230 Sunrise Ave. 561/802-4222
Palm Beach
In Palm Beach, the Breakers food and beverage brain trust was way out in front when it opened the off-campus Echo two years ago. Its sushi chef, Ha Khong, is also a master, well aware of the fact that, as he puts it, "People want great-tasting, very flavorful food that is also healthy. And sushi is the perfect answer because there are unlimited flavor combinations and because the food is prepared right in front of you." He knows that "it is also very entertaining to sit and watch the chefs demonstrate their culinary skills."
Edo Japanese Tappanyaki Steak House & Sushi Bar
4500 66th St. N. 727/549-8106
St. Petersburg
350 E. Las Olas Blvd. 954/525-8386
Fort Lauderdale
And, of course, there is the continuing popularity of those pseudo-Japanese steakhouses that Benihana spread across the landscape in the 1970s. There's apparently no end in sight for the foodertainment phenomenon, as demonstrated by the Edo Japanese Tappanyaki Steak House & Sushi Bar in St. Petersburg and the newest on Fort Lauderdale's "Street of Great Eats," tucked into one of the oldest restaurants on Las Olas, the Japanese Village.
Pacific Mermaid
115 N.E. 6th Ave. 561/276-6967
Delray Beach
In Delray Beach, there was a complete turnaround as the Danish Little Mermaid was sold and renamed Pacific Mermaid. The sushi bar is up front, and there's a complete Japanese menu noon and night, supplementing all the Thai specialties the owners had developed in their Pembroke Pines parent operation, Thai World.
Pacific Rim
1859 Hillview St. 941/330-8071
Sarasota
There's also a touch of Denmark in Sarasota, at the Pacific Rim, but only in the decor -- the mod beechwood chairs are from the land of the Little Mermaid. Everything else is loyal to the name, with a team of talented chefs covering the rim from China and Korea to Japan, Thailand and Vietnam, and doing it in a variety of innovative ways, defining what they have termed "New Asian Cuisine."
River House
301 S.W. Third Ave.
(Himmarshee Village) 954/525-7661
Fort Lauderdale
Asian accents are found everywhere in Florida, but few spots use them as effectively as the executive chef of Fort Lauderdale's River House, Doug Riess. For 10 years, he worked at Mark's Place in North Miami with tireless trailblazing Mark Militello, responsible for seemingly innumerable chefs and break-out culinary concepts. "We'd find something new, fish or fowl, fruit, veggie or spice, and we'd play around with it, trying out new dishes and seeing if we could make it work," Riess recalls with great enthusiasm. His menu today bristles with such headliners as crab-meat-crusted Atlantic dolphin with asparagus and a wild mushroom shallot potato ragout in a sweet corn sauce, Vietnamese pork tenderloin with coconut-porcini sauce, horseradish crusted Scottish salmon with wasabi mash, crispy five-spiced wontons and soy-mirin sauce, and Chilean sea bass with miso-honey-sake glaze, shitake-lemongrass broth, wasabi mash and baby bok choy.
Roy's
26831 S. Bay Drive
(The Promenade at Bonita Bay) 941/498-ROYS
Bonita Springs
4342 W. Boy Scout Road 813/873-7697
Tampa
1901 N. Military Trail (Holiday Inn) 561/620-9401
Boca Raton
For education as well as entertainment when exposed to Asian fusion cuisine, there's nothing quite like Roy's when you're seated at the counter and can observe all that goes on in the kitchen. Roy's is short for Roy Yamaguchi, the founder and chef-owner. His first restaurant east of the Mississippi, his 13th in the world, was opened three years ago in Bonita Springs of all places, and it was an instant hit. Such a hit in fact that it attracted the attention of the always expansion-minded team of overachievers at the Outback Steak House. In the next year, the chain contracted with Roy as partner, opening another Roy's in Tampa.
What's the specialty, and why has Roy been so successful? He applies what he learned so well at the Culinary Institute in Hyde Park and then in the back rooms of such California top-ranked restaurants as L'Escoffier and L'Ermitage. He flashes those credentials in his newest Florida stunner in Boca Raton, featuring individual designer pizzas out of the wood-burning oven -- the teriyaki short rib pizza with Szechuan red bell pepper salad is my favorite -- and a collage of such artfully prepared and artfully presented entrees as blackened rare ahi fillet with a spicy hot soy mustard butter sauce; steamed white fish in sizzling peanut oil spiked with cilantro, garlic, ginger and a splash of soy; and black grouper dusted with crushed macadamia nuts flattered with lobster sauce and essence of truffle. The menu is constantly changing.
When Roy's opened in Bonita Springs, the chefs participated in a local charity event, and one of the venues was Peter's La Cuisine. Maybe that's when Peter Schmid started wondering about changing the thrusts and theme of his own successful restaurant.
Shoji Sushi
100 Collins Ave. 305/532-4245
Miami Beach
In Miami Beach, next door to their superb seafood server Nemo, trailblazing owners Michael Schwartz and Myles Chefetz have opened Shoji Sushi. That's where master sushi chef Shin Inoue holds forth behind the bar, slicing and serving impeccably fresh slabs of fish -- some of it flown in from Japan.
Restaurants Around the State
SOUTHEAST: Deerfield Beach
Brooks Restaurant
500 S. Federal Highway 954/427-9302
The Perron clan has reinvigorated its Benvenuto in Boynton, but not at the expense of this flagship, with its fixed price great-value-for-the-money menus, carefully supervised service and a new wine cellar featuring no fewer than 80 select wines under $25. Dinner, $29 to $37. Closed Mondays.
SOUTHWEST/TAMPA BAY: Marco Island
Marek's Collier House Restaurant
1121 Bald Eagle Drive 941/642-9948
Chef-proprietor Peter Marek is preparing his
classics in a most historic setting, the home of Capt. Bill Collier, whose memory he salutes with the likes of lobster thermidor, sauteed scallops and rack of lamb. Dinner, $19 to $26.
CENTRAL: Cocoa Beach
Bernard's Surf
2 S. Atlantic Ave. 321/783-2401
Now into its second half-century of success serving fresh seafood off its own boats, with an adjacent raw bar as casual as its spinoff on the docks of Port Canaveral. Order the catch of the day, some rock shrimp or those super-succulent Calico scallops. Lunch, $5 to $12, and dinner, $9 to $40.
NORTHEAST: St. Augustine
Saltwater Cowboy's
299 Dondanville Road 904/471-2332
Rustic hideaway tucked into the marshes, serving good ol' boy cracker cuisine with down-home honesty everywhere around, from the fresh seafood to the finger-lickin' good ribs. Dinner, $6 to $17.
NORTHWEST: Seaside
Bud & Alley's
Route C 30-A 850/231-5900
More than a few Florida chefs who are now making headlines have trained alongside owners Scott Witcoski and Dave Rauschkolb, who grill freshness from sea and land, blending superior sauces with judicious additions of wine and local herbs. Lunch, $8 to $12, and dinner, $18 to $29.