Red Ash — Restaurant in Austin

Dang it. Red Ash crushed it. I mean, this isn't necessarily a bad thing. We have been passionate supporters of Vespaio for over two decades and it has always been out special date night/celebration spot. Now the conundrum is when we are downtown, where do we go to get Italian. Ash has stepped up big time. If we can get in. More about that later.

Red Ash is the hottest ticket in town and we can see why. I was fortunate to score an early 5.15pm reservation on a Friday. This was after trying for 2 months to book a time. The trick here was I just randomly logged on their website thursday prior to our birthday celebration and there was a time available. So I grabbed it. However, some intel, I would say if you get there at 4.45pm and don't mind being seated at the bar and there are two of you, I feel you will be in luck. However, they do want to turn those spaces every 1.5hrs.

Anyway, all that aside. What did we eat? OCTOPUS A LA PLANCHA, FRUTTI DI MARE, CHARRED SWEET CORN RISOTTO "GRATINATA, HOT AND CRISPY COUNTRY ITALIAN BREAD, WOOD ROASTED MEATBALLS and TAGLIATELLE ALLA BOLOGNESE. Complete and total overkill. No way we could eat all this. I could go through each of these nosh buckets of food, but we would be here for awhile. I'll just hit the highlights.

Octopus: Full sucker covered tentacles, nicely charred, tender and seasoned perfectly. Tender, like someone who understands you need to spend time with octopus to get this tender and delicious. I plowed through them before I had time to take a photo.

Bread: Just get this. Bread flown in just for the restaurant, deserves to be in your tummy. Loads of garlic, butter and crunchy texture and loads of it.

Frutti: Who doesn't like a perfectly grilled lobster tail, shrimp, bunches of clams/mussels on a bed of homemade squid ink and white pasta. Well my spouse, she's allergic to shell fish that's who. Me, not so much allergic. Here's the difference from the Cioppino dishes I have enjoyed in the past. The sauce. Ash's broth/sauce was not overburdened with tomato paste/juice. It was balanced and subtle, allowing all the seafood to blend with the broth and not having the broth be taste forward.

Risotto: Yeah, get this. Barely was able to get but a couple of spoonfuls in me, but it was even better the next day. Sweet, fresh and bright with a loose risotto. Corn lovers delight.

Balls: Wow, here the broth/tomato sauce was hearty and blended with the perfectly cooked meatballs. The meatballs themselves, had to be a combination of perhaps beef/pork. Nice soft polenta rounded out the dish.

Bolognese: As with everything here, fresh pasta, loving prepared gently simmered bolognese hit the mark. It was everything Suzie wanted and better then mine. I got nothing more to add, great execution and perfect pasta dinner.

Along with an amazing space to have a restaurant, our server Amanda was epic. Around when we needed her, informative of the menu and what she liked and was able to provide detailed information about every dish we asked about. Perfect knowledge of their wine list and paired our meal perfectly. She even brought us a little birthday surprise afters for Suzie. She packed up all our leftovers for later. She is a industry professional with the restaurant from the very beginning. Ask for her,...

My friend and I went to Red Ash on a Sunday evening. The restaurant has a great atmosphere. It is hard to make a reservation, but I still recommend people try it out if they have the chance. We (two people) ordered three appetizers (thin sliced beef carpaccio, wood-roasted vine tomatoes and burrata, and wood-roasted beef bone marrow) and three main courses (cold-water lobster tails "scampi style," pollo alla diavolo, and wood-grilled 10 oz beef filet). The dishes are small, but they all taste really good.

Let me introduce the appetizers first. It was my first time trying the thin-sliced beef carpaccio. At the bottom, there is a thin layer of beef with cheese, pickled red onion, and some crispy bread crumbs on top. We rolled the beef so that it wrapped everything inside. When I bit into it, the beef was soft, the pickled red onion was a little sweet, and the bread crumbs were crispy. I really liked the combination of flavors and textures. The wood-roasted vine tomatoes and burrata are made from some simple ingredients. However, the combination of these ingredients and how they’re cooked really makes this dish stand out. The ricotta cheese is incredibly soft, and the light milk flavor lingers in my mouth after I swallow it. The tomato has its skin on and is well-cooked, so it almost feels like tomato juice inside. The bread is crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. I really liked the sauce they put on the bread. Each ingredient tastes great on its own, but combining them creates a new flavor. The beef bone marrow is served in a large beef bone that's been cut in half. The marrow is so soft, it just melts in my mouth.

As for the main dishes, the cold-water lobster tails "scampi style" is a must-try. It comes with about four lobster tails. They’re not large, but they’re fresh and bouncy. They’re not overcooked, so we can still taste the flavor of the sea. The pasta is well-seasoned, and the sauce sticks to it perfectly. For the pollo alla diavolo, the chicken skin is crispy, and the meat is tender. I felt like the meat just fell off the bone when we tried to cut it. I really liked the seasoning on the chicken as well. We ordered the wood-grilled 10 oz beef filet cooked medium-rare, and it was cooked perfectly. Even though it was medium-rare, it wasn’t hard to cut and was incredibly soft! I loved it. I should also mention that almost every dish is served with a piece of bread underneath the main ingredients. The bread alone tastes really good, and it soaks up the sauce of each dish, adding extra flavor.

Overall, I’d love to visit this place again for a special event...

Every month my girlfriend and I have been going to some of the best restaurants in Austin. And even though we've thoroughly enjoyed just about every one, Red Ash is the first where we were not disappointed by any single thing. Booked two months out for bar seating and we just so happened to get, what we eventually agreed were the best seats in the house. Two seats overlooking the kitchen, nestled between the wine cellar and the executive chef's final prep station. Being able to watch the kitchen staff work with no hassle, no loud noises, just the perfectly oiled machine from the pasta station, the grill and the wood fired oven, getting to see the prep of dishes similar to ours or great suggestions for our next visit. And that's not even mentioning the food, the squash blossoms were pleasantly crisp with a great pop of freshness from the herb ricotta and lemon. The prime steak bruschetta could've easily been a lovely meal all by itself. If what you order doesn't come with the bread with the garlic and cheese topping, you certainly need to order it on the side! The capelletti felt warm and homey, and should certainly inspire all the home cooks out there. The pollo alla diavolo had to be the most tender chicken I've ever had in my life, with again, the bread underneath to soak up all that amazing jus. Usually we'd skip dessert, but since everything else was top-notch, we had to get our waiter's recommendation for dessert, the hot chocolate gianduja cake was perfect. The light, slightly tangy gelato paired perfectly to cut through the rich soft chocolate cake which had the perfect amount of peanut butter to come together in one of the best desserts you'll find. While sitting there enjoying our first visit, we were already looking to book our next reservation. Not to mention the cost came out well below what we've spent elsewhere for far less enjoyable experiences. I mentioned the ease of the cooking staff, the waiter's and bussing staff were equally as nice, calm and personable. I'd highly recommend Red Ash for an upcoming...