Cafe at the Four Seasons
98 San Jacinto Blvd., 478-4500
Sunday Brunch Buffet, 10:30am-1:30pm, $40 for adults, $20 children; reservations suggested
The comfortable dining room at the local Four Seasons property boasts a lovely view of Lake Austin and the deck here is the perfect place for Sunday brunch. While their brunch buffet is the most expensive in town, it also offers the widest variety of food choices and comes with free-flowing mimosas, freshly squeezed juices, and coffee. A very tempting assortment of pastry chef Tony Sansalone’s elegant pastries is placed just outside the entrance to the dining room, perhaps as a reminder to save room for what’s to come. Once inside, the huge buffet is a horseshoe affair with breakfast breads and pastries, egg dishes, breakfast meats, and blintzes on one side, an omelette station and prime rib carving station at the top, and a vast array of savory appetizers, vegetable side dishes, and pastas down the other side. In the center, another round table is piled with mountains of large fresh shrimp, platters of fresh fruit, and a bagel station complete with wafer-thin slices of smoked salmon, chopped onions and boiled eggs, cream cheese spreads, and caviar. The efficient, professional staff keeps clean plates and cutlery coming, graciously refilling mimosa glasses and coffee cups. While this is clearly an upscale fine dining facility, the staff at the Four Seasons is perfectly in tune with Austin’s casual zeitgeist, making everyone feel welcome. Just be sure to bring your appetite.
This article appears in March 16 • 2001.