I have written several articles for AC regarding informal and modestly priced restaurants in the Tampa Bay area. There are many of these in all categories, providing comfort food for families on a budget.
There is one restaurant in Tampa that best exemplifies romance and elegance, a most unusual dining experience with an ambiance that is without parallel: Six Tables, located at 4267 Henderson Boulevard in Tampa. As I will explain, this is not a venue to be decided upon at the last minute; advance planning is absolutely essential.
Six Tables draws its name from the fact that, yes, it really only has six tables. The restaurant has one seating each night; you are ushered into a single, small room softened with candlelight and a twinkling, lit ceiling. The gowned, dignified hostess makes you feel as if you are the honored guest in a private home.
The meal-event is a carefully and dramatically structured prix-fixe menu, that is for a fixed price of $80, the restaurant will serve six predetermined courses.
First, however, the waitress brings out a shiny silver tray with champagne, served in antique crystal, and amuse bouche, an assortment of bite-sized delicacies, which translates from the French as “mouth pleasures”. And indeed they are!
The six courses consist of a choice of soup, a main entree which could be lamb or boar, duck a l’orange, wild game or seafood, A cheese plate might follow together with pate, and finishing with a decadent dessert.
While the exact menu is not determined in advance, an examination of the 2006 Valentine’s Day offering is illustrative.
That meal started with a choice of rich and creamy Lobster Bisque (a favorite choice of most diners) or a strawberry gazpacho, a variation of the cold tomato-based popular soup.
Next was a salad tossed in a Green Tomato vinaigrette, with candied kumquats, braised onions and a crispy confit confectionery with quail.
After a taste of sorbet, the main course is presented. Here one had a choice of five entrees: Beef tenderloin medallions, grilled Buffalo Rib eye, Ginger and Chile crusted Shrimp with lemon chutney, roasted lamb or a half duckling. Each of the presentations is accompanied by a sauce or glaze which complements the meat or poultry or seafood.
At this point, one is at the two-hour mark.
Next came the cheese platter. .Just when the stomach can take no more, the staff produced an assortment of fine cheeses with grapes and apple slices.
Dessert on last year’s Valentine’s Day consisted of a choice of a kiwi tart with caramel whipped cream or a chocolate Charlotte with a raspberry cream drizzle.
On this year’s Valentine’s Day, the menu may well be different.
Featured entrees usually include venison, Chateaubriand, salmon, grouper baked in parchment, and Cornish game hen, with most of the bones removed. The chocolate souffle is the stuff of which dreams are made and the menu often includes for dessert a puff pastry filled with ice cream and topped with fresh berries or a hot caramel sauce that just might stick to one’s fingers for licking (if no one is looking).
Six Tables has a very impressive wine list with bottles ranging from about $30 to $250. A variety of wines are also available by the glass, at $9 per glass. Domestic and important beers are available, in addition.
One must be prepared to spend approximately $250 to $300 a couple, including gratuity and a reasonably priced wine. For Tampa, this is a considerable sum, although I am aware that compared to major northern cities it is not exorbitant. On the other hand, romance is worth every penny and Valentine’s day comes but once a year. Of course, there is her birthday, your anniversary, the celebration of your first date, the first kiss, and so on.
A suggestion: it might be a romantic idea to send her mother a dozen roses to say, “Thank you for having your lady”. This alone is worth a vast number of brownie points.
