The Hill Country, a swath of about 15 rural counties just west (2) of Austin and San Antonio, has three things most of the rest of Texas (3)doesn’t: trees, water and hills. That translates reliably into autumn color. But while a fall (4) trip through the maples and red oaks and mountain cedar looks much the same as it did 10 years ago, another element is changing. The food of the Hill Country has matured to the point that you can have a barbecue (5) sandwich for lunch and pan-seared scallops with chipotle lime hollandaise for dinner.
Driving into the Hill Country from Dallas, my wife (6), Ann, and I usually make our way down Route 281, the region’s twisty, dipping and rising north-south spine that’s known locally as U.S. Highway 281, to Marble Falls, northwest of Austin. The town’s location and increasing popularity have spawned gated retirement communities; B & Bs (7) and chain motels; and the Horseshoe Bay Marriott, a resort nearby with three golf courses and hard-surface and clay tennis courts. Perched on limestone (8) bluffs, Marble Falls is postcard pretty, with its quaintly restored downtown and vistas of Lake L.B.J. and the Colorado River.
Tradition rules at the Blue Bonnet Café (9), which has a pie happy hour (a slab of pie with coffee for $3). I generally go for the peanut butter, not only because of its dizzyingly rich taste, but because any eating tour of the Hill Country must accept—no, embrace—the righteous custom of eating foods your cardiologist would frown on.
After the Blue Bonnet, eating becomes more complicated because Marble Falls has grown into something of an unlikely foodie scene. Patton’s on Main shows the cosmopolitan flair that its owner, a local fellow named Patton Robertson, picked up during years of learning and cooking in London and Las Vegas. All high ceilings, exposed interior brick and meandering alcoves, the restaurant has a kinky nouvelle Southwestern (10) menu that produces some gems: shrimp and grits, buttery but spicy; beer-battered catfish and homemade fries; Yukon Gold (11) potato pizza with peppered bacon, smoked Gouda (12) and rosemary.