Quick, name a mainland restaurant from the ‘90s that for a time seemed in a downward spiral, but today under new ownership is better than ever – serving excellent dishes that should put it high up on your dining out list?
Guess again.
Give up? Then you need to head south on US 1 to the Quilted Giraffe, where this golden oldie – a favorite in the old days when it was located in the old downtown – is today offering a mix of great food, great music, great fun plus, if you bring along a coupon from this paper, great prices!
As it happens, I knew very little about any of this when our party of three arrived last Thursday a few minutes after 7 pm. (I know. I know. I really should read the dining ads.)
But when we walked through the door, the first question put to us by proprietor Patrick Tomassi was how near we wanted to sit to the piano. Turns out Thursdays are piano bar night.
We chose a location a couple of tables away from pianist Johnny Nick, whose classy arrangements for the next two hours provided the perfect accompaniment for dining.
After we got settled and our server took our wine order, we decided on this evening to forego appetizers (a very tempting list mostly in the $12-$13 range) and start with upgraded salads ($4 each with entrées; no charge for a house dinner salad).
I ordered the spinach blueberry salad with candy almonds and tangerine vinaigrette, my husband decided to have the Caesar, and our companion chose the wedge.
The salads were very nice, and my husband did not complain that the Giraffe’s version of a Caesar comes generously sprinkled with lardons.
Then for entrées, I opted for the veal scampi ($25), my husband went for the day boat scallops ($31), and our companion ordered the chicken pasta ($20).
Our companion’s pasta dish consisted of slices of chicken with a blend of wild mushrooms and roasted garlic in a fresh tomato pan sauce. Very tasty.
But both my dish and my husband’s were as good as it gets.
My fork-tender scaloppini of veal, prepared with capers, diced tomatoes and parsley in a lemon garlic pan sauce, was sumptuous. And my husband’s day boat scallops– five succulent beauties, broiled in chardonnay and served in a chafing dish with drawn garlic butter – were perfection.
For dessert, we shared a slice of a very light chocolate cake layered with a chocolate mousse.
A party of two can have a full meal with wine for about $90, before tip. The Quilted Giraffe currently also is offering buy-one-get-one-free deals on entrées which can reduce the price further making dining here great value for money.
The Quilted Giraffe also has implemented a variety of approaches aimed at bringing in more customers.
On Wednesday nights, there is Doo Wop music (think the early Motown sounds of the Inkspots and the Temptations). There also is live music for dancing Friday and Saturday evenings in the large banquet room behind the main dining area.
And Theatre-Go-Round, a dinner theater group that two winters ago began using the Giraffe as its home base, will be putting on its new show “Welcome to the 60s” this Sunday at 4:30 and again on Aug. 9 and 23.
Tomassi is very much a hands-on proprietor, hovering attentively from table to table. In the four years since he took over the Quilted Giraffe, he has re-energized it and brought it back to the top tier of places to dine on the Vero mainland.
I welcome your comments, and encourage you to send feedback to me at [email protected].
The reviewer dines anonymously at restaurants at the expense of Vero Beach 32963.
