Pining For Montauro Sauce

Leila Thompson of Tampa used to eat at the Maas Brothers department store restaurant in downtown Tampa. The store is long gone, but the delicious red French salad dressing still sticks in her memory.

"It has been probably 25 years since I have tasted the dressing, but I have never forgotten how unusual and delicious it was," Thompson writes.

Sue Gilroy came through with a French dressing recipe (below) she clipped a while back from the Tribune.

PINING FOR MONTAURO SAUCE

RL&F reader Toni Fuente recently moved back to Tampa after living away from the area for an extended time. Fuente's family used to frequent a mom-and-pop restaurant named Montauro on Armenia Avenue, a few blocks south of Waters Avenue.

"They had the best spaghetti sauce I've ever tasted," Fuente e-mails. "The sauce was light and fresh with lots of flavor. It was Momma in kitchen with her young daughter assisting, and Papa and son Joe in the dining room bussing the tables and making sure that you had enough to eat. Every meal came with a salad the dressing was fab and a veal cutlet. The place was always packed, and the line went out the door. I was looking forward to eating there when I moved back, but the place was torn down. Does anyone out there have their sauce recipe?"

LOOKING FOR BUFFET SHANKS

For "years and years," Victoria M. Smith of St. Pete Beach used to have the lamb shanks at Stacey's Buffet in Largo every Saturday night. A few months ago, the restaurant discontinued the item for economic reasons, Smith reports.

She hopes the owner, Homer Duff, will come through with a recipe.

MAAS BROTHERS FRENCH DRESSING

1/2 can tomato soup

1/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup white vinegar

3/4 cup oil

1/2 tablespoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon seasoned pepper

1/4 teaspoon onion powder

1/4 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

Combine ingredients in a blender. Pulse on high about one minute. Pour into a bottle with a cap. Refrigerate.