Emmer & Rye

As one might expect from a restaurant with a grain-centric name (emmer is considered a relic grain not often used in contemporary cooking), Austin’s Emmer & Rye serves a solid assortment of plates incorporating underlying bread-y elements. You can expect to taste much more than wheat, though. The reference to rye refers to owner and executive chef Kevin Fink’s exploration of Danish cuisine’s balance of acidity and bitterness with notes of sweet and salty, which comes to life in scrumptious notables like the smoked carrot (with onion, lardo, dill and arugula), slow-roasted pork (with salsa verde, onion, pickled carrot and epazote) or the short rib carnitas (in hominy broth with carrots, jalapeno, turnip and white Sonora roti). All those pickled veggies are made using an in-house fermentation method. Still, what sets Emmer & Rye apart from comparable hot spots is the use of circulating carts to showcase seasonally rotating, daily updated tapas throughout a relaxed-paced dining experience. Sample the revolving selection of culinary revelations, which transforms from dim-sum-focused service Tuesday through Saturday to a pastry cart on Sunday that accompanies an imaginative array of brunch options.