Boulon Brasserie and Bakery: A Taste of France on Water Street
Lobster Pot Pie with a Puff Pastry and mushrooms, corn, fingerling potatoes in a Sherry cream sauce
We ventured out on our monthly upscale culinary adventure and this time headed for Water Street. This brand-new section of the Channelside district is beautiful. The building architecture is modern, the main streets at night are lit with dazzling Christmas-style tree lighting, and the energy is bustling. It is ground zero for Tampa’s young glitterati, evidenced by the number of expensive cars, predominant showy Gen-Z crowd in their club-going best, and many new posh restaurants and shops. Our stop? Boulon Brasserie and Bakery, a stunning location taking up the northeast corner of Water Street and Channelside Drive. Boulon offers a menu of French classics most with an American twist. Next Level Brands, which also pilots other local eateries like Union and Forbici, owns it. Habteab “Hab” Hamde, who left Bern's Steakhouse after 26 years, is the executive chef.
Boulon Brasserie and Bakery is a stunning location taking up the northeast corner of Water Street and Channelside Drive
It's crowded. The tables are small and close together, making for high-density seating. It's noisy. The thumpy house music is slightly louder than the crowd around us. I tell myself it’s what modern dining rooms like this are made of. It’s about the experience, not the conversation. A single bar runs the length of the dining room.
The Boulon Brasserie Bar extends the length of the dining room
Menu wise, the full-service bar has a list of ten craft cocktails with a French flair and all $18. Boulon also has an admirable wine list with a heavy lean into French vintages and a short list of seven beer choices. There is a separate list of after-dinner craft drinks and dessert wine.
The Blue Crab Beignet appetizer is a plate of five hush-puppy-sized bites of a crab meat mixture, battered and crispy fried and swimming in a swoosh of peppery, spicy remoulade. The crab cake-like inside, golden brown outside, all mixed with the zesty, creamy mayo, is a winning food start.
Blue crab Beignets with spicey Remoulade
The crab cake-like inside, golden brown outside, all mixed with the zesty, creamy mayo is a delightful bite
Snapper Almadine is our first entrée. It is a beautiful, toasty on top filet in a mouthwatering brown butter sauce. It is dusted with what the kitchen calls an almond chili crunch. This dish was raised in more butter makes everything better town. Wow! That light fish, almond chili, and creamy butter overtone makes it hard to put my fork down (but I have to share with my tablemate!)
Snapper Amandine with Brown Butter, Almond Chili Crunch, Haricots Vert
The Lobster Pot Pie is a fun variation of a classic. Boulons version is a deconstructed dish with most of the stewy ingredients outside the puff pastry. The accompanying mushrooms and fingerling potatoes in Sherry cream sauce are hearty and salty, with a sweet corn kicker. Chunks of tender lobster are reserved for inside the pie pot and swimming in more tarragon-forward Sherry sauce. The pastry is delicate and flaky, as one would expect from a French kitchen, and the top is fashioned with a fun bread lobster.
Boulon’s Lobster Pot Pie is fashioned with a fun bread lobster on top
There’s no room for dessert, but this is a food blog. We march on! Warm Butter Cake is a large medallion of warm sweet cakey goodness, topped with sour cherry compote and bits of glazed peach, sprinkled with sugar crystals, and sitting in a puddle of salty buttery sauce. It’s accompanied by piped dollops of buttermilk mascarpone also topped with the sour cherries and surrounded by peach bits. My mouth is watering as I describe it.
Valhrona Chocolate Pot De Creme with malted milk ganache, Italian meringue and red wine caramel dotted with pearls of white and milk chocolate
Valhrona Chocolate Pot De Crème with malted milk ganache, Italian meringue, and red wine caramel sprinkled with pearls of white and milk chocolate is a beauty. Valrhona is a French premium chocolate manufacturer rendering this dish kind of dessert royalty. It’s a stunning bowl of fluffy, creamy pudding-esque chocolate, topped with crunchy meringue kisses and little chocolate beads, and deserves a crown. It seals the deal on this extraordinary meal.
Warm Butter Cake with sour cherry compote, Buttermilk mascarpone, with bits of glazed peaches
Boulon staff are personable. They are quick to service, as evidenced by a 30-second response to a drink mishap at the table when no one was looking. Meal service is also speedy, especially given the large crowd. The restaurant has separate lunch and brunch menus and offers vegan options for most meals. Its bakery has its own menu and is stacked with French-inspired pastries and bread, and also offer croissants and sandwiches. Boulon has outdoor sidewalk seating enabling customers to enjoy this freshly minted part of Tampa and to see and be seen. Parking near Water Street is challenging, so consider an alternative. Reservations are recommended and can be made online. Prices are fine dining level.