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Candlelight and historic, seaside and charming, smart and gourmet... settle in for culinary seduction.
Romantic Dining
Food and love: they belong together. Feed your love and love your food at a cozy and colorful or divinely elegant restaurant on The Beaches of Fort Myers & Sanibel.
By Chelle Koster Walton
Food and love: they belong together. Feed your love and love your food at a cozy and colorful or divinely elegant restaurant on The Beaches of Fort Myers & Sanibel.
By Chelle Koster Walton
  Sunset smiles |
Bonita Springs
If your idea of "romantic" involves a rustic fish shack with a back porch that squares off with a view of fishing docks and bird-flocked estuary, then head for the Old Florida style of Big Hickory Seafood Grille. Don't worry: "Old Florida" doesn't mean everything fried or steamed in the shell, although half of the menu is devoted to "Cracker Style." The rest of the menu and nightly specials go Caribbean and creative with dishes such as the Cubana Grouper – a generous helping of pan-seared banana-crusted fish swimming in a creamy banana-liqueur sauce. Other choices include lobster stew, crab cakes, salads and "sammiches." Whether you stop for lunch or dinner, watch for Old Blue, the little blue heron that has become the restaurant's mascot.
Cape Coral
You feel like part of a Billy Joel ballad with your bottle of red or white at this sweet little corner of Italia. Decorated in rich Tuscan tones with an antique horse carriage as centerpiece, Esquisito serves pan-Italian classics with great aplomb. Don't miss the mussels Esquisito in a creamy, buttery and garlicky broth for an appetizer. For entrees, pick from a wide selection of pastas (the lobster ravioli is divine), veal and seafood dishes, or grilled meats. House specialties include lasagna, lobster fra diavlo, and paella Valenciana. Either pasta fagioli soup, or green or Caesar salad come with the meal.
Fort Myers
With its cozy fireplace for winter nights and its breezy courtyard for cool spring evenings, The Veranda has been romancing couples since 1979 with elegant, Southern-style hospitality. It occupies two historic homes with a warm, wood-paneled piano bar for pre- or post-cocktails and an inviting dining room with Victorian detailing. Meals begin with corn muffins and pepper jelly. Try the medallions of filet in a smoky sour-mash whiskey sauce or pan-seared yellowtail snapper topped
 Enjoy scrumptious tropical cuisine for two |
Ask for one of the deep, high-backed, "coved" booths when you make your reservations at Crü, where the motto is "Lush Wines and Pure Food." It's romantic in an edgy way: The interior is done in black – from the walls to the napkins – in stark contrast to sleek, white porcelain dishware. The chef starts you out with an amuse bouche, such as edible spoon-shaped crackers filled with cheese and shots of fresh strawberry and carrot juice. An enormous staff fawns over your every whim. Share the Grand Cru antipasti (beef tartar, beef hand rolls, big eye sashimi, seared foie gras and imported cheese) and chateaubriand au poivre for that special occasion.
Sanibel Island
Once you've sated your appetite for fine Mediterranean masterpieces at Dolce Vita, plan to linger in the handsome piano bar for dancing and its famous swirled chocolate martinis. For appetizers, there's everything from wok-steamed mussels to Absolut gravlax and a flavorful, soupy mariscadas – shellfish in a garlic-fish-tomato broth. A long and varied list of entrees includes lobster arrabiata, veal chop Calvados, Indian spiced lamb shank, Texas wild-boar saddle (tamarind-honey glazed with blackcurrant coulis), jerk chicken linguine and porterhouse béarnaise, to name a sampling. For dessert, try the Black Forest cake with passion fruit sherbet – as dark, rich and delightful as the martini.
Make your reservation for sunset at Mad Hatter, a restaurant as quirky and whimsical as its name. Set on the beach at Blind Pass where Sanibel meets Captiva Island, its romance lies in its view, offbeat personality and finely crafted, changing menu. Regular favorites include seared black grouper crusted with horseradish mustard, saffron risotto, sesame seed-crusted jumbo shrimp with red curry-coconut lobster sauce, and rack of lamb with a goat cheese-cherry walnut crust. It's all magical enough you may feel you've fallen down a rabbit hole.
If You Go:
Big Hickory Seafood Grille, 239-992-0991, www.bighickorygrille.com
Crü, 239-466-3663, www.crufoodandwine.com
Dolce Vita, 239-472-5555, www.dolcevitaofsanibel.com
Esquisito, 239-540-8910
The Mad Hatter, 239-472-0033
The Veranda, 239-332-2065, www.verandarestaurant.com
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