Green Pastures
811 West Live Oak, 444-1888
Sunday Brunch Buffet, 11am-2pm, $26 per person, reservations suggested
The Grand Dame of Austin restaurants serves one of the most elegant brunches we’ve ever encountered in a lovely Victorian mansion that was the childhood home of beloved local humorist and raconteur John Henry Faulk. Faulk’s sister Mary Faulk Koock and her husband Chester turned the stately home into a restaurant in 1945 and it’s been Austin’s home of gracious Southern entertaining ever since. The Plantation Sunday Brunch is quite an event, complemented with live music from an artist at the grand piano. Once you’re seated in the sunny dining room, a steady supply of Milk Punch or fresh-squeezed juice begins to arrive at your table along with a basket of fresh, hot yeast rolls and an invitation to approach the buffet. There will be green salads, congealed salads and fresh fruit, spreads, cheese straws, and plump, pink, cold shrimp at that first table. Then comes another with shining silver chafing dishes holding the entrées and side dishes plus a carving station with a steamship round of roast beef au jus. Desserts are amassed on an elegant antique sideboard. Don’t be overwhelmed. It’s all about pacing. Relax and sip another glass of Milk Punch and contemplate your next course.
This article appears in March 16 • 2001.