The Beaches of South Walton

[joiei]

I will be going to a wedding in late March at Eden State Gardens. Are there any new restaurants along 30-A that I should look at? I understand the place has changed a lot since I left 5 years ago.

[Dave the Cook]

Fat Guy on C-30A.

Having visited the area nearly every year since 1977, I can attest to FG's findings. And yes, if you haven't been there in five years, you're in for a shock.

[Fat Guy]

There has also been some evolution since I last wrote about the area. When I was down last year there were a whole bunch of new restaurants in Sandestin that seemed promising such as Bistro Bijoux; in October the Taste of 30-A food festival was launched; and the whole area seems to have totally escaped the recession, with massive new community-development projects starting seemingly every week.

[Susan in FL]

I am so glad to see this topic. A friend from up north is going to visit and we're planning a short trip within Florida as part of her stay. We want a destination with the beauty of Florida beaches AND good restaurants. I was thinking about this area. Thanks!

[Mayhaw Man]

For a casual, but very well made meal, you might want to try Smiling Fish.

This is run by George Barnes, one of the guys who originally ran 30-A and is really good and reasonable priced. Interesting, inexpensive wine list and a great apps. list. Any grilled fish choice is usually a safe bet. The tabletops are gorgeous works of art and belong in on a wall in a modern art museum ( of course, I am a little predjudiced, as my wife made them )

Fat Guy did some nice work down there and has provided some great reccomendations.

As someone who has been going to Destin all of his life, I can safely say that if you haven't been there in five years you will be mildly shocked, if you haven't been there in ten you will not be able to breathe from the shock you will have at the development. It is stunning and frankly, to me and many other old hands, very sad. On the plus side there are now lots of great places to eat and there used to be very few.

I love it there, but what was once a very sleepy area on the edge of some of the most beautiful beaches in the world has become condo land. You won't believe your eyes.

[sput]

If you have never been, you should treat yourself to a wonderful evening at Sandor's...

The best restaurant in Northern Florida by far...

Very European in style and tradition...

[davebr]

Just a little west I had a great meal at Cuvee Beach, ran into Emeril there also. Criolla's on hwy 30-A never dissapoints.

[davebr]

Sorry Cuvee beach is in Destin--I forgot to mention that.

[joiei]

I made my trip to the beach. It was great. The weather was wonderful. The spring break crowds not all that bad yet, even though it was AEA (Alabama Education Association) week.

I had a grilled fish sandwich at Smiling Fish photo of Smiling Fish. The sandwich was very nice, not overcooked, and well seasoned.

For dinner on the first night, we ate at the Lake Place in Dune Allen. The chef is Jim Richard (louisiana pronunciation - Ree-sh-ard) and he is doing great things. Everything is done in house in a very tiny kitchen. The dinner started with a crispy fresh mozzerella ball with basil oil as amuse. For the first course, we ordered the Duck Gumbo, (some of the best gumbo I have had in ages) the salad was greens with pecans and a very light vinagrette, just perfect to quite the flavors of the gumbo. For the main course, I had a wild game fish plate, Cobia and wahoo, two of my favorites, right behind triggerfish. each was done to a turn, still very moist without being undercooked. One of my companions had a snapper, panned with crawfish tails and haricort verts over pasta. Desserts were cream brulee, pineapple upside down cake and a very good interpertation of molten chocolate cake. I really wish I had been taking notes, I just have this fond memory of no matter how painful it was, I was not leaving anything behind. The wine we had was a Bennett Family Chardonnay reserve.

The next day, we had lunch at D&K's Grayton Corner Cafe, the view was as good at the Grouper po' boy. Yes, i ate fish as often as I could.

The next non-wedding event meal was Sunday lunch at Luna del Mar. This restaurant is owned by Linda Galvan from Dallas. The Bacon wrapped shrimp with fresh salsa salad was very nice.

The only bummer was the sushi from Akatonbo - Sushi served from a vintage airstream bus at Seaside. It was not very good, at least the spicy tuna roll I had was over vinegary.

In all, it was a nice experience. THe quality of the restaurants along that part of the coast has improved so much since the late 80's, when I first moved there.

In all, a great trip.

[Fat Guy]

I had a grilled fish sandwich at Smiling Fish photo of Smiling Fish.  The sandwich was very nice, not overcooked, and well seasoned.

George Barnes, the chef/owner of Smiling Fish Cafe, is actually the first person I ever met in Northwest Florida. We pulled into the parking lot adjacent to Sandor's near the intersection of 395 and 30-A in the middle of the night. George was hanging out in the lot with a friend, also named George, and already seemed to know we were coming to town (yes, it's a very small town).

I crossed paths with George several times on that visit and subsequent ones. I made two attempts to visit and interview him at his restaurant -- I wanted to include him in a couple of the articles I've written about 30-A -- but he was always off duck-hunting or fishing. When we were in town for Ellen's keynote speech at Mountainfiln On Tour, we got invited to a party at the incredible, amazing home of a couple named Joan and Jerry, and there was George in the kitchen preparing all the food. It was excellent, though George almost bit my head off when I told him I prefer bigger chunks of sausage in my jambalaya -- "That's just what a Yankee would say about jambalaya!!!"

Finally, on our most recent visit to the area (two weeks ago), we decided to go to lunch at some place down 30-A past Santa Rosa Beach but we said, what the heck, we'll stop by Smiling Fish on the way and on the off chance George is there we'll hang out and maybe have lunch. Lo and behold, George was in the house, so we hung out and indeed had lunch.

It was terrific. George can cook, and his product is first-rate. We had a crawfish gumbo to start, with crawfish that George apparently brings in from Louisiana (it's only a few hours' drive), followed by a spinach salad with shredded duck (probably the best spinach salad I've ever had, not that this is something I usually order), followed by panko-crusted trigger fish that some of George's friends had caught the day before. Simple but sophisticated food prepared by a knowledgeable chef. Smiling Fish is one of those places where the range of the menu is pretty broad, from burgers and fried-fish sandwiches to stuff more along the lines of what we ate. Definitely worth exploring.

(Mayhaw Man: Who's Bruce Butcher?)

[Fat Guy]

The only bummer was the sushi from Akatonbo - Sushi served from a vintage airstream bus at Seaside.  It was not very good, at least the spicy tuna roll I had was over vinegary.

Although Akatonbo is most readily identified with sushi, the sushi itself (specifically the maki, which I think is all the sushi on offer) is the least successful item the chef there produces. I'm not sure if it's his own issue or if he's using a formula that has been proven to work on the local population, but it is as you say over-vinegared not to mention over-sized and over-stuffed. The sushi at Fish Out of Water, in the Watercolor Inn, is much more accurate by international sushi standards.

What is actually quite good at Akatonbo, though, is the non-sushi Japanese food. In particular, you can get a multi-course kaiseki meal served to you right at the little wooden tables out front of the Airstream trailer, overlooking Seaside's town square and just footsteps from the Gulf. It's among the handful of coolest culinary experiences you can have. Momo and I enjoyed ourselves thoroughly back in '02.

[Fat Guy]

One of us will post at greater length about Sandor's at some point in the future, but I also wanted to add three things:

1 - If anybody is going to eat at Fish Out of Water, check in with me because I've totally gamed the menu there and can help you put in the best possible order. I spent an afternoon in the kitchen there and ate there twice on our most recent trip (so I've now been to this place something like 5 times total).

2 - eGullet member "sput," it turns out, owns a really, really nice new gourmet market in Seagrove Beach called Larder. They've got dry-aged beef, salume like you'd find at the better urban gourmet markets, a well-chosen selection of international cheeses, and all sorts of products of that nature.

3 - The opening of the Publix supermarket on 395 (right across from the 395 back-entrance to the Watercolor property) has really changed the rules of the game insofar as local food (and wine) purveyors are concerned. Now that you don't have to drive 70 miles round trip from Seagrove/Seaside/Watercolor to shop for groceries in Destin, there's no need to buy things like cereal and toilet paper at the smaller local markets. So places like the Watercolor Market have gone way upscale in an attempt to capture the niche above what Publix inhabits. The Watercolor Market wine selection, for example, has gone in the small-production/boutique direction and is much-improved from what I saw in previous years. And the food products available there are much more uniformly high-end than before.

[Fat Guy]

This just in: Sandor's has closed, and Sandor has retired.

I haven't spoken to Sandor about it yet, but according to our mutual friend Bill (who has dined at Sandor's more often than any other person) he has sold the property and shuttered the restaurant.

More as it comes in.

[robert40]

This just in: Sandor's has closed, and Sandor has retired.

I haven't spoken to Sandor about it yet, but according to our mutual friend Bill (who has dined at Sandor's more often than any other person) he has sold the property and shuttered the restaurant.

More as it comes in.

←

Your review of Sandor's stands out as one of the best of all time in my book.

I'll never forget the impulse I had of jumping out my chair and making a reservation immediately.

Now I wish I would have.

[Mayhaw Man]

(Mayhaw Man: Who's Bruce Butcher?)

←

I meant George. I'm a moron. My wife Robin did a bunch of stuff down there (those cool tables are all that is left I believe) and I somehow typed the wrong name (Bruce is another guy Robin worked for in FL).

George is always a great host and, in fact, set us up with a swell place to stay last time we were there.

[Fat Guy]

Okay, more information coming in about Sandor: apparently he has not exactly retired; he is merely plotting his next move. I still haven't spoken to him -- you have to work your way up -- but I've now spoken to our mutual friend Bill and Sandor's wife Mary and I'm putting the pieces together. As soon as Sandor gets back from the farm in Alabama that he just bought, I'll talk to him and get the scoop . . .

[joiei]

have you tried The Lake Place with Chef Jim Richard? It is definitely worth the stop. And it is hard to believe that Sandor might retire, I first met him when he had a place over on 9th Ave in P'cola. Incredible food and an all around nice guy.

[martha]

Our family will be making a road trip from New Orleans to Destin in May (a celebration of the baby's graduation from Tulane).

I became a devotee of this site as a direct result of the articles by Fat Guy on Northwest Florida. I was imaptient to visit Sandor's' on this trip and I am very sorry to hear the latest.

Is there any way we could use the occasion of updates on Sandor to spark a 2005 update on the whole area?

[Bolivar Petit Corona]

here's a few from the FatGuy World Tour:

Addresses

Bud & Alley's

2236 Highway 30-A (across from the Post Office)

Seaside, FL

(850) 231-5900

www.budandalleys.com

Chef Paul's

102 Market Street

Panama City Beach, FL

(850) 235-2811

www.chef-paul.com

Criolla's

170 Highway 30-A

Grayton Beach, FL

(850) 267-1267

Fish Out of Water

1701 Highway 30-A (at the Watercolor Inn)

Seagrove Beach, FL

(866) H20-COLOR

www.watercolorflorida.com

Sandor's

Corner of Highways 30-A and 98

Seagrove Beach, FL

(850) 231-2858

[joiei]

here's a few from the FatGuy World Tour:

Addresses

Bud & Alley's

2236 Highway 30-A (across from the Post Office)

Seaside, FL

(850) 231-5900

www.budandalleys.com

Chef Paul's

102 Market Street

Panama City Beach, FL

(850) 235-2811

www.chef-paul.com

Criolla's

170 Highway 30-A

Grayton Beach, FL

(850) 267-1267

Fish Out of Water

1701 Highway 30-A (at the Watercolor Inn)

Seagrove Beach, FL

(866) H20-COLOR

www.watercolorflorida.com

Sandor's

Corner of Highways 30-A and 98

Seagrove Beach, FL

(850) 231-2858

←

Chef Pauls was owned by Paul Albrect, of Pano and Pauls of Atlanta. IT closed when they had no business. The restaurant was located at a developement called Carillon Beach. And Sandors is closed or is closing.

[Bolivar Petit Corona]

it's a tuff business, I'm sure