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Don't pass up Perch
A new chef mixes farmhouse flavor with refined technique, less glitter and lower prices.
By CHRIS SHERMAN, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published August 1, 2002
[Times photos: Chris Zuppa]
Smoked Norwegian salmon with herb toast points, an appetizer, is served with capers, tomatoes, scallions, egg and sour cream. |
Perch started out 18 months ago as a rare restaurant in downtown St. Petersburg, one with culinary ambition as glittery as its decor. But its fate, like most of Central Avenue's, has been precarious. In particular, Perch's nouvelle Florida aspirations (complete with baby conch) and $35 steaks were too much.
It should be on more solid ground since John Terczak took over the kitchen this year, with a simpler menu and much lower prices. Yet in the summer doldrums, the place is still bypassed by the BayWalk mobs and overlooked by the condo tower crowds. Their loss.
Terczak, who moved here 10 years ago from Chicago, has the appreciation for old and new that helped cook up that city's experiment with New Midwest cuisine, mixing farmhouse flavor with refined technique.
That means you might find red cabbage on your plate, but it will be caramelized. And though the menu changes weekly, pork roast is a favorite, often with a smart new garnish such as sour cherries, next to the seafood and the pasta. Terczak's fondness for old-fashioned desserts shows up even in a savory starter of shrimp and scallops under a thousand-layered crust of puff pastry in a pool of luscious creams.
Perch chef John Terczak took over the kitchen about four months ago.
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Terczak has kept a few of Perch's early favorites, including the pot au chocolate that may convince you pudding is the most decadent of all.
Happily, Terczak manages it all with real-life prices. There's a special under $10 and a couple of splurges over $20, but most entrees are around $15, including a big-hearted bowl of chicken and mushrooms tossed with rustic rigatoni, herbs and Parmesan.
That can make a nice dinner for two closer to $50, not over $100, and you still get a stunning room, crisp linens, smooth service and a historic veranda and view of the bay. And the restored Ten Beach Drive remains below for after-dinner piano-bar tinkling.
The menu and the wine list are in transition, but I'd say downtown shouldn't pass this up. Comfort in dining as well as taste rarely have such style at these prices.
- Perch, 93 Central Ave., St. Petersburg; (727) 551-0700. Dinner entree prices, $4.99 to $23.
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