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Small Eatery Is Big On Flavor
Tribune photo by JAY NOLAN
On the menu at Urban Culinary Cuisine: Grilled catfish with a caper and crawfish sauce is served with yellow rice and Red Velvet cake.
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Published: October 9, 2008
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TAMPA - Urban Culinary Cuisine is simple and tidy, with just six tables and a small counter with five chairs. On first glance, it might not be the sort of place you'd expect to eat better-than-average fare or to hear live jazz.
But this little place in a suburban strip center fools you. Try it and you'll find you get simple, soul-satisfying food that's cooked well and served in generous portions at an affordable price. It's take-out food that tastes like sit-down fare. And a jazz combo plays there on Friday evenings.
John Saxton, a former chef's apprentice at Windows on the World restaurant in the World Trade Center (a large picture in the restaurant pays tribute to the buildings), opened Urban Culinary Cuisine just before Christmas 2007. He told the Tribune earlier this year that his goal is to create a "neighborhood restaurant," and he promised to treat customers special.
Done and done.
When you walk into the restaurant, you're invited to order and pay at the cash register at the front. While full meals are offered, Saxton also has an array of fresh-fruit smoothies for the health-conscious. There is also a selection of bottled drinks, but do your taste buds a favor and order the homemade sweet tea.
The menu sticks mainly to simple dishes and allows customers to mix and match entrees with sides. In addition to burgers and salads, you'll find chicken, steak, pork, salmon and catfish, offered either grilled or pan seared, served as an entrée with two sides or on a bun with lettuce and tomatoes.
But Saxton — who loves to talk about cooking and often circulates through the restaurant visiting with customers — is willing to work with special orders. He kicked up my pan-seared catfish with some Cajun spices before topping it off with capers and crawfish in a cream sauce. This dish alone will make your trip to North Tampa worthwhile. For a side, we ordered homemade Cheese & Macaroni (comfort food that came in a generous portion) and a house salad that came with a sweet red pepper vinaigrette.
We also tried the Urban Bacon Cheeseburger, which can best be described as a cheeseburger lover's cheeseburger. It comes with two quarter-pound slabs of beef topped with cheddar cheese and savory, sizzling strips of bacon.
On another visit, we tried the dinner special and were rewarded with an enormous plate full of food for $18: an 8-ounce sirloin steak and five grilled shrimp topped with a creamy red wine sauce, served with three vegetable sides. All this came — as did the catfish — over a bed of seasoned white rice.
Everything was expertly prepared. The flavors were a perfect combination of butter and spice. The steak was cooked to order and tender. The vegetables served with it, green beans and carrots, were tasty and not overcooked.
What really stood out was the Sweet Sticks (sweet potato fries). Sliced fresh and fried at a high heat in a light oil, then lightly dusted with sugar, they were crisp and not greasy.
The menu also offers plenty of kid-friendly food such as grilled cheese and hot dogs. Our 7-year-old ordered a basket of chicken strips and small fries. Not your run-of-the-mill chicken strips, these were fresh, boneless, white-meat chicken-breast tenders dusted in flour with herbs, then fried at that same high heat in a light oil so you get the crispiness on the outside without the greasiness.
For dessert, you can't go wrong with the white chocolate mousse in a chocolate cup. A hardened milk-chocolate outer shell acts as cupcake liner, holding the white chocolate mousse topped with whipped cream and a fudge sauce. Yes, it tastes as good as it sounds.
Urban Culinary Cuisine is set up for take-out as well
DINING REVIEW
Urban Culinary Cuisine
BOTTOM LINE: Fast casual dining in New Tampa offers generous portions of soul-satisfying food at an affordable price.
WHERE: 10016 Cross Creek Blvd., Tampa
HOURS: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday; 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday; 1 to 6 p.m. Sunday
CREDIT CARDS: All major
RESERVATIONS: No
CHILDREN'S MENU: No, but can accommodate
ALCOHOL: No
WHEELCHAIR ACCESS: Yes
PRICE RANGE: $5 to $18
CALL: (813) 994-3800
Tribune reviewers eat anonymously.
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