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30 | FEATURES | Community Impact Newspaper • Lake Travis/Westlake Edition
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Plate by Dzintra
Serving up a little slice of Europe in Bee Cave
By Kyle Webb
Born in America from Latvian parents,
Dzintra Dzenis did not learn
English until she started kindergarten.
Her parents moved to America but
wanted Dzintra to keep her Latvian roots.
“They wanted me to be super Latvian,”
Dzintra said.
It was this desire from her parents that
pushed her to go to Europe to study. After
starting a catering business at the age of
17, Dzintra moved to France to attend Le
Cordon Bleu in Paris, France.
“I wanted to find my own identity. They
thought I was kind of the pretty one in
the family—didn’t have any brains—and
all I was good for was marrying. That is
why I did all this extra education, to prove
myself,” Dzintra said. “Finally I said, ‘I just
wanna cook, I just wanna cook.’ It took
a lot of soul searching. It wasn’t just, ‘I’m
going to go to Paris.’ It was a lot of trouble
because I was struggling all my life with
self-esteem issues.”
Dzintra, who was a finalist for “The Next
Food Network Star” reality show, and her
family moved back to the United States
nearly five years ago and chose Austin to
be their home.
“We had all the country to choose from.
We didn’t want to go to any big cities
like New York, Chicago or San Francisco
because food had already been done there.
Everything that is new is out there,” Dzintra
said. “I saw [this area], and it looked
like the south of France with the rolling
hills. It was beautiful.”
Dzintra opened Plate nearly two years
ago, but originally as a culinary center
offering cooking classes and private events
adding dinner service in 2011.
“When we moved here I didn’t know
anyone, and if you want to be in the food
culture you have to get to know your
community,” Dzintra said. “If you’ve been
on a reality show you can do pretty much
anything.”
Dzintra opened Plate to showcase the
European style of dining to Austin, a more
laid-back, no-rush dining experience, she
said.
“We are a little bit quirky and eclectic,
like most of Austin,” Dzintra said. “It’s not
like your typical place; it’s kind of like a
little boutique restaurant.”
The quirky feel is what sets the restaurant
apart, Dzintra said. With a selfdescribed
“Cheers” feel, where customers
come in multiple times a week and everyone
knows everyone else, the restaurant is
like a family, she said.
Currently the menu at Plate changes
every week, but may change to monthly
because of the challenges a weekly menu
presents, Dzintra said.
“When you start to get a lot of turnover
[with food] and [an increased] volume [of
customers] it gets ridiculous,” Dzintra said.
“Now we are trying to narrow it in. I think
[we will change the menu] monthly. The
idea is not to get anyone bored—the customers
and us included—so we don’t have
to cook the same thing every time.”
It is the size of the restaurant that allows
Dzintra the flexibility to hear suggestions
from customers and even take requests for
menu items, she said.
“We had reservations from a couple the
other night [who] wanted a specific dish, so
we were able to put it on [the menu],” said
Allen Eudy, general manager of Plate and
Dzintra’s husband.
The restaurant prides itself on being
small enough to adapt to its environment
and doesn’t see that changing.
“We may open another Plate with a different
kind of look to it,” Dzintra said.
A second location could serve as the
main restaurant while keeping the current
restaurant as more of a culinary center,
Eudy said. Regardless, Dzintra plans on
keeping things small.
“That’s part of our charm,” she said.
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Photos by kyle webb
Dzintra Dzenis, who began her culinary education in France, loves the atmosphere of Plate by Dzintra.
Her small restaurant allows her the flexibility to serve her customers better.
Plate by dzintra only uses fresh,
unprocessed ingredients with everything
made from scratch. the restaurant
strives to purchase as much local food as
possible, but flies in fresh fish from Hawaii.
Appetizer
New England Lobster Slider
savory lobster tail meat is sauteed in a
lemon beurre blank, served with a dash
of pesto aioli and fresh, sliced tomato on
lightly grilled slider buns. $13
Main course
New York Strip Oscar
Prime new York strip is pan roasted with
sea salt and pepper, topped with sweet
deep sea Hawaiian crab and hollandaise,
and served with lightly sauteed baby
asparagus. $31
Dessert
Peachy Banana Bread Pudding
decadent and moist bread pudding is
topped with buttery almond streusel and
finished with a drizzle of Meyers rum creme
anglaise. $8
Plate by Dzintra
12717 Shops Parkway, Ste. 100, Austin
358-4776 • www.platebydzintra.com
@platebydzintra
Appetizers and menu items rotate on a weekly basis
and can be found at www.platebydzintra.com.
Entrees and desserts are made from scratch and
could include a visit from Dzintra herself.
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