11/27/17
Emmer & Rye is one of the best restaurants in Austin, with a short, rotating menu and dim sum style dishes meant for passing and sharing. I got to try about nine dishes, among them a melt-in-your-mouth short rib carnitas with a pleasantly soft roti which I highly recommend, but I had to write about their cacio e pepe, which is just pasta, cheese, and pepper. Like the legend Tim Duncan, this dish is fundamentally sound and maximizes every bit of its three ingredients to create something simple, yet special. The house-made, whole wheat pasta had a grainy, filling texture, the challerhocker cheese provided a creamy, buttery taste, and the generous black pepper added just enough of a smoky complement to the cheesy pasta. A dish which is immediately comforting and over far too soon. As perfectly executed as a classic Duncan bankshot. Though there are a million ways to offer this dish, Emmer & Rye's version represents one of the best: greatness in simplicity.