Dai Due Nabs Another Rave, This Time From The Chronicle

The Chronicle visits Dai Due this week, where critic Brandon Watson is pleased by the mix of simple offerings and elegant touches. The restaurant's hyper-local ingredients only add to the experience:

The entrée pork confit ($21) was as crisp as a hash brown, its heft balanced with crisp Gala apples and a side of grilled Chinese broccoli ($6). The beef tartare ($12) had some of the traditional trappings (egg yolk and shallot), but pickled kale stems subbed for capers. The switch isn't gimmickry. Yes, it keeps the ingredients hyper-local (even the tea is Texan), but it also adds a less verbose brine.

The same is true of the collard green used in place of the cornhusk in the supper club menu's shrimp tamal (market price for prix fixe varies). The bitter green adds depth to the red cortido and crema, like parsley on borscht.

THE BLOGS: Forks Up recommends fancy brunch at LaV, Burger Mary says Hays. Co. Bar-B-Que is worth the drive, South Austin food checks out St. Philip, and MJ and Hungryman take a first look at The Peached Tortilla.