Enjoyed dinner a few months back at Hestia in Austin Texas, recently awarded a Michelin star in the inaugural Michelin guide in Texas. The restaurant prides itself on its open hearth, and each dish on the tasting menu is named after the method of cooking.
Photos 1-2: We arrived a bit early and enjoyed cocktails & bar snacks including crab tartlets. Very nice first sips and bites.
“Cold Smoked” – Salmon, chanterelle mushrooms, Kombu, mizuna. Very light and refreshing broth and the salmon had a very delicate flavor and wonderful texture.
“Smoked” – Chicories, beef tongue, rye crumble, and black garlic. Enjoyed the flavors and textures but the dish was a bit on the salty side.
burnt grain, pate de fruit, cultured butter. This was centered around mesquite and featured a mesquite sourdough, pate de fruit (not shown), and tea were all flavored with mesquite.
“Hearth Seared” – scallop, wagyu beef tallow, mushroom miso gelée. Another dish that I felt like was a really good concept but could use work on refinement. Beef fat and bone marrow were poured on top of the scallop tableside, and combined with the gelee, turned what was a really beautifully seared scallop into an overly rich and almost nauseatingly fatty bite.
7-9. Multi-part course centered around chicken including smoked and skewered chicken hearts, chicken liver mousse, chili crisp made with chicken skin, and mandu-style chicken dumplings. Overall very solid course and I enjoyed all the different components.
“Ambient Heat” – halibut with shiro dashi beurre monté and caviar. This was the standout dish of the evening. Beautifully cooked halibut enrobed in the buttery sauce was incredible on its own, made even better with the caviar.
Post oak grilled Texas wagyu, maitake mushroom, muscadine grape, confit onion. Another good dish but a step down from the previous 2 courses in my opinion. The steak was cooked rare and had a beautiful char on the outside.
12-13. Desserts: Beetroot and prickly pear palate cleanser followed by “embered” persimmon with Texas-native black persimmon and almonds. Overall really enjoyed both desserts and appreciated how they paid tribute to local Texan ingredients. I felt like these dishes helped seal the restaurant’s identity as a “Texan” restaurant as opposed to any other new American restaurant that you can find anywhere in the country.
Final thoughts: Thoroughly enjoyed the experience at Hestia despite some pitfalls here and there (and 1 dish not pictured that I disliked). Nevertheless, this was some of the most inventive cooking that I’ve seen in Texas and believe that the restaurant is deserving of its Michelin star.
by UnderstandingHot9999