Barley Swine
As I mentioned in my last post, we went to Barley Swine (on S. Lamar in Austin, TX) for dinner and it was INCREDIBLE. Bryce Gilmore is the chef and he has crafted a magical menu of small plate treats dotted with words that foodies drool over: foie gras, duck confit, sweetbreads, maple syrup jus, duck fat poached scallops, and the list goes on until dessert. The restaurant uses a lot of local products from the Austin area and they change the menu seasonally to continue using ingredients that are as fresh as possible.
They don't accept reservations but you can call ahead to put your name on the list, which was luckily what we did because it was a 45 minute wait. But since we called on our way into town, by the time we got to our hotel, settled in, and then found the restaurant, it was time for our table to be ready! It is small, holding only 34 seats, all at high top tables that hold 6 at each table and a few at the bar, and the kitchen is completely open and on display, adding to the lively, bustling vibe that you join upon stepping in the doorway.
This is the open kitchen and also where Expo is, so we had a great view
of the kitchen and of every dish that came out.
A few months ago, Food and Wine named Bryce Gilmore as one of the 10 Best
New Chefs in the Country! He also just recently went to the Annual
Food and Wine Classic in Aspen and took his entire cooking
staff with him for the event. Everyone was raving about how great of a time
they had there. Jason even told us that one food tent he went into for an
event was the size of a football field and it was filled with
food, beer, wine, etc. What a dream come true!
Here is the menu. They recommend 2-3 small plates per person
since they are meant to be shared. We took their
advice and ordered 6 to share :).
The first plate was duck fat poached scallops with some kind of
pesto and romaine tossed with a sesame dressing. I have had
a poached scallop before, but never one poached in duck
fat, and I have to say it was delicious! I mean how could you really
go wrong with poaching anything in duck fat, but still, it was
a great balance between the natural sweetness of the
scallop and the fatty taste of the duck fat. Then that paired with
the garlic in the pesto and the subtle Asian flavors in the sesame dressing
was a really neat layering of flavors. It also came with marinated cucumbers
but they seemed a little too chunky and didn't add much to the flavor combination
so I just ate around them.
Next was beef tongue with fried bone marrow and a tamarind puree. This was
one of the specials that night and the best part was certainly the
fried bone marrow. Wow, so rich!
This was the fried sweetbreads with purple potatoes,
pork belly, haricot vert, and a dill butter sauce that I could
drink all on its own it was so good. Once again, he created
a dish that had incredible balance if you take a little bit
of each component for each bite.
This was a summer crepe filled with Texas basmati rice and squash, and
then topped with a cream sauce with morel mushrooms. This was
one of the smoothest crepes I have ever had with the cream sauce
soaking into the rice and the lemon scented squash. I also couldn't believe
how many morels came on the dish considering they are
so expensive and such a beautiful, woodsy mushroom.
This was the other special of the evening and it was a grilled duck
breast with huskberries, homemade, toasted bread cubes, and
a mash of roasted eggplant. The duck was perfectly
pink, the huskberries (which are like smaller, sweeter versions
of cherry tomatoes) added the sweetness, the bread cubes
gave a nice crunch to the dish, and the eggplant brought
a smokiness at the end to tie the dish all together.
This was hands down the best dish of the night and it was entitled:
Chicken n' Waffles.
Talk about putting their own spin on a Southern classic. They started with
a homemade waffle and topped it with a duck confit hash that they fried, and
next to that was a piece of perfectly seared foie gras that was so
silky and delicious I can taste its buttery texture as I type this. Then they
made a maple syrup jus to go over the whole dish that added the perfect
amount of sweetness to balance out the fattiness of the foie gras and the
heartiness of the waffle. My eyes rolled into the back of my head at
least twice while eating this dish. I was sad to see the end of it.
Part of the staff at Barley Swine and Clara, our awesome server!
We really enjoyed the evening and all of the delicious food. I can't wait
to make another trip down to Austin so I can see
next season's menu! Thanks so much!
No comments:
Post a Comment