If humankind never learned to play with its food, it would never have learned to play with its ingredients, and the world would be one bereft bowl of gruel. Savor the fruits of our own inventiveness with today's Groupon: for $35, you get $75 worth of New American gourmet cuisine at Jeffrey's Restaurant and Bar in historic Clarksville. This Groupon is not valid during happy hour.

Gung-ho gourmands have been macheting their way into Jeffrey's since 1975 to sample the inviting bistro's menu of small plates, soups, salads, and classic comforts served with gourmet twists. Under the toque of its new chef, Deegan McClung of Uchi fame, Jeffrey's carbon-conscious kitchen is amply stocked with many locally produced ingredients that make their way into the dinner menu's savory seasonal entrees and fleeting nightly specials. Start with squash soup with crème fraîche ($12), plus small plates of pickled shrimp with sesame-fried green tomatoes ($15) and the house specialty, crispy oysters ($15). Discriminating diners and their monocled grizzly-bear companions will find much to love in the lemon-crusted flounder ($34) luxuriating on a bed of pistachio puree with morels and sunflower seeds. A side of caramelized green beans and house-cured bacon ($8) goes particularly well with crispy pork shank ($24) surrounded by an entourage of sweet potato branbant, ramp bulbs, fresh fava beans, and pickled mustard seeds in a pork jus. A decadent dessert of banana-pudding ice cream sandwiches with house-made vanilla wafers ($10) or the chef's cheese selections ($7–$19) will finish the feast on a sweet note no matter how often one's blind date brags about exterminating the Jedi in one fell swoop.

Patrons can choose their own gastronomic adventure with selections from the standard menu, or let their palate pore over the Moby Dick of dining with Jeffrey's five-course menu ($75), a selection of Chef McClung's favorites. Past menus have included a starter of crispy oysters, followed by a Bibb and Bleu salad, seared sea scallops Veronique, porcini-rubbed filet mignon, and a dessert of buttermilk panna cotta or foie gras on toasted almond puree with citrus Madeleines. Two people can use each Groupon, so surprise the love of your life by proposing to the waiter after a divine dinner at Jeffrey's Restaurant and Bar.

Reviews

Both Gayot and the Austin Food Journal dub Jeffrey's Restaurant and Bar one of the premier upscale eateries in Austin.

• I’m talking a lot about the starters, but they are the ones that caught my attention…Even the fries were great. The menu is still evolving. I’m eager to try the new Tile Fish and Spring Rabbit items that start this week. – Austin Food Journal
• Visiting celebrities, politicos and epicureans are spellbound by the innovative contemporary Texas cuisine that defines Jeffrey’s. Executive chef Deegan McClung composes skillfully garnished plates that are as appealing as the sophisticated art-filled surroundings. – Gayot

More than 180 OpenTablers give the fine dinery an average of 4.5 stars. More than 70 Yelpers give it an average of 3.5 stars, and 80% of Urbanspooners like it.

• Dinner was incredible, both savory and visually beautiful. Freshest ingredients, and a wonderful wait staff. If we lived in Austin, we'd go weekly for an amazing dinner, and even more for the happy hour! A true favorite. – A VIP OpenTable user who dined on 4/29/2010
• I've been to most of the "upscale" restaurants here in Austin and I was completely floored by Jeffrey's. It's simply unbelievable. The attention to detail, the atmosphere and the vibe of the place is unmatched. – Eric C., Yelp