Foreign & Domestic - Austin, Texas

Higher-end Austin restaurants pride themselves on "fresh and local"--it's really the only marketing you hear. Hell, Trace at the W has an in-house forager (not that this is necessarily admirable; Isn't the chef supposed to forage and/or cultivate supplier relationships?). Often, though, locavore-driven cuisine in Austin lacks personality--like any cook with three months at a culinary school could have put it together.* Of course, this is not to say that such food here necessarily tastes bad, it just doesn't make me want to come back. Fortunately, there are exceptions--notably, Bryce Gilmore's Barley Swine, and, most importantly for this post, Ned and Jodi's Elliott's Foreign & Domestic Food & Drink, whose food exudes a respectful creativity.**

We've now eaten at F&D three times. Our best meal was our first, when at the height of summer, the Elliotts wowed with excellent fruits and vegetables. Equally delicious, a winter meal featured a wonderfully rich chestnut soup topped with peanuts. Ultimately, though, this is a meat restaurant--as one would expect since there is a flying pig mural on the front of the building. And the meat here is good, often very good--like venison heart tartare with white chocolate and tender roast pork with dried fruit, crispy chicken livers, and oats.

Our most recent meal is below, and although we only have a couple months left in Austin, we will definitely be back at least once.

Southern Star Pine Belt Pale Ale

Tofu, bitter greens, balsamic

Tofu is such an underrated ingredient. And while F&D's is not quite as good as that at Aburiya Raku in Las Vegas, it's nevertheless silky and utterly enjoyable. This dish fit well within the restaurant's creative yet restrained approach. Very good.

Twin County Lamb Ribs, Hot Sauce, Blue Cheese

I call myself an 80% vegan these days. Sweetmonger never cooks meat, which is fine by me, but I occasionally get cravings for chicken wings. I usually overcome but last week it was particularly intense. Luckily though, this dish satisfied my desire. The hot sauce and blue cheese, obviously, were chicken wing inspired, but where chicken wing sauce is usually over the top, this sauce was subtle. It was simply meant to add something new to the fatty, delicious ribs. Also, I don't think I'd ever had lamb ribs before, and while I definitely knew I was eating ribs, I could definitely taste the lamb as well. This was a well-composed dish. Very good.

Stinging Nettles Fettucini, Favas, Yellowfoot Chantrelles, Baby Octopus, Parmesan Cream

Although the texture of octopus is often too chewy (Le Cinq comes to mind), here it was perfectly tender. The fava beans and the chantrelles were particularly delicious. Good.

Olive Oil Poached Steelhead Trout, Veg a la Grecque, Sweet Pea Butter, Tangerine

Perhaps it's just us, but the size of these main courses were massive. I gotta think they could cut back on their portion sizes by 1/3 and make some more money--then again, Austin is still Texas and maybe people wouldn't go for it. This trout was really tasty, and although the use of sweet potato chips for texture was not terribly subtle, they worked well enough. But the sweet pea butter, other than being visually appealing, didn't add much. Good.

The food here isn't perfect, but it is very good (among the best in Austin). And most importantly, it makes you want to come back, which is rare in this town.

Foreign & Domestic Food & Drink

306 East 53rd St.

Austin, TX 78751

fndaustin.com

* Such as Olivia

** What's also respectful is the price, especially the alcohol. My 16-ounce beer was $4.

Uchiko - Austin, Texas

Uchiko is certainly Austin's best high-end dining experience, and our most recent meal was among the best we've had in Austin. Other than the disappointing chicken and pork jowel dishes (I should have followed the advice I give to everyone: get the pork belly), everything was ridiculously tasty. The steamed loup de mer and the Uchi Salad are particularly impressive, and Philip Speer's carrot soup dessert with a white chocolate egg hiding a carrot cake yolk was outstanding. I dare say his desserts are the best I've had outside of Town House. And while I cannot fully recommend a sushi-only meal here (the sushi is good but probably not worth it), Tyson Cole and Paul Qui's Japanese-American fusion is as exciting and precise as I've had. Uchiko remains a very strong 3 cutting board restaurant.

The menu and pics follow.

Roasted strawberry, beet, and honey

Uchi Salad: Hydroponic baby romaine and an edamame-jalapeno dipping sauce

Hamachi, pickled green apple, jalapeno

Shibumi oyster, pomelo, fresh wasabi, thai chili

Raw diver scallop, spicy sauce, avocado

Skin and Bones: coriander cured salmon, candied pomelo, salmon skin cracklin, cured meyer lemon

Tempura Onion Rings, togarashi, white soy

Tempura Nasu: japanese eggplant crisps, mitsuba, sweet chili sauce

Sakani Mushi: Steamed loup de mer, galangal, kaffir lime, honshimeji, tomato

Richardson Farms chicken, short grain sweet rice, banana leaf, thai chili vinegar

Pork Jowl, brussel sprout kimchee, preserved lemon creme fraiche, watercress

Carrot soup, cream cheese cremeux, black walnut, dried shiso

Uchiko

4200 N. Lamar Blvd.

Austin, TX 78756

www.uchikoaustin.com

Coi - San Francisco, California

Sweetmonger's and my recent trip to the San Francisco Bay Area was one of highs and lows. The weather was absolutely terrible, which was not really a surprise but nevertheless was still miserable. I did, however, have the absolute best cheeseburger of my life from 4505 Meats, which helped alleviate the sting of an epic disappointment of a meal at Manresa. We also ate this very good, albeit slightly disappointing, meal at Coi. Coi was a disappointment not because anything was particularly bad--indeed, the high-quality consistency of the meal is something for which every restaurant should strive. Rather, given Coi's reputation (and its price), I wanted a few more "wows"--for me, there were none. That being said, it was a very good meal.

Frozen Mandarin Sour: angostura bitters, kumquat, satsuma ice

This was a nice start to the meal. A direct sweetness right up front giving way to a strong citrus flavor. It was wildly refreshing and very good.

Oysters Under Glass: Marin Miyagi Oysters, Yuzu, Rau Ram

This was visually appealing and tasty. My problems with it were two-fold. First, it was very hard to eat as the gelee "glass" was extremely slippery, and second, it tasted exactly how a one would expect a Japanese-inspired oyster dish to taste. Perhaps that's a little too nitpicky but nonetheless. Good.

Pasture: Beets Roasted in Hay, Fresh Cheese, Wild Sprouts and Flowers

Given my current preference for vegetable-centric dishes, it is no surprise that this was my favorite course of the night. It was certainly the meal's most complex dish with many flavors working harmoniously. The beet flavor was evident but was wonderfully altered from its pure state by the hay and cheese. Although visually it resembled steak tartare, it was a delicious representation of the "Pasture." Very good.

Crab Melt, California Style with Steffan's Lardo, Wheatgrass

Sweetmonger loved this dish. I really didn't get it. It was tasty, no doubt, but seemed little more than crab and cheese to me. She, however, insisted that I was missing the "interesting" richness from the lardo. Maybe, but I have my doubts. Good.

Farm Egg with Cauliflower, Nettle-Dandelion Salsa Verde

This was a pretty ingenious dish. A cauliflower puree resembled egg whites and concealed a perfectly runny egg atop a nettle-dandelion salsa verde. It would be almost impossible not to like this dish, and the textural contrast added by the salsa verde made it my second-favorite dish of the night. Very good.

Earth and Sea: Steamed Tofu Mousseline, Mushroom Dashi, Yuba, Fresh Seaweed

Definitely the (relative) low point of the meal. Its flavors were a little too muted, and it seemed a little too Japanese given the rest of the meal. Good.

Savory Chanterelle Porridge with Crisp Root Vegetables, Cress, Sherry

A lot of wild mushrooms and some crispy root vegetables. Again, it would be hard not to like this dish. Very good.

Prather Ranch Beef Filet with Potato, Coastal Grasses, and Monterey Cypress

This was a tasty version of meat and potatoes but not a terribly inventive one. I feel like similar versions are plentiful. The meat was high quality and cooked extremely well, though. Good.

Reblochon (Joseph Paccard) with Mixed Chicories

Lime Sherbet with Frozen Yogurt, Pomegranate, Mint

Bread and Chocolate with Brioche Ice Cream, Pistachio, and Tarragon

These last three courses were not terribly memorable. I liked the cheese, but I am not enough of a cheese person to know whether or not it was particularly good. And the desserts, while tasty, aren't deserving of any special attention. As I said, despite the meal's consistency, it was a little disappointing, but that is almost certainly because of my very high expectations. Whatever the case, the meal was very good overall.

Coi

373 Broadway

San Francisco, California 94133

www.coirestaurant.com

Town House - Chilhowie, Virginia

This week Sweetmonger and I settled in for what has become an annual Christmastime event for us: an extended tasting menu at Town House. By now, everyone--or at least enough so that I don't feelthe need to recount it--knows the story behind the restaurant located in the very small town of Chilhowie,Virginia--about 5 1/2 hours southwest of Washington, D.C. There is, therefore, little need for much of an introduction except to say that Town House remains incredibly original and one of the best restaurants in the U.S.--and The Monger's favorite restaurant as well.

Snacks

As usual the meal started with a couple snacks: a hazelnut torrone with rice paper and spun honey and a new version of Town House's black olive cookie. Both were delicate and delicious--as usual--and heightened our anticipation for what was to come.

Chilled Vegetable Minestrone

I am definitely obsessed with this dish. It's my computer's desktop background and the background of one of my credit cards. The myriad individually cooked, thinly sliced rolled vegetables is just extraordinarily beautiful. Every bite is composed of an ingenious complexity. Excellent.

Scrambled Egg Mousse with smoked char roe, sorghum, sweet spices, preserved ramps

One of the most decadent courses I've ever had--sweet, smokey, and salty with a spot-on Christmas-like smell. The texture is silky, and the pickled ramps are especially noteworthy. Again, excellent.

Smoked Ikura Roe with young coconut snow, delicate squash, parsnip, tonka bean

The winter-themed presentation concealed the unexpected combination of tropical refreshment and salty popcorn. The tonka beans added great crunchy texture. Another extraordinary dish.

Savoy Cabbages with Fish Roes and a broth of apple cider and bone marrow, ocean trout, oyster

One of Sweetmonger's all-time favorite dishes. Although the roes, ocean trout, and oysters were really tasty and gave the dish a distinct hint of the ocean, they certainly played second fiddle to the cabbage and the apple cider and bone marrow broth. Just unbelievably good. This four-course progression was as good a series of four dishes as I have ever had and as good as I can imagine. Truly extraordinary.

Town House's sommelier Charlie had a wonderful beverage pairing for this dish as well: a pre-dish shot of sake followed by sparkling wine.

Maine Lobster with cream from their shells, consomme, butter, crustacean oil

I like lobster. But I don't love it and rarely am wowed by a lobster-centric dish. This one was no different. The lobster had nice flavor and texture and the dish had a pleasing aroma, although I can't really describe it. But in comparison, this dish was nothing special. Good.

The lobster was followed by some deliciously doughy bread and olive oil though.

Stone Crab in Brown Butter and Lime with onions, dried scallop, banana, milk skin, vegetable crab meat

Another "good" dish. There was a lot going on in terms of texture, and in particular, the onion on the left and the vegetable crab meat--a roasted artichoke turned inside out--were impressive. I also liked the presentation a lot--the only evidence of crab in the dish was the artichoke on the side. Again, this dish, though tasty, was simply good.

"Risotto" of Squid

The meal was back on track with this "risotto"--squid carefully cut into tiny pearls to resemble risotto. The texture does a pretty good mimicing job and is creamy but nonetheless tastes of squid. My only complaint is that I thought the flavors dissipated a little too quickly. Very good.

Squab Breast Cooked in Smoked Butter with beets, chicken skin, rose, cured green strawberry, malt

I love squab and count Town House's squab with root beer consomme and foie gras butter as one of the best things I've ever eaten. This squab dish was not that good but still delivered a lot of joy--interesting textures, tasty flavors, and perfectly cooked squab. Very good indeed.

Beef Cheek cooked in grilled hay and glazed in beer, toasted farro and burnt hay milk, dried corn, oats, wheat grass, sprouts, spinach.

The ingredients here captured the life of the cow. This was a brand-new dish that the chefs substituted for their perfected--and extraordinary--lamb/beef in ash since we have had various versions in the past. I liked it, though I thought the the milk sauce eventually drowned a lot of the other flavors. Good.

Stones: textures of chocolate, black sesame, creme fraiche, coffee

There are all kinds of textures going on in this dish. It's stunningly beautiful in person and the middle stone--made primarily of what I was told is buttermilk from Cruze Farm in Tennessee--is jaw-dropping amazing. Easily one of the single greatest things I have ever tasted. Excellent.

Liquid Chocolate Bar with an ice cream of burnt embers, sour yogurt, toasted milk & Sugar

This one is so good you wouldn't know it had only been on the menu for about a week. There is so much dark chocolate and the burnt flavor that is in every bite is truly amazing. I have no idea how Chef Karen gets the chocolate bar in the middle to ooze like a perfectly melted chocolate bar once cut but with no such appearance of meltiness at first glance. Excellent.

A Curd of Sour Quince Juice & Olive Oil with black pepper, dill, douglas fir ice cream, toasted meringue

We finished with a dessert in stark contrast to the other two--refreshing while the others were rich and decadent. Although the sound of dill in a dessert was a little surprising, it worked perfectly. Town House's desserts always work with multiple textures and this one was no exception. Excellent. This trio of desserts was every bit as satisfying as the meal's opening act. Certainly the best dessert portion of a meal that I have had.

We ended with some tiny olive-oil balls.

This was another extraordinary meal at Town House. Although, I didn't love the lobster, crab, and beef dishes, I ended up having seven courses that are among the very best things that I have ever eaten and are as good as I could possibly imagine. In my, albeit limited, dining experience, that is quite rare, even at a restaurant of Town House's caliber.

Town House

132 E. Main St.

Chilhowie, Virginia 24319

www.townhouseva.com