Roast beast.

Last week, our Supper Club creator, Sarah, suggested a road trip to Roast for restaurant week. Did she even need to ask twice? Duh! So last night, the eight of us met up for what was an amazing evening of food.

This was my third trip to Roast, and this was definitely the best meal I've had there yet. I was actually worried at first -- I hadn't felt well for a day or so, and by the time we got to the restaurant, I was on the verge of barfing all over the place. But I had a few little slices of bread and some water and I started to feel a little better, so I perused the menu a little more seriously than I initially had. Meanwhile, the ladies enjoyed some lovely adult cherry beverages (you know I don't feel well if I'm resisting cherry booze!).

I decided against the special menu and ordered off the regular menu (Sara, fyi, the lobster roll IS gone! Boo!), also deciding against any appetizers (except for part of the salad I stole from Brad). Most at the table enjoyed the soup of the day, a cream of mushroom that was assembled at the table.

Assemble-y!



Mushroom happy!

My intense and heated jealousy of Lisa's charcuterie plate leads me to believe I will be back on at least the sometime meat wagon soon. Seriously, I was this close to ripping it out of her hand and gobbling it up like Heidi with her paper towel fetish.

She is very happy as well.

I sat across from Lisa, so I also got to very closely oogle her spinach salad with... egg! Yum.

Also of note was Justin's bacon appetizer, which apparently was all kinds of yum. Most everyone stole a bite.

The bacon hand-off.

Eventually it was time for the main courses, and most of the peeps ordered off the special menu. The girls all went with the salmon and, well, I at least remember Brad Z. got the roast beast of the day (suckling pig, served on a pig-shaped platter). I decided to go with the halibut, which was served with delicious (and gigantic!) caperberries, roasted lemon, and sliced almonds. And a giant bowl of whipped heaven, I mean potatoes. You can see my dish in all its glory below, bottom left. Mmm.

The table was covered with sides, too. Asparagus, fried Brussels sprouts, spinach and feta au gratin, the aforementioned whipped potatoes, and a delicious but perplexing mac and cheese that led us to give the whispering waiter the third degree about the ingredients (he was no help really). Luckily, all of us love food and love to share, so pretty much everyone got a bite of everything. Yum. And back to my halibut, what a great choice! It was thick and meaty but flaky and light... delicious. And I seriously can't stop thinking about those caperberries. I must get some!

As for Brad, he went with the NY strip. On the menu, it said "with marrow." I assumed there would just be marrow in the sauce. But no... His steak came with a GIGANTIC bone (and marrow, obviously).

I'm endlessly curious about unusual dishes like this, so I'm sure someday I'll be brave enough to give it a little nibble. I'm proud of Brad for trying it, and actually eating most of it. He reports that it tastes good, but he had a hard time getting past the idea and nearly lost his cookies there for a minute. Either way, he finished it, save the few bites he shared with the boys.

"Did I really just eat this?"

And then, of course, whispery waiter tempted those of us not on the special menu plan with desserts of our own. Even stuffed, with an upset tummy, I cannot resist a dessert menu.

And honestly, who could resist peanut butter chocolate creme brule?

...although I kind of wish I had resisted it, and at least gotten the banana/chocolate pudding cake Sara and I got there last month. While not horrible, I kind of thought this tasted like the generic peanut butter they stick in generic chocolate candy (like off-brand Xmas peanut butter cups). I managed to at least kill most of the hard chocolate top. In the background, you can kind of see the special dessert, a delicious (thanks for the bite, Lisa) chocolate cake with raspberry sauce.

A great night, for sure. And even though 1/2 of supper club is now moving, potentially very soon, I hope we are still able to gather for more nights like this in the future. Supper Club St. Joe style, anyone?!