Dai Due is built on the philosophy that every ingredient sourced in the restaurant is local…read more Starting with the drink offerings, every beer they offer at Dai Due is crafted in Austin. All the wines are made in Texas. Everything is local. The grains are local, the olive oil is local. The fats and butter come from locally raised animals. Creativity thrives under constraints, and these constraints make everything Dai Due stands for a strong selling point to me.
This leads to an ever-changing menu based on the season's harvest and what's accessible in Texas. Okra is abundant in the Texas summer, so they got okra options. That's the gist of Dai Due. They are capital L local, and they're proud of it.
We threw a 5:30 pm reservation down a few weeks prior to get a nice meal before our concert at the Moody Center across the highway. We arrived right at the start of our reservation time to a full parking lot. One thing they mention on the reservation page is to be warned of their small parking lot. Luckily, a guy was leaving as we pulled in, so we nabbed a spot.
Once we walked in, we were seated pretty instantaneously. On their one-page menu, there were plenty of delicious options of appetizers, mains, and sides, plus the back containing wine, beer, and other drink options. I ordered the Meanwhile Brewing German-Style Pilsner on draft while my girlfriend ordered a glass of the Vermentino from Duchman Family Winery.
For starters, we split an order of their Parisa. Parisa originates from the Medina County region, where my parents live, so I am quite familiar with Parisa. For those unaware, it's a ground beef delicacy (which usually means it's gonna be something peculiar and quirky in my opinion) made with raw beef, cheese, jalapeños, and lime juice. I've eaten my fair share of it while visiting, and it's usually served with traditional saltine crackers. Here at Dai Due, it's served with homemade tortilla chips. The Parisa here was way fresher than the kind I buy off the shelf at Dzuik's, as I could tell from the redness of the meat. Here, it was served with grated cheddar cheese, jalapeños, and diced onions, and presumably lime juice. It was delectable and was like a steak tartare with ten times more personality. It was probably some of the best Parisa I've had, and I've had it from the source.
For our mains, I ordered the Wild Boar Confit while my girlfriend got their Spicy Aoudad Meatball Skewers. We got a side of their grilled okra to complement our meals.
Honestly, the pace of how the food came out was sharp. There was never a lull moment, and it felt like once we finished our appetizer, our mains were coming out.
The Wild Boar Confit was truly exceptional. The watermelon flavors on it were subtle but added a lot of character. On top of the brick of glory was fresh dill, jalapeños, mint, and a watermelon rind relish. It was really special. The confit really tasted like an upscaled and earthier short rib, packed with more flavors in the meat. It was so exquisite that after I gave my girlfriend a bite to try, she immediately decided that we would swap plates. It wasn't an ask. I couldn't negotiate. She made the executive business decision regardless of what the other shareholders at the table (me) felt. My fate was sealed. I would be eating the...
Spicy Aoudad Meatball Skewers. I confuse ovine meats sometimes. An Aoudad is a wild goat-sheep. They were served on wood skewers with a chile yogurt sauce that was creamy but didn't hesitate to add an extra touch of heat. The cucumbers on the side were the only way to counteract the heat of the course and the morita salsa served with the Aoudad. The Aoudad was very flavorful, and the heat was manageable, but still strong enough to claim the spicy in its name. Sometimes spicy feels like they just mean peppery, and this obviously is NOT that.
We ultimately had a 50/50 split of both meals, which allowed us to try more of what Dai Due had to offer.
The side of the grilled okra was a much-needed differentiation from the intense levels of meat consumption we had, and balanced it with some much-needed fiber and digestion support. The pickled peanuts were a first for me, as they were almost like chickpeas in terms of texture. The curry mayonnaise was light but a nice touch to the sweet and almost nutty flavor of the okra.
To close, my girlfriend got a glass of Valkyrie's Kiss's Blackberry Gold Mead, which was a nice closer to our great meal.
Through the entire visit, the service was exceptional. The space is incredibly clean and comfortable, and they had a great playlist of music running on the speakers. We'll have to come back in another season and experiment with more of their spring or winter options. Dai Due is to die for!
RIYL: A one-of-a-kind, locally-sourced meal down to the atom.
