Florida top 3!

Florida top 3!
So Jared & I went to Florida for our first vacation in 3 years and we had an amazing time! We ate a lot of excellent food on this trip so I’m going just go over my top 3 meals. First I have start out with Columbia Restaurant in Sarasota in St. Armand’s Circle. I got the half Cuban sandwich and the half Columbia’s Original “1905” Salad…okay the sandwich was good…but that salad was out of this world good! I’m pretty picky when it comes to my salads…hands down this is the best salad you will ever eat! Here is the description on the menu: The Columbia's legendary salad tossed at your table. Crisp iceberg lettuce with julienne of baked ham, natural Swiss cheese, tomato, olives, grated Romano cheese and our famous garlic dressing (our 100 year old family recipe of fresh garlic, oregano, wine vinegar and Spanish extra virgin olive oil).
This salad is a show in itself since they do it table side, here I am resisting in a restaurant not to whip out my camera and video tape I was so excited! I regret to say I did not get a photo of this delicious garlicky, crunchy, fresh, splash of acidity amazing salad…I hope I’m not going to overboard with the salad but it was THAT good…so go now to Sarasota and get one…I wish I could!

We stayed in a wonderful hotel called the Loews Royal Pacific and in that hotel is Emeril’s new restaurant called Tchoup Chop (chop chop). Let me say how beautiful the ambiance is, the lights are dimmed but have shimmering stained glass-like flower chandeliers hanging all over the room. In the middle of the restaurant stretches a large Koi fish pond…I couldn’t tell you if there were real fish swimming around I wasn’t quite close enough. It looks so beautiful I thought it couldn’t be real; the colors all around the room were so saturated, warm, romantic and still cozy. Anyway on to the food…after all that’s why we are here! We ordered an appetizer of the: Steamed Pork & Asian Vegetable Dumplings served with Sake Soy Sauce. I’m a huge fan of steamed dumplings I order them at every Asian/fusion restaurant who has them. These dumplings were tender not too doughy the filling was meaty without being heavy, the dipping sauce was like pure rich soy sauce reduction pure Umami.

For a few years now I wondered…what does Umami taste like? I had seen commercials with this new word and even watched a whole Iron Chef battle with Umami as the secret ingredient and I still couldn’t think of a time where I had ever tasted something this complex. After I took a bite of this dish it just clicked…rich, savory, earthy and meaty… Amazing! Jared who isn’t much of an appetizer person loved them too. For my main course I ordered the: Mongolian Barbeque Grilled Pork Tenderloin Caramelized Sweet Onion-Orange Confit, Stir Fried Lomein Noodles. The pork was perfectly cooked tender and juicy; the Lomein sauce had a molasses depth but still had a refreshing zing from the onion-orange Confit. Let’s just say I was too full for dessert and with the help of a large “Dwight Schrute” glass of wine I was feeling quite content.

The last meal I will describe came from the Emeril’s restaurant in City Walk. We opted to do lunch instead of an expensive dinner. They started us with some delicious sweet potato rolls unfortunately Jared was unable to enjoy because they contained lactose, but they were very accommodating in finding things he could eat. They made up traditional shrimp cocktail for him even though it wasn’t listed on their menu and he ordered turkey burger with homemade guacamole. I didn’t get to try the turkey burger he said was very tasty and had a sausage type flavor. My first dish was the Burrata Mozzarella & Kumato Tomato Stack Micro Basil, Aged Balsamic and Herb Vinaigrette. The creamy Mozzarella ball rested on a bed of the freshest tomatoes I have ever tasted. The balsamic vinegar brought out the acidity and was finished with the fruitiness of the olive oil and the micro basil. Next I had the New Orleans Barbecue Shrimp Served with Petite Rosemary Biscuit. The Shrimp was perfectly cooked with a hint of smokiness in the background and served in a creamy, savory barbecue sauce possibly a mustard base, (not your typical sweet sticky barbecue sauce.) I ended my meal with chocolate gelato it was made with a dark chocolate so it wasn’t overly sweet. Jared ended his meal with the banana sorbet; the dairy wasn’t missed because the bananas gave the sorbet a creamy texture. I ate a lot of lovely meals on my trip but those were my top 3. As you can probably tell my favorite part about vacation besides relaxing is the anticipation of where my next meal will be and then I revel in it.

~Sweet & Savory Regards
Carol