Two Notable Grand Openings

Chef John Besh's Lüke held its grand opening last Thursday. Chef Besh (pictured), ever the gracious host, mingled with the crowd, chatted with nearly everyone, and posed for endless pictures.

Oh, and about the food.... simply marvelous. Lüke's menu is reminiscent of a French brasserie, but he and Chef Steve McHugh (@chefstevemchugh and @chefjohnbesh on Twitter) took pains to feature local ingredients. There's house-made sausage, local beers, and locally sourced produce. A Besh menu would be incomplete without his famous shrimp and grits. The downstairs bar area feels like a neighborhood pub; I'm certain it will quickly become a downtown favorite. The open kitchen provides dinner and a show for those seated on the second floor.

The grand opening featured a paté board (with buffalo, rabbit, and pork belly flavors), an amazing raw bar (the poor waitstaff kept running out to restock the oysters), shrimp and grits (smooth, creamy, and delicious), steak tartare with a quail egg, shrimp jambalaya, flammenkuchen (an onion tarte), and much, much more. Many of my foodie Twitter friends attended (see @ohmypuddin's blog post at "I Go Right for the Blogular"), as well as Ken-David Masur from the San Antonio Symphony. (When we introduced ourselves and told him we had sung "Carmina Burana" with him and the symphony, a nice conversation ensued.)

I'm looking forward to our first dinner visit!

Another local grand opening: Ranger Creek Brewing and Distilling (@rangercreek on Twitter). Their whiskey won't be ready until the spring, but they have several beers ready to go. The Smoked Porter has a rich, smoky taste that I really enjoyed.

Dennis (one of the owners) told me that he and his partners couldn't decide whether to brew beer or distill bourbon, so they decided to do both.

Their 6,000-square foot "brewstillery" (located near IH-35 and Thousand Oaks) houses equipment special-ordered from Germany. They overbuilt their cold room, based on feedback from an Austin brewery that quickly ran out of space. They smoke their own malt in a smoking room out back.

While they cannot sell their product to the public, they welcome you to visit for a tasting and tour. In addition to Lüke and Freetail Brewing, several other local restaurants feature their products.