Hudson's on the Bend

http://hudsonsonthebend.com/

Hudson's on the Bend is famous for their explorations into exotic and unusual meats.  Items like elk, kangaroo and rattle snake can often be found on the menu.  Rather than relying on the meats themselves for uniqueness, Hudson's on the Bend offers entrees that abide by their "cooking fearlessly" philosophy.  The entrees are often boldly seasoned with flavor elements that decidedly pack a punch.  Meats are seasoned to bring out their natural flavors while the textures are preserved.

The artfully presented selection for the evening features longhorn that has been slow roasted set atop pureed sweet potato.  A chipotle cream sauce is drizzed over the beef and accented with arugula microgreens.  The arugula microgreens lend a peppery flavor that prepares the palate for the spicy sweetness of the chipotle sauce.  The sauce blends nicely with the well-seasoned longhorn and the underlying sweet potato puree.   

Roy's

http://www.roysrestaurant.com/

Roy's Restaurant features "Hawaiian Fusion Cuisine" in which influences from European, Asian and American are combined.  As a result, the dishes feature traditional Hawaiian ingredients like pork, macadamia nuts and a wide assortment of seafood.  For Stars Across Texas, Roy's offers a seasoned tuna tartare blended with tomatoes, onions and peppers, served in a pastry cup.  The sour cream brings a richness to the tuna and helps to make the flavors more well rounded.  The chard microgreens add a nice dash of color to the dish.  Unfortunately, the thickness of the pastry shell along with the lack of flavor detract from the focus of the dish.  Rather than combining the flavors of the edible container into the dish as in the Finn and Porter spoon, the Roy's rendition seems to consider the two as separate elements.  Unfortunately, when served as such, the two flavors are implicitly blended.

Ruth's Chris Steak House

http://www.ruthschris-austin.com



Ruth's Chris brings forth their well marbled New York Strip to the Stars Across Texas.  Cooked rare, the meat is tender and juicy, although only lightly seasoned.  Like ninety-nine percent of restaurants in existence, the beef at Ruth's Chris is wet aged to increase the tenderness of the beef without the time and complexity of the more traditional dry aging.  However, wet aging does not develop the same complex flavors that dry aging brings to the beef.

Click below to continue to our final two selections of the evening -