The unpretentious Ferrara's Bistro stands out where it counts: on the menu.
By CHRIS SHERMAN
Published August 12, 2004
[Times photos: Carrie Pratt]
Shellfish ceviche, an appetizer, is served with a mango-papaya salsa and plantain chips.
Gregory Gearhart, the executive chef at Ferrara’s Bistro, holds a boneless rack of lamb with rosemary black-olive relish and goat cheese fondue.
PALM HARBOR - I'm used to hunting for good food in strip centers, and this one already has yielded a snappy Thai restaurant. But there's even more, since Ferrara's Bistro opened with its duck breast and goat cheese and lamb.
Oh, my.
Plus there's ginger lobster nage, demi glaze sauces and several entrees for $19 and more. It's high for the neighborhood, sure, but you'll rarely find a veal chop for less. If you do, it's unlikely to be as husky and flavorful as this guy, a well-seasoned chop propped against a pile of mashed potatoes in an inviting puddle of caramelized onions.
Joseph and Barbara Ferrara got tired of complaining about food, so they opened their own place, and it is ambitious.
But it's not pretentious: unexciting space with rows of blond furniture, a central bar and a stage for karaoke or a band.
It's the menu that puts on the style: black olive relish on the lamb and feta on the portobello sandwich. Much of chef Gregory Gearhart's food lives up to the billing at first bite.
Lasagne is traditional, but steaks get extra touches and angel hair is baked in a seafood gratin. Sea bass is dolled up with a clever crust of poppy seeds and a puree of lobster broth and vegetables with two claws of lobster; punch up the ginger and it would be a complete success.
For starters, skip the soup; both chowder and pasta e fagioli were too thin. But a warm salad of grilled arugula, radicchio and endive with pecans and goat cheese is a great mix of tastes and textures. And the crab cake's a thick puck of claw and lump with a punchy aioli. I tried only one dessert, an imported Italian tart of custard and fruit. Good stuff.
Lunch is off to a slower start, but the choices show the same high hopes. Ferrara's adds uptown wraps flaunting goat cheese and pesto to a list of traditional deli sandwiches and hoagies.
"Pavarotti's Light Lunch" was supposed to be an extreme sub, but struck me as a familiar Italian with prosciutto (and too-soft bread), not extreme enough for me for $9.
Better to take advantage of a chic wrap of freshly grilled duck breast with endive and mango. A simpler sandwich, yet equally rare, was the shrimp salad, fresh and homemade, maybe too shrimpy for some, but a fine lunch by me.
Sides of potato salad and mustardy macaroni are forgettable and should be replaced with some of the kitchen's great greens.
Pricey, yes; out of place, maybe not. If you want old-fashioned, all-you-can-eat Italian, Palermo's next door sets a solid buffet; on the other side, Shapes fitness center caters to the all-you-can-sweat crowd.
There's room for Ferrara's innovative food in the middle.
