The past weekend kept Angie and I on the run.  On Saturday, we finally got our office back after the water leak and repairs.  We had to purchase a new printer because our old dog Belle destroyed the power supply ( a new printer was only a few dollars more than a replacement ) and we start moving "stuff" back into the room.  At 4PM we were on the road to Austin for dinner and the Craig Ferguson show at the Paramount Theater.  If anyone is a fan of Craig, let it be known that Ang and I are part of his robot, skeleton army (it's a Twitter thing).

After a discussion with the folks at Wine 101 the previous evening and a search of Open Table on my phone, we decided to dine at the Driskill Grill located in the Driskill Hotel (6th Street and Brazos).  The Driskill Grill received Wine Spectator's "Best of Award of Excellance 2009," so we were pretty pumped up to visit.  We were not disappointed.

Our waiter, Jonathan, was very knowledgeable to the menu, wine list and Driskill in general.  He gave us a good first impression of the restaurant.  On his recommendation we chose the Chef's Five Course Tasting Menu.  Since the courses included a wide sampling of different textures, flavors and sauces, I picked a German Reisling.  (Ok, I like Reisling, especially with food). 

The wine list had a nice selection of German Reislings.  I like the German ones because the acidity levels seem to be higher than the California-Washington varieties. I narrowed my choices to Kabinetts because, to me, the Spatlese, Auslese offerings are a little too sweet (or fruity if you ever talk to a German vintner).  The Von Othegraven 2007 Kabinett was within my "wine-at-a-restaurant" price level.  The Von Othegraven estate is located along the Saar tributary of the Mosel River.  The soil is primarily slate with some iron oxide. I picked up pear and green apples on the nose. It had a long finish and worked with all items on the tasting menu including desert.

The food was outstanding.  Our tasting menu consisted of

    Hawaiian Ahi Poke, wasabi tobiko, macadamia nuts, orange, soy and cucumber;
    Sous Vide Organic Egg, frisee salad, blue cheese, bacon, green apple, and dijon vinaigrette;
    Cast Iron Seared Tasmanian Salmon with Lemon-saffron risotto, trumpets, and sweet pea coulis;
    Herb Crusted Lamb Chop with cannellini beans, ratatouille and maideira sauce;
    Chocolate Carmel Crunch Bar with malted milkshake and candied hazelnuts.

I didn't leave a crumb of anything on my plate.  While these were tastes vice full portions, we both were fairly full by the time desert arrived.  I've never been a raw seafood fan, but the Ahi Poke may have convinced me to rethink the concept.  Sous Vide style egg on a salad was an interesting take and also surprised me as it melded with the other flavors and textures.  The Salmon and Lamb Chop ranked up there with the best I've tasted.  Yes, Driskill Grill is not to be missed.

Oh, by the way, Craig's show was great.  Angie continued to laugh all the way home to Helotes.....