What’s in a name?
Throughout the 32 years of Hudson’s life, there were many famous folks that graced our doorways leaving us with stories to tell. I’m sure there are many more but here is a list of those that I remember: Lance Armstrong, Ray Benson (Asleep at the Wheel), Albert Brooks, Mack Brown, George W. Bush, Butthole Surfers, Earl Campbell, Sheryl Crow, Olivia de Havilland (Gone With the Wind), Johnny Depp, Farrah Fawcett, Robert Foxworth, Kinky Friedman, Pat Green, Patty Griffin, Akeem Abdul Jabbar, Jane Krakowski, Lady Bird Johnson, Tommy Lee Jones, Tom Landry, Jane Leeves, Natalie Manes (Dixie Chicks), Elizabeth Montgomery (Bewitched), Willie Nelson, Robert Plant, Rick Perry, Dennis Quaid, Dan Rather, Ann Richards, Robert Rodriguez, Bob Schneider, Maria Shriver, Emmitt Smith, Barry Switzer, and Jerry Jeff Walker. I’m sure there are many more but please excuse me as my mind is like a sieve these days.
Lance and Sheryl dined at Hudson’s on date night, Albert Brooks was joined for dinner by Jane Leeves, Robert Foxworth and Elizabeth Montgomery stopped by for a dinner al fresco whenever they were in town, Robert Plant and Patty Griffin were our oft time guests when they lived in Austin, Ann Richards and Barry Switzer were the oddest of famous dinner dates, I still can’t imagine what they had to talk about.
Mack and Sally Brown lived very close to Hudson’s and we were on their “go to” special place list and we did a lot to encourage them by making each of their visits extra memorable. After they won the Rose Bowl bid, we covered their table with rose petals, we added specialized items on the menu i.e. longhorn, etc. My favorite memory is when Sara was fetching a bottle of wine from the overhead wine rack right beside Mack and Sally’s table and when she slid the bottle out of the rack another bottle jiggled loose and began hurtling towards Sally’s head. Sara grabbed the falling bottle with her free hand in a very elegant underhand scoop landing the catch as it was just inches above Sally’s head. Mack knew how close his beloved wife came to being knocked out, so much so that Mack said “we have try outs next week, you should come and try out as a receiver”. Who can argue with Mack!
The “Butthole Surfers”, a punk alternative band that originated in San Antonio, now living in New York City were known to play and dine with Hollywood players. When they dined at Hudson’s they offended everyone with their nouveau riche behavior, they would scan the wine list and order the most expensive wine with no regard for the type or taste, just high rolling and their loud, boisterous, rude and profane behavior offended everyone, our guests and employees alike. I finally was forced to ban them from dining indoors and told the front of the house that the next time they came they would have to sit on the patio or not at all. They were not in the habit of making reservations; they were always a walk in and always arrived en masse. Sara was the hostess on one of these nights when they gave us a surprise visit. They were not aware that they were no longer allowed inside so she heavily promoted the loveliness of the night and suggested that they would really enjoy dining on the patio; it was a mild spring night and Sara got a quick yes. I agreed as long as they stayed outside. As she was outside putting 3 tables together to accommodate the party of 10, the door opened and someone from the group was approaching her and offered to help with the table set up. She looked up at the kind soul to see that it was Johnny Depp, he was giving the Butthole Surfers a new reputation, but they still were not allowed inside!
On one rocking Saturday night we had in attendance all at the same time; Kinky Friedman, Lance Armstrong and Maria Shriver all with their own group…it was a starry starry night.
Nothing exciting about Willie except duh it is “Willie” and when he and his entourage walked through the dining room in their custom-made New Balance running cowboy boots every head turned. Per his request, they were seated in the Private Dining Room (PDR) for a quiet meal and some privacy. In order to maintain their privacy, when fresh air was called for, wink wink, they would exit and reenter their dining room by crawling in and out of the window. They parked the bus up on “the hill” and I assumed they were headed up to his bus to smoke a big fatty which was absolutely fitting because the “hill” was known as the “joint” headquarters. I was just appreciative that they didn’t fire up in the PDR, it has been done but I won’t name the groups that lit up in that room unless you twist my arm, okay I have never been famous for keeping secrets, a local real estate firm was the worst offenders.
The “hill” was where our guests would park if the paved lower lot was full and the staff would also go to the “hill” to unwind and most often that included a toke. We had to feign surprise when guests would come to report to us that it smelled like a skunk up there.
Dan Rather has a house in Lakeway which became their primary residence while he was recovering from the blindsided firing by the evening news. He loves to bass fish and Lake Travis is chock full of bass.
There is an occurrence in the restaurant business that is not publicly discussed, the “Bus Tub Buffet”. When a wait person sees an untouched or barely touched or even heavily touched entrée that looks yummy headed for the dirty dish window, it becomes fair game and if you know someone that works in a restaurant, trust me they have participated in this practice. I have known many starving college students that sustained life by eating leftovers.
Now that you are well schooled about “bus tub buffet” I continue, Dan and Jean Rather were having dinner one evening and the waitress who was waiting on Dan and Jean cleared their entrée plates and noticed a piece of snapper in a pecan crust was only half eaten, so when at the dish room window, she ate a piece of Dan’s leftover snapper. However, I use the term “ate” loosely, she did not fully chew and swallow the bite before returning to his table to offer dessert and coffee. When she opened her mouth to recite the dessert selection, a piece of Dan’s entrée fell from her mouth and cartwheeled in the air and then began a very slow-motion descent before landing on the table right in front of him. Our waitress quickly scooped up the fish 🐠 with her crumber and took his dessert order. I don’t know if it would have made any difference one way or another, but he did not know that it was his very own food.
Most of the time When Dan entered the restaurant heads would turn. When the Dallas Cowboys had training camp at St. Edwards, Emmitt Smith became a regular at Hudson’s. One evening, Emmitt walked into the restaurant about 5 yards in front of Dan and Jean. He was lean, mean and still bulging and shimmering from a very physical day of practice. Emmitt wore a silk suit vest with no shirt showing off his perfect physique. All eyes were on Emmitt. No one even noticed Dan. Dam later wrote the foreword to my 1st cookbook and I’m forever grateful.
If you go to Kerby Lane on a Wednesday night, you will most likely see a dad with his kids, it is a fairly common post-divorce custody arrangement. Well, if you are Robert Rodriguez you take your kids to Hudson’s on Wednesday nights. On one of these frequent visitation nights, there he was on his birthday celebrating with his kids minding his own business perusal. There was another birthday celebration in the PDR that evening, family of 8 that had really pulled out the stops and arrived in a limousine. When the gentleman in the PDR received his check at the end of their meal, he was really upset that the server had added the gratuity (normal protocol around the world for a party of 6 or more) but he interpreted it that the server thought he was a cheap low life and also he was quite buzzed so not at his rational best. He was inconsolable and ranted loudly in the lobby for a good 20 minutes at the manager. Mr. Rodriguez came into the lobby and told him it was his birthday and he was ruining his birthday with his loud tirade and that he would pay the angry fellow’s check if he would just hush and leave. Weeeeelllll, that was not well received and Mr. Angryman said, “you don’t have enough money to pay my check you snake chasing taco eater”. The manager and Robert exchanged a highly amused look and then she thanked Robert for his aid but sent him back to his table. This fellow had no idea who Robert Rodriguez is.
There are thirty years of stories, these are just a few that kept us amused. The Pecan Crusted Snapper was our most popular seafood dish for many years until the Hot & Crunchy Trout was created and elbowed the snapper out of the limelight. In 1987 Gourmet Magazine printed our recipe for Pecan Crusted Snapper. Throughout the years the Pecan Crusted Snapper made reappearances on the menu. It was always tasty and it kept the Dan Rather story alive. Below you will find the recipe for the Pecan Crusted Snapper. You can use a variety of fish, i.e. red fish, flounder, trout, etc. The freshest fish is the bestest fish. Enjoy
Pecan crusted snapper
Pecan Crust Breading
Serves 6
Ingredients
1 cup bread crumbs (dry)
2 cups pecan pieces
1 teaspoon each dried basil, dried oregano, dried thyme, granulated garlic, granulated onion, white pepper
Method
Put all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until well blended but still coarse.
Set aside in a breading dish.
Breading the Snapper with the Standard Breading Procedure:
Mix 2 eggs with 1 Cup of milk for your breading station.
Set up three casserole dishes, first with flour, second with milk and egg mixture, and third with the pecan breading.
Coat each fish filet (6 ounces) with AP flour and then dip into the wet mix of milk and egg.
Then press into the pecan mixture. Use the heel of your hand to increase pressure, this coats the filet with the pecan crust breading.
Bread all filets and set aside.
Refrigerate if you bread hours before you sauté. You can bread up to 4 hours ahead of cooking.
Sauté the Snapper
Heat a non-trans fat oil to 375 in a 12” sauté pan (just below smoking point). When the oil is ready it will shimmer like a Texas blacktop road in August when it’s ready.
Cook 3 filets at a time. Don’t over crowd the pan because it will lower the temp of the cooking oil.
You can hold the filets in a warm oven at 175degrees while you cook round two.
Sauté each side to a golden brown. About 3 minutes per side.
Serve with your favorite topping, i.e. lemon herb compound butter, salsa, etc.
Remember change 3 ingredients and the recipe is yours!