Let's be realistic, shall we? Most New Year's resolutions only make it through the first seven days or so, just long enough to remind us that being good isn't what most of us are really interested in, that purifying our bodies, exercising our minds, or dealing with that pesky Project Runway addiction is best left to self-help gurus and Nepalese hermits.
That's why the first week of the New Year is so important. For that short time, we still believe that we have the potential, or even the desire, to improve ourselves. I always try to take advantage of it, to milk those brief, halcyon days for all the self-respect I can find.
That's why I picked Wild Fish, a new seafood joint in Clearwater, to start the New Year. It's got a good hook for the health-conscious — local fish, and plenty of it. Farm-raised fish have come under criticism in the past year due to higher levels of toxins and genetic manipulation by corporate scientists. Wild Fish doesn't sell anything factory-farmed. Wild, fresh fish tastes better, but that's not the point of this visit. It's about health.
Driving past dozens of strip clubs along the boulevard of broken dreams — U.S. 19 — causes my dining companion, Writer Rick, to wobble on one of his resolutions. "Wow, it's like the promised land," he says, eyeing neon signs that offer curvaceous ladies of the pole. It also sets the stage for an evening that turns out to be less about fresh starts and more about the familiar vices of 2005, 2004 and, well, 2000-2003.
You see, the bar at Wild Fish takes up almost more space than the dining area, especially if you count the outside. Inside, it's stone and wood and warmth, lively and bustling with couples and singles. The outdoor courtyard, enclosed by a high wall to dampen the noise from 19, is gigantic, with a bar area that mirrors the interior and is serviced by the same bartenders. When I glance out the window, I see the welcoming glow of a dozen lit cigarettes.
Wild Fish has a good wine list dominated by a typical but extensive selection of California labels. There are a few pleasant surprises, like the inky, tempranillo-based Muga ($37) or the bright cherry fruit of El Chaparral ($29), both from Spain and the best values on an already well-priced list. One bottle of that El Chaparral grenache and three Singapore slings later, I'm crossing another resolution off my list.
The food has a distinctly South American flair, mainly via Peru and Argentina. The entrees and appetizers are peppered with words like churrasco, lomito, relleno and vacafrita. Even the fresh fish — the reason I'm here, I remember — can be topped with mojo butter, tomatillo salsa or chimichurri. This Latin influence separates Wild Fish from generic, mid-price fish houses.
When the appetizers hit the table, though, I realize that a cool-sounding menu doesn't always translate to interesting food. Three crab cakes ($9.90), each a tiny cylinder fried a uniform, crisp brown, are overwhelmed by the powerful cilantro pesto they sit in. Same goes for the formerly crispy fish at the bottom of the fish tacos ($5.70). There's so much stuff — loads of salsa, citrusy sour cream, tons of cabbage — that the fried nuggets become sodden and the single layer of corn tortilla falls apart in my hands.
A shrimp stack ($6.90), layers of crispy plantain cake and small shrimp doused in bright green chimichurri, completes this round of uninspiring appetizers. None of it is terrible, but it's certainly not worth gorging on. Still, we manage to clean the plates, breaking resolution No. 3 for the evening.
A bowl of clams ($7.90) — drowned in a heavily seasoned broth flavored with the cilantro, garlic, onion, and peppers of traditional sofrito as well as tiny hunks of chorizo — is the best dish of this round. After picking the clam shells clean, we spend another 15 minutes soaking up the sauce with leftover bread.
After a smoke break — resolution No. 4 gone — we come back to the table to find the main event. While sipping another sling, I peel back limp banana leaves to reveal a puff of steam and a moist amberjack filet ($18.90). More sofrito-laced broth, capers and olives add buckets of flavor to this already rich fish. Very good.
We pair the surprisingly inexpensive wild salmon ($16.50) with Wild Fish's tamarind-panela glaze. More a dollop than a glaze, the sweet and tart sauce works well with the pink flesh of salmon. Even better is snapper ($18.90) topped with chimichurri, the grilled white filet more than a match for that garlicky green paste.
The fish is nicely prepared, tasty and certainly worth the money, considering the overcooked dreck served at most mid-price joints. Still, as soon as we taste the pork vacafrita ($13.90), we know that it trumps the healthy sea-flesh at Wild Fish. Pork, slow-cooked with lime, cilantro and cumin, is given a quick fry to crisp it up and tossed atop a cylinder of sweet boniato puree. What makes it exceptional is the incredible black bean broth poured over the whole thing, reinforcing the smoky cumin and bright cilantro flavors. I'll be back to Wild Fish just for this.
By this point, we've already given up any pretense of starting off the year right, so we acquiesce to a large dessert order. Chocolate praline cake ($4.70) and Mama Del Ron ($4.70) are just piles of blank calories — which we still manage to consume — but the tres leches ($4.70) makes it all worthwhile. Sweet milk douses firm cake laced with raw coconut, just the thing to overindulge in after a night of overindulgence.
Sigh. Maybe not the most successful New Year's effort on my part, but at least it's indicative of what will happen the rest of 2006. There will be good food and bad food and I will undoubtedly eat too much of both. Still, if Wild Fish is any indication, there will be more good than bad. And that's a fine start.
Brian Ries is a former restaurant general manager with an advanced diploma from the Court of Master Sommeliers. He can be reached at brian.ries@weeklyplanet.com. Planet food critics dine anonymously, and the paper pays for the meals. Restaurants chosen for review are not related to advertising.
This article appears in Jan 11-17, 2006.