Another Visit to The Roosevelt

Earlier in July we headed back to The Roosevelt to enjoy another meal. This time a rehearsal dinner filled half the space. A bit strange since there is no way to partition a group gathering. And when the best man stood up to make a speech, all I could think of was Four Weddings and a Funeral. It took an enormous amount of effort to keep from rolling my eyes and bursting out with guffaws. I do wish the bride and groom a happy journey despite my cynicism.

In any case hubby and I ate, drank, and made merry. We began with cocktails: Jasper's Rum Punch and The Orange Door Hinge. Hubby enjoys rum and on this blazing hot night, it was very refreshing. My Hinge contained Espolon tequila and blood orange juice with a jalapeno hint and Kentucky Ale 8 soda. I have lately been won over by Espolon. The taste of the tequila shines through no matter what is added. This is a very good thing. I liked the black sea salt around the rim, too, but beware, it will temporarily turn lips and tongue black.

Jasper's Rum Punch

The Orange Door Hinge

We shared a salad and a snack: Peach and Burrata Salad and Fried Pork Rinds. The salad was the best thing we encountered all night (the rest was good, this was simply outstanding). The salad also contained arugula and hazelnuts with a Banyuls vinaigrette. So yummy. The pork rinds were still crackling as they were served - a grown up version of pop rocks and a nice crunchy companion to the salad.

The Virginia wine of the evening was a King Family Meritage. Once again, I'm happy that The Roosevelt had the gumption to only offer Virginia wine and that they select quality producers.

For dinner proper: Flap Steak with Fingerling Potatoes and Housemade A1 and Smoked Duck Leg with Cheddar Grits and Oyster and Sausage Gravy. The flap steak was similar to a flat iron. Hubby enjoyed it, but was not a fan of the A1 sauce. I was lured in by the duck, which was fabulous. I even enjoyed the oysters. The grits were too rich for me and I really could not eat them. I have to be careful about creamy-cheesy offerings be it quiche, alfredo sauce, or even mac and cheese. Other diners would have scarfed them down and asked for more, I'm sure.

Richmond has been blessed with some wonderful places to experience good food and drink. The Roosevelt continues to be one of these special places. Go soon and enjoy for yourself. And one more thing - despite the temperature of 100 degrees outside, the restaurant was cool and comfortable inside. A difficult thing to achieve with older buildings.