Red Ash’s textbook-perfect steaks and pasta justify its long reservation list - Review - Austin - The Infatuation
"Red Ash isn’t the type of place you casually visit. Maybe that’s because the steak menu is made up of 50-day dry-aged porterhouses, double-cut filets, and massive strip steaks. Or maybe it’s because the wait to get in has been many months long since they opened their doors in 2016. The dining room feels industrial, with concrete walls covered in graffiti, brushed metal railings, and hanging Edison bulbs illuminating the two-story space. It’s loud and busy, and there’s never more than a split second when you’ll see it at anything less than full capacity. Everybody’s here to celebrate—for some, anniversaries and birthdays, and others, that they finally got a table after 12 weeks of waiting. photo credit: Richard Casteel photo credit: Richard Casteel photo credit: Richard Casteel photo credit: Richard Casteel Pause Unmute Start with roasted vine tomatoes and burrata before moving on to a wood-roasted bone marrow and wild mushroom risotto. Quickly recharge with a gem lettuce caesar salad before diving into their extensive menu of handmade pastas. There’s nothing subtle about the pastas here, but sometimes you just want to dig into a bowl of rich, savory braised-beef agnolotti with fresh truffles and roasted veal jus without thinking too much about it. Most of them are available as entrees or sides—we recommend grabbing a few side-sized orders so that you can try more. After all that, move on to a large steak for the table. The 30-50 days it spends aging adds some funk, but it’s balanced out by a few spoonfuls of roasted shallot butter over the top. A meal at Red Ash is often heavy-handed—expect lots of butter, garlic, bone marrow, and cheese in just about everything—but you come to Red Ash to mark a birthday, promotion, or successfully finishing a tube of ChapStick. It’s one of our favorite Italian restaurants in Austin, with classic flavors and decadent preparations. Just be ready to plan pretty far in advance. How to get into Red Ash Italia You might get lucky by calling on the day of and asking about cancellations, but if you want a guaranteed table, you’ll need to start planning early. Reservations open up six months in advance, and prime time tables book up about four months in advance (and about two months for the late-night seats). If you’re mostly here for steak, you can get a very similar steak at Red Ash’s sister restaurant, J. Carver’s, with a little less planning. RESERVE A TABLE WITH RESERVE A TABLE CARDMEMBER BENEFITS FOR Get access to exclusive reservations at this spot with Chase Sapphire Reserve. New cardmembers get $300 in annual dining statement credits. SEE EXCLUSIVE TIMESAPPLY NOW Food Rundown Bruschetta Of Prime Steak Trimmings Ever wonder what a steakhouse does with all the extra steak trimmings? At Red Ash, they cut them into little bite-sized nuggets, grill them up, and toss them over a few thick-cut slices of grilled bread. It’s also covered in mushrooms, a slab of cheese, and a few decorative greens to help you cope with the fact that every bite might shave a few days off your life. photo credit: Richard Casteel Wood-Roasted Beef Bone Marrow This consists of a few large, roasted marrow bones served over a bed of grilled Italian bread. The bread is cut thick enough to hold up to the mountain of bones it's holding, and does a great job of balancing out all the rich, beefy marrow and cheese. photo credit: Richard Casteel Tagliatelle A La Bolognese All of the pastas are made fresh daily. The tagliatelle is cut into wide ribbons, then topped with a pretty classic bolognese sauce and porcini mushrooms. It’s great, but we recommend a half-order so you can try more of the menu. photo credit: Richard Casteel Double-Cut Bone-In Filet Most of the steaks are priced by the ounce and served pre-sliced with roasted shallot butter. We like to go for one of the 30- to 50-day aged steaks for a little extra funk. But we’ve never received a steak that didn’t arrive at textbook-perfect doneness. photo credit: Richard Casteel" - Nicolai McCrary
