This is something which has bothered me for many years and I figure why not bring it up now. The job of a food critic is one in which I envy, question, and look at every time I read a review. Each week I read reviews from different critics in different cities across the country all reviewing a variety of restaurants. Most of these I will never get the chance to dine at or have no wish to dine at period. Whether the review be good or bad I always find myself angry after reading the comments section which follows the reviews. This gives everyone the chance to weigh in with their opinion and thoughts on the restaurant and what the review had to say. Some people agree and some disagree, that is the beauty of cuisine in which people can universally disagree on what is good and bad, new and outdated, or creative and bizarre. What really pisses me off is the people who think this is an open forum to bash the food critic because they didn’t like that particular restaurant. They feel as though a critic must love every meal they have or they are somehow out to destroy these restaurants they consider sub par. It is the job of the critic to give an unbiased opinion of these restaurants so the public has something interesting to read and at the same time it provides free PR to these restaurants. Food critics have no obligation to restaurants to give them great reviews their obligation is to the reader who spends the money to but the paper they write for and give them a review that is honest and fair to their customer, the reader. If you want your favorite restaurant to stay open and busy continue to patronize the establishment and spread the good word but don’t sit at home and cry and criticize these people for doing their job. Are some reviews biased, of course, a good way to figure out the truth is to get up and go try the place yourself. Maybe you will find out you disagree with the reviews, maybe you agree, or maybe you will realize the job is harder than it seems.

Last Friday Grandma Edna and I had a chance to go out to lunch at Rue Dumaine in Centerville. The restaurant opened while I was living in Phoenix and I have been wanting to get there and try it ever since. On Friday’s they open for lunch and run a special limited menu with some nice options. It is nice to see someone from the same area as myself who has been successful come back and add a nice establishment to the area which desperately needs a break from all the overpriced chain restaurants. Chef Anne Kearney made her name in New Orleans at her restaurant, Peristyle, and has brought that feel to Rue Dumaine. Google her name to get some more background info on her and her inspiring story and what she truly means to the Culinary world.

Now on to the food. As I was saying Friday is the only day they are open for lunch and I believe our menu had either 6 or 7 choices total. Between the two of us we sampled most of the menu and I would definitely go back again for dinner and enjoy some wine with my meal.

To start we had some bread and cold butter. The bread was nice but the cold butter is impossible to spread so that was a little disappointing.

For the first course Grandma made the wise decision and went with the white bean soup with crispy chorizo and greens. It was served smoking hot and had a very nice flavor with the house made chorizo which was fantastic.

I went for the boiled potato salad with hard boiled eggs, gherkins, celery, cherry tomatoes, chickpeas and a light vinaigrette which was drizzled over the dish. To me it was under seasoned but the flavor was balanced and light.

 Once again Grandma made the right choice and went with the house made Chorizo sandwich with caramelized onion and saffron aioli. This was the best thing I tasted all day. Soft toasted bun with a great sausage in between is pretty hard to beat.

I opted for the Skate served with haricot vert, sliced almond, orange segments and an orange vinaigrette of sorts. Once again I felt the dish was under seasoned but I have a high tolerance and need for salt. The skate itself was not that great and the dish needed another fatty element for my taste. The haricot were nicely cooked and helped to add good texture to the plate.

For dessert we both had the flan with caramel sauce and to me it appeared to have been scrambled. The caramel sauce was perfect.

The interior of the restaurant is very nice and comforting without being stuffy and pretentious which I enjoyed. Kitchen is open for everyone to see into and Chef Kearney was there cooking lunch while we were there. The bar area was very nice looking and I would love to check it out more whenever I go back. You would never realize you were in a strip mall once you were inside this space. On the way to the restrooms there is a huge mural of Chef Kearney for one of her awards which is really nice and I believe you can see a picture of this on the website.

https://ruedumainerestaurant.com