Fodor's Expert Review The Rusty Spoon

Lovingly raised animals and locally grown produce are the menu foundation at this Downtown gastropub owned by chef Kathleen Blake, a multiple James Beard Award nominee. It's an ideal spot for a business lunch or dinner before a basketball game, theater, or concert. The wood-and-brick dining room is a comfortable backdrop to hearty, seasonal American meals with Italian and Southern elements. Creatively stuffed eggs and buttermilk-soaked Vidalia onion rings are top starters. The salads—with ultrafresh greens—are always sensational. All pastas are made from scratch, whether a "remodeled" ravioli with roasted organic Seminole pumpkin, radicchio, and cremini mushrooms, or hand-cut wide noodles with a beef tenderloin/pork ragu with chile oil. The Dirty South seafood stew is a signature take on bouillabaisse. End with a very grown-up version of s'mores.