Restaurant Gwendolyn

I really don’t need to say much in this blog post as the pictures explain the incredible meal we enjoyed at the still relatively new Restaurant Gwendolyn.  We were a party of three sets of couples enjoying a celebratory birthday dinner next to a table of six celebrating something special as well. Very close to the Majestic Theater, we were able to valet at the Crown Plaza (111 Pecan Street East, 78205) across the street from the restaurant that sits above the river.  (Although they were doing construction on Pecan St., you normally can give your server the valet ticket to have your car brought to the restaurant.)

Of course we opted for the 5 course meal which was a fantastic culinary time travel to 150 years ago when food was not pre-processed, everything was made from scratch, and everything was homegrown good (everything served is created from ingredients found within an 150 mile radius.)

At the end of the meal, Chef Michael Sohocki made rounds to each of the dinner party tables (other smaller groups came and went while we were there) humbly curious if  everyone enjoyed their meal.  His dishes focused on individual ingredients, marrying them to bring out the best in each other.

I definitely recommend this special treat for any warranted (or unwarranted) occasion.  We went on a Thursday night and made reservations in advanced.  I’m sure it gets much dressier on the weekends (jackets appreciated, which we met in various degrees coming from a casual work environment.)

Find them on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Restaurant-Gwendolyn/115635658516708

The menu changes daily highlighting the various local ingredients selected for that evening:

Homemade bread and butter covered with poppy seeds and topped with thyme and other various herbs growing in pots at the restaurant’s entrance:

Enjoyed homemade raspberry soda – soda water and raspberry syrup is brought to you with an accompanying miniature pitcher with additional syrup to add to your taste:

The ginger beer was also great!

Our amuse bouche included a fried potato (server still hot), topped with cod and red peppers:

Potage of zucchini was rich and creamy!

This fabulous course served an impressively tasty braised pork and savory crepe:

One of the people in our party was not able to enjoy the pork course for religious reasons and the kitchen instantly accommodated with a tasty salad:

Before our main entrees we enjoyed plum sorbet that was so ridiculously fresh, if you had closed your eyes you’d have thought you just bit into the ripest plum:

Entree choices were bangers and mash, the sausage made in-house of course:

and rabbit with polenta that the table agreed exuded the comforts of a Thanksgiving holiday meal:

For dessert we struggled between the choices of rum raisin and almonds with homemade ice cream:

and peach piece with honey ice cream:

We were also surprised with THREE more sweet treats!  Cookies shared around:

Bite-sized candies:

and a wrapped cookie for each of the ladies to take home.

Reading other reviews about Restaurant Gwendolyn suggested the freshness of siphon coffee for two, although I am not a java drinker (just Java writer…) thankfully someone in the group ordered it.  We all watched in wonder as the water was heated to eventual boil, the pressure eventually moving the water to the top container before filtering the brew down to the original jar.