I've always bristled at the oft-cited frugal tip that eating lunch at a nice place is a good way to get the cuisine at half the price. Maybe it's just that Bay area and Sarasota lunches never seem to live up to the dinnertime promise of a pricey place.
After the lunch I just had at The Table on Hillview in Sarasota, I'm willing to single them out as an exception. My wife and I (her birthday, hence the Big Lunch) started with ceviche — tuna in a spicy chipotle and tart yuzu dressing, cubed shrimp with poblanos and radish, both served in edible tortilla cones — and small tostadas loaded with the luscious short ribs that are my favorite Table protein. Then came fried black grouper strips atop a brilliant salad of chayote and red onion dressed in citrus juice, nut oil and pungent dried herbs, along with a few crushed plantain patties. (Anyone who watched last night's Top Chef will immediately realize that The Table's "fish and chips" will immediately see the revision of classic downscale dish. This would have beaten Howie's boring-ass pork and slaw hand's down.) My wife settled on a dainty garden salad dressed with a rich and pungent olive/fig concoction.
All told, the bill came in under $60, including two glasses of wine, and it was as good or better than dinner at most of the nicer restaurants around town, and just about as satisfying as a full dinner at The Table.
This article appears in Jun 27 – Jul 3, 2007.
