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Good Grub: Notable Meals We’ve Enjoyed Lately By Duncan Strauss Monterey, California: Stokes Adobe Restaurant, a low-key converted home off the beaten path, represented a case of stumbling into a bonanza--we hadn’t heard of it before rolling into town & flipping through the local tourist-aimed publications. But it certainly sounded intriguing enough to take a shot, keeping in mind the usually- accurate axiom about beautiful, waterfront restaurants often dispensing mediocre fare, trading off a stellar view for working a bit harder in the kitchen to turn out stellar grub, and guessing we’d land on the right side of that axiom. Boy, did we. This being a non-summer Sunday night, we largely had the place to ourselves, and what a place it was--pretty, warm & welcoming. That first impression deepened, almost to a fault, when we started perusing the menu--while nibbling on the terrific olives--and found it impossible to choose from several amazing-sounding dishes. So one solution we hit on was ordering the chef’s plate of appetizers, which presented us such tops Tapas as Crispy Polenta With Mushrooms, Monterey Bay Sardine “Escabeche,” and Fava Bean Crostini, among others. Fresh, fabulous & scrumptious from start to finish. Other dishes that landed on our table included Maine lobster mac & cheese (every bit as extravagant and tasty as it sounds), a perfectly prepared piece of salmon and a chocolate lava cake that would no doubt get inducted into any chocoholic’s hall of fame. 500 Hartnell, Monterey. (813) 373-1110. www.stokesadobe.com. San Francisco, California: B44, nestled into a mini restaurant row (an alley, really) featuring a number of newer, more interesting or adventurous eateries, is clearly a--maybe the--place to go in this rich restaurant town when struck by a hankering for fine Spanish fare. B44 takes its name from it’s address--44 Belden Place, at Bush--but that’s about the only thing about this restaurant that’s uninspired. This cozy little bistro sports a hip (in the best sense of the term) colorful decor, and exceptional Spanish food, with a particular emphasis on the Catalan roots of chef-owner Daniel Olivella. I’m not sure, but I think I managed to have two of the best things on the menu. I started with the cod cheeks, apparently a signature dish of Olivella’s before he opened B44, and rightly so: Nice, generous hunks of Atlantic cod swimming in garlic,
hot pepper and Sherry. Lake Worth, Florida: Park Avenue BBQ Grille, technically in Lake Worth but I would’ve otherwise guessed was in West Palm Beach, but wherever it is, this joint’s worth a trip well out of your way for top-quality ‘Q. Like any good barbecue place just about anywhere, Park Avenue keeps things simple. The menu is simple, with the dinner selections consisting of ribs, chicken, pork or beef and combinations thereof, the sandwiches pretty much ditto (plus a fish or chicken salad sandwich), a handful of non-Q entrees (N.Y. Strip Steak, Fried Chicken, Seafood Platter, etc.) and the kind of side orders you’d expect--except way, way better. For instance, the Potato Salad is so dang delicious it’s the kind of stuff that people who don’t care for potato salad rave about, and those who do love potato salad look like they’re in a dreamy state of bliss from the first forkful. Hell, even the onion rings here are championship level. So at this point, it probably goes without saying that the actual barbecue is awesome. And that applies across the board: I’ve eaten there a few times now, and my first time I ordered the Park Ave Deluxe BBQ Sampler, which consists of a half rack of back ribs, a quarter chicken, BBQ beef & BBQ Pork--basically, to borrow from comedian Kevin Meaney, “the valve closer”--and it was so good, so insanely delicious I almost forgot I have a cholesterol problem, not to mention various other reservations about eating meat. Hard to imagine a better place to set such concerns aside. 2401 N. Dixie Highway, Lake Worth. (561) 586-RIBS. |
Eats