Annie's - Go for a drink, stay for another drink

:GIANT DISCLAIMER, October 2009!  Since I wrote this post in July, the head chef has moved on, and our wonderful bar manager friend David also left, with most of the bar staff following.  I'm not sure what's going on there, but I've heard anecdotally that the bar experience is nowhere near what it once was.  We'll try to get back for another review, but I'm not sure when that will be.:

We've got a new awesome place in town, but I'm not sure how to characterize it.  Ladies lunch spot?  A bar for people in search of a serious drink, mixed by a seriously talented bartender?  Spot to grab some comfort food after a late night drinking downtown?  Purveyor of a full English breakfast, tomato and all?

I guess Annie's is all of these things, but most importantly it's home to a kickass bar.  

The chef is from the much-loved and lamented Cafe 909 in Marble Falls, so it's gotta be good!

Our first visit to Annie's was as part of a media preview.  I'm not sure how it's possible to actually review a restaurant based on a preview like this, but we did try a few little nibbles and liked most of what we ate.  

I was most impressed with their bakery case, and really enjoyed the dessert tartlets I tried.  The dark chocolate ganache was thick without being cloying, and the lemon meringue was a pretty counterpoint.

And any place that employs a jazz group playing Snoop immediately has my vote.

But I have to say that the aspect of this restaurant I find most awesome is the bar.  Not only is the bar itself pretty sweet to look at, a big zinc curved monument to drinking, but the bar program is great.  Bill Norris (of FINO fame, and of going to New Zealand on the backs of 42 below vodka fame) created the bar menu, and David Alan of Tipsy Texan is behind the bar mixing up some truly wondrous classic drinks.

David is passionate about bringing old drinks back, and he's making them with the best ingredients.  Mexican Coke, Maine Root Ginger Brew, premiums like Flor de Cana rum as house liquor - this all adds up to a really great place to enjoy a drink.  I'm glad we have people like this behind the bars in Austin, finally - this town has grown really aware of food over the last few years, and it's time for the drinking culture to catch up.

So when David invited us to check out the happy hour menu, we jumped at the chance.  We met Crystal and Justin there and had a rollicking good time, fueled by little triangular drinks and lots of fried snacks.

David started us off with a Pimm's Cup, that refreshing, slightly bitter tipple that's perfect for summer. 

We promised him we wouldn't use this picture...  sorry!  Normally, the cucumber would be in spear form.

While we enjoyed this old-school cocktail (Pimm's has been around since 1823), we were served the housemade ricotta with marinated slow-roasted olives and foccaccia.  This was my favorite of the happy hour apps we tried.  The ricotta was SO creamy, and had a nice lemon tinge to it.  

  

Next classic cocktail: Southside, with gin, lemon juice, mint, and sugar syrup. This was light and summery - it reminded me most strongly of a mojito, though I know the liquor's different and there's no soda in a Southside.  I was already glad that David was making us small servings; these drinks were so good that I wanted to taste them all!

We sipped on the Southsides for a little while, and then David presented us with pisco sours (pisco and egg white - he made some with lime juice instead of lemon, which made them even more tropically delicious) and the Texas style poutine.  Fries covered with chili and cheese.  What's not to like, well, besides the calorie count?

Annie's takes real care with their fries.  We're talking a multi-day process with overnight drying!  This makes it OK that the fries appear twice on the happy hour menu, once as this poutine and once with paprika aioli.

And then, another amazing drink - the Diablo.  I was predisposed to like this one - I mean, it starts with tequila, and adds cassis, lime, and ginger beer!  I loved it.  The slight heat of the ginger beer, the tartness of the cassis and the lime, the slight peppery backnote of the tequila - yum.  I wanna big one.

While I was still sipping my pretty pink drinks and shoving french fries in my mouth, we were served fried calamari.  This is usually not one of my favorite dishes, because when it's bad it's BAD - thick greasy breading, rubbery squid, cold marinara... but this iteration was nothing like those!  The breading was nice and thin, the clamari was perfectly cooked, and the slightly spicy aioli was great for dipping.  Plus, the pile of fried goodness included lemon slices and cherry peppers!  It was nice to have textural variation and flavor variation, so you didn't feel you were working through a giant pile of sameness.  

I put in a special request for one last cocktail.  The Sidecar is made with brandy, Paula's Texas Orange, and lemon juice.  I thought the brandy would be the strongest flavor here, but it turns out the drink is a precursor to a Margarita, so it's actually pretty tart.

I'll close with one last insanely good drink, the St. Germain cocktail, made with equal parts St. Germain elderflower liqueur, cava, and club soda.  This drink makes me think of Sunday brunches with a cocktail, some eggs with a hearty hollandaise, and a good book.  Sigh.

Annie's: 319 Congress, Austin TX. 512.472.1884.  Let me know if you try their breakfast, lunch, dinner or latenight - I gotta know if their food is as good as it looks!

Comments

[Marchbanks]

Be nice if he'd make the Diablo with a ginger drink got some actual kick to it, which Reed's ain't got IMO. Now if someone could con him into making them with Blenheim #3 . . . THAT would have an adequate kick.

[Rachel @ boots in the oven]

He told us that he was planning to make it with Maine Root Ginger Brew, which has a lot of kick and is local, too! There was a bit of a distribution problem when we were in there, apparently. I liked Blenheim a lot when we were living in SC, but I think Maine Root may be better.

[Tex]

Thanks for stopping by and trying everything and for sharing you pics with the InterWeb. It is always a pleasure to see friendly faces at the bar. Regarding the ginger brew, we were using Reed's because I couldn't find any Maine Root Ginger, which is my favorite. It has that pleasant sting of fresh ginger juice, without being gratuitous about it. We now have a healthy suppy of Maine Root so I encourage all ginger lovers to stop by for a Diablo or five.
Cheers!

[Ling]

am salivating at your descriptions of the cocktails. Especially the Diablo and the St Germain. I think I would drink too many of them...

[Gastronomer]

Jazzed up Gin and Juice? I love!

[Rachel @ Boots in the Oven]

O'course, Tex! We'll most certainly be back. I had my first taste of Maine Root ginger by itself a couple of weeks ago, and it's awesome.

Ling, they're really good, and the St. Germain, at least, is really easy to make... I think it's just equal parts St. Germain, soda water, and champagne (or cava!). Would be so simple to recreate!

[Marchbanks]

OK, so I grabbed a Maine Root Ginger Brew when I was at Central Market today, to see what it really was. It's pretty good--kinda reminds me of Blenheim #5, and it's miles ahead of most ginger ales-and-beers. It'd make an all-right Diablo, I imagine. But I'm a fan of ohmygod, atsa-some-a-spicy, clear-your-sinuses gratuitous ginger, so I'll continue to carry my personal flag for Blenheim #3. Maybe I'll even get it together enough to call 'em and order a case--or two, since my wife likes it just about as much as I do, and if I order only one case I'll have to fight her for it.

[crystal]

This is a great review. I've been dying to try Annie's and your post just convinced me to go.
:)

[Rachel @ boots in the oven]

Sounds like a plan, Marchbanks! Now I'm not sure if I've tried this #5...

Hope you like it, Crystal! We haven't tried out their brunch or entrees, so I'm curious what people think.

[Emo Girl]

Very liked your review. And photos ;)