One of our favorite places on the Florida east coast is U-Tiki.  It’s beautifully situated on the Loxahatchee River with a view of the Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse and a small marina.   As you can see, some tables are set up right on a sandy beach, and there’s a view from most of the interior tables. U-Tiki is a good-sized place with three sides open … Continue reading U-Tiki, Jupiter, Florida

Nancy, Joyce and Willie (whom you met at  Captain Charlie’s Reef Grill), and I took a drive down from Palm Beach Shores to Delray to visit our old (in the sense of long-time) friends Bob Leland and Vicki Duff, who sold Bob’s house down the street and moved to Florida (while maintaining a pied a terre here in the DC area for our cool, crisp … Continue reading Cabana El Rey, Delray, Florida

Nancy and I have spent a fair amount of time on the east coast of Florida at the Marriott Vacation Club properties on Singer Island, the island north of Palm Beach — the poor section of Palm Beach, I like to call it.  It’s funny that I haven’t posted on more restaurants in the area.  (I have posted reviews of a few places I strongly recommend … Continue reading Captain Charlie’s Reef Grill, Juno Beach, Florida

Hurry to Burns Court Bistro and Wine Bar.  It is a lovely place under new management, and they are selling bottles of wine at a deep discount (since they don’t know exactly how well the previous owners stored and cared for the inventory).  And the kitchen produces well-balanced and flavorful food.  This place is very good. We actually backed into Burns Court Bistro.  After eating … Continue reading Burns Court Bistro and Wine Bar, Sarasota, Florida

You should go to Columbia Restaurant if you ever go to Longboat Key.  Why wouldn’t you?  You will drive right past it, and it’s very inviting, so you should stop and go in.  Everyone else does, and for some good reasons.  First, it is very big and very pleasant, beautiful, actually.  It sits on a large traffic circle, posh St. Armand’s Circle,  which, as I … Continue reading Columbia, Sarasota, Florida

I have been to Big Water Seafood exactly once in my life, and that was enough to make me a big fan.  Great place, great food, wonderful people.  Here’s the story. Nancy and I stayed on Siesta Key for a couple of days with our good friends Tom and Kit Moore before we headed to Marco Island, there to be joined by Liza and Ella. … Continue reading Big Water Seafood, Siesta Key, Florida

What a pleasant place!  It certainly belies expectations.  Davide (pronounced a la Italian, with three syllables) is set in a small strip mall near a major intersection, Collier and Bald Eagle.  The location is unprepossessing by Marco Island standards.  There are eight tables outside, overlooking a parking lot, and eight more lining one side of the narrow interior.  The other side of the interior includes a … Continue reading Davide, Marco Island, Florida

Chokoloskee Island is a few miles south of Everglades City, and just outside the Everglades National Park.  The island is an early land fill.  The local Indians dumped shells in shallow water and after a couple of thousand years, give or take, they had formed the island, and had some more solid land on which to live.  More important, they created a location for the excellent Havana … Continue reading Havana Cafe of the Everglades, Chokoloskee, Florida

As I mentioned in my review of the Snook Inn, Nancy and I got together for lunch with one of  my high school classmates at Indian Springs, Al Hudson, and his wife Dorothy.  At that time, Al and Dorothy were about to pull up stakes in Naples to live a nomad’s life, traveling around the US and Europe with the seasons.   A year later, we … Continue reading The Dock at Crayton Cove, Naples, Florida