Saturday, September 20, 2008

Heaven in a Small Dish

South Cocoa Beach delivered a knockout last night. It began with a simple spinach salad and lobster bisque followed by fresh grilled local grouper perched atop layered vegetables. All were excellent and I would normally have ended my meal at that, quite satisfied, but, since it was my birthday, I decided to go for a dessert. Holy cow! As a redneck gourmand my descriptive skills are somewhat lacking but I'll try. What appeared to be a straightforward crème brûlée revealed a few seconds into the first bite subtle flavors of peach that shifted into airy traces of lavender mixed with the toasted caramelized sugar that was last to dissolve on the tongue. This is only the second time that I've ordered dessert here, not being a fan of sweets. Both times, though, I've experienced such complex layers of flavors that I find myself slowing my eating to a crawl trying to discern each flavor shift. Last time was a similar dish, a crème brûlée but with flavors of bourbon and pepper drifting in and out of the background. All this gushing from a not-into-sweets guy. Thank you to The Fat Snook for once again delivering an eating experience that I'll be daydreaming about for days to come. I'll be back.

"One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating."
~Luciano Pavarotti