What I Ate: July 10, 2009 (The Backstage Steakhouse)

Dinner: Tina and I were joined by Gary and Mary at the Backstage Steakhouse & Garden Bar (21814 State Highway 71 W, Spicewood, TX‎ - (512) 264-2223‎) about 7 miles west of Bee Caves, Texas. Backstage supposedly serves the best steak in the Austin area. So, I ordered the 20 oz. Bone-in Cowboy Ribeye ($39.99) cooked rare with a baked potato (with bacon bits) and onion rings.

The steak was excellent - tender, juicy, and cooked a little blue. I had it heated up a little bit and worried about them over doing it, but it came back medium-rare - just a little past the sweet spot that I personally look for. Still, the steak was of good quality and was pretty close to flawless both when blue and when medium-rare. They know how to cook a steak and not over do it here.

The baked potato was flavorful, loaded with sour cream, cheese, chives, and butter but without overdoing it so it feels greasy or overly cheesy. The onion rings were also really good. I was concerned when they arrived because they weren't completely coated in breading, but the flavor was wonderful (they add a touch of tobasco and white pepper to round out the seasoning before frying).

Gary and Mary treated us to a slice of Coconut Buttermilk Pie. We ordered it because Chef Raymond Tatum got the recipe from his grandmother (according to our waiter). It was great - I usually don't like shredded coconut because of the texture (for some reason, I just never liked it), but I really liked this pie. The filling was like a coconut custard and the pale crust was surprisingly tender and well suited for the filling. The best thing was that it wasn't overly sweet - just right.

Lunch: We heated up leftover pork and spinach and ate it with white rice.