Meet the Chef

After cooking in some of America's toniest restaurants, Chef Shawn Cirkiel moved back to Austin in 2002, where he became the city's youngest ever five-star chef. Wanting to shift gears to a more laid-back setting and approachable menu, he opened Parkside in 2009 on bustling Sixth Street.

"I love cooking out here," Shaws says of the sprawling, longhorn-studded ranch in Willow City. "The timing's not the same. No one gets mad if the food's a few minutes late. It's very low-key."