New York Times names Austin restaurant to inaugural list of 50 exciting places to dine now
Matthew OdamThe New York Times has ramped up its restaurant coverage in recent years with the addition of its first-ever California restaurant critic (Tejal Rao) and reporters like Brett Anderson, the former longtime critic at the New Orleans Times-Picayune.
The paper brought together its robust food team, which also includes correspondent Kim Severson, recent hire Priya Krishna, and Times’ NYC flagship critic Pete Wells, for the paper’s first comprehensive look at where to dine across the country.
The team Tuesday released its 2021 Restaurant List, labeled as “The 50 Places in America We’re Most Excited About Right Now,” and the wide-ranging list includes Birdie’s in East Austin, along with four other Texas restaurants.
As we reported in April, chef and Texas native Tracy Malechek-Ezekiel and Arjav Ezekiel moved to Austin from New York City a couple of years ago and wisely took some time to imagine exactly what they wanted their first restaurant to be.
Veterans of Gramercy Tavern and United at the Whitney, among others, the married couple initially considered a fine dining restaurant. But their time dining and working in Austin changed their minds.
Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.
“We kind of fell in love with the casual way people ate here and interacted with restaurants,” said Arjav.
“We wanted to open a place where we could drop in twice a week, a place where line cooks could go to, a place front-of-house people could go to, the kind of place a neighborhood could fall in love with,” Malechek-Ezekiel said.
Anderson, who wrote the Birdie’s capsule for the list, notes that Malechek-Ezekiel’s “bright, graceful food,” like a golden chickpea panisse and steak tartare with shiitakes and pecans, is indicative of “what makes eating great in this booming town.”
A word to those excited about trying Birdie’s for the first time: The restaurant, which features a killer natural wine list, is counter-service, doesn’t take reservations and can have a healthy wait at busy times. But it’s worth navigating those hurdles.
Spoiler alert: You can read more of my thoughts on Birdie’s when my 20 Best New Restaurants Dining Guide comes out on Nov. 7.
As mentioned, Texas received multiple laurels from the Times, with the state home to five selections on the list. California with seven was the only state with more.
Other Texas selections: the Asian barbecue of Blood Bros. BBQ in Houston, chef Alejandro Paredes’ spartan Fish Lonja in San Antonio, chef Tiffany Derry’s comfort food restaurant Roots Southern Table in Dallas, and longtime Brownsville taqueria Sylvia’s.
Read the complete list at nytimes.com.
MORE RESTAURANT NEWS
More:Uchi team opening Japanese whiskey bar Uchibā in downtown Austin
More:Better Half veteran brings Destroyer Sandwiches to Brew & Brew in East Austin
More:Emmer & Rye team opening Caribbean restaurant Canje this week in East Austin