Wednesday, March 13, 2024

First Watch

 On my last day in Stuart, Sandi treated me to First Watch. Her son told me to make sure to try the "million-dollar bacon."

We got there before the crowd. According to Sandi, this place is always packed. We waited less than five minutes. 

We agreed to split an order of Blackberry Lemon Cream French Toast, which is a thick-cut custard-dipped challah bread griddled and topped with lemon cream, fresh blackberries, mixed berry compote, crème anglaise, and spiced gingerbread cookie crumbles and lightly dusted with powdered sugar, and an order of the Lemon Ricotta Pancakes with whipped ricotta cheese with berries and a creamy lemon curd and powdered cinnamon sugar. Though the lemon ricotta pancakes were delicious, they didn't come close to the blackberry lemon cream French toast, the best French toast I've ever had!

The Million-Dollar Bacon was indeed appropriately named. Luckily, it didn't cost that. It did taste like a million-dollar!  They were baked in brown sugar, black pepper, cayenne and drizzled with maple syrup. Just writing about it makes me salivate. Thank God, Sandi ate only 1, so I finished the rest.


First Watch is at 2125 S.E. Federal Hwy. in Stuart, Florida. They have multiple locations, but unfortunately, there are none in Los Angeles.



Friday, March 8, 2024

Collage

If there's one restaurant you should go to while in St. Augustine, Florida, this is the place. It will be best if you make reservations in advance. We were lucky to be able to get one. The restaurant is small; it's charming and welcoming, very much like someone's home. 


They presented us with a basket of delicious crusty warm bread roasted with baked garlic. Fortunately, neither of us had any prospects of kissing anyone that evening.

For starters, we ordered the Burrata For Two, fresh house-made mozzarella stuffed with goat cheese mousse accompanied with apricot configure, raspberry gastrique, and spiced walnuts served with focaccia crostini. I've never had anything like it; needless to say, we both enjoyed it.

Though several entrées looked good, we decided on the Beef Tenderloin Au-Poivre. The steak is encrusted in peppercorn over sweet corn purée, creamy parmesan polenta, and French green beans. Sandi and I love polenta; I first thought there wasn't enough. I was wrong. The portion was perfect. The steak was wonderful. It couldn't have been any better. They served us a sorbet to cleanse our palette which did the job.

We were not leaving there without ordering dessert, even if we were full. It was a no-brainer to order their signature dessert, Bougainvillea. Strawberries sautéed in butter, black pepper, and cabernet vanilla sauce poured over vanilla bean ice cream served in a crispy phyllo cup. 

It is seldom that a restaurant can have the best starters, entrées, and desserts. This is an exceptionally superb restaurant. I have to mention that our server, Alyssa, was great! Collage is located at 60 Hypolita St. in St. Augustine (the oldest city in the United States), Florida.


Tuesday, March 5, 2024

La Grande Martier

This historic, family-owned restaurant, a speakeasy circa 1920, offers fine dining. When Sandi and I went, a lady was playing the piano. The restaurant is charming and has a very welcoming ambiance.

We wanted something light, so we both had the Onion Soup, which was delicious. We also ordered the Caribbean Crab & Shrimp Cakes, which I thought was great, but unfortunately, Sandi did not care for it, so guess who forced herself to finish her portion? 


They had Truffle butter NY Strip topped with truffle butter, red wine demiglace, Filet Au Poivre with a dijon-cognac peppercorn sauce, and many others I would have wanted to try. It's just too bad they are not located in Los Angeles! I will have to wait and visit them the next time I'm in Florida.

La Grande Martier is located at 23 SW Osceola St. in Stuart, Florida.



Wednesday, February 28, 2024

Leftovers

Last Friday, Stephen and Elena took Sandi and me to Leftovers Restaurant. They have been there numerous times and raved about their seafood and it being a Friday in Lent, we had to order their specialty fish.


They have a variety of Daily Catch; flounder, golden  tile, corvina, wahoo, cobia, red fish, dolphin, tripletail, grouper, and salmon. The restaurant was known for not only fresh fish but the "fish crust." The Sweet Potato Crust is crusted (choice of fish) over greens, tomato, onion, greenbeans, apples & grapes with keylime garlic dressing. The Butternut Rosemary Parm fish crusted over Romaine, onion, capers, roasted red peppers, parmesan with Caesar dressing. TheBoniato Coconut Habanero is  fish crusted over greens, jicama, papaya & kiwi with citrus kiwi dressing. 

Sandi got the Flounder  with the Sweet Potato Crust. She loved her fish. I ordered the Tripletail which was recommended by Stephen and since I've never even heard of the fish, I ordered that with the Butternut Rosemary Parmesan It was absolutely delicious! 

Sandi and I also ordered their famous Mac & Cheese which was made with a penne pasta. That was in my opinion, the best one I've ever had!

Stephen and Elena are both on a "Keto Diet" so they ordered a fish with avocado and also shared a Lobster Tail which looked  delectable!


I was so impressed with this restaurant. Service as great. Ali, our server did a good job. Their only downfall was the dessert. Sandi ordered the carrot cake "to go" since were were so full. She had a couple of bites and said it was just okay. I didn't even bother to try it as she didn't want to have any more. For $14.- a slice, it should be more than okay.

If and when I come back to Jupiter, I would definitely go back to Leftovers but will skip the dessert.

Leftovers is located at 451 University Blvd., Jupiter in Florida.





Friday, February 23, 2024

Crawdaddy's N'awlins Grill & Raw Bar

As we walked along Jensen Beach Blvd., we stopped by Crawdaddy's. Sandi got excited because she remembered her son raved about it and he has been there numerous times. The restaurant has been in operation for over 20 years and has won awards in the past years. We looked at the menu posted outside and after serveral minutes, a lady greeted us and asked us if we wanted to take a look inside. So, we did. She explained that they started Happy Hour at 11:00 a.m. What got me excited was the 6 oysters for $9.00. I remember that at The Breakers, the oysters cost $8.00 for 1 lonely oyster. We thanked her for the tour and we continued our walk around the charming street. Sandi told me that we could come back early afternoon but I thought why waste gas driving home and driving back. We were already there so I suggested we go back and have a very early dinner. 


We said hello to Ronda, the very friendly receptionist. The only problem was we had to eat at the bar for Happy Hour. That was not a problem at all! The bartender, Alicia was very informative as we asked her about the menu. She had just made a drink that looked inviting. It was their famous Hurricane Margarita. I of course had to order this specialty.

I happily ordered the the half dozen Fresh Oysters. Sandi ordered a cup of the Chicken Gumbo. I enjoyed my wonderful oysters. Sandi loved her gumbo as well. We decided to order the Cajun Gorgonzola Meatballs with the creole sauce. We couldn't get over how superb they were! 


We both tried to figure out what day we can come back. Ronda told us that on Thursdays to Sundays, the restaurant gets very lively with a band and dancing. We cannot wait to return to Crawdaddy's N'awlins Grill and Raw Bar.

Crawdaddy's N'awlins Grill and Raw Bar is located at 1949 NE Jensen Beach Blvd. Jensen Beach, Fl.




Thursday, February 22, 2024

Schnitzel Haus Restaurant & Bar

As we were driving along  through Hobe Sound sightseeing, we passed a German restaurant,. We immediately made a u-turn as we haven't had German food since Covid. We studied the menu so long that the owner came out to ask if he could help us. His wife is the Chef who's worked in Vietnam for many years at a renowned restaurant before coming to America. He told us they open at 3:00 p.m. but we could go as early as 2:30 p.m. so we did go back at 2:45 p.m. 


The place was charming. We already knew what we were to order since we got to study the menu. We ordered the Rouladen and the Jager Schnitzel with mushroom sauce. I also ordered a Flensburger Dunkel beer (dark German beer).  The Rouladen was excellent; tender beef stuffed with pickle, bacon, mustard, onions with red cabbage. That came with 2 potato dumplings. The schnitzel was good but Sandi thought my schnitzel was much better; who am I to argue? They had a wide variety of desserts we wanted to try; the Apple Studel and the Limoncello Cake but we were too full. There's always a next time.


 

The menu looked extensive so we thought it would be good to go back and explore more of the German delicacies. 

The Schnitzel Haus is located at 5687 SE Crooked Oak in Hobe Sound, Florida.




Wednesday, February 21, 2024

The Breakers Seafood Bar

I've always wanted to visit The Breakers in Palm Beach in Florida. Sandi and I thought it would be nice to have something to eat in one of their restaurants. Yesterday was a beautiful day; clear but cold and windy. We were both impressed at the massive building as we drove in. The lobby was splendid with a beautiful centerpiece and chandelier, not to mention the detailed magnificent ceiling.

The Seafood Bar was going to open in 15 minutes so we decided to walk around the grounds which was charming. 

The Seafood Bar was very inviting; past the bar were tables along the window with the view of the blue water. We were the first customers. Our server, Victor talked us into ordering drinks. I had the Blood Orange Margarita and Sandi had the Ginger Basil Lemonade.

We knew we couldn't eat much since Sandi's daughter in law, Elena was cooking dinner. We decided to order two appetizers; The Calamari and the Truffle Gorgonzola Fries. The portions were generous. The fries were exceptionally delicious and so was the calamari which was feather light and crispy. We were not able to finish the fries!

Victor  reminded us of Jamie Fox who was not just good-looking but also animated; an excellent trait for a server. 

The Breakers Seafood Bar is a must for anyone visiting Palm Beach. The food and service was excellent. My only complaint which I thought took away from the experience was the constant talking of the staff among themselves, something you would expect from a McDonald's but certainly not from this restaurant.