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St. Augustine Bistro
PJ They named it for their cat, Perrier-Jouet. Which tells you something about the playful spirit that Bob and Diane Sims impart to their stylish restaurant, reincarnated in the space they’d sold in 1996. After two years in Boca Raton, where their restaurant won top honors, they “tired of the South Florida rat race” and yearned for “laid-back St. Augustine.” They reopened in late 1998 in the space where their original Champs of Avilas had evolved from a luncheon spot they began in 1988. They renovated the interior, rechristened it with the Boca name and added a wine cellar. The theme is “artful contemporary cuisine.” Chef Bob sautés his shrimp in vodka and vermouth, his yellowfin tuna in tequila and grand marnier, and his chicken in champagne and orange juice. The grouper riviera is poached with white wine, tomatoes, black olives and artichoke hearts. The filet mignon carries a complex bordeaux sauce. The osso buco is simmered in pinot noir. Appetizers are exotic: an assertive black bean tart tempered with key-lime crème fraîche, a roasted garlic flan topped with scallop seviche, a portobello “pizza” stuffed with bruschetta and feta cheese. A pricey wine list offers plenty of exotic choices to accompany. The setting is artistic as well. Showy paintings
accent mint green walls above dark green wainscoting. Ficus trees
separate a dozen well-spaced tables dressed in white linens over dark
green undercloths. Tall, free-standing candles flicker. The stage is set
for a memorable meal. (904) 827-1010. Entrées, $16 to $28. Dinner, Wednesday-Saturday from 6. Cortessés
Bistro This promising newcomer opened in “uptown St. Augustine” in 1998 in the quaint, 1880s house in which proprietor Bonne Jones grew up. She and her Mexican husband, Jorge Talavera, the chef, transformed the structure into a stunning bistro. They later converted her parents’ old Flamingo Bar out front into the chic Flamingo Room, the town’s first martini and cigar bar. They joined the two structures with a outdoor dining courtyard that’s inviting by day or night, and added a coffee and espresso bar. The place is big yet intimate, flashy yet appealing. Tables in four small dining rooms in the house are set with tapestry mats, shaded oil lamps and, surprise, mismatched china. Check out the muse-like murals painted on the Garden Room walls by a sixteen-year-old girl. The
fare is Mediterranean. The all-day menu is strong on starters and light
plates, from a signature tomato tart to focaccia of the day to a bistro
cheese board to cobb salad “big city style.” Pastas are served with
crusty farm bread and salad. Dinner entrées include Minorcan fish stew,
grilled three-peppered salmon over tomato coulis, grilled angus beef
tenderloin and veal oscar. Desserts run from a fudge tart with warm
mocha sauce to raspberry crème brûlée. (904)
825-6775. Entrées, $13.95 to $19.95. Lunch, Tuesday-Friday 11 to 3.
Brunch, Saturday-Sunday 10 to 3. Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday from 5:30. Le
Pavillon The ordinary looking house doesn’t look like much, to say the least. Yet inside is a gracious old world atmosphere reflecting its European ownership and a tenure of serving lunch and dinner seven days a week for more than three decades. A local innkeeper frequently refers guests here, saying it’s the only one he’s never had a complaint about. “A Frenchman came back and said he had the best meal of his life here.” Similar accolades are heard frequently for the classic continental fare offered at prices about half what they would be in other areas. Crêpes are a specialty, offered in four varieties as well as a combination of all four. The oysters rockefeller also comes highly recommended. Main courses cover the gamut from trout amandine to bouillabaisse, from sauerbraten to veal oscar, from chicken curry bombay to filet mignon with béarnaise sauce. But we’ve heard there’s nothing better than the rack of lamb. Desserts include chocolate torte, cheesecake and creme de menthe parfait. (904)
824-6202. Entrées, $13.95 to $18.95. Lunch daily, 11:30 to 2:30. Dinner
nightly, 5 to 10. Columbia
Restaurant A favorite of tourists, and deservedly so, is this venerable branch of a famed Tampa-based restaurant chain. It’s Spanish, which is appropriate for St. Augustine, and is well located in the heart of the historic district. The complex with interior and exterior courtyards, bakery and takeout shop, gift shop and a wonderful, high-ceilinged main dining room surrounded by balconies makes it almost a sightseeing attraction. That the food is so good and so consistent is a bonus, and these polished restaurateurs sure know how to handle the crowds. We always start with the Spanish bean soup that made the Columbia famous – a hearty concoction of garbanzo beans, smoked ham, potatoes and chorizo. Others say the Cuban black bean soup, served over a bed of white rice, is to die for. For lunch, nothing will do but Columbia’s original 1905 salad, tossed at the table with an addictive mix of ham, cheese, romano cheese and garlic dressing – although we have succumbed occasionally to the Cuban sandwich. There are tapas, paella, Cuban platters and plenty of Spanish-inspired fish, poultry and meat dishes for dinner. The guava cheesecake is a worthy ending. No visitor should leave St. Augustine without having savored the atmosphere and food at Columbia. It’s as much an institution as the city itself. (904)
824-3341. Entrées, $11.95 to $19.95. Open daily, 11 to 9 or 10. A1A
Ale Works Imagine, the first microbrewery in the nation’s oldest city offering some of its most exciting cuisine. We never would have guessed, and only a knowing few steered us this way. The fare is New World (the world of Columbus’s discoveries) and, ye gads, there’s no red meat on the menu. The food is au courant, and so is the huge upstairs dining room, a mix of tables and booths, with windows onto the waterfront and porches onto the street. The high-ceilinged dining room of brick and exposed pipes incorporates a decorative theme of fish with colors of aubergines and golds. The cutlery arrives in a big washcloth that serves as the napkin, and a bottle of tabasco sauce is on each table. From an open kitchen comes a succession of treats from a menu that’s made for grazing. For lunch, the roasted tomato-basil soup was fabulous, paired with a mango, jìcama and red pepper salad and a side order of yucca fries with datil pepper mayo. The tuna picadillo sandwich with smoked gouda on Cuban bread was sensational, too. The Matanzas Bay berry ale hinted of raspberry, and the banana macadamia beignets for dessert were to die for. The adventurous diner will find plenty to entice and expand his or her horizons. Others need not apply. (904)
829-2977. Entrées, $10.95 to $18.95. Lunch daily, 11 to 4:30. Dinner
nightly, 5 to 11. Fiddler’s
Green This oceanside grill overlooking the Atlantic and St. Augustine Inlet is a favorite of locals and visitors alike, for its food and setting as well as its courtesy pick-up service. A decor of green, pecky cypress paneling and a coquina stone fireplace reflect the site’s heritage as the old Vilano Beach resort casino built in 1926. The grill fare is thoroughly up-to-date, as in mahi mahi with key lime and bermuda onion aioli, blackened chicken with a cool citrus chutney, and a mixed grill of fresh fish, shrimp, scallops and oysters “rockefiddler” with pineapple-jalapeño salsa, Caribbean black beans and rice. Entrées come with crusty bread and caesar salad, as do a variety of pasta sautés. The grilled primavera salad with shrimp or chicken is a meal in itself. Start with beer-battered conch fritters or fried blue crab claws with dill tartar sauce. Key lime pie is the dessert of choice. (904)
824-8897. Entrées, $10.99 to $17.99. Dinner nightly, 5 to 9 or 10. 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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