De La Terre, an Austin Supper Club

I love a good tasting menu. It takes all the decision-making out of the equation and gives a chef the opportunity to serve you dishes that will really show off his or her skills. So I was really excited when our friends Laura & Shane invited us to the soft opening of De La Terre, a new supper club that's held every Monday in the space at Foreign & Domestic (which is closed on Mondays). The brainchild of chefs Lori Bergeron & Anthony Nicaj, De La Terre serves 10-12 course tasting menus focusing on local produce (including many foraged ingredients). The results are beautiful and delicious.

Chefs Bergeron & Nicaj introducing the meal

Here's a peek at what we ate:

Strawberries, ripe tomatoes, shiso, crispy chicken skin, and farmer's cheese

(paired with Groiss Austria Rosé Sommerwein 2015)

Oyster with wildflower mignonette pearls and bachelor's button

House baked sourdough with house butter and dewberry jam

Carrot "tom kha"

(paired with Boulevard Brewing Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale)

Scallop with prosciutto, hazelnut, asparagus and bull briar

(paired with Domain Ciringa Sauv Blanc)

Pork belly pupusa with carrot chimichurri, curtido, & onion flower

(paired with Bear Republic Racer 5 IPA)

Black garlic gnoccetti (these looked freakishly like pupae but tasted wonderful) 

with maitake, shumeji, and quail egg

(paired with Fork Machine Central Coast Pinot Noir 2014)

Under blade with dewberry, sorrel, pesto

(paired with St. Bernardus Abt. 12)

And the creme de la creme, a peach beignet with duck egg ice cream, honeysuckle, and lavender

(paired with Moscato d'Austi)

We've been lucky enough to enjoy a lot of tasting menus, and this held its own amongst the best. They had a few kinks to work out when we went to the soft opening in mid-May, but with a month of Mondays under their belt, I'm guessing they've ironed those out by now. Even with the minor kinks we experienced, this was an outstanding meal and experience. Congrats to Chefs Bergeron and Nicaj on their exciting new venture!

De La Terre

Tickets

Facebook page

Monday nights at Foreign & Domestic

306 E. 53rd Street

Austin, TX 78751

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Apis Restaurant and Apiary

I think this town must be conspiring to convince me that we've not yet reached the pinnacle of our food scene, because I just discovered what is undoubtedly one of my top ten favorite restaurants in Austin.

Okay, so technically it's in Spicewood - which makes it an even more surprising find. Who would have imagined that you might sit down to a 23-course signature tasting menu* just down the road from Opie's? We might not have believed it ourselves, except that our friends Mari & Greg, who have eaten at many of the finest restaurants all over the world, raved about a meal they had there back in August. So the four of us headed out to Apis Restaurant and Apiary to celebrate Mari's birthday, and proceeded to have our socks blown off.

As much as I want to slip into my usual uber-verbose mode, I can't possibly write about every one of the 23 courses...but I do want to share all of the splendor for you food porn fans, so I've included a slideshow of our feast.

Excellent cocktails, beautiful and comfortable surroundings, and affable service round out the deal and truly make Apis a dining destination. We hear that the team is looking for space downtown for a second location (and a different concept), but I was hard pressed to think of many ways that they could improve upon this version. As we were driving home, my husband remarked that he had actually enjoyed the meal we'd just had at Apis better than the one we had at The French Laundry last month (the French Laundry meal, by the way, was three times as expensive). I'm going to weasel out of making my own comparison by saying the two experiences are really too different to compare, but I think that my husband's comment appropriately underscores the fact that the Apis experience is one not to be missed. This was indeed a spectacular meal - and an astounding value considering the quality, quantity, and the effort that went into creating it.

Another thing we truly loved about Apis is that the entire staff exhibited an apparent lack of ego, resulting in a very friendly, collaborative atmosphere. Unlike certain other highly-touted restaurants in town where the chefs insist that every dish be served their way (diner preferences be damned), Apis' message was consistently, "What do you think? How can we make this experience better for you?" When we were in the kitchen for the cocktail course, Chef/Owner Taylor Hall repeatedly deflected compliments to the rest of his team in the kitchen, and several of our courses were served by the restaurant's general manager, Bill Donnelly, who had a terrific sense of humor. Too much ego in a restaurant can taste a little bitter; on the flip side, the collaborative attitude at Apis made us feel like we were participating in the process, that the success of our dining experience lay partly in our hands. We were utterly charmed, and we are so looking forward to seeing what exciting surprises this creative and friendly team has in store for us down the road.

Apis Restaurant & Apiary

23426 TX-71

Spicewood, TX 78669
512/436-8918

*Apis also offers a regular a la carte menu for those who aren't quite ready to commit to 23 courses!

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