XL Dining Guide 2003 - Top Ten Restaurants

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Austin's Top Ten Restaurants

Photo by Taylor Johnson/AA-S

Bread pudding souffle from Jean Luc's Bistro.

Jean Luc's Bistro
705 Colorado St.
(512) 494-0033
Wine: 27 by the glass ($5-$20), 300 by the bottle ($17-$350)
Rating:

No. 4: Jean Luc's Bistro

Shawn Cirkiel, the young chef-owner who took over Jean Luc's in 2001, has propelled the restaurant to new heights with a creativity tempered by a discipline that focuses on the smallest details.

As a result, Jean Luc's -- a small, French-inspired restaurant near the downtown Warehouse District -- jumped the most in this year's rankings.

Cirkiel's skill is beautifully illustrated in one of his appetizers of tiny bay scallops.

Freshly shucked minutes earlier, the scallops are lightly sauteed with finely shredded black trumpet mushrooms and tangerine segments. They are placed back in the shells -- two scallops to each of three shells -- with a sauce made by deglazing the pan with tangerine juice and served on a bed of salt crystals.

That produces an exquisite union of texture, flavor and color, a pattern repeated consistently through Cirkiel's fare and the desserts of pastry chef Philip Speer.

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