The century-old Holland Hotel in the town of Alpine in Far West Texas recently gave itself a really BIG birthday present, and now we all get to share the gift. After decades of ups and downs regarding food and beverage, the new owners and GM Carla McFarland are committing to dining in a major way. Their Southwest-Meets-Art-Deco Century Bar and Grill is just opening as we speak. And last night’s tasting with executive chef Alex Acosta tells me the place may soon be a West Texas dining destination.
Though Century Bar and Grill has a comfortable dining room with typical tables and chairs, I (not surprisingly) prefer what’s called the “foodie section” right by the pass-through from the kitchen. The area plays host to what must be the most fascinating piece of the entire restaurant - an oversized landscape by famous WPA artist Xavier Gonzales. Gonzalez came to the area in the 1930s as part of an intriguing Big Bend art colony, and his painting is on permanent loan from the Museum of the Big Bend at Alpine’s Sul Ross State University.
Chef Alex, a native of nearby Marfa who cooked in big cities before deciding to come home, describes his food as Texas with a side order of Southern. Certainly, many of his dishes are made almost entirely with ingredients raised or grown or fished in Texas. The larger South, however, does come calling with this appetizer of fried green tomatoes. The tomatoes are grown just up the highway toward Fort Davis, and the garlic aioli is delicious wherever the heck its pieces come from. Actually, it includes a perfect touch of Meyer lemon from citrus-crazed South Texas.
Any time you’re anywhere in Texas, you can do worse than ordering Texas quail. And like some of the best eateries around the Lone Star State, Chef Alex gets his quail from Bandera - increasingly famous for its birds as well as its cowboys. Since quail can be so wonderful with certain kinds of berries, the chef opts for sour cherries cooked into a kind of mash-by-way-of-sauce and a sprightly salad made with arugula. It’s one of the better versions of Texas quail I’ve ever tasted.
To talk about “appetizers” at the new Century Bar and Grill is a little misleading, since they actually take more of a “small plate” approach - thus offering many things in smaller or larger versions with an eye toward sharing. Meat and potatoes, therefore, may not exactly be your typical starter, but please don’t let that bother you. Chef Alex delivers his comforting version of traditional beef stew to anybody ordering his braised short rib with parsnips, fingerling potatoes and what he calls “Texas au jus.”
Everybody involved with Century Bar and Grill emphasizes that the menu is a work in progress. Chef Alex and his kitchen crew, in fact, seem more excited about their nightly specials anyway. These turn up, with excellent penmanship no less, on a blackboard above the pass-through directly across from that other work of art by Xavier Gonzales. This special is nifty ravioli made with rabbit confit. You have to admire Chef Alex’s use of simplicity here - very authentic, very Italian, without a gallon of tomato, “Alfredo” or any other sauce.
Desserts at Century tend to be neither simple nor light, which generally speaking is fine with me. Maybe you can even convince yourself to share with your tablemates. Maybe not. There is a decided Southwestern touch in this lush chocolate torte, for instance, thanks to the chipotle woven into the chocolate. Then again, the raspberries and chantilly cream neither have nor require any particular nationality.
Still, if I could afford or dare eat only one dessert from Chef Alex’s list, it would have to be the cajeta cheesecake, served without any crust in a Mason jar topped with a housemade version of that great Mexican caramel. This cheesecake redefines what we think of or want from cheesecake, and its perfectly attuned to the bilingual Big Bend culture outside the doors. There is one added plus: if you “taste” too much wine or too many cocktails from the “Bar” portion of Century Bar and Grill, the Holland is a hotel, after all. As hotel folks invariably put it, you can always ”take the elevator home.”
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