ASTI and Quack’s
June 15, 2009
Finally have a moment to record another few items on the list.
Sara and I made it to ASTI the other weekend. We had initially planned on trying out leaf downtown, but we didn’t know they’re a lunch-only place. So we continued north and made it to ASTI. We had actually planned on trying FINO, the other restaurant with the same owners, but Googling FINO gave us the ASTI address and we were already there by the time we realized. But they’re on the list, so in we went.
Turns out we’d been to the restaurant before, just hadn’t remembered (me, anyway). And not just the actual location, although we recall the Manga-themed noodle place back in law school. The restaurant is an odd hybrid–decor of higher-end Italian, but the small size and neighborhood makes it more of a family-friendly place. Saw plenty of strollers and toddlers with parents in shorts sitting at tables next to older couples in dresses/suits and ties.
Unfortunately, soft palenta bowls are only available for lunch (our waiter did check for us, though–he was awesome). So we couldn’t cross that item off the list, but the overall restaurant was on the reader’s choice list so at least some progress was made.
We did try an appetizer, since the sister FINO restaurant won for appetizers. Hopefully they’re better at FINO. We tried the white bean paste and it was incredibly salty. Vespaio is another highly-rated Italian restaurant in Austin, I’ve always had mixed luck with their entrees but one thing they get right is their white bean paste they serve with the bread. ASTI’s white bean paste was way, way, way too salty.
Sara had a salad that she liked but thought was a bit on the teeny side. I had a chilled almond soup which sounds better in theory than it was in practice. Sara had a margherita pizza and I had a scallop with gnocchi dish. Both were fine, but nothing to rave about. A decent experience, but not one worth repeating in my book unless we really want to cross the soft polenta item off the list. I think ASTI benefits from being one of just a couple of restaurants in the Hyde Park area–an area whose population fits right in with those who would respond to the Chronicle’s annual survey.
After dinner we walked across the street to Quack’s Bakery. In the print version of the list they show up under Best Latte Art. Having no idea what this meant, I got a latte. My overfull cup had a foam swirl on the top which I guess is kind of cool. But the merest touch of the cup caused coffee to spill onto the saucer, pretty much ruining any effect the foam art had. And the coffee itself wasn’t that great. But they did have a nice selection of cookies and cupcakes (although their cupcakes suffered from Way Too Much Icing Syndrome).
Since we’ve been to Hyde Park Bar & Grill a number of times, looks like we can cross Hyde Park off the list of places to visit to complete the mission.
