I first became familiar with
Natera when he helmed the Pyra-
mid Restaurant at the Fairmont
in Dallas. He built a team of half a
dozen all-stars that elevated the
restaurant from the status of JAHR
(Just Another Hotel Restaurant)
into the top tier in town. A new
hotel manager effectively skittled
that work, sending his talented
sous chef back to Canada, pas-
try chef Maggie Huff on to FT33,
sommelier Hunter Hammett to a
Michelin-starred restaurant in San
Francisco, Natera to the Omni ho-
tel chain, and the Pyramid Restau-
rant back to oblivion.
A Fairmont friend tasked with
staffing the new Fairmont then
under construction in Austin con-
tacted Natera about taking over as
executive chef for the hotel: room
service, catering, as well as restau-
rants (seven of them). He found
himself with not half a dozen, but
over 50 chefs working for him. Gar-
rison was the hotel’s destination
restaurant and Natera wanted to
staff up with top class chefs. Thus,
the front of house manager came
from Alinea, a chef came from
Daniel (he has since moved to
an executive chef position at the
Fairmont, Los Angeles). Natera’s
number 2, and in charge of all the
restaurants in the hotel, was Ja-
son Purcell. He worked at Thomas
Keller’s Bouchon and was also ex-
ecutive chef at Farmshop in Marin
under Jeff Cerciello.
Garrison bills its culinary
genre as Modern American Grill
House and the commitment to
smoked food could not be greater.
A gleaming stainless steel kitchen
that helms one end of the prem-
ises, serviced by battalions of chefs,
comes equipped with two pits to
burn the post oak that is used for
meats, vegetables and seafood.
The message is reinforced in deco-
rative touches around the room.
Nooks in the walls hold bundles
of wood, sawn to appear ready to
use, a flourish that adds a natural
touch to the heavily designed
room where Garrison resides. The
tables have no tablecloths, to im-
part a casual air to the fine dining
establishment. The placemats,
although not made from wood,
have the rough texture of a wood-
en plank that projects sophistica-
tion when contrasted with the
smooth surface of the table. A lot
of thought went into the lighting
to create intimacy without dingi-
ness. A variety of table sizes adds
to the casual air. From traditional
two and four tops to high tables
for eight with stools for seating.
Even when busy, the noise level is
comfortable, suppressed through
clever sound deadening.
There are two approaches to
the menu. À la carte for quicker
dining, or chef’s tasting menu to
really dive into what Garrison is
about. There is a customized ver-
sion of the latter path. A ‘parallel
menu’ of luxury items strips off
the kitchen’s budget constraint for
special occasion celebrants. Osetra
caviar from Holland ($150), inspir-
ingly served with warm Johnny
cake and maple crème fraîche,
is a custom take on the blini and
crème fraîche classic. Alba white
truffles ($120) shaved into ribbons
on either bucatini cacio e pepe or
omelette is highly seasonal and
will make you want to catch the
next flight to Piedmont. The cap-
tivating truffle aromas and flavors
should not make you overlook the
swiss-watch precision with which
the pasta in the first formulation is
cooked al dente (just to convince
us that this isn’t to be taken for
granted we had some pasta ‘al Fire-
stone’ at a different establishment
on a nearby evening). A5 Wagyu
Miyazaki ($90) with chestnut pu-
rée, truffle Bordelaise, and Cocoa is
the closest to melt-in-the-mouth
beef you can find.
All of which goes by as saying
that you won’t feel deprived by the
regular chef’s tasting menu ($95.
Add $45 for paired beverages)
either. Among starters, Kampachi
Crudo with blood orange kosho,
fennel, and juniper juxtaposed
eighth inch slices of the kampachi
(AKA yellowtail) with tart blood
orange segments and perfumy
fennel slices. The result was a fiesta
of salinity, fruitiness, and anise em-
bedded in textures of sinewy flesh,
crunchy root vegetable, and soft
citrus fruit. This was paired with a
Szigeti sparkling brut (made from
grüner veltliner) that was light and
fruity, like a less autolyzed Cham-
pagne such as Perrier-Jouet.
Foie gras tart with butternut
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