Little Texas Bistro
214 N. Main in Buda
512/312-5828
Tuesday-Thursday, 5-9pm; Friday-Saturday, 5-10pm
If Paul Petersen had found the job he wanted in Austin, who knows how long it would have been before the San Antonio native opened a restaurant of his own? But when the Culinary Institute of America-trained chef and his wife decided to return to Texas after a successful stint in some of New York’s finest eateries, the Austin job market was bleak, prompting them to set up a deli and catering business in tiny Buda. The catering business blossomed, and soon Petersen was fielding requests to open for dinner: first one, then two, and, finally, five nights a week. The Little Texas Bistro is the result. A welcome sign fashioned from good-luck horseshoes ushers diners into a cozy dining room, set with antique furnishings, votive lights, and fresh flowers. The service is polite, friendly, and relatively well-informed. Thanks to the success of the “wet” option in recent Hays County elections, there’s a full bar, which the management has augmented with a thoughtfully chosen wine list. Petersen’s small but well-conceived menu offers some of our region’s best native food products prepared with skillful French techniques, resulting in subtle, sophisticated meals sure to please the discriminating palate.We found ourselves amid a full house on a recent Tuesday night (reservations are always a good idea here) and could not have been happier with our meal. Petersen admits he put Pan-Sautéed Sweetbreads ($9) on his appetizer menu strictly to please himself, but if you are a sweetbreads fan, his version should please you, as well. The richness of the meat is perfectly balanced by an astringent fresh tomato caper chutney. Another excellent study in subtle contrasts is the Prosciutto-Crusted Morbier Cheese ($8), a melting rectangle of voluptuous cheese encased in a whisper-thin slice of crisped prosciutto, served with warm sautéed pear slices, field greens, and a tangy balsamic reduction. Though the Crispy Skin Boneless Half Chicken ($17) didn’t quite live up to our memory of the one at the late, lamented Lambert’s, it was delicious nonetheless, bathed in an elegant truffle butter and perched aside an earthy wild-rice blend studded with toasted pecans and sautéed mushrooms. The Pan Roasted Duck and Duck Leg Confit ($20) was marvelous, paired with an herb-infused mushroom and apple bread pudding and a traditional duck demi-glace. Both the sweetbreads and the duck were complemented by glasses of Ribera del Duero Vega Riazza Tempranillo ($7 a glass). We ended the meal splitting a steaming bowl of fresh pear-strawberry Oatmeal Crisp ($7), topped with vanilla bean ice cream, just the right Texas country ending to a very “big city” meal. The job of always searching out new restaurants makes it difficult to find the time to visit our personal favorites too often, but in the case of chef Petersen’s place, I might just have to make an exception. – V.B.W.
This article appears in February 25 • 2005.
