Thursday, April 26, 2007

beacon: orlando, florida

this is the restaurant that inspired this blog.

i had my birthday dinner, although delayed by a few days, at this gem & it was more than worth the wait.

the atmosphere, in a chic, newly renovated orlando downtown space, was elegant & beautiful, with every detail down to the beautiful wallpaper refined. the beautiful decor is welcoming & warm, in shades of cardamom, chocolate & champagne & the menu leaves no question that the chef, duffy (who was sadly not present on this magical night), has thought things through...
we started with the amuse bouche. it's been years since i was brave enough to sample steak tartare, and this appetizer featured not only this surprise, but crabcake, a hickory smoked shrimp salad & a simple, albeit perfect buffulo mozzerella with pan roasted teardrop tomato and basil, dressed with maldon salt & extra virgin olive oil. although i'd made up my mind to skip the tartare, i was glad i didnt, when i discovered it dressed with a rich, white truffle emulsion and a sliver of white, delicate cheese. the amuse bouche was tasty enough that we fantasized about ordering round after round after round...

for the entree, i opted for the gallette of crab & shrimp, which turned out to be a large, flaky crabcake with a few shrimp chopped in, and was accompanied by a succotash like none i'd had before. super sweet kernels of locally grown corn, with tiny pearls of zucchini, carrots, and red pepper, laced, strangely with applewood smoked bacon. the result was strangely not overpowered by the smoke flavor, but were matched brilliantly. the green veggie that came with the dish was delicate, almost like a sea vegetable, but was unfamiliar & even now, i cannot recall the name. the portion of my entree was large enough that i was able to have half of it on my return flight the next day, for THE most elegant & tasty in-flight meal of anyone on the aircraft!!

my pal, dana, opted for the filet mignon, of which i had half, and let me just preface this by saying that i have eaten a LOT of meat in my years of dining and traveling back & forth to Brasil. this was the finest, most exquisitely seasoned, most perfectly cooked piece of beef i have ever encountered. EVER.

sweet desserts were skipped in order to indulge in a cheese plate of humbolt fog blue, a classic humbolt fog and a goat's milk cheddar, with fancy red seedless grapes, smartly sliced in half, along with toasted pecans, and black mission figs. the entire dinner was woven smartly together with a 2003 cabernet from deloach vineyards.

i dont know when i've had a meal that was so good. i'm looking forward 2 many meals at this delicious place!!

capt's table, panama city beach, florida

technically, this restaurant is on the bay in panama city, but it's the beach all the same as far as anyone there is concerned. while capt's table is COMPLETELY no frills(think plastic glasses, plastic covered menus, fried everything), the food here is fresh, the service is friendly & the prices are just what u'd expect for good, sweet hushpuppies, fried shrimp & oysters in the redneck riviera.

top choices: soft shelled crab, fried oysters