Written by Jon Palmer Claridge on Friday, November 13, 2020 at 10:15 AM

We think this truth is self-evident: food critics love to eat. The inference drawn directly from this core value is that we have eternal gratitude for people who are crazy enough to open restaurants. They must be completely fascinated before they can maintain the thrill of first love. In any case, this is a daunting task. And now, it is 2020.

Most parts of our planet are enjoying public cooking experiences; if you are reading this article, you are most likely a restaurant customer who has been slapped by this epidemic. The future is uncertain. When will our lives return to normal? Our favorite place, where we met friends and lovers to break bread together, can we survive? Even these fleeting problems can trigger a pang of fear and a wave of sympathy.

Avo's Kitchen @ Iberian Rooster 475 Central Ave., St. Petersburg 727-258-8753; avoskitchen.com Appetizer (craving) $3-$13; Main course (bowl) $10-$16; no dessert; drinks $2-$4

In many cases, survival means transformation. Russell C. Andrade turned St. Pete's Iberian rooster into Avo's Kitchen to celebrate his grandmother ("Avo" in Portuguese) with her mixed spices prepared in a Tanzanian restaurant. You see, his father was a native of Goa, south of Mumbai on the west coast of India, which borders the Arabian Sea. However, it was a Portuguese colony for 450 years.

Therefore, the new "authentic and easily accessible" menu is a return to Andrade's childhood. His mother and grandmother worked with the chef to ensure that his family's Goan roots and the taste of his fond memories can be found in his fast casual, counter service, and building his own bowl-themed restaurant.

The blended spices we tasted are based on typical curry spices (cilantro, cumin, turmeric); you will have no problems tasting their influence on South India.

The samosa with potato filling is not particularly crispy, and the filling is soft rather than thick. There are also some green beans, but the final version-surprisingly-is a bit boring.

For me, the more successful is the Goan meatloaf. They are similar to empanadas; ours is stuffed with creamy sweet potato mash and garnished with peas and corn. The pastry is flaky, but soft and delicate.

"Mild" chicken wings are very spicy to Westerners. My friends from the Indian subcontinent laughed at me, but I thought it was too hot. However, my son can't get enough to eat. You know where your own taste is. The wings themselves are fleshy and cooked.

We chose to use three chef choices instead of mixing and matching options. Each one is full of flavor and balanced. In the wider world of curry spices, there are many varieties.

Millennial Falcon is a vegetable, served with chilli deep-fried tempeh and plenty of contrasting texture, heat and unique curry spices. The base is bilau rice pilaf and lentils, plus curry cauliflower florets and chickpeas. Add it to some creamy rooster sauce, jalapenos and coriander leaves, and then top with lush avocado crescents and crispy kimchi balls.

The bowl of Boom Chicka Boomer is filled with brown rice and crispy chickpeas, plus chunks of curry chicken salad, topped with sweet vanilla sauce and plenty of diced red onions. This is another good combination that can satisfy your taste buds.

My favorite among our trio is Prawn Stars. Maybe I was tempted by the delicious bread bowl, which is full of all the juice. But the moist curry prawns are surrounded by cauliflower rice and chickpeas, with sweet and sour colorful pickled red onion rings, adding a lovely pink hue. The bread is surrounded by mixed greens. I couldn't help tearing the empty bowl into pieces to enjoy the mixed taste. This really fascinates me with Goan.

There are no sweets on the menu, but Avo’s specialty is a coffee bar and three kinds of lassi, a yogurt-based milkshake. We wanted to try the coconut version, but when we ordered online, it was marked as unavailable. The website is easy to navigate and reasonably priced. We have to wait for a while while picking up the goods, but this means that our order is fresh. All of these are kept hot in separate take-out bowls, which are neatly packed in large brown bags for easy transportation.

The disc-shaped bowl is similar to recycled paper UFO, with a crystal clear top. When we try to take them out for a meal, we need to use a knife to separate the tightly fitting parts. We laughed that these are child-safe containers. In fact, after experiencing the failed takeout of the container, we are actually happy that this requires some work. This meal is definitely worth it-without a 9,000-mile journey, another victory to experience world cuisine.

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