There aren’t many restaurants, at least not in Austin anyway, where you can get sea beans, crème fraiche, and grapes in the same dish. Luckily for us we have Uchi. Where not only will chef Tyson Cole mix those ingredients but he’ll also throw in a mint vinaigrette and some toasted almonds and then spoon it all over some adorable little Nantucket bay scallops for a crudo that’ll get you all tingly.
A tray of delectable beet treats.
Also, fish caramel. That’s right. Fish caramel. Take me to another restaurant in town where the waitstaff will wax rhapsodic about the savory and unctuous reduction of nước chấm with added sugar. Didn’t think so.
I’m going to go out on a limb and say that Uchi (one of Austin’s most respected food establishments with a chef who was named one of Food and Wine’s best chefs of the year and who’s been nominated for two James Beard awards) is a really good place for dinner. Ballsy, I know.
This is probably a good time to mention that the good folks over at Uchi bought and paid for my love and praise by inviting me and the lovely wifey to a fabulous foodbloggers mixer last night. What can I say; I’m a whore for awesome stuff that’s free.
madai nigiri
The gathering started off with little glasses of delicious Nyukon sake hilariously subtitled “Into Your Soul.” Accompanying the beverages were some delicately shaped sushi with black snapper, shiso, and Meyer lemon zest (madai nigiri for you purists.) The fish was cut beautifully and the rice was seasoned and formed just right. The shiso was a bit strong but even so I was able to eat several whole platters and store some in my cheeks for later.
The next array of treats were some little jewel like cubes cut from a golden beet terrine. The beets were topped with charred orange, tarragon leaves, and some extra crispy beet chips. The flavors were classic and yummy but this dish was all about the texture for me.
Tyson and his boys/girls in the back, vacuum compress the root veggies and then cook them low and long sous-vide style. The end result is a sweet little square that holds its shape perfectly until you pop it into your mouth where it melts into its constituent golden layers. Beets have been big on the Austin restaurant scene this year but this is certainly one of the most expert and fun treatments I’ve come across. More sous-vide please.
And since I’m in a complimentary mood, there’s another reason I like Chef Cole. He’s a white boy. More specifically, he’s a white boy who’s really excelled in an arcane cuisine that has traditionally been thoroughly dominated by the Japanese.
I know that in modern Obama-post-racial-America there are no prejudices to be found regarding skin color or country of origin (ahem) but I just wanted to give a shout out to the guy for putting forth the extra effort to overcome yet another hurdle in the cheffery business.
Now back to tasty eats.
Following the beets were some big eye tuna and watermelon skewers. These were so pretty on the tray that in a balancing dance between camera, glasses and plate, I immediately dashed two to the ground. They even looked good on the wood floor. Don’t tell Tyson.
The watermelon had been vacuum compressed in thin slices to remove excess liquid and create a denser texture. It worked quite nicely with the soft and slightly chewy fish. A little serrano on top gave it a nudge of heat that really helped the natural sweetness of the dish pop.
That’s when the scallop crudo appeared. Since I pretty much gave you a run down at the beginning I’ll just say that the dish was creamy, salty, tangy and lots of fun. Of course raw scallops are one of my 17 natural known weaknesses so perhaps I’m biased.
After the scallops our hosts went off menu. Something possessed them to bring out even more goodness from the back- specifically, samples of their popular shag roll. The shag roll is filled with avocado, sun-dried tomato, and salmon and then the whole thing is lightly tempura’d. While I certainly enjoyed it, it didn’t wow me like some of the other dishes. It’s basically just a really good version of rolls you can find at other sushi places in town.
Although at Uchi they serve it with a squid ink sumiso sauce that totally kicked ass. Am I allowed to like the sauce more than the food?
Next appeared baskets of grilled sweet potatoes and braised pork belly. The sweet potatoes were the less sugary and much whiter Satsuma variety. The small chunks had been tossed with ginger and sake and had perfect little caramelized crusts. I was a fan.
The braised belly on the other hand, we could have had a long and happy life together; honeymooning in the Greek isles, having a few kids, maybe starting a small business one day…Unfortunately, I ate every last morsel and licked the memories from my fingers.
I can still remember it like it was yesterday though- the crisp outside, the pudding like softness of the interior, the thin slivers of apple topped with tiny aromatic fronds of fennel. Seriously people, order the pork belly.
The denouement came with a sorbet tasting presented by the chef himself. The little dishes were filled with white corn and brown butter frozen creaminess topped off with a Maldon sea salt tuile. The white corn flavor didn’t really come through but the rich, nutty butter taste set off by the one-two punch of sweet and salt more than made up for it. Luckily for my current wardrobe they weren’t selling this by the gallon.
The evening wrapped up with copious chatting and mingling. It was great to see so many familiar faces and exciting to meet so many new Austin food folks.
Many thanks to the cooks and staff at Uchi for hosting such a delightful gathering. Y’all are doing a great job over there and we totally appreciate all of your hard work!
-L. Pants
