First Look: The Guest House

Steak tartare (photo by TJ Perez)

A group of Las Vegas restaurateurs walk into an Austin bar …

This sounds like the beginning of a sharp-edged joke about out-of-town invaders and Austin gentrification, so it’s easy to see how some might be skeptical of The Guest House, a restaurant, bar, and “wine garden” that opened in Downtown’s Northshore luxury condo building on February 18. And while this sceney spot does involve plenty of Vegas-like touches (that may inspire some eyerolls from Austinites), there’s an impressive level of balance to each element that makes it hard to dismiss The Guest House as a mere novelty.

Yes, there’s a DJ spinning tunes on a nightly basis … but the volume of the music always remains at a conversational level, so you can chat with your dining companions without worrying about being drowned out by unce-unce-unce techno beats. Yes, there are neon lights … but they’re used sparingly and are offset by neutral earth tones and abundant plant life. Yes, there are attractive staffers in fitted outfits … but the level of service provided at The Guest House manages to be both upscale and wholly genuine, with a warmth and friendliness that one rarely associates with Vegas nightlife.

Brioche Feuilletée (photo by TJ Perez)

Chef Todd Mark Miller, an alum of the STK Group who helped open STK restaurants in NYC, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas, runs the kitchen at The Guest House. And if there’s one thing we can tell you about Chef Miller, it’s that he really likes truffles. The sheer volume of truffle action on the menu at first gave us pause – not to date ourselves, but the memory of the massive truffle trend of the 2010s is still a keen one, so we wondered what Chef Miller could possibly add to the truffle conversation at this point. But to our relief, Miller’s truffle dishes at The Guest House show a level of elegance and restraint that’s rare where this assertive ingredient is concerned. For instance, the truffle-brushed brioche that serves as a vessel for perfectly-seasoned steak tartare provides a gentle undercurrent of truffle flavor, but it doesn’t overwhelm the other taste dimensions of the dish.

But aside from a consistent truffly throughline, it’s difficult to pinpoint an overall theme for the restaurant’s opening menu. Staff members mentioned that Chef Miller wants to use The Guest House as a place to prepare and serve his favorite dishes, and in all honesty, the menu does read as a slightly chaotic mishmash of personal preferences. When classic caviar service, chicken tenders with ranch and BBQ aioli, and spicy rigatoni all share real estate on the same page, you have to wonder whether The Guest House would benefit from a more streamlined culinary vision.

That said, the dishes that the restaurant wants to feature are impressively executed. The Parmesan-and-truffle-encrusted filet with veal reduction was cooked to a flawless medium rare, and the Parm and truffle highlighted the natural flavor of the beef. The hamachi crudo matched flavorful fish with a complex sauce of coconut and lime that delivered both richness and acidity, and one of the clear highlights of The Guest House’s food service has to be the complimentary bread. Baker Conor Smith provides a flaky, croissant-like loaf that pulls apart like a champ, and he complements the melt-in-your-mouth pastry with dippable brown butter and a sprinkle of sea salt.

The cocktail menu and wine list at The Guest House indicate an interest in updated classics, and bar directors Carla Lorenzo and Omar Douglas aren’t afraid to play around with unexpected ingredients and showy tableside presentations (like the Pastry Espresso Martini, which mixes croissant-washed vodka with espresso liqueur and a puff of cold foam).

The Guest House wants to present itself as a “social dining destination,” and thanks to the fact that the restaurant’s lively vibes and amiable service made it easy to strike up a conversation with next-table neighbors (and even share a bottle of Cremant with them), we’d say that they’ve succeeded. The menu could use some focusing and The Guest House’s longevity in the cutthroat Downtown restaurant market is an open question, but they’re off to a promising start, and we look forward to seeing what comes next.