Media Highlights

Lutie’s is named one of OpenTable’s Top 100 Hotel Restaurants in America, celebrating dining destinations that are every bit as memorable as the hotels they call home. The annual list is informed by more than 10 million verified diner reviews and dining metrics.

Tucked within the gardens of Commodore Perry Estate, Lutie’s is recognized as one of Austin’s hidden gems – a transportive dining destination pairing an enchanting setting with a refined, seasonal approach to Texas cuisine.

Condé Nast Traveler names Lutie’s among Austin’s best restaurants, highlighting its intimate, Jazz Age-inspired setting, garden views and memorable menu of seasonal dishes, estate bread and signature desserts.

Lutie’s, on the grounds of the Commodore Perry Estate, is among the hardest reservations in town to get. (Formerly the home of Edgar “Commodore” Perry and his wife, Lutie, it is now a Ken Fulk-designed hotel with 10 acres of gardens.) The restaurant offers an impressive cocktail menu, as well as farm-to-table, seasonally-focused dishes that are colorful and uniquely delicious.

The focus on combining technical skill with straightforward execution results in dishes that are more than meets the eye. "We want Lutie's to be an approachable, delicious, and exciting restaurant; to get there we think of how to make the impact on the plate," Nicholson says. This philosophy ensures that every meal at Lutie's is a memorable experience.

Lutie’s, a visually stunning New American destination with an expert blend of original design features and luxe upgrades, a robust menu featuring locally-grown and raised Texas ingredients, and exquisite views of the gardens.

I think what makes Lutie’s stand out is that it’s an awesome product — the service, food, decor, and ingredients…” says Nicholson. “We have five ingredients max on each plate. It’s pretty stripped down, but we gas up each ingredient. We’re going to take the long way even if it costs more."

For SXSW, Chef James Yeun Leong Parry, founder of The Happy Crane, a San Francisco-based popup, joins the culinary team at Lutie’s for a special collaboration. On March 16, from 5 til close, The Happy Crane x Lutie’s, will feature a seven-course family style dinner–a mashup of Texas farm-to-table cooking and Chinese cuisine. On March 18, from 3 to 5, Chef James will demonstrate how to make handmade Chinese noodles, accompanied by light nibbles and wine.

If you have time to dine at only one adorable new restaurant overlooking the lovely gardens of a meticulously restored Mediterranean Revival villa built in 1928 by a wealthy Texas cotton magnate and his socialite wife, let it be Lutie’s. The jewel box of a dining room, boasting a chic black-and-white tile floor and a veritable rain forest of plants, is the centerpiece of a historic Austin property known as the Commodore Perry Estate. Because it is finally open after a year’s delay (thanks, of course, to COVID-19) and because its prestigious chefs have Michelin-starred kitchens on their résumés, Lutie’s has been getting the kind of fanatical attention that Texans normally devote to our best barbecue joints. Reservations are so scarce that the truly desperate are making them online at midnight three months in advance, the instant a new batch becomes available. And if you’re thinking you can just show up and find an empty table, forget it. There’s a cancellation wait list too.

Step back into the Jazz Age at Lutie’s on the Commodore Perry Estate where black and white tiles guide you to emerald velvet scalloped bar stools, and the simmering glow from ginormous windows provides a peek over the sunken English gardens below. Texas Heritage cuisine is on the menu and everything is made in house. Fresh garden hand rolls and homestyle estate bread make sense alongside New Orleans-vibe royal red shrimp with daikon and Texas beef with marrow and sweet potato. And don’t skip on sweets like River Whey blue cheese with smoked pecans and preserved fig, and bees wax creme caramel.

Maybe it’s a little too soon to jet on over to a charming European villa and dine on elevated cuisine handcrafted by renowned chefs. Luckily, you don’t have to, as one such long-anticipated and perfectly stunning restaurant is now open in Central Austin. Promising to blend relaxed European charm with gracious Texas hospitality, Lutie’s is named after the estate’s matriarch, Nannie Lewette “Lutie” Perry, and evokes the spirit of the Jazz Age, when the property was built and became the country home of Lutie and Commodore Edgar Perry. With a backdrop featuring the historic estate and abundant sunken gardens, Lutie’s summons thoughts of lavish soirees and maybe even conjures up fanciful notions of The Great Gatsby.