On any given night, this trendy upscale restaurant is packed with well-dressed diners until the wee hours. Reservations are only accepted for groups of six or more, so be sure to arrive early if your party contains fewer people. Better yet, come with a large group. You'll want the extra mouths when it comes time to share the food.
Ceviche's lighting is low and red-tinged candles crowd every table. Piped-in Spanish music ranges from toe-tapping to knee-slapping. The tables are close together (in the nonsmoking back of the restaurant, too close) and help to create an intimate, European atmosphere.
The extensive menu is broken down into sharable dishes of either tapas frias (cold) or tapas calientes (hot). Most can be ordered in either small or large portions. Unless you have a real favorite, I recommend ordering the smaller size so you can sample a greater variety of dishes with your fellow diners.
With more than 40 items, the menu can seem daunting. If you don't know where to start, ask your server for suggestions. The friendly staff is knowledgeable enough to give you the real answers to your questions.
If you have four or more in your group, your server will probably recommend (and rightly so) the assorted platter containing a good sampler of items from the tapas frias menu ($8 per person).
Otherwise, consider ordering the tabla quesos (assorted cheeses, $6); serrano jamon (thin sliced serrano ham, $8); and aceitunas (assorted olives, $3) for an authentic epicurean tour of Spain. The Niçoise olives were particularly good, though my personal favorite was the delicious combination of aged cheeses and thinly sliced pears of the tabla quesos platter. The ensalada de patatas (potato salad, $3) with fresh herbs and imported chorizo sausage also proved an excellent choice.
The ceviche de la casa, fresh seafood marinated in cilantro and tequila, should not be missed ($6). The flavor was surprisingly delicate and light, with no bitterness from the tequila. On the heavier side, try the huevos rellenos ($3). It was very rare to find deviled eggs served at a restaurant these days, and rarer still for them to be any good. Ceviche's eggs, not your typical backyard fare, were quite creamy and tasty.
After our server warned us that the garbanzo hummus ($3) would be garlicky, I had prepared myself for a two-ton blast. I was pleasantly surprised to find it both balanced and smooth. I only wished for more toast points to enjoy it with.
Now for the really good stuff — fabada asturiana, or fava beans with chorizo ($3/$5). Everyone at the table loved it (and, yes, there was the obligatory mention of Hannibal Lecter and Chianti). More like a hearty soup than anything else — this bean and sausage dish was warm, comforting and filling. If my grandmother had made this, I would have been at her house every day.
I found the puerco salamanca (pork tenderloin, $6/$11) a bit tough but the entrecote parilla (strip sirloin, $9) more than made up for it. It was mouthwateringly juicy and tender. A lovely compound butter accompanies it, which melts in your mouth and spreads a tantalizing layer of flavors over your tongue.
Two seafood dishes also warmed my heart. The vieras rellenas (sea scallops, $8) come perfectly grilled in a leek and manchego cheese sauce that you will be sneaking spoonfuls of when your fellow tablemates aren't looking. The gambas a la parilla (grilled shrimp, $9) were their equal in flavor.
The tortilla espanola (potato and onion omelet, $3/$5) is a fussy version of a homemade classic. Ceviche's take is similar to a layered quiche and is one of the smallest servings on the menu. Consider ordering the larger size or developing your fork fencing skills.
As you can see, with all the choices on the menu (and on your plate), you have to pace yourself in order to save some room for dessert. All of the after-dinner choices were fairly light in texture and flavor, though not in calories. Tres leches, a white cake liberally drenched in three different creams, is the most original and adventurous choice ($6). The flan is denser than most traditional recipes and easily satisfied any custard cravings at the table ($4).
Ceviche is serious about keeping with its Spanish theme. The wine list is a small collection of entirely Spanish offerings. Our first choice was unavailable and the server enthusiastically recommended a pricier Rioja in its place (without mentioning the higher cost). While the 1989 Castillo Ygay was a nice, full-bodied wine, I'm not sure it was worth the $55 price tag. Those looking for the best all-around Spanish experience might opt for the authentic sangria ($4.50). It's also a good choice simply because of how it is served. The pitchers are colorful works of art handmade by a local artist who happens to be the mother of one of the servers. Every few months or so, they have pitcher-making parties and many staffers help paint and fire the pieces. The homegrown pitchers add to the overall ambiance of this unique restaurant.
The bottom line: Go to Ceviche to be seen, but stay for the food. As the napkins say, Salud, dinero, amor y tiempo para disfrutarlos (Health, money, love and the time to enjoy them).
.p>In the spirit of Valentine's Day, let me recommend a few personal favorites culled from hundreds of restaurants and bars I traipse through every year on my professional dining missions. With The Day only a week away, I hope it inspires contemplation of your beloved's most attractive traits as well as serious thought about how to please that special person as well. For those who like to dress up and have an expensive, elegant meal while ensconced in the low-lit grace of a historic mansion, may I suggest Chateau France in downtown St. Petersburg. It makes for a lovely evening, all rich wood paneling and creaky old stairs, big bay windows with filmy lace curtains. Illuminated at night by candles, you might ponder the menu with a flashlight, but other things can happen in the dark too.
Featuring beautiful cutlery and china, polished wine goblets and water glasses, a waiter in starched uniform awaits your every whim — from a discreet distance. Once the excellent classical French food arrives, you are left alone for long, secluded stretches of time, perfect for popping the question, offering a ring, or even sipping wine in meditative silence, holding hands.
The place is not cheap: It'll set you back $100 or more for dinner with all the trimmings. If you're short on cash, go there for dessert and order the excellent crepes Suzette — a thin French pancake topped with a buttery, orange-flavored sauce ($8 per person), which owner Antoine Louro prepares himself with much fanfare at your table. Finish with espresso ($3).
For a more casual atmosphere, try CevicheTapas Bar & Restaurant, off Bayshore Boulevard, in Tampa. One of the few decent restaurants open late late, it's perfect for those who like to hit the clubs and still eat well. It's open till 3 a.m. weekend nights, and spotlights the Spanish specialty called tapas — hot and cold hors d'oeuvres. The kitchen does them extremely well.
The restaurant draws a lively and effusive crowd, and you feel almost as if you're visiting someone's home. There's a tiny, jammed bar, where people schmooze and smooch and throw down drinks. Late at night, it gets noisy with laughter and a little lurid. With everyone so closely packed, it becomes necessary to cozy up just a little in order to remain standing. Oh, well.
Order Sangria ($4.50 per glass or $15 for a pitcher), and a cold plate with a selection of nine appetizers, like marinated scallops and grilled salmon ($15-18).
Romantic in a different way is the new Pop City entertainment complex at downtown Tampa's Channelside development. With a hip, youngish crowd, a waterfront location on a shipping channel near the port, and 6,000 square feet that includes a restaurant, night club, rock climbing wall, pool tables, and the latest video games, it supplies lots of fun diversions.
Pop City's full-service restaurant, G. Elliott's Restaurant & Raw Bar, sits on the waterfront side of the building. Inside, it's glitzy and noisy, with a gorgeous oval bar dominating the middle of the dining room, and big-screen TVs blaring sports events.
If the crowds and noise become too much, step out to the patio facing the water, where it's quieter, with a well-chosen selection of background blues and jazz tunes piped in. Settle into one of the comfy chairs, order drinks and hang out.
Across the water is a gritty industrial tract with a big TECO plant, a dry dock, a ship repair facility and various commercial outlets of the port. At night, you can see the welders repairing a massive ship's hull, the arc of their torches crackling like sparklers over the water.
If you get hungry, order the hot hors d'oeuvre called Jamaican jerk shrimp ($8), fresh spiced shrimp served atop Cuban bread with a Cajun-inspired sauce. The patio itself is too bright for impromptu kissing, but, necessity being the mother of invention, the desperately besotted among us use a gated stairwell at its far end for such time-honored purposes.
If a stairwell isn't exactly your idea of a class encounter, make a reservation at a lovely place tucked anonymously in a shopping center near USF called Ristorante Francesco. Its flamboyant owner, Francesco Marchsini, pampers his guests with personal, attentive service, sometimes even entertaining them with tunes on the harmonica. The food is especially creative northern Italian fare.
You can dress up if you like; the restaurant is formal in crisp linen, spotless china and glowing silver, but people show up in casual wear too. Order anything — Francesco's expert kitchen does it all — but I like surprises, so I tend to go with the daily special, generally priced at $15-$18. Some entrees are priced as low as $10. For dessert, try the profiteroles ($4), French-style pastry enclosing luscious filling.
As far as I'm concerned, the most romantic setting anywhere in the Bay area is the ever-fabulous Don CeSar Beach Resort & Spa, the historic 1928 architectural wonder whose big pink towers are a familiar sight where St. Pete Beach curves sharply away from the mainland. Presiding over the blue-green gulf, the Don is a local treasure that has always inspired lovers with its magic.
You don't need to break the bank to dine with your Val Pal: Go before sunset to the hotel's casual Sea Porch Cafe, set among a thicket of sea oats overlooking the beach. Sit at a table on the open deck, listening to the gentle music of wind and wave. Order drinks, and, if you're hungry, try one of the dinner pasta dishes served with the "fish of the day" ($22). They change daily, depending upon what the chef considers the freshest.
Together, you can bid the sun adieu as its slinks into the sea. Walk afterward on the beach for a truly memorable evening.
Happy Valentine's Day to all.
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This article appears in May 15-21, 2002.