34th Street Cafe
1005 W. 34th St., 371-3400
Monday-Friday, 11am-9:30pm (lunch, 11am-6pm; dinner, 6-9:30pm); Saturday, 11am-4pm; 6-9:30pm
34th Street Cafe began life in the Nineties as a friendly neighborhood lunch spot serving sandwiches, salads, and thin-crust pizzas to an appreciative West Austin clientele. In recent years, proprietor Eddie Bernal has branched out, adding catering services and dinner hours with a fine dining menu. The cafe is very casual during the day: the kind of place where folks order at the counter and visit friends among the tables. Evening brings about a transformation, as soft lighting; an affordable, food-friendly wine list; and a pleasant, professional service staff combine to create a completely different restaurant. We were drawn to 34th Street on some early February evenings to check chef Justin “Raif” Raiford’s new winter menu. Raiford, a Texas Culinary Institute graduate in his early 20s, has been generating some positive buzz for his confident command of the cafe’s kitchen.
After dining at 34th Street twice recently, I’d have to say that I was more impressed with the execution of the food than the menu itself. The dinner menu features a choice of appetizers and salads, Tuscan pizzas, small plates, and entrées. The choices are literally and culturally all over the place: Caesar Salad, fried oysters on potato chips, designer pizzas, gumbo, hacked chicken salad, green enchiladas. There isn’t a local or national culinary cliché of the past 10 years missing. Perhaps the decade’s top trendy signature menu staples are included because the cafe is, at its heart, a neighborhood place that tries to keep everyone happy. The good news is that among the standards there are some delicious jewels, if you’re willing to seek them out.
From the appetizer and salad list, I would suggest the Pinot Noir Beef Croustade ($9), thinly shaved slices of beef on crusty bread with a pungent garlic aioli and a crisp handful of baby winter greens in a tangy vinaigrette. This dish is definitely a keeper and one I’d order again. The same tangy white balsamic vinaigrette dresses the fine Baby Spinach Salad ($7.50), more perfect seasonal greens tossed with scallions, red peppers, feta cheese, and toasted pecans. Order it now, while good spinach is so plentiful. One of our favorite dishes of either evening came from the “small plates” section, although we were confused by the fact that items in that list are priced comparably with the entrées and the portion sizes were smaller in some instances than others. All that being said, my friend loved the Petit Harris Ranch Beef Tenderloin ($22): It was cooked exactly to her specifications (black and blue), and the side dishes of bleu-cheese-creamed spinach and roasted baby potatoes were very satisfying. She described it as the “perfect portion” for someone who had already enjoyed an appetizer. The Shrimp and Sausage Gumbo ($11) from the same small plates list was a deep, hearty bowl of bayou goodness with plenty of plump shrimp in a spicy blonde roux. With a salad beforehand, it, too, made a full meal.
There are several tasty treats among the entrées, most notably the Lamb Chops ($25) resting against a toothsome scoop of flavorful barley “risotto,” and the Pork Tenderloin Medallions ($18) in a wonderfully astringent sour orange glaze, paired with comforting garlic mashed potatoes and fresh baby carrots that retained their crunch. My gentleman friend who ordered the pork lamented that perhaps someone was thinking small plate when they plated his meal: The small size of the serving left him wanting more. On another evening, I sampled the Veal Porterhouse ($26), which is really a tender T-bone cut. Cooked medium rare, the mild-flavored meat paired beautifully with an aromatic truffle risotto and crisp asparagus. We finished off with dessert selections ($7) provided by a company called the Cake Plate. Notable among them were a velvety Grand Marnier Orange Meringue Pie and a Key Lime Pie so delectably tart it made us pucker. The meringue topping on both pies was on the grainy side, but that’s a minor quibble.
My problems with the conceptual aspect of the 34th Street Cafe menu aside, it’s a pleasant spot with an accomplished and professional staff, well deserving of its neighborhood popularity. I’m eager to monitor young chef Raiford’s development. He’s well-trained and talented: Who knows what he’ll accomplish with some years of seasoning to develop his own personal culinary signature? 
This article appears in February 17 • 2006.