Urban Flats

For years Urban Flats has been a fixture out in Ponte Vedra, pulling in large crowds for drinks, entertainment, and flat breads. For all these years we'd been meaning to go but were forever being diverted by some other restaurant somewhere along our journey. But then something amazing happened, a new branch of this small-but-growing franchise opened up on the Southside, shortening our trip and thereby minimizing our chances of being distracted.

If there's one constant factor about the newly arrived Urban Flats, it's the buzz. They're constantly busy, even throughout the rainy Saturday lunch hours during which we paid our first visit. Photos of Jacksonville from eras long gone adorn the walls, accenting the clean, low-key atmosphere with a touch of nostalgic and reverence. But, as nice as the ambiance is, this place doesn't get by on its decor alone.

Urban Flats, as the name suggests, specializes in gourmet flatbreads. Made from whole-wheat flour and baked in a stone-hearth, they take their flatbreads very seriously and it is highly recommended to at least try one on your first visit. As intriguing as they sounded, I was a little more curious about their signature salad, The Urban, which I promptly ordered… with a flatbread, of course.

I'm having a hard time formulating a sentence that would aptly describe how much I enjoyed The Urban, made from fresh greens, golden raisins, sunflower seeds, goat cheese, and honey white balsamic vinaigrette. Let's just say that I'm a secret saladophile and it ranks pretty high on my list of favorites.

Before we get to the flatbread, I'd just like to take a moment to call attention to the incredible variety of delicious sounding salads, starters, entrees, and "flatwiches" available at Urban Flats. Most restaurants have a lot of menu items but you're often left with only a handful that sound personally inviting enough to pick from. Perhaps it's just that their style speaks to my tastes but I find myself compelled by most of the menu items at Urban Flats and glancing over the menu as I write this is proving to be quite torturous.

Now, onto the flatbread. There's a striking resemblance to pizza except that the bread isn't very firm. I had actually expected the bread to be a little crispier but I was in no way dissatisfied and would have been more than happy with an unadorned piece of the flatbread; it was that good.

We had the Oven Roasted Vegetable (sun-dried tomato pesto topped with roasted vegetables and parmesan cheese) and the Southwest (Angus beef, tomato chipotle sauce, sweet onion, jalapeno, pepper jack and cheddar cheeses and a sour cream drizzle) which were both tasty and big enough to last for a couple additional meals. There are some fairly conventional options among the 17 different styles as well as some intriguing oddities like the Fig and Prosciutto; the Spicy Shrimp and Chorizo; or the Turkey, Pear, and Brie; all of which I'd love to try at some point.

The wine and beer list is more than extensive and I hear there are some good specials throughout the week so it seems to be a good place to go for an after work drink.

So it looks like the people of the Southside have been able to make Urban Flats as happenin' a place as it is out in Ponte Vedra. I, for one, greatly appreciate the proximity and look forward to many repeat visits.




Urban Flats
9726 Touchton Rd
Jacksonville, FL 32246
(904) 280-5515

'town

Avondale's already impressive dining landscape has been rapidly expanding over the last couple of months and is generating a lot of buzz within the foodie crowd. At the forefront of the excitement is 'town (aka 'town 3611), an intriguing restaurant that sincerely adheres to many of the biggest trends in modern American cuisine.

Using fresh, locally sourced food to create small but flavorful dishes, 'town is one of the newest among the rising number of eco-conscious, gastronomy focused restaurants that both contribute to and provide evidence of Jacksonville's cultural maturation.

As mentioned before, 'town tries to source the bulk of their ingredients from a few local farms and dairies that follow sustainable practices. Everything appears to be selected for maximum flavor as every little bite almost overwhelms the gustatory and olfactory senses. The plates may be far smaller than you'd encounter at a standard box restaurant but the intense and varied flavors work best in smaller portions.

The wine list is quite extensive. On the other hand, the beer list is rather small (three on tap and seven in bottles) but is filled by only high quality, well respected brews. We settled on the Konig Ludwig Weissbier, a flavorful wheat beer that turned out to be quite nice.

The dishes come in various different sizes and categories. There are $5 bar bites and $4 cheese or charcuterie plates. Next you have the $9, $12, and $15 plates that loosely correspond to a small, medium, large concept. For a $33 fixed price you can pick one from each of the categories. Additionally there are a number of more traditionally sized dishes available for various prices as well as an assortment of sides, desserts, and ice creams / sorbets. Dining at 'town certainly doesn't leave one with a lack of options.

All in all we sampled a mere five dishes out of the 30+ available. First I had the Local Tomato Salad with house made ricotta, mixed greens, white balsamic vinaigrette and sampled a bit of the Grilled Eggplant Bruschetta. Bursting with flavor would be an understatement. The tomato salad was essentially two massive slices of some varietal of heirloom tomato served with assorted greens and a dab of ricotta cheese. If all the salads are this good then I might just give them all a try next time. The grilled eggplant bruschetta was a bit surprising in that it was lacking the one ingredient that makes a bruschetta: the bread. Instead the eggplant slices served as the base for the tomato, basil, and goat cheese toppings. It's hard to avoid repeating myself but, again, it was incredibly flavorful.

For my next choice, the Fudge Farm Pork Cheeks were simply too strange to pass up. The flavor is rather akin to that of tongue while being a bit firmer in texture. Very interesting indeed and I wouldn't hesitate to try them again after sampling the other options on the menu.

For my final dish I had the Wild Salmon. The salmon itself was the best I've had. It came with the skin still on which under normal circumstances one would typically discard but it was cooked in such a way to make it not just edible but quite enjoyable. The tasso ham in the succotash was so flavorful that it felt like something exploded in my mouth every time I happened upon a morsel.

Overall the experience was enjoyable. The atmosphere is great, the staff friendly and courteous, and the food was delicious but, I caution once more, the sizes are quite small. Perhaps our only complaint would be the relatively low number of vegetarian options but I'm sure some of the meat based garnishes could be left off if requested. It's exciting to see these modern dining establishments pop up around this expansive city of ours and it's certainly something to be proud of.



'town
3611 St. Johns Ave
Jacksonville, FL 32205
(904) 345-2596