You don't know what love is
Until you've learned the meaning of the blues
Until you loved a love you had to lose
You don't know…
—"Flirting With Twilight," Kurt Elling

Chicago jazz great Kurt Elling's mournful tune came to mind as I sat among the cobalt blue glasses, the aquamarine lighting and the transparent royal blue plates at the Aqua Blue Grill.

Outside, night fell hard with a final wash of — yes, it really was — midnight blue.

I was alone, fingering the snowy linen tablecloth and watching the wind nudge the traffic light at the deserted intersection outside when I began to overhear the conversation at the next table. The man was telling his lady why he thought fate threw them together.

"You came to me when I needed you most."

"It couldn't have been any other way."

It was such an intimate conversation, I practically fell out of my chair trying to hear every word, but alas, the rest of the lovers' confessions remained private, since I got sidetracked with the waiter and the menu, the wine, the food, the wine. …

Still, it seemed a fitting place to contemplate serious affairs of the heart. Expensive, luxurious, outfitted in shades of crisp blue and aqua, a single guitarist accompanying a French chanteuse. Aqua Blue is another surprisingly sleek addition to the beach restaurant scene — its fare ambitiously creative, with only a couple of missteps in execution; the service is up close and personal, and the ambiance evokes an introspective mood.

Owned by Ryszard Jurkiewicz and Bozenna LaCosse, Aqua Blue has been open since December. It sits like a duchess among peasants — amid art galleries, antique shops and consignment stores, a few storefronts from the Beach Theatre, in tiny downtown St. Pete Beach. The restaurant's exterior doesn't reveal much, but once you step inside, its decor boasts elegant brocade draperies, thick oriental carpets and rich polished antiques. Two svelte neon aqua couches function as the dining room's focal point.

The clientele matches well with the restaurant's sophistication. Ladies wear simple cocktail dresses and strappy heels, the men casual shirts and pants. That is, some men. As is typical at the beach, there are those who insist on beachwear, even in a formal setting: One gent arrived in a black-and-white Hawaiian print shirt, baggy shorts, short black socks inching up his hairy gams from leather pumps. Still, he seemed comfortable. Though Aqua Blue carries itself formally, its staff is gracious, unlike some places that rudely snub diners for committing fashion faux pas.

On one trip, I started with a glass of Chandon Blanc de Noir wine ($8) and an appetizer, prosciutto with oil and shaved Parmesan ($8). The prosciutto was arranged to resemble a rose, four almond-crusted orange sections set around it like petals. It was beautiful to the eye, but the meat was too thick, and too heavy with oil, and after the oranges were gone, I took a single bite of ham and abandoned the rest on the plate.

Better was the focaccia bread and the hand-made rolls that arrived with containers of herbed butter and roasted, mashed garlic. Excellent salads were not far behind; a simple Caesar ($6) sporting roasted garlic focaccia croutons bore a generous mantle of shredded Parmesan. Another night, I tried a salad made from baby greens ($6) — radicchio, endive, mesclun, orange and julienne tomato, with a few toasted pecans atop, droplets of balsamic raspberry vinaigrette sprinkled over it like dew.

Our server wanted to know if anything was amiss, but I waved her away; the service during both visits proved to be vigilant and precise in every detail.

On an earlier trip, I had been joined by a dining companion, who tried green tea-marinated tuna ($20), accompanied with fried banana coconut cakes, a spicy mango papaya salsa and a jungle-green stalk of baby bok choy. The fish had a very subtle and mild flavor from the tea, just a whisper of what the brewed tea in a glass tastes like. The rectangle of tuna sat in a halo of steam on its shiny plate, the bright salsa a gaudy tropical foil to the earthy-sweet coconut patty, an inventive side dish.

My entree, seared breast of duck and leg confit ($26) was equally ambitious, but it fell just short of heavenly. I loved its sauce, made from wild cherries, spiked with coffee and Kahlua, but the dish needed more of it. It was accompanied by a truly perfect risotto, creamy rice punctuated with herbs and crunchy nuggets of toasted pecan.

During my final visit, I ordered chef Joel Melody's special: red snapper crusted with crab ($29). It was a hefty helping of fish, and both the fish and crab were seawater fresh, but alas, the snapper was raw in the middle, an amateurish mistake. I had to send the dish back for another go in the pan. After apologizing, the waiter returned a few minutes later, and this time it was cooked exactly right, its firm flesh perched upon a glossy pool of mashed sweet potatoes.

At that juncture, coffee and dessert seemed just the ticket. I considered creme brulee, chocolate truffle mousse and sorbets. I tasted the lemon cheesecake ($7.25) — respectable, but my fave turned out to be one I had tried previously, a fine chocolate caramel pecan tart ($7.25).

Buttery, crispy pastry supported a layer of caramel and pecans, overlaid with a thick, gleaming layer of dark chocolate ganache. It made you want to take it your hands and wolf it down. Though it took every ounce of self-control I had, I managed to resist the urge. I willed my fork to pare one tiny piece after another from the tart.

With my coffee perched pristinely on the table, I again began to listen to the patter of other diners. The passionate couple had disappeared into the night, to find whatever peace or pain destiny carried for them.

E-mail food critic Sara Kennedy at sara.kennedy@weeklyplanet.com or call 813-248-8888, ext. 116.

Aqua Blue Grill 371 Corey Ave.
St. Pete Beach
727-360-1919

5-10 p.m., Tues.-Sat.
Closed Sun.-Mon.

This article appears in Jul 17-23, 2002.