XL Dining Guide 2003 - Top Ten Restaurants

E-MAIL PRINT MOST E-MAILED

Austin's Top Ten Restaurants

Photo by Kelly West For AA-S

Chef David Bull's brioche-crusted Bristol Bay cod.

Driskill Grill
604 Brazos St.
(512) 474-5911
Wine: 22 by the glass ($7-$20), 360 by the bottle ($28-$1,208)
Rating:

No. 1: Driskill Grill

The rest of the country now knows what we've recognized for several years: We have a gem in Driskill Grill executive chef David Bull.

This year, in which Bull was selected by Food & Wine magazine as one of the top 10 young chefs in America, his restaurant moves up a notch to the top spot in the annual dining guide. Bull has an outstanding flair for combining tastes and textures and for presenting them in artistic, appealing ways.

In his exquisite crab cake appetizer, for example, he makes a shrimp mousse, folds lump crab meat into it, shapes the cakes, pan-fries them and then finishes them in the oven. The result is the consistency of a light mousse.

Although they need nothing further to be delectable, Bull treats the crab cakes to a smoked tomato butter sauce and a jicama-poblano slaw tossed with a cilantro vinaigrette.

Items such as that are further complemented by executive pastry chef Jimmy MacMillan's desserts, a beautiful historic hotel setting and superior service.

While Bull's products are pricey -- some of the most expensive in Central Texas -- they represent the best that Austin has to offer.

Back To Index | Next: Aquarelle