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Key West Key West has more than 150 restaurants, but, according to locals in the know, only a dozen or so worthy of the name. The problem for the visitor is that, except for a few, there is little consensus on precisely which ones those dozen are. Be advised: the best are far from the touristy establishments around lower Duval Street and Mallory Square. Cafe Marquesa Tops on most lists for fine dining is this stylish, 48-seat cafe in a corner of The Marquesa Hotel. The intimate, L-shaped room with coffered ceiling has stippled yellow walls, tall windows, rich mahogany molding and four large mahogany mirrors making the room seem bigger. A wonderful trompe-l'oeil kitchen scene surrounds an opening into the actual kitchen, where executive chef Susan Ferry prepares award-winning "food of the Americas," a blending of cuisines. Her menu changes nightly. Typical main courses are sesame-crusted yellowfin tuna with miso rémoulade, buttermilk-marinated hog snapper with pomegranate vinaigrette, roasted duck breast and confit leg with raspberry jus, and New Zealand lamb with a compote of roasted bananas and papaya. Exotic accompaniments vary with the dish. You might start with a trio of the day's soups, a grilled cajun shrimp caesar salad or salmon tostada with habañero salsa, crème fraîche and caviar. The dessert of choice is key lime napoleon with tropical fruit. North and South American wines are featured. (305) 292-1244. Entrées, $23 to $30. Dinner nightly, 6 to 11, 7 to 11 in summer. No smoking. Cafe des Artistes This highly rated restaurant appears to share a building with Duffy's Steak and Lobster House. But the similarity ends there. The small and intimate interior is très French in the country style, with white arches and adequately spaced tables dressed with white linens and shaded candles. There was no sign of an outdoor terrace the night we were there. The ambiance is appropriate for Provence, but not quite what most are looking for in Key West. Nor are the fancy food and hefty prices. Connoisseurs, however, appreciate the contemporary French fare with a tropical accent. To start, consider a roulade of goat cheese, smoked salmon and caviar or roast quail stuffed with armagnac-soaked apricots and foie gras. Main courses range widely from black grouper braised in champagne and lobster flamed in cognac with mango and basil to steak au poivre, roast veal with garlic and double lamb chops in tarragon sauce. Classic French desserts follow suit. (305) 294-7100. Entrées, 22.95 to $38.95. Dinner nightly, 6 to 11. Louie's Backyard This was our favorite Key West restaurant for lunch at our first visit in 1984, a year after it opened, and it remains so today. Little has changed in the interim – how could it, given the idyllic back terrace tiered from the dining room open to the rear down open decks beneath a flowering mahoe tree to the tropical Afterdeck Bar beside the ocean? It's one of the most attractive restaurant settings anywhere. Locals caution that the food is inconsistent and the service arrogant at dinner, but everyone seems to love this high-end place for a leisurely lunch. Perhaps the staff has gotten the message. At a weekday lunch they were inordinately apologetic for delays in taking our order and delivering a stellar napoleon of grilled vegetables with asiago cheese and a superior grilled sirloin salad with roasted garlic vinaigrette, maytag blue cheese and mixed greens. Conch fritters with hot pepper jelly and wasabi accompanied. The piña coladas and margaritas here are considered the best in town, although ours were nothing exceptional. But the ocean view is, especially at lunchtime when all the little boats are skittering about, parasailers soar overhead and a cruise ship departs for points unknown. The dinner menu yields dishes like "snapper behind bars," wrapped in sliced potatoes with spiced mango-rum sauce, and stuffed filet of beef in puff pastry with a white peach and green peppercorn sauce. (305) 294-1061. Entrées, $25 to $32.50. Lunch daily except September, 11:30 to 3. Dinner nightly, 7 to 10. A&B Lobster
House A fixture for 51 years, the A&B Lobster House was vastly upgraded in 1998 by local restaurateur Paul Tripp. Already the owner of three waterfront eateries along Restaurant Row in the historic Key West Bight marina area, he saw the need for an upscale seafood restaurant. When the nearby A&B became available, he took over and transformed the upstairs into an elegant, 200-seat dining area with indoor and outdoor seating along the water. Adjacent is Berlin’s, a cocktail lounge and cigar bar. Downstairs is a smaller, casual oyster bar called Alonzo’s. The with-it fare gets rave reviews. A house specialty is black grouper oscar stuffed with crabmeat and stone crabs, topped with mango béarnaise and served with asparagus and coconut-pecan rice. Citrus grilled dolphin, grilled Key West pink shrimp, cioppino pasta, grilled veal chop and steak au poivre are other favorites. Maine and Florida lobster comes in seven variations, including pasta, newburg, and surf and turf. Stews, pan roasts and bisques are featured starters. How about an oyster pan roast with oysters, leeks, chili sauce and paprika? Or roasted saffron and ginger mussels? (305) 294-5880. Entrées, $19.50 to $35. Berlin’s, dinner, Monday-Saturday 6 to 11; Sunday brunch, 11 to 4. Alonzo’s, Monday-Saturday 11 to 11. Antonia's This old-timer, rebuilt to resemble the original following a 1995 fire, is almost everyone's favorite locally. Perhaps it's the fine northern Italian fare and consistent service offered by Antonia Berto since 1978. Perhaps it's the urbane, New Yorkish bistro setting that some see as a welcome break from Key West's relentless tropical backdrop. Wine bottles and olive oils displayed in the windows indicate Antonia's priorities. Fabulous seafood and beef tenderloin dishes are hallmarks, especially the yellowtail snapper braised with watercress, belgian endive, radicchio, arugula and artichokes. Veal marsala and sliced chicken piedmontese are other favorites. The pastas are deceptively simple, and the antipasti first-rate. We'd go for the cinque crostini, five slices topped variously with goat cheese and herbs, marinated eggplant, sundried tomatoes and such, or the carpaccio, the preparation of which varies. Among salads are one with sixteen blanched vegetables served warm and tossed with baby lettuces, olive oil and champagne vinegar. (305) 294-5662. Entrées, $15.50 to $22.50. Dinner nightly, 6 to 10. Alice's on Duval The world cuisine of chef-owner Alice Weingarten is highly rated. We tried to eat here, but faced a half-hour wait for a table near a window late on an otherwise slow Tuesday night and refused to subject ourselves to the smoky though convivial atmosphere. The walls and pillars in the high-ceilinged interior are painted in pastel shades, and floral cloths top the close-together tables. But oh, for a breath of fresh air. Alice's menu is our kind of menu, original and categorized by small plates, cold plates, large plates and sweet plates. It’s perfect for grazing. We could make a meal from such exotic small plates as Mexican potstickers with tequila salsa, conch and green chile fritters, sticky hoisin duck shumi and Moroccan gyoza dumplings. Heartier eaters are sated by "Aunt Alice's magic meatloaf," if they don't first succumb to pistachio-crusted grouper with coconut rice, Mediterranean roasted chicken or papaya-marinated skirt steak. Black bottom key lime pie and tropical fruit shortcake with passionfruit chantilly cream are refreshing endings to the assertive fare. (305) 292-4888. Entrées, $12.95 to $25.75. Dinner nightly, 6 to 11. Latitudes Beach Cafe Dine under the stars at this new, open-air restaurant beside the Gulf on exclusive Sunset Key. An eight-minute shuttle boat ride takes you from the Key West Hilton to its deluxe cottage colony and residential complex on a private island. The restaurant is operated by the Hilton for cottage guests and residents, but is open to the public as well. Tables are on flooring beside the water and on the beach. Part of the dining area is covered by awnings and may be shielded by windscreens. Tiki torches are lit at night, and the ambiance is magical. The contemporary dinner menu is decidedly upscale. You might start with sesame-seared yellowfin tuna with Asian dipping sauce, oak wood-smoked salmon with tobiko caviar and toast points, or goat cheese and portobello mushroom in phyllo with frizzled greens. Main courses include lobster and scallop tempura with Caribbean fruit salsa, Asian-seared mahi mahi, grilled veal chop with thyme-maple jus and beef tenderloin with gorgonzola-scallion butter. The breakfast and lunch menus are similarly innovative. "Frozen libations" are the drinks of choice. (305) 292-5394. Entrées, $22.95 to $30.95. Breakfast daily, 7 to 11. Lunch, 11 to 5. Dinner, 5 to 10 or 11. Reservations required. Material excerpted from Inn Spots & Special Places in the Southeast, by Nancy and Richard Woodworth. Copyright 2000. Wood Pond Press E-mail feedback to: Home
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