Roaring Fork Stonelake

On the banks of a suburban lake, refined cowboy cooking in city clothing

By Mike Sutter
AMERICAN-STATESMAN RESTAURANT CRITIC
Thursday, August 27, 2009

Larry Foles and Guy Villavaso have deep roots in the Austin restaurant business, turning hair-tearing days in the kitchen of the first Z'Tejas into an ambitious confederacy led by Eddie V's and the Roaring Fork.

Where the downtown Roaring Fork is more `Lonesome Dove' in its cowboy aesthetic, with iron-and-horn fixtures, distressed leather and Native American patterns, the Roaring Fork Stonelake is a land of red banquettes, wood-decked lakeview patios, glass walls and modern fixtures. Almost any type of food could be served here, but the new place stays true to its roots: wood smoke, meat, corn, chiles and little cast-iron kettles.

And the iron pots, as charming as they are, aren't just for show. They keep things smoking hot: a green chile pork stew, a side dish of creamy grits studded with jalapeños and bacon, and steaming green-chile mac and cheese.

Having opened in April, the new Roaring Fork feels lived-in already. A rare rainy night had chased all but a few sheltered parties off the deck overlooking the small lake behind the restaurant. More picturesque than its name suggests, Quarry Lake is a where-did-that-come-from phenomenon that feels Disney-fied in its postcard quaintness. Bonnie Raitt and the Fabulous Thunderbirds (extra points) played on the sound system.

I liked the frozen margarita flight - the colors, the wire canoe that ferried three flavors in tall shot glasses and, the sting of the tequila. Sitting at the bar, I got more attentive service than I have in a lot of dining-room situations. After I ordered green chile pork stew ($9.75), a bartender put down a placemat and dishware and brought water and corn muffins. On a subsequent sit-down visit, our server circulated continuously, checking on every dish and drink, even overdoing it a little. But what kind of idiot has a problem with too much service?

Flanked by four steaming flour tortillas, the stew was rich and cheesy, packed with chunks of lean pork and the broth like a roux, with the smoky chile flavors of the Southwest. The cornbread muffins were sweet, moist and grainy, with kernels of corn (and were those currants?). We'll call it a cowboy dessert. Food like this makes you wish you'd worked harder to earn it.

There doesn't seem to be a bad seat, from the cushioned stools at the stretch-limo horseshoe of the bar to the dining room tables with a view of the open, wood-burning kitchen. Ringing the bar and the main dining room, the red leather semicircular booths are Sleep Number comfortable, and their high backs dampen the sound.

After flirting with drinks and food at the bar (where appetizers are $4 off and drinks are $2 less during the daily 4 to 7 p.m. happy hour), it was time to get serious on another visit. A night of big eating started with a chopped BLT blue-cheese salad ($7.50) - big, salty chunks of cheese, thick bacon slices and cherry tomatoes — and an appetizer of four fat pieces of batter-fried avocado topped with shredded crab ($12.75). Spicy red pepper sauce ribboned its way through a tangy remoulade, a nice contrast to the more sedate flavors of the crab and avocado.

The sides in the iron kettles mentioned above served their masters well, bringing another flavor dimension to the big-beef presence of a 10-ounce filet mignon ($29.95), served by itself with salt and pepper. Another side, Mexican street corn ($5), was salty, sweet and citrusy, with grill marks on the rows of corn sheared freshly from the cob, sprinkled with cheese and laced with red pepper.

I'm glad I got to choose my own side dishes from a list that also included Yukon Gold mashers and asparagus, but I wasn't crazy about adding an average of $6 or more apiece to my steak's $30 price tag. And I'd have liked a better sear on the filet, more char and smoke from the wood grill, and the meat was cooked on the bloodier side of the medium-rare we asked for.

Given a choice, I'll always take my protein undercooked than overdone. But the steak was followed by a cedar-plank salmon dish ($19.75) with the same tentative heat. The medium-rare that the server and I had worked out was closer to raw, and the dish radiated little heat, even though it arrived on a block of charred wood and shone with a lacquered amber glaze. But the salmon was good, like velvet sashimi, a flavor enhanced by a hint of sesame in the green-bean salad alongside, tossed with cherry tomatoes and a dusting of tangy white cheese.

The cowboy aesthetic weaves throughout the menu, extending to the mile-high burger (the `B.A.,' to its friends, $13 and worth every nickel), with a beef patty the size of a meatloaf-for-two. It came with a fistful of smoking hot seasoned fries served in, you guessed it, the little iron kettle that trailhands might have used if the prairies had drive-throughs.

msutter@statesman.com; 912-5902

Roaring Fork Stonelake

10850 Stonelake Blvd. 3422-2700, www.eddiev.com

Rating:

Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays. 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Brunch is served 4 to 7 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Happy hour is 4 to 7 p.m. daily, with $4 off appetizers, soups and salads and $2 off drinks.

Prices: Starters, sandwiches and salads $7.50 to $13.50 (fondue pot with lamb chops). Side dishes $4-$7.75. Main courses $14.50 (pork shoulder carnitas) to $29.75 (10-ounce filet mignon). Desserts $6.

Payment: All major cards.

Bar: Full bar service, with a range of margaritas (including $11 and $13 build-your-own options with custom tequila choices; the house frozen margarita is $8) and specialty cocktails, including a refreshing white sangria with wine, rum and fruit juices ($8). The wine list features more than 65 bottles, from Gascon malbec and Veramonte chardonnay for $32 to Cakebread Sauvignon Blanc for $75 and Silver Oak cabernet for $120, with about 23 available by the glass ($8-$20).

Wheelchair access: Yes

What the ratings mean:

: Food, service, atmosphere and value suffer flaws on every level.

: Serious room for improvement, with a few bright spots.

: A good overall experience. Clear mission, solid execution.

: Excellent across the board. Perfect in some areas, with only a few small distractions.

: An extraordinary restaurant experience from start to finish.