Tonight, my wife and I had a fantastic meal at Derek's Culinary Casual restaurant in the Rosemary District of Sarasota. (http://www.dereks-sarasota.com/)
We started out with an amuse-bouche of gougèes a tiny puff pastry made with choux dough, a light pastry dough, mixed with cheese. They were decent, and the only part of the meal that was not "to die for."
My wife started with a House Salad Caesaresque - Hearts of romaine, parmesan crackers, shaved Pecorino Romano, toasted garlic, caramelized anchovy vinaigrette - for $8.
Her main course was Grilled Gulf Shrimp - Nice large shrimp, aged cheddar stone ground grits, blue crab ragout, sweet corn and okra piccalili - for $28. (Piccalili is a higly seasoned, pickled relish.)
My appetizer was Foie gras torchon - House-cured foie gras torchon, pomegranate gelée, pink peppercorn and grapefruit vinaigrette with toast and watercress - for $15. Foie gras torchon is foie gras that has been rolled in cheese cloth, cured, poached, and chilled. It was incredibly delicious!
My main course was Prince Edward Island Mussels Sauteed mussels, garbanzo beans, house made chorizo, sweet peppers, grilled tomato butter for $19. (They also serve an appetizer portion of this dish for $11.) I love mussels, and this was the tastiest mussel dish I have ever had.
Our wine was Long Meadow Ranch House Red - 2006 - for $39. It is a cabernet sauvignon - cabernet franc table wine from the Napa Valley. We both enjoyed it very much.
Our desserts were also wonderful.
My wife had Banana Cream Custard - ricotta doughnuts, vanilla bean braised bananas - for $7.
I had Poached Pear - Lavender & honey poached pear, goat cheese ice cream, with black pepper caramel sauce - for $8.
Our waitress, who is from Brussels, Belgium, provided excellent service.
I would recommend reservations because the restaurant was full this evening.
Derek's is located at 514 Central Ave. Phone (941)-366-5353
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