'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

Espeto

A Brazilian Steakhouse is not the type of place to visit on a whim, you've got to prepare. At least, this is what I'd been [rightly] led to expect. For years I heard the tales of these mythical restaurants where succulent morsels of meat are in infinite supply, a buffet on steroids, a carnivore's ideal restaurant.

Finally gathering the courage to give one a try, we figured Avondale's Espeto seemed like a good place for our first experience. If you get there during the daylight and are fortunate enough to get seated alongside the large windows, the view of the water is quite nice and looks particularly glorious during colorful sunset.

The salad bar is quite delicious. There are a few real treats like the spinach-strawberry salad (a favorite of mine, I must have eaten a couple pounds of it), Waldorf salad, and a mango salad. If you just eat the salad bar there's still a hefty $19 charge but, even so, I'd seriously consider going back for some more of those three aforementioned delights.

But really, if you're going to a Brazilian Steakhouse and you're not a vegetarian who has been reluctantly dragged along by her husband, you're probably interested in the endless meat. When you sign up for the Full Service Rodizio you're given a coaster sized card. One side is green and says "Yes Please" while the other side is red and reads "No Thanks". Initially this doesn't seem too important but when the meat starts flowing you'll quickly learn the value of this little token. Men with large knives and even larger slabs of meat are constantly stopping by to offer you a slice of any one of fourteen different cuts of meat. I tried to sample them all but it became a bit too much. My favorites would probably be the Rib Eye, juicy and full of flavor, and the Leg of Lamb, because I do love lamb, particularly when there's a little bit of charring involved.

The wait staff and the Gauchos were all incredibly friendly. But considering the size and razor sharpness of the knives they were wielding, I can't help but think that there may have been something a little sinister behind those smiles.

Ultimately, after what was certainly far too much food, I succumbed to the inevitable meat overload. Defeated, I flipped my card from the green to red side both in the physical sense and in a metaphorical sense as it pertains to my life in general. The food was great and the experience unique but due to the insane amounts of meat I consumed I vowed to seriously limit my meat intake; reverting to vegetarianism not seeming like such a strange idea anymore. I picked up my plate and went back for some more of the spinach and strawberry salad, a wonderful dessert and the shape of my future diet.



Espeto Brazilian Steak House
4000 Saint Johns Ave Ste 40
Jacksonville, FL 32205
(904) 388-4884

Brick

Believe it or not, there are still plenty of people in Jacksonville who have never been to Brick. Until recently, we were some of the tragic fools among them. Believe me, it wasn't a lack of desire or intrigue. The too-perfect brick exterior is perfectly matched by the too-perfect brick lined interior adorned with perfectly spaced booths and tables, sun-lit through the spotless glass facade. In terms of ambiance, this has got to be our giant city's ultimate location for a pleasant meal.

Perhaps it was this impeccable appearance that put us off of going for so long. "I don't feel pretty/handsome enough today to grace the insides of such a place." It was definitely something beyond the mere "I'm too cheap to pay for the prices I expect they're charging" attitude since the thriftiness is often nullified by the promise of genuinely good food. Regardless of the reason, one visit made us regret our years of putting-it-off.

We stopped in for lunch one cool, sunny Sunday. The place was buzzing with the brunch crowd but, despite the density of the patrons, it's hard to feel crowded in this place. The tables are far enough apart and the booths spacious enough that a full house doesn't mean a tight squeeze and the volume doesn't necessitate shouting.

I ordered the Turkey Sandwich. Definitely not one of their more adventurous items but I was in the mood for something simple and somewhat wholesome. The ciabatta bread was fantastic, on par with the best I've had whilst traveling in Europe. A simple yet fantastic sandwich to say the least. I greatly appreciated the choice of couscous salad as a side, a delicious and welcome deviation from the standard potato heavy sides.

The dear lady ordered what turned out to be "the best veggie burger ever." Moist, flavorful, and… just delicious; that's the best explanation I could elicit but sometimes wonderful things are hard to describe. The french fries also received rave reviews and I can also back up the claim since I did steal quite a few (despite already finishing my meal and hence eating too much).

Great meal, great experience, great service. The thought of the food and the comfortable atmosphere makes me yearn for another visit, perhaps next time for dinner. But then again, it's going to be hard to resist the attraction of that lunch.




Brick
3585 Saint Johns Ave
Jacksonville, FL 32205
(904) 387-0606

The Fox

I can't tell you how many times we've tried to go to The Fox only to get the dreaded phone call with the bad news: "It's full, let's go to the other place." Now, when the other place is the ever-so-awesome Metro Diner, this is not a terrible position to be in but still disappointing nonetheless. After all, The Fox comes in at #21 on Urbanspoon's Best Jacksonville Restaurants list while the Metro Diner is down at #68.

So we were pretty happy to be the first people to show up to the Fox one cold morning. They weren't even open when we arrived so we had to mill about in the street for a bit until the door was unlocked. This, of course, prompted the consumption of copious amounts of coffee. I will not comment on the quality of diner coffee, ever. I'm an unrepentant coffee snob so this is really an area where we should not go. I will say, however, that endless refills are great when you a) need warming up and b) want to run spastically throughout the rest of the day, twitching uncontrollably all the while.

The menu is slightly different than that found at the Metro Diner. While there are still the staple "breakfast foods" at both places, the Fox has a more traditional American fare while the Metro Diner has a bit of posh, modern flair to theirs. Still, good food is good food regardless of the culinary creativity.

I had a bite or two of my wife's Philly Cheesesteak and, while I thought it was decent, it didn't quite meet her insanely high, I'm-from-the-North-and-know-a-good-Philly-Cheesesteak standards. As mentioned before, I'm the same way with coffee; we all have our particular particularities.

My turkey sandwich, on the other hand, was quite enjoyable. Toasted bread, roasted red peppers, and melted swiss cheese with succulent deli turkey all made for a flavorful sandwich.

But apart from the good food, the real appeal of a diner is often the iconic decor and ambiance, an area where the Fox delivers in full. A meal and a moment, both can be enjoyed here. But if the place happens to be full, you know where else you can go.


The Fox
3580 Saint Johns Ave
Jacksonville, FL 32205
(904) 387-2669

Orsay

Jacksonville's newest fine dining establishment recently hosted a few soft-openings where they invited press or social networking contacts to come enjoy a free cocktail and appetizer to accompany their meal from a limited menu. This tactic for generating a little buzz about the place and getting some feedback from prospective patrons seems to have been a great success and the place already seems destined to become one of Jacksonville's staple restaurants.

Since we have a reader base of approximately two people, we didn't qualify for the press run but were able to secure a reservation for the Friday before the Labor Day weekend in celebration of our anniversary and the purchase of our first house.

Located in Avondale, within the space formerly inhabited by Crush, the immediate surrounds are consistent with the strange mixture of luxury and poverty typical to the area. The decor within is nice and comfortable but not too ornate to be intimidating to common peons like ourselves. The staff is shockingly nice and, despite not even being officially open, highly knowledgeable about the menu, providing helpful insight and suggestions.

We started off the night with our complimentary cocktails. For the lady, a Strawberry Fields (citrus vodka, Cointreu, muddled mint, strawberries, simple syrup, fresh sour and pomegranate juice) and, for myself, a cucumber lemon zest martini (it was a close winner over the pear jalapeno margarita). I often find most cocktails to be both too sweet and overpowering but both drinks here were nice and refreshing. The cucumber in the martini fit surprisingly well.

Because I'd never had them before, my choice for the appetizer was escargots but, being a cheese snob, I really wanted to try the Plat De Fromage. The snails were well prepared but I'm afraid there's a particular component to the flavor of the gastropod that is a little unsettling to me so I didn't wholly enjoy the experience. However, if you're a fan of escargot then I'm sure you'll find nothing to complain about.

For our main courses we ordered the Wild Alaskan Halibut and the Shepherd's Pie. Both were exquisitely prepared with high-quality ingredients and sufficient enough to eradicate the possibility of cramming in a dessert.

Definitely a place you'll want to revisit, whether for a special meal or to indulge in a cocktail at the end of a hard day.

Orsay
3630 Park Street,
Jacksonville, FL 32205
904-381-0909

The Casbah

Jacksonville needs more Middle Eastern restaurants or maybe The Casbah just needs to open up a location a bit closer to my place because if it weren't for the distance I'd frequent this place on a regular basis.

Elements of Middle Eastern cuisine have made their way into Western foods with many restaurants using hummus and tabouleh in selected menu items or offering pita bread as an alternative to sandwich bread. Unfortunately the influence doesn't go much further so I find it's a treat to visit a restaurant serving authentic Middle Eastern food items. I had to make a tough decision between the strange and unique or a familiar favorite so, being that it my first visit and I wanted my critique to be uninfluenced by unknowns, I opted for the tried-and-true shwarma platter rather than explore uncharted territory with the swordfish kebabs. I was not disappointed with my choice as the shwarma (marinated lamb served with salad, humus, and pita bread) was tasty, filling, and on par with the best of my past experiences with the dish.

In addition to being a restaurant, The Casbah serves as a bar, cafe, and hookah lounge. The dim lights and foreign decor make for a nice place to retreat for a pint of beer or a cup of coffee. Happy Hour is 3-7pm everyday with $2.50 draft beer (and they have a good selection, I really enjoyed the Rogue Dead Guy I ordered), $2 bottles, $3 house wine, and half price hookahs. I don't smoke but everybody else I was with seemed to be enjoying sucking down their flavored tobacco. Being a raging coffee addict I ordered a Yemen mocha and finished off the night with some Turkish coffee. The Yemen mocha wasn't too impressive but I love a good Turkish coffee and would make my own if I didn't fear for the safety of my stomach lining.

Another one of The Casbah's many unique offerings is, according to their website, Jacksonville's only dinner cabaret with belly dancing performances every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night. So if the great selection of food, beer, coffee, and tobacco aren't enough to persuade you to go, perhaps the belly dancers will change your mind. With so much to offer, I know I'll find myself back at The Casbah... no doubt double fisting a pint of Dead Guy and a pot of Turkish coffee... and hopefully taking some better pictures.

The Casbah
3628 Saint Johns Ave
Jacksonville, FL 32205
904-981-9966