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A Look Back At The Year's Best Bites

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By KURT LOFT, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 27, 2007

Updated: 12/26/2007 06:11 pm

We dined out a lot in 2007, and today look back on some of the more memorable meals that appeared on these pages. Here are 10 favorites, in no particular order, all worth revisiting in the new year.

Council Oak Steak and Seafood, Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, 5223 N. Orient Road, Tampa; (813) 627-7628. What is Tampa's best restaurant? No argument should exclude Council Oak, where a fine meal is less a gamble than a given. Most everything about this posh place stands out and apart, from the butcher shop behind glass to the line-caught Florida fish. The crab bisque is among the best we've tried, as is the bone-in pork prime rib - slow roasted and spiced with herbs and sea salt. The kitchen creates small masterpieces with the rosemary-rubbed, dry-aged lamb chops and free-range organic chicken with root vegetables. Service is crack professional.

L'Eden, 500 N. Tampa St., Tampa; (813) 221-4795. Our berets go off to a little European gem called L'Eden - Garden of Eden - where quaint dinners unfold on weekends and creative lunches during the week. Owners Gerard and Anne Marie Jamgotchian hail from Marseille, France, and their skills with la cuisine du monde is evident in most every bite. The tiny restaurant serves garden-fresh fare with flair, and the dining room overlooks a bustling intersection and Gaslight Park. Try the chicken Madras in a croissant, garlicky Gambas shrimp and spinach Spanakopita.

Marlin Darlin' Grill, 2819 West Bay Drive, Belleair Bluffs; (727) 584-1700. When you sink a small fortune into decor, insist on a fresh supply of seafood, ingratiate patrons with a savvy wine list and stock the house with sharp servers, you have the recipe for success. Owner Frank Chivas transformed an old drug store into a nautical and culinary star complete with polished stainless and brass rigging, sport fishing chairs, a sleek bar and rich wood-plank floor. Fish rules here: grilled black grouper with roasted corn potato croquet, organic Chinook salmon, and balsamic-lacquered yellowfin tuna. Don't pass up the peach flatbread.

Boizao, 4606 Boy Scout Blvd., Tampa; (813) 286-7100. Eating meat, lots of meat, is what you do at Boizao, a smartly appointed restaurant featuring the churrasco-style cooking of Brazil. Boizao ("big buffalo") stocks you up for hibernation. Gaucho waiters wielding heavy skewers of beef, lamb, pork and chicken scurry nonstop, or espeto corridor, among the tables, slicing succulent cuts onto your plate until your belt busts. The restaurant serves five tons of meat each week - it's all you can eat at a fixed price.

Gallagher's Steak House, 615 Channelside Drive, Tampa; (813) 229-8000. The restaurant's roots go back 80 years, opening as a speakeasy in New York's theater district in 1927. Today, Gallagher's caters to people who aren't shy about opening the wallet for USDA prime: well-marbled, dry-aged Midwestern cuts fired over hickory coals. The prime rib king cut is a massive portion, and we love the 14-ounce filet mignon, succulent and tender as butter. The kitchen sizzles up a limited selection of fresh fish entrees, a roasted half chicken, grilled lamb, veal and center-cut pork chops.

Ponte's Tuscan Grill, 2544 McMullen-Booth Road, Clearwater; (727) 724-5716. There's much to like about Ponte's, where the pots boil over with culinary finesse. Salads are simple requisites to any meal, especially the chopped Tuscan with garbanzo and green beans, olives and roasted peppers. House specialties of note are sea bass with braised leeks and lobster-tomato court-bouillon; a lemony tilapia Michelle; and veal Marsala accompanied by mascarpone potato puree.

Cheap, 309 S. Howard Ave., Tampa; (813) 258-5878. Despite its name, Cheap is richly rewarding. This is the sort of hip spot you'd find in Greenwich Village or Portland, Maine, stopping in for a tapas-style meal and glass of Malbec before heading out to a late movie. Cheap offers a tantalizing sampling of small-bite items prepared and presented with understated flair. The menu features two columns - epulae (feast) and crudo (raw fish) - portions that double either as appetizers and entrees. Consider the tuna Tiradito over jicama citrus salad, or the Honduran ceviche. Most impressive is the roasted pork tenderloin fired by a five-spice powder over a bed of apple-caramel relish.

Malio's Prime, 400 N. Ashley Drive, Tampa; (813) 223-7746. The old Malio's has reappeared with a posh new look on the bottom floor of Rivergate Tower, the cylindrical "Beer Can" building downtown. Shedding its fraternity steakhouse mold, Malio's now acts slick and sophisticated, armed with top-notch service and a menu steeped in high-end beef, including a 16-ounce ribeye and 18-ounce prime rib. If you want to impress your date, don't pass up the massive, 40-ounce porterhouse with a 20-ounce cold water lobster tail - for $153.

Sakana, 2908 Gandy Blvd., Tampa; (813) 837-8744. Dinner here is a hybrid experience: Asian-fusion fare, a hint of France, sushi and sashimi, seafood, steaks and pasta. A meal might include Prince Edward black mussels, a smoked squid salad, lobster pasta, traditional roasted chicken or a New York strip with mashed potatoes.

Roy's, 4342 W. Boy Scout Blvd., Tampa; (813) 873-7697. Owner Roy Yamaguchi honed his approach to food at the Culinary Institute of America, and married influences of Hawaii, Japan and Thailand with French techniques. He now reigns over 35 restaurants worldwide, without a hint of running a chain. Roy's serves up consistency as well as anyone, and tantalizes diners with an exotic collision of colors, scents, textures and tastes. Wrapped in a soothing, tropical atmosphere and sharp service, meals here unfold as minor celebrations.

Reporter Kurt Loft can be reached at (813) 259-7570 or kloft@tampatrib.com.

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