Dining: Patton's On Main
Chef's leaving Las Vegas was great for Marble Falls
By Dale Rice
American-Statesman Restaurant Critic
Web posted: Oct. 19, 2005
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Photos by Matt Rourke/AA-S Chef Patton Robertson pairs chicken fried pork loin, top, with creamed spinach and chipotle mashed potatoes in his Marble Falls restaurant. The Texas chop salad, bottom left, mixes portobellos, avocados, buffalo mozzarella and a red wine vinaigrette. PATTON'S ON MAIN 201 Main St., Marble Falls (830) 693-8664 Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesdays-Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays Credit cards: Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover Wheelchair access: Stairs to reach the restrooms Wine: 25 by the glass ($6.50-$13), 60 by the bottle ($26-$275) Rating: 
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One day, his 6-year-old daughter spied a billboard for a show called Crazy Girls, with women clad in thong bikinis, and asked:
"Mom, Dad, when can I get a pair of underwear like that?"
Marble Falls, here they come.
Actually, it wasn't quite that simple. Although Robertson had graduated from Marble Falls High School and knew the community intimately, he and his wife didn't make a snap decision to return there.
They researched a number of small cities, concluding Marble Falls — with the potential draw of diners from nearby Horseshoe Bay and Austin — offered "the least amount of risk in what is already a risky business."
So the ultimate decision was as much demographic as it was familial.
And it appears to be paying off — both for the Robertsons and for Central Texas devotees of fine dining.
Robertson, who attended Le Cordon Bleu in London after graduating from the University of Mississippi with a degree in hotel and restaurant management, has developed a menu that showcases regional cuisine with a spicy kick in the heart of downtown Marble Falls.
In a dish that captures the essence of Texas, Robertson produces a chicken fried pork loin ($19) with a crisp, golden, picture-perfect crust topped with an herb-cream gravy. For the sides, he adds creamed spinach and chipotle mashed potatoes, a zesty element.
The spicy theme carries through in other dishes. The fried calamari and rock shrimp ($12) were served with a sweet chive mustard that had a nice little zing. The calamari and shrimp, in which every bite was tender, also contained a surprise — thin slices of fried eggplant and fennel — that offered a sweetness to contrast with the mustard.
"I love, love spicy food," Robertson says. "It's my thing. I feel a little bit of heat is good."
As he worked his way up the line at Spago, the Las Vegas branch of Wolfgang Puck's famous California restaurant, Robertson made a promise to himself: When he opened his own restaurant, "I would do the kind of food I want to do, that I enjoy eating, and I'm into the spicy thing."
He even put some heat in the Texas chop salad ($9), a mix of grilled portobello mushrooms, avocados and buffalo mozzarella cheese, by adding crushed red pepper to the red wine vinaigrette.
If there were one place to turn up the heat a bit more, it would be on the dining room staff. We stood at the front of the restaurant for five minutes before anyone approached us. Also, the routine service, such as refilling water glasses, needs more attention.
But don't mess with the kitchen.
The seared New York strip ($25), a tender, flavorful 12-ounce steak, was served with "roasted potato hash" (more like roasted potatoes than hash) and sauce Dianne, a pan sauce made with Dijon mustard, wine, soy sauce and Worchestershire.
The tiramisu ($6), a delicious version of the traditional Italian dessert, and the fudge cake ($6), a dense confection that lived up to its name, were huge. One was easily enough for two to share, and that was not accidental.
"I never want to hear somebody say that there wasn't enough food for the money," Robertson says. "That comes from Wolfgang Puck. We were always taught to give them a little more than you think they need."
Robertson is doing that in more than portion size; he's loading on the flavor as well and helping make Marble Falls one of the best small towns for dining in Texas.
drice@statesman.com; 445-3859
