Review Paggi House Austin, TX

So, you have to be good or lucky to find a nice place to eat two weeks before Valentine’s Day. This year, I may have had a little bit of an excuse as we just moved 1,700 miles to Austin, TX a few weeks ago.  Well, I think we got lucky. I found a table available at Paggi House on Open Table at 7pm on Valentine’s Day…with less than 2 weeks notice. I immediately check out Paggi House on Yelp before making the reservation and it seemed like everyone had good things to say about it.  Lastly, I went to Paggi House’s website, checked out some photos, the menu and most importantly, the wine list.  Danielle and I enjoy many Italian reds (namely Sangiovese and their Tuscan siblings), and I spied a bottle (2004 vintage) that we enjoyed on our honeymoon there and the deal was sealed.  One strange thing did happen a few days later when I received a call from a very nice young lady from Paggi House. She explained that we would be seated in a tent outside (and here is the strange part) because I made the reservation so late.  Now, I am not sure if she wanted me to feel bad about making the reservation less than two weeks from the big day, or if she really didn’t meant to tell me that part, but I don’t think that information was necessarily something she should have conveyed. I would rather her simply ask if sitting outside in a heated tent would have been a deal breaker for me.  No harm, no foul, let’s move on.

We showed up right at 7pm on a very windy, dry  and cold evening.  Paggi House is a block off of Lake Austin (aka the Colorado River) and it was pretty darn cold. We walked up the stairs from the parking lot after the Valet (complimentary) took the car and noticed that the tent to our left was dark end empty.  We walked inside and found the hostess who asked our name and then checked the computer which was located outside the front door. We waited inside because it was freezing out there. A minute later, she came back in, grabbed a couple of menus, headed inside the restaurant and said, “follow me.” We both shrugged and followed her into a lovely room with a fireplace to the left and then were seated at, what I would consider to be, one of the best seats on that side of the restaurant looking out a window and 5 feet from the fireplace. Disco!  There must have been a bunch of cancellations as the 7/7:30p seating left one or two open tables.  On to the important stuff.

Beverages

Danielle started with a “Red Bud” cocktail…some kind of Tito’s Vodka based drink that reminded both of us of Gazpacho. Not my cup of tea, but Danielle loved it.  I fired up a glass of the Long Boat Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough.  I think it was sitting open a big long (in the bottle), but I took it down. I am not sure it was a great representation of what Marlborough has to offer, but it worked.  We then splurged on a bottle of the 2004 “Tenuta Nova” Casanova di Neri Brunello di Montalcino.   This is a special bottle of wine and while I did not enjoy it as much as the 1999 or 2001 vintages, it was still great.

Appetizers

The Valentine’s Day offering was a set menu, but it had many things right up our alley.  Danielle opted for a salad of Arugula, Pears and Asparagus and I man’d up and went for the Wagyu Beef Tartare.   Danielle loved hers, but I was clearly the victor. The tartare was a standout topped with a raw yolk over beef with some capers mixed in.  The beef was amazing and it was reminiscent of poke tuna in its texture…amazingly good. Served with a long crostini and some pepper sauce that I sopped up in short order.

Entrees

Round two started with Danielle’s Sea Bass that I believe was poached in Sake.  I knew Danielle was excited as it sounded similar to a dish she loved at Three Seasons in San Francisco.  She really enjoyed the bass and it was a very large portion.  I opted for the mushroom Risotto.  The portion was very nice, and while the flavor was dead on, it came out a bit runny. I am not sure if the chef intended it to sit and setup for a few minutes first or if it just came off a little too quickly. By the end of my 2nd course, it was in perfect shape. I would order it again if I found it on the menu, but I would probably mention my experience to see how it came out this time.

Dessert

Score another victory for me this round with my deconstructed cheese cake.  The cheese component was a liquid, there were two graham cracker/smap type cookies, some graham cracker dust and some (what I think) cranberry raisins.  Delicious. Danielle opted for the chocolate fondant. While not her favorite (she is the molten chocolate cake type), she took it down happily.

Overall, we were very happy with our dinner at Paggi House and will definitely be returning soon. I just learned that they offer half-priced appetizers and glasses of wine daily from 5 to 7.  They also have a great deck (where the tent was situated, that would be a great place to eat outside and look at the lake and downtown skyline, weather permitting.