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.

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.

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.