On a recent Monday, a couple of friends and I were looking for a fun place to go for dinner, drinks, and Monday Night Football. Having previously enjoyed the all-night-happy-hour food and atmosphere at Roaring Fork, I remembered their large plasma TV screen and comfy leather couches, and suggested we watch it there. We sat at the bar, and I was about to order their addicting barbecue ribs with Dr Pepper-Ancho Chile Sauce to go with my Shiner Bock when we discovered the chef’s tasting menu.
This is another great reason to drop by Robert McGrath’s downtown eatery and enjoy satisfying portions of very good food for a reasonable price. The four-course menu, available every day from 5 to 10pm at the restaurant as well as at the bar, offers a choice of one of two salads, three appetizers, three entrées, and two desserts from McGrath’s Southwestern-inspired cuisine, all for $25. Like the nightly specials, this menu changes often, according to availability of ingredients and the chef’s inspiration.
Two of us decided to try the menu, and ordered different items so that we could taste as many as possible. For each course, the menu suggests a 3-ounce pour of a pairing wine, available for less than the price of a full glass. This makes it possible to have a different wine with each course. Dorothy, our friendly and efficient bartender, also offered some great suggestions that we gladly enjoyed.
We started with the salad of Bluebonnet Farms’ hydroponic baby greens dressed with cranberry-blue cheese vinaigrette, dried cranberries, and spiced pecans. The baby greens were crunchy and fresh, but overall the salad was a little low on the vinaigrette, and the promised teardrop tomatoes were missing completely. Despite these setbacks, it was a light and enjoyable starter.
Next came the appetizers. We tried the Grilled Pan de Campo, a wood-roasted flatbread topped with spit-roasted pork, grilled sweet onions, Dallas Mozzarella, and fire-roasted tomatoes, which came hot off the oven in a miniature cast-iron skillet. The crust was thin and crisp, and the melted mozzarella was simply wonderful. The pan-roasted scallops with black bean refrito and candied jalapeño vinaigrette were also good. The three succulent sea scallops came atop a large homemade tortilla chip covered with refried black beans. It is an unusual flavor combination, both earthy and sweet, that we all enjoyed.
The entrées were absolutely delicious. I chose the pan-roasted sea bass, which was served on a bed of the Roaring Fork’s signature creamy smoked tomato grits, with sautéed spinach and cilantro vinaigrette. The fish was very fresh and cooked beautifully. We shared the ancho-rubbed grilled venison on mashed potatoes, with sautéed exotic mushrooms and roasted corn-chile butter. The slices of venison were tender and perfectly medium, and the mushrooms complemented their light smoky flavor very well.
For dessert, we tried two different options. The chocolate brownie a la mode, with its melted chocolate center, was served warm with a caramel sauce spiked with chile cascabel. The petit baked banana empanada also came with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and an excellent chocolate-ancho chile sauce. We chased these down with a tasty chocolate martini and a good cup of espresso.
This article appears in November 28 • 2003.
