I went to Ventana for lunch today. And what is Ventana? It is the student run restaurant of the Texas Culinary Academy. This used to be part of the IBM complex. But it seems that IBM has just about sold the west side of Burnet Road off. In fact, the IBM cafeteria, putt-putt course, and other buildings were all fenced off with temporary fencing. I had to walk around it to get to Ventana.

The place was busier than I have seen it in the past. Although it still was not full yet. And there were a lot of students walking back and forth from the parking lot. Enrollment must be high after a couple of years of operations.

I ordered the pan-fried trout. It was served with green beans (haricot vert) and red onion rings. The onion rings were the best I have ever had! They were sliced ultra thin and very lightly breaded. The balance was perfect. I thought the fish was a little salty. And, for dessert, I had a “baked alaskan” which was a strawberry sherbert on shortcake bread and covered in meringue and torched. I didnt like it much. The strawberry sauce was thin and the sherbert was weak as well. Which lead to the meringue overpowering the dish.

Still, I would highly recommend Ventana. I consider myself lucky that I have three good restaurants (Mangia and Taco Deli) within walking distance from IBM.