VERO BEACH — In addition to great food, the key to filling seats in the summer is a catchy value proposition. The one launched recently by Michael’s Table, its 3.2.1 Summer Special, is headed for orbit.
The 3.2.1 stands for three courses for two people at one price.
And the price, it turns out, is $50 – not the lowest summer special price in town, but as it turns out, an extremely good value when you discover that the three courses are actually four.
The way this works, you start with a soup and salad du jour duo plate – that’s why we say four courses; you get both a soup and a salad – followed by a choice of one of five entrées from the Summer Special menu, and the meal is topped off by the chef’s choice of dessert.
Last Wednesday, three of us presented ourselves at Michael’s Table shortly after 6 – that’s the one downside here; your order has to be in before 6:30 – and were seated at a very nice booth along the wall opposite the bar.
Notwithstanding the 3.2.1 explanation that it is for two people, in fact all three of us could have ordered from the summer menu at $25 a head.
But my husband decided to have the grouper entrée off the regular menu (excellent, by the way), leaving my companion and I to sample the summer specials.
The first course – the soup and salad du jour duo plate – was a very nice surprise. The soup was a chilled sweet pea and asparagus soup with pearls of cous cous – as close as you could ask to perfect for a hot summer night.
Accompanying it was a very nice watercress and lettuce salad topped by goat cheese with a sherry vinaigrette.
For our entrée, the choices were cold water mussels with chorizo, white wine and parsley; rogue dead guy braised short ribs; summer vegetable pasta; seared roasted Scottish salmon; and skillet seared Murray’s all natural chicken breast with mashed parmesan potatoes.
I decided to go with the short ribs (never did find out what the deal was with the rogue dead guy), and my companion chose the salmon.
The two braised short ribs were wonderful, and were accompanied by a parmesan potato puree, asparagus and carrots.
The perfectly seared salmon came with a creamy, buttery herb risotto, along with peas and pearl onions.
These two dishes are both on the regular Michael’s Table menu for entrée prices that exceed the total cost of the 3.2.1 special. And the portion sizes were no smaller than my husband’s very nice grouper entrée from the regular menu. This is a deal!
Then to top it all off comes dessert.
On the night we were there, the 3.2.1 dessert was a vanilla bean crème brulee.
We had seen a couple of them delivered to an adjoining table, and they looked delicious. But after the short ribs, I was really too full for dessert.
The server, however, was not to be denied. She suggested talking the chef into letting us split a ricotta cheesecake as an alternative to the crème brulee. Topped with a seasonal berry compote, this light cheesecake was the perfect way to end the meal.
By the end of its first season, Michael’s Table had earned a spot on the “must visit” list for beachside diners.
But things tend to generally be slower after season. In the past couple of years, several Vero restaurants have figured out that you can help yourself get through the doldrums with a really good summer special menu.
We think Michael’s Table’s summer 3.2.1 menu – while not the least expensive in town – is one of the most clever, and the dining experience a couple gets for $50 is an extremely good value.
I welcome your comments, and encourage you to send feedback to me at tina@verobeach32963.com.
The reviewer dines anonymously at restaurants at the expense of Vero Beach 32963.
