When we sat down, the place was EMPTY! There was a small section in the back where I saw two tables filled. But in our main dining room, we were the only table until almost the end of our dinner! It was really pretty inside and random, but we both kept commenting on how comfy the chairs were!
When the waitress put our menu down, I noticed a nice surprise at the top.
We decided to stick to the Magical Dining Month menu.
Although when I looked at the menu, I saw some oysters as appetizers. I asked our waitress, Shannon, if they could steam them and she said no. No biggie. Since I'd be coming back later in the month, I'd just wait until then and have some raw ones as an appetizer.
We placed our drink orders. I got the St. Augustine. It was perfectly sweet.
The bread was okay. It looked like it was garlic butter and there were cloves of garlic in the butter, but it wasn't strong enough. I'm not a huge fan of bread unless it, or the butter is flavored, so I took a bite and passed.
About this time, Shannon came back and said that she had gone ahead and asked the Chef about steaming the oysters. He said that since they were empty, he had time to go ahead and do that for me! Talk about great customer service on both Shannon and the Chef's part! Shannon could have just said no and left it at that! But instead, she went out of her way since she knew I wanted them. And then the Chef could have said no too! So I was a very happy girl!
While I love oysters, I'm not knowledgeable about them. There were four types offered and I just told Shannon to pick. I don't remember which ones I got, but they were really good! (and I was enthralled with the different colored salt!)
For the appetizer, I got the Butternut Squash Bisque which had Vanilla chantilly and crisp miniature greens . It came in this fun, tall bowl (you can't tell in my awful-picture taking skills.) The bisque was very flavorful. And it was really thick--much thicker than other bisques I've had.
Kory got the My Yard Farms Kale Salad which had goat cheese, pears, strawberries, carrots, candied pecans, pork belly & warm grain mustard vinaigrette. It was yummy too and I kept stealing his cheese pieces!
For the main entree, I ordered the Blu Crab Risotto which was creamy risotto with lump blu crab, asparagus puree & topped with miniature local greens. It was delicious! The presentation was unusual, instead of being in a bowl or regular plate, and I enjoyed that!
Kory had the Seared Florida Red Snapper which was Florida gulf coast red snapper served with a whipped Yukon gold potato, tropical fruit relish of pineapple, honeydew, cantaloupe & cilantro. I tried a bite but liked mine much more. Kory disagreed and devoured his!
For dessert, we both ordered the Florida Citrus Creme Brulee but Shannon came back with a surprise--a fun birthday dessert!
There was banana cheesecake, espresso creme brulee and a deconstructed s'mores dessert with flourless chocolate cake, toasted marshmallows and graham cracker crumbs. OH MY! This dessert was so right up my alley! I would have ordered each one separately if I had seen it on a menu. If I see anything banana-y or creme brulee, that's what I make a beeline for. And then I love inventive desserts which is what the s'mores dessert was. My favorite was the s'mores dessert. The chocolate was just decadent and the marshmallows complemented it so well. The banana cheesecake was quite tasty too! The espresso creme brulee was good but reaallllly heavy on the coffee taste.
I love Magical Dining month! You get to venture out to restaurants and try foods you might normally get to try. And honestly, before we ate, I wasn't sure if I was going to go back with my friends later in the month or skip it now that I had done it. But after my meal there, I'll be going back! There's other items on the menu that I can't wait to try!
