A major menu revamp can seem like a daunting task for a restaurant, especially when diners are the ones asking for more options. Thankfully for The Rez Grill at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa, chef Frank Anderson was up for the challenge.
Prior to joining Hard Rock Tampa, he worked at several popular Los Angeles restaurants and starred in “2 Dudes Catering,” a short-lived reality show on Food Network.
While Anderson is no longer under the Hollywood spotlight, he is, playing the starring role as Creative Culinary Director, meaning he’s in charge of keeping the menus at the resort’s dining establishments fresh and innovative.
The chef describes The Rez Grill’s menu as “upscale but not uptight” with as much local produce as possible. He likes to switch things up at least three times a year to keep customers on their toes.
“I would call it American fare with a Southern twist. We wanted something accessible for everybody,” he explains.
His process for creating a new menu requires a bit of time and research. Anderson started planning out the newest menu eight months ago. He and Dawn Lazo, Vice President of Food and Beverage at the Tampa Hard Rock, put their heads together to figure out which direction to go in. Between traveling and reading books, he jots down notes of what inspires him then come the menu tastings with Chef de Cuisine German Huertas.
“Dawn and I got together to see how we wanted to angle this so we differentiate ourselves,” says Anderson, adding that it was time to change the menu after carefully considering recent customer feedback.
“Customers said there weren’t a lot of selections. I took off some dishes and now we’re at 54 items. You gotta give the customer what they want,” he says.
Just a couple months ago, Anderson and his crew revealed a revamped version of the menu at The Rez Grill; it sticks with classic Southern dishes, items like red snapper, and grilled quail served with collard greens, bacon, and caper brown butter. He drew inspiration from travels to New Orleans and got insight from a longtime friend. He tries to use thoughtful ingredients that are seasonal, like heavier sauces for winter and more veggies for spring. Anderson tapped pastry chef Jessica Pellitier to craft a new dessert—she delivered the Smokin’ S’more Jar, which is loaded with brownie, marshmallow, graham cracker mousse, and pieces of Heath bar.
“I put my own twist on some of the dishes like the fried green tomatoes served with a tomato vinaigrette topped with jumbo lump crab and we toss it in a remoulade. It’s really tasty,” Anderson says. He also assures us that the new dishes are permanent fixtures.
“They’re not going anywhere unless people really like them… then I’ll take them off,” Anderson jokes.
The Rez Grill is located across from the newly opened Sugar Factory. It’s open 5 p.m.-10 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, 3 p.m.-11 p.m. Fri.-Sat., and 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Sunday.
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This article appears in Feb 13-20, 2020.
