City: Austin, TX

Category: Restaurants

Telephone: (512) 266-1369

Address: 3509 RR 620

Insider Pick:

Description: Chef/owner Jeff Blank and executive chef Becky Barsch Fischer have built a wide-ranging reputation as innovators in Texas cuisine from their base near the shores of Lake Travis. Condé Nast Traveler magazine has named it one of the best 50 restaurants in the United States. The restaurant is housed in and around a small Hill Country cottage. On the grounds are a smokehouse and an herb garden that offers a hint of what Hudson’s has to offer. Much of the menu is devoted to showcasing exotic game and ingredients—one of the popular appetizers is Diamond Back Rattlesnake Cakes with chipotle cream sauce. Other dishes utilize venison, javelina (a South Texas wild boar), and Axis antelope raised on Hill Country ranches. For the less adventurous there are top-quality steaks, veal, seafood, and pasta dishes. The restaurant’s sauces, both savory and sweet, garnered such a devoted following they are now sold on specialty food store shelves and by mail order. (Look for them at Central Market.) Diners can eat or wait for a table on a balmy evening in the garden decorated with twinkling lights. Weekends are especially busy, so reservations are recommended. The restaurant is open daily for dinner but closes a little earlier in winter, so it is wise to call ahead. Hudson’s also offers cooking classes.