Terry and I were invited to a surprise birthday party last week at The Mullet Hole Tavern, a fine-dining restaurant in Heritage Village in Crystal River. But the party wasn’t a dinner, it was a cooking class! I know, you are also surprised to hear that a restaurant here in Citrus County has cooking classes! Sounded like fun and certainly something we had never done before, so we signed on for the event. And it was a birthday party–we do our best not to miss parties!
We have been to The Mullet Hole Tavern for lunch on one of our “top down travels”. On that trip, Terry and I both had blackened grouper, our very favorite sandwich, with a bunch of fries. The food and service were excellent, so we were expecting another great experience from the cooking class.
The dish for the evening was Pistachio Dusted Salmon with Two Cheese Orzo and Garlic Cream Sauce. Just the name is mouth-watering! The classroom was set up so everyone had a good view of the demonstration and a few guests helped with slicing and dicing. Non-alcoholic drinks were included in the fee for the cooking class but there was a bar set up to purchase other adult beverages. The bartender was very attentive and quick to refill our glasses.
While Chef Randy Fixman prepared the salmon and explained the process, he answered questions from the audience which ranged from the ingredients all the way to how he decided to enter the culinary arts. The evening ended with everyone getting a plate of the salmon and orzo.
We had a great time with our friends, learned how to properly dredge salmon, and enjoyed a delicious meal. If you want to try something fun and totally different, give The Mullet Hole Tavern a call.
