VERO BEACH — Each year, one of our beachside restaurants seems to raise the bar for great summer menu deals. Two years ago, it was The Tides with its early specials. Last year, it was Maison Martinique. This year, the new standard has been set by the Citrus Grillhouse.
If you arrive Monday through Friday before 6:30 p.m (ugh), you can enjoy a soup or salad, an entrée and a seaside setting all for $15.
And Executive Chef Scott Varricchio, who takes great pleasure and pride in creating inventive desserts, has slashed the charge for adding one of these to the prix fixe to $2! What’s not to like?
In two visits over the past couple of weeks, we’ve sampled four of the five starters and five of the nine entrée offerings. These are all light, perfect sized dishes for summer. We’ve only tried one of the desserts, but more about that later.
A couple of Wednesdays ago, when we stopped by shortly after 6 p.m., we lucked into the final available table on the oceanfront patio (outdoor seating is first come, first served).
We like dining outside because what sets Citrus Grillhouse apart – other than good food attractively presented – is its spectacular location perched on a dune overlooking the Atlantic.
On this visit, we ordered a glass of pinot grigio ($6) to accompany our meals, and the server brought us some bread with a tasty hummus dip to get us started.
I then ordered the vine-ripe tomato and slivered red onion salad, my husband decided to try the endive, bleu cheese and Dijon vinaigrette salad, and our companion chose the chilled tomato gazpacho.
Of the three, the must-have was the endive salad, a wonderful, creamy concoction.
For entrées, I decided to order the mahi mahi, my husband chose the Creekstone prime skirt steak, and our companion selected the panko crusted chicken piallard.
The mahi consisted of a very nice filet of fresh dolphin, set atop a bed of lemon scented Israeli cous cous, and adorned with blistered cherry tomatoes.
A beautiful presentation and excellent dish. The chicken was a juicy cutlet, served with field greens and shaved pecorino.
But my husband had the best of the entrées – nice thin slices of skirt steak, perfectly cooked rare, served atop a fantastic creamy parmesan risotto.
Scott knows how to make risottos, and a white truffle risotto is also on the menu as a stand-alone entrée.
On a return visit a week later, we arrived in the midst of a deluge and were seated in the restaurant’s elegant, minimalist dining room.
This time, I started with the cucumber salad, and my husband predictably went once again for the endive salad. I thought the slices of English cucumber, served with haricots verts, crème fraiche, lemon and black pepper, was every bit the equal of the endive as a summer starter.
Then for entrées, I had the rigatoni and my husband ordered the Amish pork chop. My husband’s pork chop was prepared medium rare, and served with garlic mashed potato and haricots verts.
A very tender and tasty chop.
The rigatoni, one of two pasta options on the menu, was a delicious dish served with pecorino, fresh ricotta, black pepper and lemon.
Now for desserts. On the prix fixe, the options are vanilla panna cotta with strawberry coulis; key lime pie; or dark chocolate citrus-scented cake with dark chocolate ice cream.
The cake, as you might guess, is a big favorite.
But a fourth option tops the other three: a simple, sinful, chocolate chip cookie. I don’t know where Scott came up with the recipe for these cookies, but I do know they are totally addictive.
A party of two can dine very well on the prix fixe, and even each enjoy a glass of wine, for a total tab not much over $40 without dessert, and only a few dollars more if you add a sweet.
A dinner that consists of the endive or cucumber salad, the skirt steak and risotto, and (of course) a cookie is a summer dining value that can’t be beat.
I welcome your comments, and encourage you to send feedback to me at [email protected].
The reviewer is a beachside resident who dines anonymously at restaurants at the expense of Vero Beach 32963.
