Dinner at Rocca Tampa

Really great dinner at a relatively new place in the Heights district in Tampa.  Their signature feature is a mozzarella cart where they make a tableside caprese salad. They take mozzarella curds in a bowl, add hot water and then hand stretch at the table.  Served with sliced  heirloom tomatoes, a drizzle of 10-year aged balsamic and basil. So good!!   I don't think I will be able to order any other caprese salad again.  Having the cheese freshly made and still warm gave it so much flavor.  

Also tried the Ravioli Del Plin which were plump sage ravioli filled with Berkshire pork on a demi glace.  Such a delicious filling. The demi glace was slightly overreduced so it got a bit salty towards the end.  

My favorite dish was the Tagliolini Al Ragu.  This was closer to a Bolognese than a true Ragu but so delicious!   The Parmigiano added just enough saltiness.  And such delicate, eggy noodles.  I could order this again and again. 

For dessert we went to the nearby Jeni's ice cream and tried Strawberry Buttermilk, Buttermint and one called Everything Bagel.  The bagel one was my favorite.  Bits of bagel and then hints of salt, garlic and sesame all nestled in a cream cheese ice cream.  It was like having an everything bagel. So well balanced.

Skipper's Smokehouse - Soft Opening Dinner

All I can say is wow!! What a meal tonight.at Skipper's Smokehouse!!

Skipper's had been an institution in Tampa since the mid 1980's.   More known for being one of the best blues and live music clubs in the United States,.it also became famous for their slogan "We Smoke Anything".   During the pandemic, like many restaurants and bars, they tried a modified concept to try to stay open but ultimately decided to close in the middle of last year.  It was a sad day for Tampa since there weren't many live music venues as it was and Skipper's was one of the best.  And they had very good good as well. So the owners tried to sell the place and weren't able to come to an agreement with anyone. So within the the last few weeks of this post, the owners decided to have a renaissance of Skipper's called Skipper's Two Point Oh.  They don't have an opening date said yet. They recently announced they would have a soft opening for the dining room so I was able to grab one of the few they had.   And I am glad I got to experience this renaissance.  

I'll start with the friendly staff. That is where Skipper's always shined. From the greeter near the entrance to the Skipperdome, to the staff at the restaurant podium inside, everyone was smiling and welcoming. And we had the fabulous (and magical) Katlyn as our server. She was fantastic in quickly getting our drink orders. I was so happy to see they had more offerings of draft beer and a craft brewery of the month. We ordered a Palm Bender IPA and Bromosa, both from Big Storm.  

Katlyn gave us a great review of the menu and what was different, new or the same as before. She had some great recommendations with the Fried Green Tomato BLT and the smoked (magical) cheese grits. For ordering we went with a "Something Old and Something New" approach.

If you go to Skipper's, you have to order oysters. Those have alwaya been a staple. And we did. Twelve freshly shucked beauties. Sweet and tasty on their own. The great cocktail sauce was like I remembered. There was also a new sauce which was a mignonette of watermelon, shallots and what I think was red wine vinegar. That went perfectly with the oysters. 

Ever since I had made the soft opening reservations, I had hoped that the onion rings were on the menu. And they were. And they delivered. The batter is similar to tempura. So light and crisp. The best onions rings I have ever had. And served with a perfect, slightly sweet and garlicky aioli. A great match of the crispy rings.

Katlyn had recommend the smoked fish chowder and it also delivered on flavor. There was a big spoonful of smoked fish on top along with a drizzle of hot sauce to offset the creaminess. Well done by the chef.

My wife got a grouper Reuben. This is the sandwich that was on the Travel Channel program "Best Sandwiches in America" with Adam Richland a few years ago. 

We had always loved this sandwich. And it also delivered. Crisp, toasted marbled rye. Well cooked grouper. And sauerkraut. Nothing to detract from the star attraction. Skipper's has added to their sides and she got the fried okra. These were well fried and crispy but not greasy and well seasoned out of the fryer. They went well with the dipping sauce we had leftover from the onion rings. 

I went with the Fried Green Tomato BLT. 

 This again featured crispy toast around fried tomatoes, bacon and pimento cheese spread. The tomatoes were definitely the star here - as they should be. They had a light batter and were crisp. I appreciated that they were not overcooked. The tomatoes still had a bit of an "al dente" texture so the sandwich didn't become wet and muddled. So smart. The pimento cheese gave a bit of a bite. I would have liked a little more of that on the bread. The bacon added just enough saltiness. A well composed sandwich. Maybe this could be a contender for Best Sandwich in America.

My side was the smoked cheese grits.

 I have had some pretty good grits over the years. None surpassed these. Creamy, without being gluey. Smokey without overpowering the corn flavor. Cheesy without being stringy. I imagined how good they would be with a couple of runny fried eggs. But that would be a different menu for a different meal. 

I finished the meal with another recommendation from Katlyn. This was the Smoked Peach Cobbler.

 I enjoyed the flavor and the texture of the cobbler cake. I would have liked a few more peaches to make it more well balanced between cake and fruit. A small issue to an otherwise delicious dessert.  

I know Skipper's is not yet open.  But if tonight's meal is an indication of the effort that the staff has put in for other parts of the restaurant, Tampa is going to enjoy this renaissance of Skipper's 2.0.

#skipperssmokehouse #skipperstwopointoh

QUICK BITE: Trying Dried Tofu For The First Time

I was in the asian marked today picking up some ingredients for PadThai.  Tamarind concentrate is a must and hard to find in regular markets.  In my travels down the many aisles, I cam across a package which had what looked like pieces of pork on the package.

On a whim, I decided to try it without any further investigation at the store.  I opened it when I got home and found out there were several snack sized pouches inside. 

Upon opening that small pouch, I found the below.  It does really look like a piece of pork or other meat.  Perhaps not as appetizing as you would like.  

TASTE TEST:  At first bite, you immediately get the texture.   It is like a very thick piece of beef jerky.  Very chewy and meaty even though this is clearly tofu.  The flavoring was really good.  It had a pronounced soy flavor,  a background of ginger and enough unami to satisfy anyone that likes jerky.  I will enjoy these being available for snacking.  The shelf had other flavors that I will likely try in the future.

Final Dinner at the Refinery

 We went to a restaurant that was closing in a week. Chef Greg Baker was the first chef to really elevate the food culture in Tampa and the Seminole Heights area. They were doing a throwback menu from when then they first opened in 2010. We had three small plates of pork belly, Nascargots (escargot hush puppies) and Maple glazed snapper with grit cake. We split an entree simply labelled "burger" (more to come on that later).

The hush puppies had a mustard and a fruit compote that really didn't compliment or contrast the escargot. It was hard to tell these were escargot. If it had a garlic butter dipping sauce or an aoli I think it would have improved the dish. Pork belly was very good with a deep pork flavor. It was served with grits and red cabbage slaw which both cut the fattiness. The snapper was my favorite of the three small plates. It had a piece of homemade maple sausage which really brought the dish together. The crunch of the grit cake was great for texture. It also had my favorite accompaniment of the night: char-grilled whole okra. Never had I had okra prepared this way - and I want it again and again It could be an appetizer all on its own. They were similar to shishito peppers but with a much smokier flavor (and of course not spicy).

The burger entree was my favorite item of the night. A burger cooked perfectly medium with sharp cheddar cheese, a creamy mild aoli and kimchee. The roll was pillowy soft but held up to the meaty burger and toppings. The kimchee had just enough spice to contrast with the beefiness. It was served with Yukon Gold fries which were hot from the fryer and perfectly salted. There was a homemade ketchup which was good but needed some more acid. Such a well composed dish. Simple and delicious.

Dessert was a doughnut sandwich. It had fresh peaches as the filling, torched marshmallow on top along with a fruity sauce. The doughnut itself was a bit stale so while I was expecting a Krispy Kreme "HOT NOW" texture, it was more like a Dunkin Donuts day old plain donut. I think I would have enjoyed it more if the filling and topping were reversed. The marshmallow was so good, it deserved to be the main component. And then I would have grilled the peaches and served with a tart raspberry sauce. But really just small issues since we had such a great meal.

Bierfest at Busch Gardens Tampa

Bierfest at Busch Gardens Tampa!!

I have been going to this Beer Fest since it started about three years ago.  They have a very large selection of beers to choose from although this visit was about the food.  The 2019 event runs on Saturday and Sunday only from 8/17/2019 to September 8th, 2019 (including Labor Day)

 #ThrillsOnTao  

You can buy the beer and food samples individually.  Food is between 7 and 9 dollars.  I didn't buy any beer samples so not sure how much those are but guessing about five dollars.  If you plan to get more then a few food samples, your best value is to get a lanyard which has "punches" for 5 or 10 samples.  Five samples are 29.99 and 10 are 49.99.  And also remember you can share a lanyard between multiple people. If you are an annual passholder (not Fun Card) they have a special 12-punch lanyard for the price of the 10-punch.  These are good values if you only plan to use them for food.  As you can see on the menus, most food is $7 or more. So if you got 10 samples valued at 6.99 each, you are saving about $20. 

TOP TIP:  They can also be used for the beer samples, water and bottles of soda,  These aren't good uses of a "punch" in my opinion.   Instead, buy the water, soda or beer separately.  Also remember that the punches can be used throughout the festival.

Started off with the brisket taco and the jerk chicken taco,

Brisket taco was the winner of the two. The crispy jalapeno strips really added to the smokiness of the brisket. The jerk chicken needed more jerk flavor and I didn't taste any smoke in the pineapple.

Next up was a melt!!  This was the Short Rib and Brie melt.

Short rib and brie melt. Well seasoned tender short rib and melt brie. The addition of the horseradish really helped cut the richness of both meat and cheese.  

Then onto some fried items.  

Bacon Mac and Cheese bites and Reuben Croquettes.

Reuben croquettes. Needed more sauerkraut. Was really just corned beef and cream cheese. Basil park dipping sauce needed some flavor - any flavor.

Mac and cheese bites. Cookie cutter variety but I give them points for keeping it moist inside. The bacon mustard dipping sauce was dynamite. I would do shots of that and skip the bites.  Nice chunks of bacon mixed with the sweet, smoky and spicy sauce.

Next up was some sliders!

Bratwurst slider. The deli mustard helped with the fattiness. I would have liked more vinegar in the slaw.

Schnitzel sandwich was dry and the sauce was strange. Sort of a muted honey mustard. The spritzing crew was here to help cool us off!!!

They also had a booth where they served adult floats.  The Hard Coffee Float and Maduro Float were outstanding. Hard coffee was like a gas station Cappuccino (in a good way).Cigar City Brewing Maduro stout and vanilla soft serve was a perfect match.

I am always wanting to try anyone's take on a good chicken wing. They also had sweet potato fries.

The chicken wings were well fried. I got them with the sesame orange glaze which where the citrus was a good match for the fried wings. The sweet potato fries were very crispy and had a marshmallow sauce drizzled on top. It was just enough sweetness for me.