5 /5 Michael Campbell: Antoines is easily one of the best restaurants Ive ever been to (my wife agrees). A hidden gem and well worth a visit.
My wife and I were have a pre-anniversary getaway for the weekend in Sarasota. Never been to that area before I took a chance on an unassuming little restaurant located in a strip mall next to a Dominoes of all places. Talk about a diamond in the rough. My wife loves mussels, its her favorite food - when I was looking for a place to dine our first night in town, the 10 different preparations of mussels was all I needed, along with some good reviews.
From the time we stepped through the doorway into Antoines our expectations were blown away by the service, the ambience and decor and of course - the food. Greeted warmly by our maître d Olivier, who we soon found out was also the owner along with his wife Angela, he ushered us to our table with a friendliness and effortless hospitality. We felt like we had been transported to a small intimate restaurant in France being welcomed by an old friend. By the time we left we felt like we were indeed old friends.
We started with the Caesar salad and mushroom delight. Before we received our starters they brought out a delicious amuse bouche - a tiny bowl of vegetable bisque and house made rolls. It was a small delectable taste, foreshadowing the level of flavor we would soon be enjoying throughout our meal. The mushroom delight was indeed incredibly delightful (ask for a small serving of the house made baguette to be served with it). It was in a creamy garlic sauce and the taste was incredible. It was honestly difficult to restrain myself from licking the plate clean. The salad, was simply the best Caesar salad I had been served (my wife as well). Small house made buttery croutons, dressing and absolutely packed with shaved Parmigiano Reggiano, the romaine was cut into smaller pieces. From the smallest detail everything had careful thought put into it.
The house made rolls were hot, light and airy. Hard to describe how delicate and flavorful they were but so easy to eat with the salted butter sourced from Europe.
My wife selected Angela’s favorite Mussels for her entree. I picked the 9oz filet with blue cheese sauce on the side. First you must understand my wife is nothing short of a mussel aficionado. Its her favorite food item and very rarely will not order them if they are available on a menu. These rose to the top as her all time favorite. Served properly with home made fries. The fries themselves were incredible, you could tell they double cooked the fries, which is the absolute correct way to make them in my opinion.
My thick 9oz filet was perfectly seared and cooked. The blue cheese sauce was incredible, I was not disappointed.
Finally if that wasnt all enough we ended with dessert - Profiteroles with Sea Salt Caramel Ice Cream and Belgian Chocolate drizzle. Wow, wow, wow.
Neither my wife nor I could stop thinking about the incredible meal we had, but more then that the incredible experience we had. We talked about it that night and the next morning. We decided to go back on Saturday night as well! It did not disappoint the second night. We made a few different selections but suffice to say everything, just everything was delicious and warm and inviting.
It was 2 nights of smiles, laughter and taking our time with our courses. Never once feeling rushed. Our server was Edwin was equally hospitably and friendly. Both Olivier and Edwin provided excellent suggestions for both wine and meal selections. We truly felt we got to know them well, it was such an incredible and memorable experience. We did not have the pleasure of meeting Angela. She was cooking in the back everything to absolute perfection.
I could not think of a place I would more highly recommend in all of Florida. We very much enjoyed Sarasota but we loved Antoines. It is the main reason we want to get back to Sarasota soon!
