David Bull and the Evolution of Austin as a Major Food City

I can remember the day almost as if it was yesterday. We had gone to dinner at the Driskill Grill in the famous downtown hotel. It was a slow night for a Saturday and we were surprised to see that the restaurant was staging a “mystery dinner” evening. You know: one of those dreadful events where the customers not only get to dine but participate in solving a murder as well. The outcome was not good, and I was about to write the Driskill out of my “must visit” book. The mystery thing was a sign that the place was on its last legs (actually about one leg at that point).

Then a kid named David Bull from The Mansion at Turtle Creek in Dallas showed up and within months, everything had changed. My first taste of Bull’s food was a short rib that was out of this world along with Wild Boar and tagliatelle pasta in a cream sauce. Wow. I remember thinking how it was possible for someone that young to be that talented.

But talented he was. So much so that the Driskill Grill became an icon of fine dining for an emerging group of Austin foodies. Josh Watkins and others whose stars would rise also worked for the young Bull. New attitudes toward and about creative cuisine emerged from their kitchen and spread through the city. Soon Austin was home to equally creative and impressive spots like Eddie V’s, Truluck’s, The Roaring Fork, and many more. The fact that Bull got jobbed by Bobby Flay on the Iron Chef (wild boar was the challenge) only served to reinforce his street cred to Austin foodies. We knew he had won, regardless of what the judges said.

To say that David Bull was the impetus behind Austin’s culinary surge back then might be a bit of an overstatement, but not much of one. When Bull left the Driskill some years later to do some consulting, he left behind a city where the cuisine had ramped up to previously unseen level.

And then, just as Will Wynn’s “downtown density” concept was starting to jell, Bull and business partner (and former Driskill GM) Jeff Trigger came back to Austin and launched the upscale casual “2nd” and the uber-fine dining “Congress.” I never tire of Bull’s creativity and what he can bring from his kitchens. He is also always anxious to give back, particularly to local high school programs that tutor kids who are drawn to the culinary arts. His restaurants are models of how to please customers while at the same time challenging them to taste outside the box. Take a walk down Congress between 2nd and 3rd streets. You could almost dub this Bull’s block: and what a show it is. Here’s hoping we get to keep David for years to come.