The New York Times this week updated its 25 Best Restaurants in Austin list with the addition of two new names, which means two names also disappeared from the roster of restaurants that was originally published last year.
The list, written by the Times’ Priya Krishna and Brett Anderson, now includes Texas-French bistro Le Calamar, which has brought rich, comforting sauces, tender meats and a seasonal ethos to its approach on South First Street. The restaurant is the second attempt at that locale from owners Richard Hargreave and Claudia Lee, who closed their Korean-wine bar concept Underdog earlier this year after opening that in 2023.
The couple brought in longtime friend, chef Casey Wall — who, like Hargreave, spent years working in Australian restaurants — to help conceptualize and run the new restaurant. Le Calamar opened on South First Street in May and quickly found its stride, as evidenced by the Times’ list and the inclusion of its seasonal tomato salad in my list of Best Things I Ate in July.
The elegant but unfussy omakase from three Uchiko veterans was previously featured in Anderson’s 2024 piece about the rise of the “bromakase,” with Craft coming out in arguably the most favorable light of restaurants mentioned in the story.
“Craft stands out from the pack for its exceptional food, relative accessibility and its refusal to upsell customers with luxury ingredient add-ons — a hallmark of too many local competitors,” Anderson wrote in the recent Times piece.
Dining and Cooking