North by Northwest

Dinner while hanging off Lincoln's nose

Website: www.nxnwbrew.com

Not really. In fact, from what I could see, there were no references to the Hitchcock movie anywhere in the place. But it is located in NW Austin and also is decorated to evoke the aura of the Pacific northwest. So, 2 out of 3 ain't bad.

It was double whammy: birthday and rush hour date night. So we went for a classy joint. After all, you only have one birthday every year. We beat the rush, as usual, which was good. When we left, the waiting area was full.

NXNW is a restaurant and brewery, and the tanks are featured prominently in the entry/lobby/bar area, as seen in the virtual tour on the website. The dinning room has high ceilings with a stone fireplace in the middle, the grill running down one side and windows running down the other. Even though it's on a very busy corner, the view out the window is a tranquil garden setting that is very relaxing after a day of slaving away at the keyboard. I decided to celebrate the occasion by sampling some of their microbrews. I ordered a pint of the Duckabish Amber and had it in front of me before I thought to ask if they had a sampler, which they did, but it was too late. I made up for it by trying the Pyjingo Pale Ale. Both were worthy brews, but I'd like to try Northern Light and Okanogan Black Ale. (I'll give the Bavarian Hefewiezen a miss. I'm not much for wheat beer.)

Next on the agenda was to study the menu. With the celebration and all, I decided to throw caution to the wind and get a good steak. And I had come to the right place. The beef tenderloin (hand cut 7oz, topped with blue cheese and haystack onions) was worth celebrating all by itself. Every bite was a singular and separate pleasure. In fact, it was difficult to let even a small bite of it go for The Woman to sample. Yes, that good. It was served over wild mushroom risotto and a merlot butter sauce that was not wasted, either. The Woman went for the herb crusted rotisserie chicken, a half chicken seasoned with a NXNW blend of unique spices, served with caramelized onion mashers and green beans. It was a little more than half the price of the steak and made for two meals. (I finished the rest of it off yesterday while The Woman was out shoppoing. Don't tell her.)

With all this decadence going on, it's a wonder we did behave sensibly enough to start with salads. I got the garden salad. Yeah, yeah, I know. I thought the same thing and almost skipped over it without reading, but something caught my eye and I read closer. Check this out: cucumbers, snap peas, red onions, kalamata olives and tomatoes tossed with baby greens and a chive basil vinaigrette. Now that's a salad, baby! The Woman got the Silver Lake Spinach Salad (cucumbers, green beans, red onion and citrus shallot vinaigrette) and we mixed them together for a really great combo.

Tumescent from the other courses, I didn't bother reading the dessert menu. But now I repent. The offerings are classic items -- Crème Brulee, Cheesecake, Tiramisu, Sorbet -- but knowing how they do the other items, I'm guessing they are all wonderful. And there are some unusual items as well: Frozen Bittersweet Chocolate Pecan Terrine, Caramelized Cornbread Pudding, Chocolate Torte. Alas, for of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these: "It might have been!"

On the other hand, it's a good excuse to make another trip. After a look at the starters, I see we could make it an appetizer/dessert extravaganza.

• Sizzling Mussels in garlic tomato ale broth with toasted crostini
• Roasted Garlic Bulbs with goat cheese and black pepper crostinis
• Fried Artichoke Hearts served with house made marinara
• Crab and Shrimp Cakes pan seared and served with mango red bell pepper salad in sweet chili vinaigrette
• Skillet Fried Cornbread with goat cheese and a portabello-cremini mushroom sauce
• Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms mushroom caps stuffed with fennel sausage, roasted garlic and peppers topped with parmesan cheese
• Spinach Capers and Artichoke Dip asiago and parmesan cheeses and a lemon aioli, served with fired pita bread

Maybe more than one additional trip is required. It will give me a shot at the beer sampler. And they have live music on Thu-Sat. Might just have to make the trek up to the great North West on the weekend.