We were seated outside at a communal table with a, we discovered later, mom and daughter and were able to spy on the dishes they were having delivered and get a feel for things. First glance at the menu brought looks of confusion to Nancy and I but that was changed quickly when Stefan arrived at the table and took over. He explained their concept: lots of small plates, locally sourced and creatively (magically) crafted dishes, changing daily with what ever the chefs decided to style up that evening. And, style up they did.
We started with beers from a long list of local and not too far off micro-brews and then our first plate arrived with pig's face in Parker House rolls; pork tidbits pulled from the slow cooked head of a local swine and baked in a fresh baked Parker House roll served on mustardy sauce that added to the pork and bread wonderfully. We refused to give up the plate until all the sauce was swabbed clean. Before we were done with that a dish fresh noodle with golden tomatoes and another magical peanut sauce arrived and we continued to make moaning noises and utter, "wow…". Each bite, even from the same dish, bring a new combination of tastes to our mouths. We realized we needed bread to sop up the sauces and that arrived quickly with a large dollop of local butter topped with sea salt (I was just eating that after the bread was gone).
Next came a margarita style glass filled with whipped avocado, more crunchy bread and down deep, lightly cooked redfish, octopus, plums and pickled beans and maybe cilantro and just to keep you engaged, jalepeno slices…Again, every bite a wild mix of tastes and different from the last. And then more arrived, shrimp baked into a light bread (? calling it bread is waaaay understating the delight, Stefan explained but there were too many details, too many tastes) sitting in a creamy tomato bisque and more oohs and aahs and bread dredging. Then hush puppies in another amazing sauce with a crab delight buried beneath it all.
Finally, our pizza arrived and that's when I got the pickles, with ham in a Cuban style wonder. And, while we were quite full, or almost there was room for dessert. We had heard and seen what the mom and daughter (herself a teacher and that's how I intruded into their conversation - when she said, "oh, they're cool, they're teachers") ordered for the sweet treats and went that way. And, to add to the taste overload, Stefan said, " oh and I'm buying y'all a dessert, too. When I hadn't heard chocolate mentioned (cocoa not being local to Texas) and mentioned that Stefan beamed and said, "now I know what I'm buying for you guys but gave no details.
So, desserts, the whey from their ricotta cheese turned into a custard bar and then dusted with sugar and torched to make it a brule with plum sorbet on a sauce of ???? It was hard to wrap your taste buds around the intensity of the flavors. Nancy took control of a light cake with sour cream ice cream and a boysenberry sauce - I'm not doing it justice with that description. I was delivered the chocolate delight while Nancy was away from the table and ordered to hold off until she returned and I've got this description: chamomile infused, local honey on top of a crunchy almond cookie on top of he most intense, amazing chocolate I've ever had on top of a whipped expresso. With the first bite, the honey delighted the top of my mouth while the chocolate dazzled my tongue all at once. More oohs and aahs and wows and sighs and while stuffed we cleaned it all up.
Certainly the most delightful meal I've ever had. Go to the Odd Duck if anywhere near Austin, your dinner will be completely different than ours but you'll be taking about it for years, like I will. One more WOW!!
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