Roux Review

This roulette was at Roc’s cute little French joint on Park Ave:Roux.  There were eleven Rouletters and ten turned in their reviews.  We had one new Rouletter from the bench and the rest were well-seasoned.  This was our most divisive outing yet – it was so split that we were able to sub-categorized the ways something can be divisive.  Quick note:�This place has a candlelit dining experience, so some of the images in this one are not as clear and crisp as they usually are in Roulette reviews. �

We started off this Rouxlette with the Fluffy garlic + ricotta toast: smoked flake salt, olive oil, flour city bread.  Rouletters either really dug this and said things like “cool!  It’s salty and the bread was toasted nicely!” or they were disappointed.  We’ve been through this before.  There are places in town with exceptional ricotta.  This missed the mark a bit for most Rouletters.  It didn’t have enough flavor and the bread got soggy with the ricotta sitting on top.  There also was a bit of a ratio issue: there wasn’t enough bread to balance the hefty serving of ricotta.  ⭐ 3.3�⭐

Coming in with the lowest score of the night was the Escargots: lots of butter & garlic, toast soldiers, crunchy salt.  Four Rouletters opted out of the snail tasting.  Some were trying them for their first time and were not too impressed, which impacted the score a bit.  Overall, they were excellently prepared escargots. However, there wasn’t anything particularly fresh or surprising here, but maybe escargots don’t need that? (I mean, a little rendered fatty pork somewhere probably wouldn’t have KILLED anyone…)�⭐ 2.9�⭐

The dish that got the widest and most evenly spread scores was theMussels from Normandy: garliky herb cream with dijon and calvados, house bacon lardon, warm baguette.  This was a new first: there was no grouping here – scores went from 1 – 4.5 with nearly all scores represented along the way.  In the bottom grouping was the folks who just don’t like fishy tasting food.  Sometimes muscles aren’t too fishy – these ones were.  Some Rouletters just find muscles to be too much work for the payoff and were not impressed with the small size of these ones.  On the high end, Rouletters noted that the sauce has enough body that we felt we could really taste it – too often mussels are dressed with a sauce that’s barely more than the wine or beer that forms its base, but not so here. Those who liked them really dug these little guys: they were well-seasoned, delicious, and dipping the fresh baguette in that sauce is divine.  If you’re a mussel lover, don’t let this overall score dissuade you. �⭐ 3.1�⭐

The second most highly rated dish of the night was the Beets with bergamot: whipped chévre, toasted savory seed granola, mess of soft herbs.  We loved these beets!  The chevre and herbs were the perfect complements to these gorgeous beets and the granola added a nice crunch. The tart & tangy balance with the chévre was cute cute. �⭐ 4.4�⭐

Back to scatter-shot ratings, we have the Cheese plate: local and french cheeses, jam, honey, warm baguette.  Rouletters enjoyed the jam, brie, cornichons, and what was either roquefort or manchego cheese (maybe?).  They were a bit heavy handed on the bleu and light on the milder cheese.  Finally, we felt the offering was just too small for the price – particularly when the sliced apple took up more space than 2/3 of the cheese.  Overall, there was nothing inventive or surprising.  Also, does a bunch of sliced fruit feel insulting after a number of roulettes?  Existential mundane panic. �⭐ 3.6�⭐

The third highest ranked dish of the night was the Endive salad: date, walnut & orange gremolata, asian pear, shaved aged gruyére.  Nice, fresh balance here: the bright bite of the Asian pear balancing out the cheese.  The date playing against the walnut.  Just enough bitterness at just the right time.  It resulted in a very fresh, bright flavor with a lovely variety of complimentary textures.  We would love this with soup as a light lunch if we were cute fancy bois (and not the taco bell raccoons that some of us are when we are not rouletting).�⭐ 4.3�⭐

The Hudson valley smoked trout salad: mixed lettuces, capers, lemon vinny, celeriac & fennel remoulade, brioche crumb was divisive in that folks really liked it, or they really didn’t.  Some found the smoke and flavor on the trout paired with the fennel remoulade to be absolutely delicious.  Others asked WHAT EVEN IS TROUT SALAD?  Goopy gloppy I need a shower mistake feel.  Do you love trout and like a mystery?  Why not roll the dice. �⭐ 3.3�⭐

The second lowest rated dish was the Bread & butter pickled vegetables.  To be fair this is a side dish.  It’s pickles, they’re fine.  Flavor was fine but there wasn’t much to this at all. Not memorable.  Seriously.  Multiple Rouletters used the word “fine.” �⭐ 3.0�⭐

You really can’t go wrong with Good fries & aïoli.  The fries were crispy with a well-seasoned flavor and perfect texture.  Some folks don’t dig the thin cut fries, but otherwise Rouletters were super happy and found themselves reaching for fries throughout the meal. �⭐ 4.2�⭐

Interestingly, Rouletters found theGood fries & aïoli: make em’ bougie with garlic, truffle, & parmesan to be inferior to the plain ol peasant fries.  Some Rouletters found them to be too overwhelming due to the richness.  Others are over the garlic parm truffle movement overall. Get over it, they say, because that hasn’t been inventive since 2003. But, if you’re going to do it, do it spectacularly, charge people 20 bucks extra and shave some real truffle on it, don’t just use an oil infused with truffle. There are a trillion ways to use truffle or truffle oil, so why do something the same boring way everyone else is doing it?  It kind of insults the rest of the menu. �⭐ 3.6�⭐

Ah, the Baguette & salted french butter.  The simple baguette done precisely and served warm. We adored how salty and soft that butter was.  We loved the cheeky bag too.  This proves that you don’t need to do much to make something sing.  If you love bread, you’ll love this. �⭐ 4.1�⭐

The top dish of the night was the Fried chicken cutlet: celeriac & fennel remoulade, curly kale salad, lemon, shaved aged parmesan.  Perfect cook on the chicken: crispy breading and still deliciously moist inside. We loved how tenderly the meat responded to the greens and perked up to the lemon wedge. The freshness from the greens also paired nicely with the remoulade.�

⭐ 4.6�⭐

TheParisian gnocchi: crispy french choux pillows, roasted cauliflower, kale lovage & walnut pistou, grated parmesanwas the most divisive dish of the night (if we are defining divisive traditionally as polarized ratings).  On the high end, Rouletters found these to be delicious, airy pillows.  These light and fluffy, crispy, savory “dinner pastries” pared well with the kale/walnut pesto, as it created a green-vegetabley taste that allowed the gnocchi’s flavor to speak for itself. A basil pesto may have stolen some of that thunder.  Others were less impressed with the texture.  For them, gnocchi’s gotta be street smart and tough, but this pasta acquiesced too much.  “Nope,” they exclaimed, “We don’t do no-spine pasta around here!”  Going forward, we will name the most polarizing dish of the night at each Roulette with the Parisian Paradoxdesignation in honor of this dish. �⭐ 4.1�⭐

You know we love a good burger and theRoux burger: tomato jam, dill pickle, aïoli, leaf lettuce, brioche bun, good friesdoes not disappoint.  I suspect this score would have climbed if we’d had it earlier in the meal.  Instead it was an add-on when folks were still a bit hungry at the end of the meal meaning some folks were already pretty full.  The meat was perfectly cooked: juicy, rich, and well-seasoned without being greasy.  The gruyere was the perfect cheese choice. We loved the aioli and brioche bun.  Some folks found it a touch sweet and not too inventive.  The fries were still delightful.  Note: a few Rouletters said that this rivals the famous Good Luck Burger – a compliment that should make any restaurant proud �⭐ 4.2�⭐

Kicking off dessert was the Flourless chocolate cake: cardamom ganache, soft whip, hazelnut crumb.  This was quite rich, so if that’s what you love in a dessert, this one is for you!  If rich desserts are just too much – well, this one isn’t for you.  It was decadent and reminds Rouletters of Rose Levy Beranbaum’s “Chocolate Oblivion Truffle Torte,” which one of our Rouletters has made enough times to say that could actually be what this is.  It’s an exceptional way to offer a chocolate dessert if you want to really showcase the chocolate otalef, which this did, beautifully. Folks really enjoyed the hazelnut touch.  Very very French bistro. �⭐ 3.7�⭐

Next up was A pot of custard: brenda’s whim, seasonal. Brenda decided this one would be ginger.  Like everything else, this one was polarizing.  One Rouletter mentioned that it had no flavor and another felt the ginger overwhelmed the custard.  Others found this to be a tasty mixture with subtle holiday-season flavors. �⭐ 3.7�⭐

We finished with the Spiced apple galette: a rustic french pie, sweetend crème frîache.  Guess what?  The third dessert was polarizing too.  Some Rouletters really liked the balance of the dough and fruit.  Others wish this had been warmed up a bit as it was quite chilled.  The rest were just not impressed and found it a bit boring and over-doughy. �⭐ 3.6�⭐

Let’s talk drinks!  TheFrench 75s are some of the best in Rochester.  It’s not on the menu, but you should definitely order it.  Many of the cocktails actually listed on the menu were heavy on anise, which is great IF you like anise.  Very in keeping with the French bistro theme.  Thecafé social was a popular pick.  Rouletters liked that it was slightly sweet and the combo of chocolate butter with bourbon was surprisingly lovely and warming.  Theespresso maison was nice too, though Rouletters prefer a standard vodka espresso martini. This was an interesting twist on that using rum.  Turning to wine, theChateu L’escart was rich and jammy, with just enough boldness to pair well with the burger.  Finally, the beer selection was decent though there was no draft beer.  It was odd that they had a sour beer that they didn’t label as sour. �⭐ 4.0�⭐

We had eleven Rouletters and that is A LOT of people.  One of the challenges of having us is that we order a bunch of different food and it needs to come out of the kitchen in a way that allows people to try and pass multiple dishes without anything getting cold.  Our server was terrific – I gave her the list of food and she immediately offered a proposal for how to course it out in a way that made sense.  YES!  Our food arrived hot and we could actually eat everything while it was still hot.  More of this, please.  Our main server was crisp but cordial, elegant but friendly. Very, very much enjoyed the service. Our server was emotionally intelligent and proceeded with warmth and patience.  Look!  We all agreed on something!  The reason the service did not get a perfect 5 was because of a couple things that were out of her hands.  First, we asked if we could get another small table for our party – we were packed in like sardines.  The manager declined noting that the other seating was needed.  Look.  This was a Monday night.  It wasn’t needed.  There was barely enough space for everyone and that discomfort impacted scores in multiple categories for a couple Rouletters.  The second is that the bar was just not putting up things terribly fast.  That meant some serious delays in getting drinks to the table. �⭐ 4.5�⭐

Okay, let’s talk about the space.  It’s a very small, rustic, minimalist restaurant, which frankly adds to the French bistro vibe.  The light is dimmed (sorry about the food images).  A small French flag hangs over a wall length mirror and the window seats have pillows thrown along their benches.  To get to the restroom you need to walk down a small set of stairs across from the kitchen they use for cleaning.  The cooking is done a few steps above the dining room and you can hear pots clang as you wait for the restroom.  The walls abutting the stairs is the exposed stonework foundation of the lovely old building, but painted dark gray.  The restroom itself is all-gender and Europe-tiny with wallpaper depicting places in France.  The French vibe is constant from the time you walk through the door from parking-starved Park Avenue until the moment you leave – and it’s awesome.  �

As you might have guessed by this point in the review, the overall impression of Roux was split.  Do you like French food and a French bistro vibe?  If yes, this place is for you.  Stop what you’re doing and head over – it has a great romantic atmosphere.  If French food is not your jam, then this place isn’t for you.  For those Rouletters, they didn’t find anything to be especially creative or inventive.  Of course, not every place needs to do that.  Overall, Rouletters found things to be well-executed and the whole affair had a very dialed-in point of view, which many places miss.  The one place where all Rouletters agreed, however, was on the price: this one was by far our most expensive Roulette.  It could have been that French food tends to be smaller portions and lighter overall.  With a group of 11 we had the rare situation of ordering a couple items at the end of the meal because folks were still hungry and then also all of the desserts.  We were there for a long while and had a lot of drinks too.  Basically, this isn’t cheap heavy food.  It’s higher end lighter fare.  You know, French. �⭐ 4.0�⭐