Apothecary Cafe and Wine Bar

We walked in the front door -- the side facing Burnet with the obviously marked door -- and a waiter was like, 'they'll help you in the front' as she busied away to help someone else. And we were like 'Dhhhrrrrrrrrr....' until she came back and pointed to what was clearly the back of the restaurant, where the host was hiding. Needless to say, we were flabbergasted.

No cocktails here! so you can stop waiting for me to describe one.

Our starter: toasted bread with baked brie w/ walnuts and cherries. This was awesome. The bread was *perfect*. Somehow they managed to get crispy toasted outside while maintaining chewy, fresh interior. My guess is they used butter and cooked it a grill't cheese. The skillet was *hot*. Like .. Chilli's at 45th & Lamar hot. Brie was oily and delicious.

Cheesy bread done up right

For secondsies we shared Wagyu Steak Frites and A Warmed Ceasar salad. The wagyu was a little chewy for my taste, and not super flavorful. The frites were good -- sliced up baby russets with skin on. I don't always like skin on, as Erin was quick to point out.... but this time was cool...

Wagyu of the night

Here's the salad. Those small dark things were toasted capers. Big thumbs up for those. The dressing and the toasted cruton thing were also great. The down side was that once you ate through to the other side, you're basically just eating a lettuce stem. Not terrible, but 'inconsistent', as Erin said.

Capers? Yes, please!

Chocolate Ganache. Rich like a mousse. Very salty, which worked for me.

Salty chocolate ganache

Overall I give it 3 out of 5 Aemon stars. The atmosphere was casual and pleasant. Would def. eat there again. The food wasn't *quite* firing on all cylinders (only loses marks because it *could* have been exceptional), and they need to pull their heads out w.r.t where the front of the restaurant is.