Roux Tampa

Dinner at 

the new Tampa hot spot... last night proved to be a good evening out.  This was test menu night.  There were four of us in attendance.  We would have liked to try everything on the menu, but alas our stomachs would not allow it.  But I will tell you what we did have.  

Off the appetizer menu, we ordered the Roux Cornbread, if you are a big fan of cornbread this is an item for you.  Everyone at our table loved it.  The next one we tried was the abita-beer-battered crab beignet, to die for, love, love, love this one.  Then we tried the char-grilled oysters, presented just as they would be in New Orleans.  I'm not such a big fan of oysters but I did like these, our friend Mimi who likes oysters any way you serve them, loved these. Next on the our menu was the smoked duck & andouille gumbo, Andrea tried this one and thought it was very good, she would have that again.  Mimi tried the mumbo, jumbo, seafood gumbo, she said her dish was delish.  I did try a bit of it and I thought is was pretty tasty.   I tried the roasted beet salad, which I thought was very tasty.  I wanted to try the mirliton & green apple salad, but they didn't have it for last nights test run.

Moving on to the main courses; Anne had "not your ordinary shrimp & grits"  it was love at first sight for her.  Andrea had the bayou bolognese,  she loved the sauce, they used angle hair pasta, it was supposed to be pappardelle pasta which she would have preferred.  I had the wild mushroom ravioli, which they touted as their vegetarian dish for the evening.  The absinthe-laced cajun tomato cream on the ravioli was very good. 

We tried a couple of cocktails from the bar which they are calling Toula's, French Quarter cocktails meet trendy mixology creations.  Anne and Mimi tried the Sazerac, which they've had years ago, and they really enjoyed remembering.  I tried the Pink Fairy, that was a wow from me.  I will definitely have that drink again.  I don't remember all what it had in it, but it did  have elder flower liqueur and I believe muddled basil. 

We all had the the Pinot Noir house wine with our meal and it was very nice. smoked duck  & andouille gumbo

There were a few mishaps, the service was reaaaally slow, but  the waitress was very pleasant, then the oven hoods went down and the place filled with smoke, but after it aired out, and the smoked cleared out we had a pleasant evening.  The interior was very New Orleans style with the red brick and the lighting.  They did a very nice job on the decorating that gets an A+.  I really shouldn't comment on the service, because it was a trial run and I'm not sure they have all the details worked out.  So we will definitely give them a second try.  It will be fun to have another good restaurant in the neighborhood. #rouxtampa  

The Vibrant Table

Saturday: Inkwood Books for a book signing by Anya Kassoff author of  The Vibrant Table.  Andrea stepped up to help out with preparations.  Anya is from Russia originally, presently lives in St Pete, Fl. and has just published her first book.  She has kept a blog about cooking and then was asked to work on a book and thus The Vibrant Table.

 Anya uses all fresh herb and seeds, she even grinds her own buckwheat, which we found out changes the color of the bread.  Andrea and I decide to fix a dish from the book before we went to the book signing. So I picked out the, Caramelized Fennel and Fig Pizza, which has a Buckwheat crust.  Andrea used store bought Buckwheat and the crust of our pizza was chocolate in color.  Anya told us that the Buckwheat you buy in the store is roasted ahead of time.  So when you grind your own Buckwheat it's lighter in color and fluffy.  When it's baked it comes out lighter in color instead of chocolate in color.  We all learn something new everyday. 

Anya prepared 4 dishes from her book. The first dish was a soup, Avocado Cilantro Soup, it was many of the guests favorite dish of the night.  Dish 2 was, Peach and Avocado Summer Rolls, now that was my favorite dish, it was cool refreshing and delicious.  It had this amazing sauce made with almond butter.  This is a great dish for a warm summer Florida day.  Dish 3 was, Pumpkin Seed Falafel with Grilled Peach Salsa, this too was a great summer dish, it is served in a lettuce or cabbage leaf and the peach salsa we a real treat.  Dish 4 was dessert, Berry and chocolate Crisp, another delightful hot summer dish. 
 We had a complete meal, and if you weren't there you missed out.  

Sunday night we prepared another meal from, The Vibrant Table, Zucchini Spaghetti with Nectarines and Pumpkin Seed Pesto, the Zucchini is prepared raw, Andrea and I decided we would probably cook the zucchini for a minuted or two next time. We even bought a sprializer, for making pasta out of zucchini and sweet potatoes. We enjoyed the meal, the pumpkin seed pesto was a new taste for us and it was a keeper.  The nectarines we bought at Greenwise Market and they were perfect, so sweet and ripe.  We have been shopping at Greenwise more often of late.  They have great fish, and the veggies are fresh and it's close to where we live.  I will have to bone up on my  photography, if I'm going to take pictures of food.  Anya's daughter did the photography for the book and it is beautiful.

Here's to eating better...