a return engagement

Last night we returned to Bridge Street Bistro for a second try - again lovely setting - here is the tail end of the sunset we watched as we went over the Cortez Bridge to AMI.

you can see the railing in the above shot- our table was located on the third floor right at the railing overlooking the Gulf of Mexico- below a little different angle cuts out the railing and I think better shows the people at the beach who are watching the tail end of the sunset (which have been fabulous the last week or so!)

there was a cool breeze but I had remembered to wear a sweater- the night before it was cooler but the garden where we sat at the Blue Marlin (also located on Bridge Street) was without any breeze and very comfortable.  - below the garden lights at Blue Marlin.

here is the food from last night's dinner-  which actually ended up pairing well with the 2000 St Innocent Seven Springs Pinot Noir we brought.  Lobster fritters to start, followed by a Bistro Salad (we split these items)

Then I had the Scallops Oscar and Phil the seafood risotto - sorry about the photo - the lighting was strange and I didn't fill in the flash (should have) like I did for Phil's risotto dish... I very much liked the flavor of my dish but to my taste the scallops were slightly overcooked- although a very generous portion not a single one had a center that was just slightly translucent - every one was cooked all the way through :-(

On the other hand Phil loved his risotto and declared it perfect, he had ordered it without the mussels (maybe thinking we would be eating TONS of mussels in just six weeks when we get to Brussels)

so although I have had two less than stellar meals here I think I just need to refine my ordering - everything is made to your order so I am sure next time I can ask for the scallops to be cooked to "the temperature of my liking" as our friend Rainey always says!

Overall I still have a preference for the Blue Marlin but the Bridge Street Bistro has hand;s down best view! Both places are worthy of trying- and if you do go to the Bistro then be specific about how you wish to have your food prepared and I am sure you will be happy with the meal- not to mention the spectacular view!

Tonight our (likely) last time at Waterfront and tomorrow Michael's on East... this week (to ten days) is the final restaurant week because once we get to the last five days for Phil's stay we will be in full swing with the Sarasota Film Festival (SFF) - so lots more to come!

you have to try

when my step-son Jeremy was little, he had a way of turning a phrase into a kid version of something people always say.  In the instance of this post- it was "you have to try before you don't know" and this became quite the saying in the family apparently. To this day, Phil will say that instead of you don't know until you have tried... LOL

so last night we went to another new (to us) restaurant and here is the quick summary- "no and yes"

the name of the place is Roast - and it is in a really cute old building right next to the Opera House...

it started off very badly- even though we had a reservation the woman at the front put the table ahead of us (walk ins) at the last outdoor table.  then she told us that she had a nice table inside for us- and it was a small crappy table shoved into a small corner where you had to squeeze past two other diners even to get to the two chairs backed up against the wall. we had brought a 1990 burgundy and opened it beforehand as we have been having pretty bad luck here with servers breaking old corks due to using the waiter's style wine keys to open the bottles and not taking the time to work with older corks. the wine glasses were Libby style thick glass - which was strange because 1. the place is kind of a higher priced/higher end steak and meat place and 2. they have lots of reds on their own wine list that you would think they would want to show off more to the advantage of the wine they were selling.

anyway- we were feeling pretty darn cranky when the server (who was very nice) gave this answer to a question about the preparation of the "Denver Lamb Chop Barnsley Style" and were told that it "was good" and "made with some oil and herbs on the top" - so without any further information Phil decided that if that was the best they could make it sound then he would order a steak.  then when the food we ordered was brought out the staff person who delivered the food had no idea who had what and had to ask "who had the..." which drives me nuts because anyone who has ever waited knows there are codes for which diner is which - like always start with the person at the 12 o'clock seat and work clockwise when writing it down- even if you don't take the orders in that order you can leave space so that the kitchen staff - food delivery staff knows who gets what...just lazy from a systems standpoint.

however, all of that being said- the food was actually really good and the server was attentive throughout the meal and very pleasant- and it wasn't her fault about the crappy table or the crappy wine glasses or the fact that the woman at the front gave preference to the walk-in over the reservation for the last table outside-

so no I wouldn't recommend it from this visit but yes we may go back and try again in hopes that the service end got better- and next time bring our own wine glasses...

the very nice outdoor area we wanted to sit in (below) and the indoor dining (above)

the excellent menu-

our 90 burg-

the starters- wedge salad and steak tartare- both excellent-

I had the beef sliders and Phil the rib eye - and we ordered both the duck fat fries and the truffle fries
and each of us liked one better but not the same one- LOL

we ended with a credible sticky toffee pudding that was worth going back for--- so all in all a mixed review - excellent food but the systems and set up not so much...

and a quick note about another place we tried  last week- Bridge Street Bistro - where the service was excellent and the place very nice with good wine stem ware and a wonderful setting on the porch three floors up overlooking the beach- but the food was only good- not excellent- wish these two places could get together and teach each other the skill set they are missing-

headed to the airport now to pick up company- so more after they depart on Friday!