Dai Due

Homegrown fruit and dried herbs on the windowsill. 

Caveat Lector:

Let it be known that I am not a "foodie" nor do not write restaurant reviews. I was inspired to write this piece upon visiting the best restaurant on the planet. I am not exaggerating. I seriously doubt I could love any place in the world as much as Dai Due. It has everything that I think makes a restaurant perfect. These are my own opinions though, as someone who has worked in restaurants, and does not review them.

Our view from the bar, you can see the herbs hanging
out to dry at the top right.

Here's the TLDR on why I love Dai Due:

1. Everything is genuinely fresh. They literally rolled a side of venison out to the butcher shop right in front of us as we sat eating. The bartender told us the owner used to actually hunt for the food to supply the restaurant. He doesn't have time for that anymore, but come on, that's incredible!

2. The decor is simple, but elegant. It doesn't feel pretentious in any way, and you don't have to dress up to go.

3. The food is mouthwateringly delectable. I wish I had some now. And later. And forever. Till death do us part.

4. The Food presentation and the food itself is gourmet, arranged aesthetically pleasingly, totally unique and inspired, and the menu changes often.

5. The prices are reasonable. You'd think that a place this awesome would break the bank, but it totally doesn't. Now, it's not cheap, but it's doable. We live on one income, so this is important. We were able to eat lunch and have two beers apiece plus desert for about $50 plus tip. That's only slightly more than what you'd spend at Chili's, for much better food and atmosphere. (We don't normally spend $50 on lunch but this was our first weekend alone together in a while so it was like a date.)

Here's the Whole Enchilada:

Preserves! And check out that awesome vintage register
on the bottom shelf!!!

Eric's mom took the girls this past weekend, so Eric and I headed out to have some grown-up time. I had told him I wanted to go day drinking like we used to when we were in our early 20's and didn't have kids yet. It turns out I am far too cheap a date these days for that. I was done after two beers. But I digress. I wanted to go downtown, because I love downtown and never get to go there now that I'm no longer working down there. My only other requirement was that he take me someplace "Austin-ish". I was pretty demanding. "I want to go someplace people have heard of, some place people are talking about. Go to CultureMap Austin and search for restaurant lists or something like that." I wanted him to make it up to me for the last time he took me out to "Chinos Burritos" in Round Rock, a Chinese-Mexican fusion place that I later described as "diarrhea waiting to happen". I was dubious of his choice at first, but he assured me that it was an actual "Austin-ish" type place that people were talking about, and was supposed to be featured in GQ soon. So along I went.

The bartender, she was such a good sport. Forgive me, I forgot her name.

Boy, did he deliver. He took me to a place I couldn't pronounce called "Dai Due" and we sat at the bar. I asked the bartender how to pronounce the name of the restaurant, and like a total tourist I made her completely uncomfortable by asking if I could take her picture. She reluctantly agreed and informed me the restaurant is pronounced "die DOO-ay" that's "die" as in "the food is to die for". I loved everything about this place immediately. You can smell the wood-burning grill from the parking lot, and it smells like smokey heaven. Inside, I referred to the decor as "modern farm", and it was positively alluring. Boughs of fresh herbs were tied up and drying against the exposed brick wall next to the grill. The glasses and plates matched, but the silverware was charmingly eclectic. Everything looked like it could have hopped directly off a Pinterest board and into reality. Not only was the decor simple and beautiful, everything was also useful. I worked in the restaurant industry for six years, from high school through college plus one extra year when I was looking for work after graduation, so I know about restaurants and how they function. Everything about this place was pretty much the polar opposite of what I know. Instead of a stainless steel line and heating lamps to dry out your dinner, there was a wood-fired grill to keep food warm. Instead of a nasty plastic fruit tray filled with maraschino cherries and grody looking bar fruit, there were jars upon jars of labeled preserved fruit on shelves right above the bar. It was clear the bartender had taken some out and had been using them for twists and whatnot. In the windowsill there were various dried herbs, labeled and obviously being used. Instead of brightly-colored, brand-heavy tap handles, there were steak-knives (!!!) to dispense the several different kinds of craft beer. Tucked in between two booths there was a nonchalant record player with several albums. I didn't stop to ask if it was working or in use, but it certainly may have been, it looked functional.

Steak-knife tap handles!!!

I am a pretty social individual, and I like sitting at bars for the purpose of talking to other people (which is not really as acceptable to do if you sit at a table) so I struck up a conversation with the couple next to us who advised us to try the lamb tamales. It looked really good, but we'd had Mexican food the night before, so I decided on the cheese burger instead, and saved the tamales for my next visit. I could tell they change the menu pretty often because it was printed out on regular 8.5x11 paper, as if they were done new each day, and in fact the bartender confirmed that the menu does change almost daily. When my burger came, it was the neatest burger I have ever been served. it wasn't greasy or flowing with juice and melted cheese, it somehow sat perfectly inside its bun. It was served with pickled carrots as a side and oh my dear lord baby Jesus I had no idea how delicious pickled carrots are. They were selling them by the jar but they were $8 and I knew I'd probably eat the whole jar before we even got home. The burger itself was unlike any I have had. I can't even pinpoint what all was in it, other than mouthwateringly thick cuts of bacon and a kind of homemade mustard that tasted like nectar of the gods. After lunch we had another beer and a slice of the apple bread pudding. That was gone so fast I didn't even get a picture of it. It was so unbelievably delicious. It had a perfect cinnamon sugar crust on top that was light and crunchy, and the rest of the dish was warm and soft. It was topped with whipped cream and a kind of cinnamon honey drizzle.

The burly man in in the foreground pulling tickets is the owner, chef, hunter,
and all around badass. He served us our desert and was very friendly. You
can see the wood fire grill in the background.

In all, I am in love with Dai Due, and I expect to go there again very soon, and very often. As soon as the GQ article comes out, I will link it here, if I can. Here's what the Austin Chronicle had to say about Dai Due.

Eric's "Texas Breakfast" is on top, my most wonderful perfect
cheese burger is on bottom.