The Bar
Lonesome Dove. 123 W 6th St, Austin, TX 78701
Visited 8/13/2022 @ 4:30pm.
The Drink
The Willie. Lonesome Dove's Stranahan's single barrel single malt cask strength whiskey, Dolin Rouge vermouth, Angostura bitters, cherrywood smoke. $19.
The Willie is essentially a fancy smoke-infused Manhattan, named thusly because "if you smoke anything in Austin, you have to name it after Willie Nelson". The ingredients are premium: Stranahan's is a well-regarded Denver-based distillery that the restaurant partnered with for the cocktail (though I got confused: the bartender said that Lonesome Dove partnered with Stranahan's for the specific whiskey used in this cocktail, but the bottle he used looked like their standard single malt; the cocktail menu says they use the Blue Peak whiskey, but that was clearly not what he used to make our drinks), Dolin Rogue is a venerable French spirit-maker, and Angostura is of course the OG bitters. However, what you are here for is the final ingredient, which puts the "craft" in "craft cocktail" - the drink is carefully assembled, some kindling from Texas black cherry wood is placed on a platter and set alight, then a glass bell jar is inverted above to let the wood burn itself out to infuse the drink with its flavor, whereupon it is literally handed to you on a silver platter. It's a great show.
I liked it, but... $19 is just too much for a cocktail. There are half price cocktails at happy hour, but I got conflicting info on exactly which days happy hour was on and exactly what drinks it covered, so if you're coming to Lonesome Dove specifically to try this drink, just assume you're forking over at least $20 no matter what.
You can't argue with the presentation though: you can't possibly be upset at a drink that arrives on a silver platter wreathed in a nimbus of fragrant cherrywood vapor (no "smoke and mirrors" jokes please):
The Crew
Ashley, Cristy, Elijah, Ishani, Aaron.
Notes
Lonesome Dove takes the place of Italic, the Italian restaurant that was yet another unfortunate Covid casualty (incidentally, after Easy Tiger's split and then closure, this leaves 24 Diner as ELM Restaurant Group/WIP Hospitality's sole Sixth Street outpost). Quite obviously named as a homage to one of the all-time great Texas novels, Lonesome Dove is a "Western bistro" originally from Ft Worth which has been in Austin for several years a few blocks away on Colorado Street. I enjoyed what they did to the interior - in keeping with the Western/rustic/cowboy theme, stacks of the wood they use in their ovens and cocktails form an integral part of the décor (insert your own "spruced up" puns), along with antlers and other taxidermic accents. One of the cooler touches was a pair of the owner's guitars by the reception lounge that had been signed by a number of famous musicians. We decided to have dinner here, and it was fantastic, though pricey:- Wild game fettine (cuts of rattlesnake sausage, wild boar, rabbit)
- Blue corn-lobster hushpuppies with smoked tomato butter
- Texas red chili
- Rack of elk, with crispy maitake, parsnip puree, broccolini, and candied blueberries
- Burnt carrots, with Texas honey, meyer lemon, goat cheese
- Roasted Texas mushrooms, with house vinegar and olive oil
- Mac & cheese, with orzo for macaroni and topped with fried artichoke hearts
You get the picture on the type of cuisine they specialize in, although my favorites were the hush puppies, the chili, and the mac and cheese. Overall this is absolutely not a place I would return to if it was on my own dime, but it would be a superb on a company credit card.
- Wild game fettine (cuts of rattlesnake sausage, wild boar, rabbit)
- Blue corn-lobster hushpuppies with smoked tomato butter
- Texas red chili
- Rack of elk, with crispy maitake, parsnip puree, broccolini, and candied blueberries
- Burnt carrots, with Texas honey, meyer lemon, goat cheese
- Roasted Texas mushrooms, with house vinegar and olive oil
- Mac & cheese, with orzo for macaroni and topped with fried artichoke hearts
