All Entries in the "French" Category

Restaurant Review: L’Eden

Attempting to beat the lunch crowd, Dustan and I ran to L’Eden (500 Tampa Street,  Tampa, FL 33602, 813-221-4795) to try the french cuisine. Being in downtown Tampa, parking and getting into this small bistro can be tricky. When we arrived, there were people lined up out the door to get a seat inside. Generally, when there’s a line outside, I assume the best. L’Eden fell short of my expectations.

First, we’ll start with the issues that confused me straight off. The menu mentions nothing about special hours for certain foods. Dustan only agreed to go because he thought he could get a steak, which was on the menu. When he went to order, we were told that Steak (and certain other items) were only available for dinner. No where on the menu was this made clear, and it left him scrambling to order something else. Since he’s typically culturally devoid when it comes to cuisines outside of traditional American and Mexican, this put him off right away. We ended up ordering the same sandwich, which seemed like it was a dish they couldn’t mess up. I also ordered the French Onion Soup, as I assumed a French restaurant would be the place that would get this simple dish right.

Once we did manage to order, we were brought out Diet Cokes. For the $2+ you pay for a drink, you get one of the small half-size bottles of Diet Coke. I understand a company not wanting to offer fountain beverages, but what’s with the half size drinks at full size price? I typically drink 3-4 diet Cokes every time I eat out. If I did that here, I would have run up an $8 to $10 beverage bill.

While we waited, they brought out some traditional french bread with an olive oil and herb plate to dip it into. The bread was a little crunchier/harder than I expected, but the oil brought it within a manageable taste. The thing we found is that we quickly ran out of the herb, though we could refill on the oil served at our table.

While waiting, we noticed more people in and out. Everyone looked frustrated, though I’m sure that was equal parts issues with the hot day, the slow service and the work day. The French Onion Soup came out eventually and it was lackluster. Firstly, it was completely deconstructed. They literally brought me a pile of cheese in a cup, a few flakes of dried bred and the crock of soup. The soup had very few onions in it and the onions themselves were small shreds, not the long thick pieces of onions that I expect in the soup. The broth was mild and lacking the heavy broth taste that I’ve come to expect. This was very watered down and empty tasting. Adding the cheese and bread gave the broth some substance, but it didn’t improve the flavor or the texture. Since it wasn’t cooked as a whole unit, the soup lacked the cohesion required for any semblance of what this dish should have been.

When the sandwiches came, it wasn’t much better. The Monte Carlo Sandwich is a stacked pile of prosciutto, tomatoes, olive oil and sliced mozzarella stacked on a long bun. The french bread, again too dry and hard, made the sandwich difficult to eat. I found myself dunking it between bites in oil to give it any chance of tasting and digesting right. The prosciutto, a meat I expect to be spicy and overpowering, was muted as more of a standard boiled or chopped ham. The tomatoes, cut too big for the sandwich itself, tasted a bigger part in the sandwich than they should have. The only star of this sandwich was the mozzarella cheese, a soft white cheese that was bland but helped to hold the unit together. As far as sandwiches go, this was pretty weak.

I took the time to ask others around me what they were eating and how they felt about it. Everyone who was eating a salad was seeming to enjoy it. Everyone who was eating a sandwich or another dish appeared disgruntled. I had always known French food for it’s strong flavors and it’s blend of tastes that compliment and inspire. L’Eden failed this simple task all around.

While none of the food was appauling or distasteful, I would never say that anything we had was worth a second trip. If you work downtown and need food in a pinch, this touch of complacency may be with acceptance. It’s definitely nothing I’ll make a trip for again.

Restaurant Review: L’Olivier Restaurant and Cabaret

After much persuasion by Tampa’s “Every Man” Clark Brooks about how awesome the dinner theatre of L’Olivier (1600 E. 8th Ave. Tampa FL 33605, 813-247-5307) is, I knew I had to make time to go try it. I’m very glad that I did.

Part Moulin Rouge and part upscale french restaurant, L’Olivier is a treat. As you walk to the front door, the whole building comes off as grand. I walked up the stairs where the doorman checked our I.D. to verify we were eligible for the show.

When you walk in, you’re immediately faced with a gigantic Eiffel Tower that shadows the dance floor. To the left, a full bar with plenty of stool and couch seating. To the right, tall dining tables and an open kitchen. At first, I thought it might be a little too loud for dinner, but the music quickly becomes the background to the lights, food and entertainment.

The menu is classic french, giving many different crepe and quiche options, as well as an extensive wine list. Kara and I opted for two different traditional crepes. I had the Crepes with Emmenthal cheese and chicken, while Kara had the Crepes La Provencale.

Both dishes came with a spinach salad and Gratin Dauphinois, which was a strange but tasty mix of spinach, a balsamic vinegar, olives, strawberries and apples. The mix of tart and sweet made for strange bedfellows at first, but after a second bite I was hooked. This is a great starter, and a good introduction to the crepe entrees.

The crepes were different than anything I had tasted before, and were exceptional. In previous dates with French Cuisine, I had crepes in the sense of rolled up pancakes, thin and stuffed with various accoutrements. These were quite different, both in taste and presentation. Instead of rolls, these were squared and folded over.

The crepe itself was soft and delicious, thin enough to fork into pieces while still stable enough to hold itself together. The insides were a melted blend of cheese and chicken, both gaining equal footing as the lead in this dance of classic french bistro cuisine. The Emmenthal cheese, a favorite of mine, was a prominent taste in this crepe. Every bite was full of melted flavorful goodness. The serving sizes are large too. Even having not eaten since Taste of New Tampa 8 hours earlier, the salad and Crepe probably would have filled me up.

Since we came to L’Olivier early (7AM when the show started at 9:15), we decided to take a break after dinner before jumping into dessert. At about 8:30, we ordered the Crepes La Frabanu, a delectable combination of fresh strawberries, bananas and nutella chocolate wrapped in the same familiar crepe shell. There is only one word for this dessert: heavenly. Every bite was rich with nutella, a slightly muted version of the milk chocolate taste I was expecting that paved the road for the large pieces of strawberry and banana. This dessert would have been the highlight of my night, had we not stayed for the show.

While there are Cabaret shows Thursday through Sunday, Sundays at L’Olivier feature drag queens and I *love* a drag show. I can’t even begin to tell you how incredibly beautiful they all were. Amy De Milo, a creature more beautiful than most born anatomically female, commands a real presence. She struts fierce, steps intently and is all teeth as she smiles her way from one side of the stage to the other. If there was ever a perfect drag queen, Amy De Milo would be it.

If you need more proof of how amazing Amy is, see this Highlight video I found on Youtube.

The other performers were also excellent.

At one point, one of the other girls performed the Shirley Bassey vocals from the Propellerhead’s “History Repeating”. It was amazing! I sang along and couldn’t stop grinning. The show alone was well worth the $50 we spent on dinner.

Another important point to make about the quality of L’Olivier comes from not just the entertainers or the quality of food, but the quality of service you receive. Several times during the night, both our host and the chef came to our table to check on us. I’m used to a waiter doing this, but for the cook to do it was unprecedented. He was very friendly and made it a point to check in between dishes, making sure everything was perfect. It’s that attention to detail and the customer’s needs which have me already planning a second trip this coming week.