2004 XL Dining Guide: The Top 10

In details, extra touches and consistency, Driskill Grill and others go beyond ordinary

Café at the Four Seasons
Executive chef Elmar Prambs has to exert monumental oversight at the Four Seasons Hotel, through breakfast, lunch, snacks, dinner, bar fare, banquets, receptions and room service. That's 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
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Hudson's on the Bend
Jeff Blank recovered his fifth star and moved back up substantially in the ratings this year by eliminating a problem: a table and a room that had no place in a five-star establishment.
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Aquarelle
The flavors danced, and my taste buds applauded.
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Jeffrey's
The dish held two large ravioli filled with the ethereal flavor of wild mushrooms, augmented with a delicate garlic chive cream sauce and garnished with wisps of wild asparagus and pine nuts.
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Café 909
The food at this "Rustic Gourmet," in the heart of the old downtown of Marble Falls, is as sophisticated and elegant as anything you'll find at the best restaurants in Austin, Dallas or Houston.
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Wink
The restaurant that most exemplifies the improvement in the area's dining scene in the past decade is Wink.
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Zoot
A small American bistro west of downtown Austin, Zoot remains one of the best restaurants in the city.
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Mirabelle
For the most part, we celebrate chefs for what they do. Occasionally, it's worth stepping back to praise an excellent chef for what he doesn't do, for knowing when to withhold, to refrain, to simplify.
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Vespaio
On a typical Saturday night, the block in front of the restaurant is parked solid, the bar is so full it looks like you'd have to apply olive oil to slide through for a drink, and the wait for a table can be 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
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