Our friends we are staying with here in Florida live next to the Hyatt Centric and we headed there for dinner last night and were treated to a bottle of white(Sonoma-Coutrer Chardonnay) & red(Ken Wright Pinot Noir) from the sales manager at the hotel, whom I had met earlier in the day! We sat outside on a glorious evening and had a superb time with 4 of our Florida friends.
After we finished the chard, we had a bottle of Squealing Pig Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand and then when we needed a second red, our brilliant server Jordan suggested a bottle not on the menu, a fine 2015 Ysios Rioja from Spain.
Appetizers were all delicious, although the Chopped Romein Salad was a bit boring even with cucumber, olives, cherry tomatoes, stuffed grape leaves, feta and vinagrette.
The Chilled Togarashi Crusted Ahi Tuna Tataki with Yuzu Ponzu sauce, pickled mushrooms, avocado and lotus root chips was delicious but would have been even better if it was a tad more on the rare side. The Roasted Heirloom Cauliflower with toasted almonds, soused sultanas, crisp capers(a nice touch) and romesco had white, yellow and purple cauliflower and was delish. Pan Seared Ocotpus came with a yummy Carrot Ginger Spread, Roasted Fingerling Potatoes(lots of potatoes), smoked pimenton and Lemon EVOO , but the big winner was the Hand Pulled Chicken Empanadas with sofrito & mozzarella and a chipotle sauce. Thing BBQ pulled chicken (here it was cooked sous vide) that melts in your mouth.
The main courses were all very good but the big hit seemed to be the Char Grilled Vegetarian Beyond Burger on Brioche which was declared as beyond delicious. The Beef Burger and Peppercorn Crusted Wagyu Sirloin were also great beef dishes. The Pan Seared Atlantic Salmon came with Quinoa & Sweet Potato Hash, Garlic Sauteed Green Beans and Fire Roasted Tomato Vinaigrette while my Pan Seared Cajun Shrimp were atop a rich Creamy Lemon Saffron Risotto with Grilled Asparagus and a Fennel Lobster Sauce in which you could taste no fennel(loved it that way).
We were too stuffed to even think about dessert, but what a great evening we all had!!!
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