Pearl in the Grove: Is it worth a trip to Dade City just to eat at a restaurant?

Pearl in the Grove

3.5 stars

31936 St. Joe Road, Dade City, 352-588-0008, pearlinthegrove.com

On the face of it, a trip to Dade City just to eat at a restaurant seems like a tough sell to most Tampa residents, let alone people on the other side of the Bay. Forget about the fact that many people regularly head out for long drives to favorite eateries, crossing bridges and braving traffic for a favorite dish. I guarantee that the journey out north and east to the hinterlands, to Pearl in the Grove, will be different than that, and likely more enjoyable.

Pull off of I-75 onto Curley Road and the air is crisper, cleaner, the view across fields and farms unobstructed by strip malls, the road rolling over actual hills. Turn onto the first of of the county lanes that lead to the restaurant and you’ll drive by two-story clapboard houses in various states of repair, property stretching for acres behind them, horses and tractors sharing space in the grass. And everywhere are groves of low-slung trees liberally speckled with the bright orange of near-ripe citrus.

What’s that old saw about the voyage being more important than the destination? Well, sometimes both are worth the trip.

Pearl is not, technically, in an actual grove, but citrus trees are near enough at hand to make it a trivial matter. Look at the menu in the simple converted wooden house and you’ll see a hint of the other kinds of farming nearby. Black-eyed and field peas, kumquats and Vidala onions, strawberries and turnip greens. Owner/chef Curtis Beebe sources as much as possible from his neighbors, resulting in a brief menu that changes frequently, but is always evocative of Dade City and the seasons.

This article appears in Feb 3-9, 2011.