Have Your Fig And Eat It Too

Chef with Michelin credentials opens new Italian restaurant in South Austin

Fig Italian Kitchen & Bar Austin interior

Fig Italian Kitchen & Bar combines traditional Italian flavors with modern touches.

Photo Courtesy of Fig Italian Kitchen & Bar

When people think of Austin's cuisine, Italian food may not be the first thing that comes to mind. Tex-Mex? Of course. Barbecue? Absolutely. But until recently, bucatini with Calabrian soffrito doesn't exactly scream Austin.

That's been changing in recent months, and on August 16 another new Italian restaurant called Fig Italian Kitchen & Bar is celebrating its grand opening on South Lamar Boulevard.

At the helm of this restaurant are accomplished chef Cole Fitzgerald and restaurateur and owner James Sun.

Chef Fitzgerald is coming to Austin by way of Atlanta, where as executive chef, his restaurant The White Bull earned a "recommended" spot in the 2023 Atlanta Michelin Guide. Just over a year later, he brings his experience in cooking European flavors and sustainable practices to Fig as head chef.

"We are excited to bring the talents of Chef Fitzgerald's cooking to the Austin area," said Sun in a press release. "His experience cooking European cuisine shines in every dish we present, bringing seasonality, creativity, and bold flavor to our menu."

Under Fitzgerald's leadership, Fig's menu blends traditional Italian flavors with creative techniques, keeping local ingredients at the forefront of its philosophy. Its menu will be seasonable and sustainable, and promises to support Texas farms.

The restaurant soft-opened in July, quietly serving up dishes like braised lamb pizza with garlic oil, Calabrian honey, mint and peach; panzanella with cucumbers, heirlooms, variations of peach, burrata; mussels, shrimp, clams, and more. Also characterizing the menu are handmade pasta, wood-fired pizza, and fresh seafood.

Fig Italian Kitchen & Bar's menu will include a variety of dishes from braised lamb pizza to mussels and clams.Photo courtesy of Fig Italian Kitchen & Bar

Sun is not new to the Italian food scene. In fact, he owns two other Italian restaurants in the Austin area, Cedro Scratch Italian (in Cedar Park) and Mia Italian Tapas (at The Domain). Fig will be his first restaurant on the south side of town, nestled just underneath the 704 Apartments at 3403 South Lamar Blvd., south of the intersection with Manchaca.

Right now, hours are Monday though Thursday from 4-10 pm, Friday and Saturday from 4-10:30 pm, and Sunday from 4-9 pm. Happy Hour goes from 4-6 pm, and soon, Fig plans to launch a brunch.

For more information, visit figaustin.com.

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Peak Plates

7 Austin restaurants make OpenTable's top 100 for 2024

Jeffrey's Restaurant/Instagram

Jeffrey's Restaurant is a great example of the type of fancy, well-established restaurant that made the list.

Restaurant reservation website OpenTable has issued its new list of the top 100 restaurants in America for 2024, and seven Austin restaurants have made the list. That's already impressive at a glance — 7 percent of the entire national list in just one city — but compared to other Texas cities, it's huge. Austin is the only Texas city to have more than one restaurant on the list.

The "2024's Top 100 Restaurants" list is a compilation of the most sought-after and top-ranked restaurants in the U.S. based on 14 million verified reviews on OpenTable from October 1, 2023, to September 30, 2024. Restaurants are not ranked, but arranged in alphabetical order by state.

Austin's seven restaurants (including several repeats from OpenTable's 2023 list) are:

Aba: Known for its laid-back, yet fancy patio and being a popular spot for visiting celebrities
J Carver's: Known for a commitment to the classic steakhouse experience and legitimately fancy dining
Jeffrey's Restaurant: Known for fine dining, a connection to Austin before its boom, and a fantastic wine program
Red Ash Italia: Known for approachable, yet high-quality Italian food with rustic touches
Sammie's Italian: Known for its romantic take on the archetype of an East Coast Italian joint
Uchi: Known for bringing Austin into the national sushi conversation and defining the scene
Uchiko: Known for a cool atmosphere and getting creative with sushi and other small plates

Austinites will probably not be surprised by this list, which names some very well-established restaurants that are all upscale. These qualities tend to appeal to similar lists, regardless of who's curating them.

It is interesting, given that the list was democratically based on user ratings, that there were not more beloved food trailers or casual spots. However, other factors that led to high rankings included alerts set and reservations made ahead — things that don't really apply to even the most awesome taco truck.

Mediterranean food was a trend among the Austin picks. Red Ash Italia and Sammie's Italian are, as the names would imply, completely dedicated to Italian food, while Aba covers a wider swath of the Mediterranean. There were also two steakhouses: J Carver's and Jeffrey's Restaurant.

As list-perusers may have guessed, Uchi and Uchiko are in the same family of restaurants, with Uchi being the more formal and Uchiko being a bit more accessible for drop-in meals and cocktails. But are two more incognito duos of sibling restaurants on the list: J Carver's and Red Ash, and Jeffrey's Restaurant and Sammie's Italian.

That could be a coincidence. It could also be a reflection of the utility of money and experience in opening a good restaurant, or a lesson about the effects of good (and expensive) marketing. Whatever it is, it doesn't sound like hospitality groups had any direct sway on how OpenTable made its choices.

This list was different from the inaugural list of OpenTable Icons, which launched in 2024. The "Icons" list chose restaurants that are getting a lot of buzz, which ended up being more subjective. It also seemed to let in — as a side effect of the process, rather than a hard eligibility rule — more new and Mexican restaurants. Two restaurants are on both lists: Red Ash and Jeffrey's.

Restaurants outside of Austin that made the Top 100 list, organized alphabetically, are:

Hudson House — Dallas
Steak 48 — Houston
Signature — San Antonio

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