Baxter's On Main A Fine Addition To Bastrop By Dale Rice American-Statesman Restaurant Critic Thursday, October 30, 2003 Crab cakes. Blackened salmon. Twenty-one-day-aged rib-eye steaks. Housemade praline-crusted crème brûlée. Those are not items typically found on a small-town menu. But they are available at Baxter's, which made it a pleasure to discover this restaurant on Bastrop's historic main street. Opened six months ago by Terri Knop, Baxter's is located in what was originally a tailor shop built in 1890. It is a handsome facility, with brick walls lining a long, open dining room with two-story ceilings and dark-blue woodwork. Baxter's brings fine dining to Bastrop -- from a person who had no experience in the restaurant business (unless you count waiting on tables when she was 16). Knop, who was with American Airlines for 25 years as a customer service agent, took advantage of an early retirement offer and opened the restaurant two weeks later. "I just knew I wanted to do this," Knop says. She's off to a great start, helped substantially by her choice of Preston Higgins, a culinary academy graduate who grew up in Bastrop, as her chef. The aged Black Angus rib-eye, cut in-house by Higgins, was coated with a dry rub that supplied a distinct seasoning. It was tasty and tender, although it had not been cooked quite to the medium-rare level that had been ordered. The steak ($15.95) was served with a large house salad (with Romaine lettuce, rather than the typical iceberg that still permeates small-town restaurants) and a baked potato that had been encrusted with kosher salt, two of several options for sides. The blackened salmon ($10.95), which will drop off the menu this month as part of the seasonal change, was flaky and flavorful, with a Caesar salad ($1 extra) and sauteed strips of portobello mushrooms and green onions. The crab cakes ($6.95), sauteed until lightly crisp and served with a lemon-pepper cocktail sauce, were fine. The appetizer that turned out better than expected was the fried mozzarella and prosciutto ($4.95). Globes the size of large walnuts had been formed from the Italian ham and cheese, dipped in a buttermilk batter, fried to a golden brown and served with a cold, chunky marinara sauce. We could have eaten a double order. Our server's eyes had lighted up when we asked about the fried ham-and-cheese combo, and she confessed it was a toss-up between that and the fried portobello strips for her favorite. Her forthright but friendly manner suited the small-town roots of the place, while allowing it to maintain more of an upscale feel. For dessert, we had the one confection made at the restaurant: the crème brûlée ($5.95). The lovely vanilla custard was covered with crumbled pecans that formed a praline blanket over the dessert. An amazingly rich finish to the meal, the crème brûlée prompts two suggestions: One, tell diners about the praline topping (it came as a complete surprise, since it was never mentioned by the server who listed the available desserts). Two, make a plain crème brûlée to provide an option for those who don't want such a rich finish to their meal (besides, that custard is too good to hide). Those are the kinds of things that experience will teach Knop. She may have left one demanding business for another, but Knop -- teamed with Higgins -- already is flying again. You may contact Dale Rice at drice@statesman.com or 445-3859. | ||||
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