Dining Guide 2004: 8 more to whet your appetite

Runners-up to our top 10 keep mouths watering with global fare

Published: Oct. 22, 2004

Steven Loiacono, chef-owner of this upscale Italian restaurant in Northwest Austin, knows the key to preparing excellent seafood: Pull it off the heat before it overcooks. Beyond cooking times, Loiacono artfully supplements his meat, pasta and seafood with robust flavors, such as his duck Ivrea. In that dish, he piles high -- in crisscrossed layers -- slices of lean, skinless duck breast that have been sautéed with Grand Marnier and imbued with an orange-apple glaze. He rests the meat on a bed of snap peas, julienned carrots and chopped apples, all of which cover a fried sheet of pasta supported by orange wedges.
• Read Dale Rice's full-length review of Bellagio.

Bistro 88
2712 Bee Cave Road
(512) 328-8888

A dish that could be as mediocre as lettuce wraps reveals the depth of Bistro 88. Jeff Liu, executive chef and co-owner of the restaurant that combines European and Asian cooking techniques and ingredients, carefully trims leaves of iceberg lettuce to form two small bowls that hold a delicious mix of diced scallops and shrimp with tofu, mushrooms and vegetables in a light shallot-soy sauce. The lettuce bowls are so full that a diner is forced to eat much of the seafood mix, and thus is compelled to enjoy the delicate blend of flavors and textures, before rolling the last of it inside the lettuce -- a tribute to the ever-creative Liu.
• Read Dale Rice's full-length review of Bistro 88.

Photo by Robert Godwin for AA-S Smoky and sweet flavors of the tropics swirl together on Café Josie's shrimp.

Well-known national chains may be riding the wave into Central Texas, but it is a small, independent, locally owned restaurant that emerged as the best catch of the year. At the American tropics-inspired Café Josie, chef-owner Charles Mayes has perfected the art of seafood preparation, from a soup of roasted tomatoes and crawfish tails to a pepita-crusted red fish. In his honey chipotle shrimp, for example, Mayes coats two skewers of shrimp with a honey chipotle glaze and grills them over mesquite, fusing sweet, spicy and smoky flavors onto the seafood.
• Read Dale Rice's full-length review of Café Josie.

Carmelo's
504 E. Fifth St.
(512) 477-7497

Service and ambience occasionally tip the scales in favor of an extra star. That happened this year with Carme- lo's Ristorante Italiano, the classic Italian spot that has become a mainstay of downtown dining. The dishes were high three-star, but the service and atmosphere pushed the overall experience up a notch. The waiters were exceptionally attentive, and they carried out several deft touches such as polishing plates and silverware before bringing them to the table. Carmelo's served a complimentary starter (as only a few top spots do), augmenting further the classy ambience offered by the historic setting.
• Read Dale Rice's full-length review of Carmelo's.

Castle Hill Cafe
1101 W. Fifth St.
(512) 476-0728

The entrees at Castle Hill Cafe have moved into a more artistic, more visually appealing realm, signaling a dramatic shift behind the scenes: Co-owner David Dailey, executive chef since the day the doors opened two decades ago, has stepped back into more of a supervisory role and is leaving the day-to-day operation to the new chef de cuisine, Arik Williams. Dynamic flavors have always been paramount to Dailey. They are to Williams, too. He is simply modernizing the look, making it a bit more elegant -- all part of his challenge "to make things better yet keep them the same."
• Read Dale Rice's full-length review of Castle Hill Cafe.

Photo by Deborah Cannon/AA-S Maintaining its fame for fine interior Mexican cuisine, Fonda San Miguel broils fish with achiote for pescado tikin xik.

Fonda San Miguel, one of the best-known restaurants in the United States for interior Mexican cuisine, will turn 30 next year. It is nearing that milestone because it has a loyal base, and it doesn't rely solely on its history to bring those folks back. In the past year, the restaurant has undergone a remodeling that has it looking spiffy and appealing. In its cuisine, the restaurant sticks mainly with old favorites, offering a few new items to inject a sense of freshness. Using that recipe, Fonda San Miguel has remained one of Austin's premier restaurants for three decades.
• Read Dale Rice's full-length review of Fonda San Miguel.

Mansion at Judges' Hill
1900 Rio Grande St.
(512) 495-1800

This restaurant at the Mansion at Judges' Hill, the 48-room boutique hotel near the University of Texas campus, faces a significant challenge this year. Within weeks of its four-star review, executive chef John Maxwell -- who for several years had been one of the city's top chefs -- left Austin. The Mansion immediately promoted its young sous chef, Paul Ringelstetter, to replace him. A former Marine and graduate of the Texas Culinary Academy, Ringelstetter now has the burden of melding classic and modern fare the way Maxwell did in the elegant setting.
• Read Dale Rice's full-length review of Mansion at Judges' Hill.

Photo by Larry Kolvoord/AA-S Indulge in a trip to Italy with Siena's bistecca tagliata -- sliced sirloin in a lemon and white truffle vinaigrette.

Close your eyes while savoring the bavette, thin strips of pasta in cream sauce with sausage and shrimp, and you can imagine you've been transported to Italy. Open your eyes and you'll be convinced you've landed in Tuscany. One of the most aesthetically pleasing restaurants in Central Texas, Siena's stone walls, tall-peaked wood ceiling and huge fireplace provide a setting that matches the robust fare of executive chef Harvey Harris. The past couple of years, Siena has hit its stride. It now lives up to the name.
• Read Dale Rice's full-length review of Siena.