Field Trip: It's an event when a chef of Mark Miller's stature opens a Texas outpost -- even if that outpost happens to be in a certain smug burg called Austin, where the Coyote Cafe made its debut two weeks ago. Plenty of Houstonians know Miller's New Southwestern oeuvre from his Coyote Cafe in Santa Fe, where he reigns over the local culinary scene as the New Mexico equivalent of Robert del Grande, Stephan Pyles and Dean Fearing. Those who have business in Washington, D.C., may have battled lobbyists and politicos for a table at Miller's Red Sage. He's even got a Coyote Cafe in Las Vegas. And now he's talking about opening a bunch of casual Asian/Southwestern spots, too.
So, two questions: Is Miller managing to keep the quality high with restaurants popping up all over the map? And does he have anything to show our jaded Texas palates? Yes ... and yes. The food is swell at Austin's clean-lined, understated Coyote Cafe, from an electric yellow-tomato gazpacho tantalizingly flavored with hoja santo leaf to a fragile stack of enchiladas layered with huitlacoche, the musky and dizzyingly soft corn fungus that is so prized among Mexicans. Miller obviously has hired capable people to execute his particular vision, and his bold use of chiles should click with Texans. His grilled-quail salad -- a standard among the New Southwestern boys -- leaps from the pack by virtue of its habanero glaze and its exhilarating serrano-pineapple vinaigrette. And the infamous Miller 20-ounce Cowboy Steak ("the legendary steak that made the cover of Bon Apetit!," as the menu feels obliged to inform us) actually lives up to its hype. All those skinny red-chile onion rings add to the charisma of this dry-aged Angus rib chop; so does a fire-roasted salsa with black beans. Even the Coyote's improbable-sounding watermelon margarita works, for that matter. Just skip the tortilla-crusted sea bass and you'll go home happy, having eaten some of the feistiest high-ticket food in Texas.
-- Alison Cook
Empire Baking Company, 1616 Post Oak Boulevard, 871-9779; Coyote Cafe, 612 West Sixth Street, Austin, (512) 476-0612.