XL Food & Drink: The Main Course

Cedar Grove Steakhouse

The rural eatery brings upscale meals to the Wimberley area

By Dale Rice
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Thursday, July 13, 2006

It seems an unlikely spot for a fine-dining venue: a juncture of two rural roads in the Texas Hill Country 4 miles south of Wimberley. In fact, it would be easy to zip by on a drive from San Marcos to Blanco and not even realize there's something special behind the rustic wood exterior.

But there is: Cedar Grove Steakhouse, where 23-year-old executive chef John Galindo III produces food equal to that of more-seasoned chefs.

The upscale restaurant, open for a year and a half, encompasses a two-story dining room, with a large section of the second floor cut away to reveal huge wooden beams near the summit of the tall, peaked roof.

As its name suggests, the menu at Cedar Grove Steakhouse is strong on beef (especially hand-cut steaks), although there is a smattering of seafood, duck and pork (but no vegetarian) entrées.

The calamari ($9) and the asparagus wraps ($10) offered a solid opening in the sparsely populated dining room on a Tuesday night. (The weekends are packed, the servers told another guest who inquired.)

The rings and tentacles of fried squid, covered in a thick, crisp, dry breading, were uniformly tender. However, with little seasoning in the batter, the calamari would have grown lackluster quickly were it not for the accompanying spicy bowl of charred marinara sauce.

For the asparagus, six grilled spears came wrapped individually in prosciutto with a light spread of herbed cream cheese. Arranged in overlapping circles, they were garnished with a flavorful spiral of parsley oil.

The Black Angus filet ($22) was topped with Stilton cheese that formed a marbled blanket over the 6-ounce steak. (The blue cheese is one of three preparation styles offered, along with pepper-crusted and bacon-wrapped). The tender filet was served with sautéed green beans and sautéed mushrooms, selected from among 13 sides.

The tasty, 13-ounce New York strip ($23), cooked a perfect medium rare, was accompanied by sautéed spinach and highly seasoned, roasted red potatoes that were crisp on the outside and meltingly soft inside.

Cheesecake ($7) and crème brûlée ($8) wrapped up the meal.

The Mexican vanilla crème brûlée featured the standard soft custard in a large, oval dish presented with a flash of showmanship. The server deftly caramelized the sugar topping with a torch while the diners watched.

While Galindo's crème brûlée was a good show, we were captivated by the fourth-generation chef's cheesecake. Flavored with lavender from his herb garden and white chocolate, the tall cheesecake was — as contradictory as it may seem — both light and luscious, with visible specks of lavender. It was garnished with a blackberry sauce, thick with fruit, that draped over one corner and pooled to one side as though it were a flowing shawl tossed coquettishly over a starlet's shoulder.

I would drive the 40 miles from my home in Austin just to have that cheesecake again.

Service was friendly and attentive, with our young server enthusiastically making recommendations.

Cedar Grove Steakhouse is another example of the growing community of fine-dining restaurants outside Austin. With food as good as many central-city steakhouses, it offers an attractive alternative to downtown dining.

drice@statesman.com; 445-3859