: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!
