getting around the sheer imposing structure of the food: the meat, piled high, offset with a side of asparagus and a thinly lit glass of red. It’s an elegant way to spend an evening, and if you turn up here and wonder why there isn’t an Austin Restaurant Week menu, well, that’s because each of the servers have memorized the offerings for more of an organic retelling of what you might have for dinner. And the dinner itself? Magnificent!

Restaurant Week. Stop No.1: Aquarelle
This French place, is really for special occasions and when you really want to treat yourself since their regular menu is pretty pricey.
Consider this: Foie Gras = $ 20
The Restaurant Week Menu = $ 35/​person for a three course meal.
We had to go.
Amuse Bouche: coliflower mousse— bland… the only exciting part was the toast!
Wild Burgundy Escargot: Pretty tasty (no shell).
Tomato concasse, herbs de Provence cream, persillade brochette
Marinated Raw Beet Salad: So yummy! How can something so simple, make me so happy? I know, it’s raw beets, but I love them!
Animal farm’s arrugula, pure luck goats cheese vinaigrette
The Italianini went with P.E.I. Mussels and TX Gulf Shrimp: Fettuccine, duo of sauces, roasted tomato butter and saffron butter. Very good.
I had the Pan Roasted Lamb Chops: Mint gnocchi, spicy melting onions, swiss char, lamb jus. The lamb was «medium rare» but just toooo rare. Gave me the heebe jeebes, parisian gnocchi? it was o. k…can’t say it was something to write home about.
Sweets? Oh yes!
I had the Profiteroles: More like profiterole… a very small one. Pastry with rum coffee ice cream and chocolate — yummy.
Italianini had the Frangelica Crème Brulee: Sable cookies, chocolate covered espresso beans– nice surprise! not your typical blueberry.
The ambiance is fancy, low lighting, super cozy, but it’s almost intimidating to talk in there — The wood floors, how small the dining room actually is and considering the table next to us was practically on top of us, made it difficult to have a private conversation.
Overall it’s good and the service is good but I’m just not super excited about it.
Not sure if the reason it left me feeling ‘whateverish’ was the Restaurant Week Menu limitations…
You should eat there at least once when you’re in Austin… and if you live here, take your time, just be sure to make a stop there before you’re 80.

It’s a win win for everyone. Charities get a percentage of the meals as Austinites get to go to restaurants they would ordinarily not be able to afford on night the restaurant would ordinarily be slow and their staffs would be returning home with less tip money in their pockets.
Find your restaurant on their website. Review the menu and make a reservation. The earlier you do, the better. Many of these places fill up. Some places are $ 25.00 for a three course meal, while others are $ 35.00. Try someplace new and maybe you fill find your new favorite.

So I am using Restaurant Week to try places that I find over priced, and places that I probably wouldn’t try on a normal basis. So taht being said, I tried Perla on SoCo.
4 words: Lobster Roll, Drawn Butter.
I started with 3 shucked oysters, followed by lobster roll with pomme frites, then my party splidt the 3 desserts: Wild Blueberry Shortcake, Chocolate & Earl Grey Pots De Crème, and Coconut Pastry with Carmel Gelato.
All was amazing, and really gave me a new take on Perla. We sat out on the patio, a perfect September Austin evening. The interior was beautiful, like a little slice of Nantucket. Our server was a bit slow, 2 hours for our meal.
Cant wait for next week.

I was determined to try Aquarelle this time during Restaurant Week, since we were unable to secure a reservation last go round. And thank god, we did. Aquarelle is an extremely charming French restaurant set up in an old house. It sort of feels like you are going to visit a rich, old aunt. Rich brown walls, with stark white molding, sitting at a perfectly set table next to a fireplace.
The staff was really sweet, if not a little quirky. On our way to the table, our host pointed out the ladies’ room. It struck me as funny, but also thoughtful.
For the $ 35 Restaurant Week menu, I choose the raw beet salad for an appetizer (heaven!) and lamb chops for my entrée. I sipped on a wine glass full of sparkling water and munched on bread in between courses. The staff was very attentive and made sure we were always full on bread and water.
For dessert, which I consider the main course, I had the Profiteroles with coffee rum ice cream topped with chocolate sauce.
My time at Aquarelle was what only can be described as lovely. I’m looking forward to the next stop on my Restaurant Week list!