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Key West Cafe
Marquesa Tops on most lists for fine dining is this stylish, 50-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 You might start with a trio of the day's soups, (305) 292-1244. Entrées, $27 to $40. Dinner nightly, 6 to 11, 6:30 to 11 in summer. Pisces This highly rated restaurant appears to share a building with Duffy's Steak and Lobster House. But the similarity ends there. Formerly known as Café des Artistes, the small and intimate French café has evolved into Pisces, a more contemporary seafood restaurant.with an artistic flair reflecting the Andy Warhol.artworks on the walls. Longtime owner Timothy Ryan's renovated Pisces continues to offer Café des Artistes specialties, including its award-winning lobster tango mango (sautéed lobster flamed in cognac), its most famous signature dish for 20 years. Other favorites incloude sake-glazed ahi tuna, champagne-braised black grouped, yellowtail snapper atocha, raspberry duckling and steak au poivre. To start, consider the specialty duck foie gras, a roulade of goat cheese and smoked salmon, seafood in puff pastry or escargots. Classic French desserts follow suit. (305) 294-7100. Entrées, $29 to $44. Dinner nightly, 6 to 11. Louie's
Backyard This was our favorite 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. A subsequent lunch produced a fine she-crab soup, shrimp salad and a fancy pasta dish with seafood and shellfish. The "Not Just Any Fish San wich" turned out to be sautéed snapper with creole remoulade on an onion roll. The piña coladas and margaritas here are considered he 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, sweet and sour sweetbreads with sticky rice and tat soi, and poussin roasted under a brick. (305) 294-1061. Entrées, $25 to $39. Lunch daily except September, 11:30 to 3. Dinner nightly, 7 to 10.
The world cuisine of chef-owner Alice Weingarten is highly rated. We
tried to eat in this pastel pink and green box-like confection, 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
claustrophobic though convivial atmosphere. The walls and pillars are
painted in pastel shades, and floral cloths top the close-together
tables. But oh, for a breath of fresh air -- when the windows open onto Alice 's menu is our kind of menu, original and categorized by small plates, cool plates, large plates and sweet endings. It’s perfect for grazing. We could make a meal from such exotic small plates as New World Cuban pork empanada, 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, Cuban-style mojo marinated ostrich or Brazilian churrasco skirt steak. Black bottom key lime pie and tropical fruit shortcake with passionfruit chantilly cream are refreshing endings to the assertive fare. (305) 292-5733. Entrées, $22.95 to $37.75. Lunch and brunch daily, 10 to 2. Dinner nightly, 6 to 11.
Dine under the stars at this 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 crispy lobster-crab cakes with citrus aioli and mango caviar, oak wood-smoked salmon with tobiko caviar and toast points, or goat cheese and portobello mushroom in phyllo with frizzled greens. Main courses include macadamia nut-crusted grouper,
lobster and scallop tempura with The breakfast and lunch menus are similarly innovative. "Frozen libations" are the drinks of choice. (305) 292-5394. Entrées, $22.95 to $49.95. Breakfast daily, 7 to 11. Lunch, 11 to 5. Dinner, 5 to 10 or 11. Reservations required. Café
Solé Off the beaten path is this delightful bit of There's a small dining area inside, but most seating is in a trellis-bordered, semi-open area that looks to be straight out of the South of France, where the Boston-born chef trained. A glass roof, tarpaulins and outdoor heaters protect patrons from the elements. Our party reveled in the variety of the dinner menu, offering everything from tapas to entrées to desserts. Among tapas we loved the tuna tataki, the beet salad with goat cheese and the lamb chops with truffle oil-infused mashed potatoes. The latter three chops were a hefty sample of a main course of rack of lamb, about eight juicy racks that proved enough for two to share..The signature "hog snapper," locally caught by divers and paired with a roasted red pepper zabaglione, turned out a winner, as did the grilled local shrimp with a vanilla bean and saffron sauce. Desserts included a stellar key lime pie. (305)294-0230. Entrées, $25 to $34. Brunch and lunch, Sunday to Friday 9 to 2. Dinner nightly, from 5:30.
Surprisingly suave and sleek is this relative newcomer in the midst
of the roosters and riffraff of the So we were disappointed to find that we could not be served the winter midweek night our party of four had marked off a dozen selections for takeout back to our private villa and poolside patio. "Too busy and fully booked," the kitchen advised after a hostess had suggested we show up during down time between 4 and 5 and try our luck. So we missed out on the likes of smoked salmon carpaccio, yellowfin seviche, herbed grouper, lamb patties, chicken skewers, prosciutto and provolone croquettes and mini quesadillas. The choices were tantalizing. But the fulfillment was not meant to be. (305) 296-7691. Tapas, $5 to $11. Lunch and dinner daily, 11 to 10. Seven
Fish Some of the best food in town is served at affordable prices in this 440-seaqt corner roadhouse. Sculptures of seven fish hang in a window. Red molded sc`hool chairs are at yellow tables beneath a raftered ceiling. A bar at the end holds vintage wines. All is very small and intimate for a with-it crowd that applauds simple but stylish cooking. The menu offers meat loaf with "real mashed potatoes" and grilled vegetable egg foo yung among more substantial fare. Typical are grilled mahi mahi with black pepper dijon, shrimp scampi with asparagus spears, crab and shiitake mushroom pasta, banana chicken with caramelized walnuts and a mixed grill of skewered chicken, shrimp and vegetables. Salads come in small and large sizes, and the three-cheese caesar can be ordered with grilled chicken or crab cake. Start with seafood seviche, a fish taco with scallion mayo or tropical shrimp salsa. Finish with bananas flambé, mango cobbler or sweet potato pie. (305) 296-2777. Entrées. $11 to $27. Dinner by reservation, nightly except Tuesday 6 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 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 (305) 294-5880. Entrées, $27.50 to $42,50. Berlin’s, dinner, Monday-Saturday 6 to 11; Sunday brunch, 11 to 4. Alonzo’s, Monday-Saturday 11 to 11.
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