Cru Cellars – Tampa, FL

I drive past Cru Cellars all the time (it’s about a block north of Datz), but until I read that it was in the top 10 best restaurants in South Tampa on the blog Tasting Tampa, I didn’t realize it was more than just a wine shop. 

We bought a $40 deal for only $20 on Creative Loafing a little while ago (if you’re ever looking for great deals on restaurants, CL Deals are the best!)

Yesterday we had already spent most of the day eating – starting off at the Madeira Beach Mid-Week Market, then having lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings.  After all that, we took a long walk around the boardwalks at Weedon Island Preserve (actually where Lance and I had our first official date…) 

That evening it started pouring rain and lightning like crazy – probably not the best time to head out for a date night.  But we were looking forward to trying Cru Cellars out! 

From the outside, all you see is the wine shop (which looked pretty quiet).  But once we walked inside, we saw that around the corner was a bar with several bar-top tables for dining.  It was decorated very simply, with a few industrial lamps and one accent wall with a sepia-tone photo of wine barrels.  Their specials were outlined on a chalkboard-painted door mounted to the wall. 

The menu had an impressive selection of unique wines, as well as bottled beers.  I tried out the “European Road Trip” flight – a sampling of 1 white and 2 red wines.  The Zudugarai Txakolina was a sweet, tart white wine.  Next was the Chateau Saint Roch Cotes du Rhone red blend which was dry but fruity.  Then finally, I had the Sebille Chinon, which was a completely different red wine that tasted a bit like olives. 

Next, we ordered the Fig Jam & Prosciutto Flatbread, which was topped with bleu cheese and arugula.  OMG I think it may have been the best flatbread that I’ve ever had.  It was the perfect mix of sweet and salty.  The bleu cheese on this one tasted more like brie. 

After that, we tried the “Farmer’s Platter” sampling.  We could choose from a list of cow, sheep, goat, and bleu cheeses, along with cured meats and small bites. 

We chose the deviled eggs (topped with caviar and pickled red onion), duck rillette (a house-made truffled duck pâté), Sottocenere with Truffles (a semi-soft Italian cow cheese with black truffle shavings), Cypress Grove Humboldt Fog (a California goat cheese made with buttermilk and fresh cream), and the Manchego (a Spanish sheep cheese).  The platter was served with a sweet jam, caramelized nuts, and a warm baguette. 

Wow – I’m so glad we tried the Farmer’s Platter.  Everything on it was incredible.  Those were by far the fanciest deviled eggs we’ve ever had.  The duck pâté was a great topping for the crispy bread.  My favorite of the cheeses by far was the Cypress Grove goat cheese.  It was so creamy and paired nicely with the nuts and jam.  The Manchego and Sottocenere were both good, but there actually wasn’t as much truffle flavor as we expected in the cow cheese.

We finished the meal with the Banana Foster Cheesecake – described as vanilla cheesecake, brûléed banana, salted caramel, and meringue. While it was tasty, I probably wouldn’t get it again.  The cheesecake was pretty small, surrounded by unimpressive Vanilla Wafer cookies – considering a Cheesecake Factory slice costs about $6-7 for a huge piece, this one was definitely not worth $9.  It’s my fault though since Lance really wanted to order the Strawberry Shortcake Funnel Cake instead.

We ended by browsing their wine shop afterwards.  It has hundreds of varieties of wines – most of which I had never heard of before.  They had an entire table dedicated to wines under $13 (which would be a nice place to pick up a unique bottle for a party).  

Overall it was an amazing meal – the perfect spot for a date night!   

Cru Cellars is located at 2506 S MacDill Ave, Tampa, FL 33629 and is open 12pm – 10pm Tuesday – Thursday, 12pm – 11pm Friday and Saturday, and closed Sunday – Monday. 

Rooster & the Till – Tampa, FL

Last night my friends Kate, Laura, and I decided to try a new restaurant we’ve never been to before called Rooster & the Till.  It was featured on Tasting Tampa’s Top 10 list for best restaurants in the Seminole Heights area so we knew it must be good.  The outside of the restaurant is a bit nondescript, so we drove right past it while trying to find it. 

Their website describes the food as “modern American cuisine cooked with love and sourced from nearby farms and gardens.”  It also says that they used local craftsman and reclaimed materials in the construction of the restaurant.  It seems that all new restaurants I’ve gone to lately have the same look to them – industrial pendants with filament bulbs, exposed ceiling, wood accents, and subway tiles.  I’m not complaining though – I love that the rustic modern style is so trendy now.  It looks like a sophisticated restaurant you would find in New York. 

We were seated at the bar – I could tell it was a classy restaurant because there were hooks incorporated underneath the bar to hang purses.  The chefs prepared food directly in front of the bar, so it was a great vantage point.  It is clear that they are all well trained on plating and presentation because each chef spent time to meticulously plate each dish in a precise way. 

Our server explained the whole concept to us and advised that we order several plates to sample and share since it is meant to be a communal dining experience.  I do love food, but I am in no way a culinary expert.  When scanning the menu, I was unfamiliar with the names of about half the ingredients.  However, the chefs were very knowledgeable, so they answered a few questions for us before ordering. 

We ordered the Charcuterie Slate – which included chicken liver pâté, gelée candied walnut crumble, coffee cured guanciale, cocoa aioli, bbq spiced pork pâté, smoked onion marmalade, beef heart bresaola, b&b pickles, and a hibiscus allspice mustard.  Most of these were brand new to me, but everything I tried was incredible.  The portion size was quite small though, especially for the price.  However, it is clear that they focus much more on quality than quantity. 

We actually received the Cheese Slate on mistake before receiving the Charcuterie – but they told us to just keep it and try the cheeses as well.  That plate included cabrales, honeycomb, cacetto sardo, golden raisin chutney, bucherondin, fig mostarda, idiazabal, and pepper jelly.  It definitely wasn’t the typical cheese sampling of cheddar and pepper jack – these were all gourmet cheeses that wouldn’t be at your typical grocery store.  Again, relatively small portions but each bite was amazing. 

We also ordered two small plates to share.  The first was gnocchi with short ribs, smoked ricotta, san marzano’s tomatoes, and spicy pickled peperonata (I didn’t get a photo of that one but you can see a photo above right from the blog Eat a Duck.)  There wasn’t much short rib, but the handmade gnocchi were very tasty.

The second small plate was the house smoked yogurt, vinegar soaked tomatoes and cucumbers served with flax seed pumpernickel crackers. We were intrigued about this dish after we learned about their process of smoking yogurt to infuse it with flavor.  The dish tasted like a very upscale caprese salad.

The staff was very friendly, and the executive chef, Ferrell Alvarez, spent a lot of time getting to know us and telling us about the locally sourced ingredients and his previous experiences at Mise en Place and Café Dufrain.  You can tell that he takes pride in his restaurant and really cares about the customer experience. 

I think it is definitely worth checking out – maybe go when you aren’t quite as hungry though since like I said, the portions are relatively small for the price.  And go with an open mind to try everything – I grew up as a picky eater, but over the years I’ve become much more open to trying almost any food.  It was a totally unique dining experience that you couldn’t have anywhere else in the Tampa Bay area. 

After our dinner, we headed down the street to Bo’s Ice Cream for dessert.  It reminded me a lot of Dairy Joy.  I had a soft serve vanilla cone dipped in chocolate.  It was a great night catching up with friends!

Rooster and the Till is located at 6500 N Florida Ave, Tampa, FL 33604 and is open with a limited menu Monday – Saturday 3:30 – 5pm, Monday through Thursday from 5 – 10pm for dinner, Friday & Saturday from 5 – 11pm for dinner, and closed on Sundays. 

Bo’s Ice Cream is 7101 N Florida Ave, Tampa, FL 33604 and is open 11am – 11pm every day.