Johnny D’s Market and Bistro – in the white and blue building on South A1A – has established itself as a good place for dinner on South Beach.
Night after night, this tastefully decorated Tuscan bistro is filled with diners, enjoying a variety of well-prepared veal, chicken and seafood entrées, most very reasonably priced in the high teens and low $20s.
But after three years, small, unpredictable glitches keep Johnny D’s – despite one of the area’s more talented chefs – from rising to the top tier of Vero’s dining destinations. We understand that things occasionally go wrong. What sets the top restaurants apart is how they deal with them.
We’ve found that an excellent way to begin an evening at Johnny D’s is by ordering one of their starters, all of which are priced at $12. Two of our favorites are the calamari vesuvio and the clams casino deconstructed.
On a visit last Friday, however, we decided to simply start with the salads that come with meals. My husband and I had house salads with the sundried tomato balsamic vinaigrette dressing; our companion chose the cracked peppercorn creamy onion dressing. Both were very nice.
Then for entrées, I ordered one of my favorites, the zuppa di pesce ($26). My husband chose a new offering, the ravioli nawlins ($22.50), and our companion had the gnocchi carbonara ($16.50).
My husband enjoyed the ravioli nawlins, Maryland blue crab stuffed ravioli tossed with peppers and leeks in a very spicy (and very rich) brandy Cajun cream sauce. Our companion raved over her gnocchi tossed with crispy prosciutto, caramelized vidalia onions, sweet peas, portobello mushrooms, in a Parmigiano Reggiano cream sauce.
And my zuppa di pesce – little neck clams, PEI mussels, calamari and shrimp sautéed in a spicy fra diaviolo sauce served over linguini – came close to being spectacular. Should have been. Everything was perfection, in fact, except the large, beautiful shrimp, which somehow had been cooked to death.
Well, that’s the kind of problem that should be easily correctable in a top restaurant – but our server was nowhere to be seen. Minutes pass. No sign of the server. Finally, I decide not to keep my companions waiting, and proceed with the meal.
When we finish, another server comes to remove the dishes and asked, “How was dinner?” I mention the problem with the shrimp to him. Nobody offers apologies. Did the chef ever hear about it? Who knows.
For dessert, our companion decides to try a dark chocolate gelato with chocolate chips. She raved about it. We would also recommend the limoncello cake ($5.99) – a definite don’t miss.
Then the final touch. As we were preparing to leave, the original server casually announces as he hands us the check that our companion’s gelato would be compliments of the house because of my overcooked shrimp! Really? A very odd way of addressing the problem.
This is a bistro that offers consistently good and well-priced entrées, but experiences like this are what keep it from moving to the next level. Johnny D’s needs to handle the occasional bumps better if it is to rise to the top of the Vero Beach food chain.
I welcome your comments, and encourage you to send feedback to me at tina@verobeach32963.com.
The reviewer is a beachside resident who dines anonymously at restaurants at the expense of Vero Beach 32963.
