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Restaurant review

A redefined place to dine

The location is the same, but little else of Middle Grounds Grill recalls Robby's Pancake House, a Treasure Island institution.

By CHRIS SHERMAN
Published October 12, 2006

[Times photos: Lara Cerri]

Judging from the interior, it’s hard to believe Middle Grounds Grill was once Robby’s Pancake House. The new menu, featuring fresh fish and fantastic sides, is a welcome change.

	There’s no mistaking that saltwater creatures are the feature at Middle Grounds Grill, from the aquarium in the dining room to the updated menu.

TREASURE ISLAND

To experienced captains, the Florida Middle Grounds 100 miles out in the Gulf of Mexico are a source of great eating and plenty of it.

To landlubbers, Robby's Pancake House was a similar landmark for the same reason for 30 years.

But, with a big-bucks renovation, the Coover family has swapped maple syrup for martinis and turned the old pancake house into Middle Grounds Grill, a flashy supper club with goat cheese, noveltinis and $20 scallops.

The Middle Grounds fishery is a long way off, and Middle Grounds the restaurant is far out, too, in decor that's not as cool as it wants to be.

Pancake plainness has been banished by a raging sea of neon, copper, fluorescence, Murano glass and fish, beautiful live in a saltwater tank and less so on endless images floor to ceiling and the tile outside. This '80s Vegas isn't my taste, but it seemed to delight a full house and bar of weeknight locals.

On food, the more important and harder part of the conversion, I was much more encouraged. The kitchen is much closer to modern times. The seafood tastes of fresh ingredients, smart sauces and, surprise, great vegetables. (Excuse some tutti-frutti garnish).

The freshness of the vegetables won my heart: fennel in the salad, grilled asparagus, bok choy and caramelized onions, edamame. Best of all, there were sweet, roasted potatoes, beets and carrots. Those root vegetables come with a veal shank, but I had them with a special of lamb rack in a deep demi glace of chocolate and espresso, a plateful of warm dark flavors.

Other sides impressed as well, herb rice, risotto, garlic mash, roasted baby potatoes, fusilli, linguine, glass noodles and coconut basmati. I love to see and taste such care and variety around the plate.

In the center were the usual suspects of jerk shrimp, grouper, steak, pork and chicken, but they do get walnut crusts, lemon tarragon, saffron and such.

Silky lemon butter zinged a special of snapper and lump crab meat.

For tuna, thick and seared as ordered, grilled pineapple is a fine idea (you remember it has a fruity sharpness, not just canned sweetness). The "berry inferno" sauce needed more of the devil in it, but the waiter said the kitchen had tamed its spicing to test the palate. My vote: Fire it up; the beaches need all the spice they can get.

Ginger sauce for the calamari was lively and could tingle more. Those who want ooey-Gouda comfort can sink into the artichoke souffle (dip in and share with friends).

My fish was all fresh and properly cooked (not overdone) yet the selection is a meager reflection of the Middle Grounds. Once again Florida diners get salmon, grouper, tuna and snapper. Sorry, but if your name invokes the image of local fishing, you need to give us mackerel, pompano, kingfish and mangrove snapper.

The biggest cooking flaw was at the bar, if muddling counts as cooking: A mojito's marriage of fresh mint and rum depends on careful mushing of mint and syrup. An $8 mojito needs more than whole mint branches.

Middle Grounds does have strong pluses. The wine list has good drinking at $25 a bottle or less. Most service was sharp, food-savvy, candid and prompt.

Dessert offers more rewards, including a berried stack of the pancakes of old. A taste of the new is better: key lime pie reinvented as a tart custard in snap-crackle pecan sugar-crisps.

Reimagination is long overdue on the beaches. I'm glad for a taste of it. Hope more fish come along soon.

Chris Sherman dines anonymously and unannounced. The St. Petersburg Times pays for all expenses. A restaurant's advertising has nothing to do with selection for a review or the assessment of its quality. Sherman can be reached at (727) 893-8585 or sherman@sptimes.com.

MIDDLE GROUNDS GRILL

10925 Gulf Blvd., Treasure Island, 727 360-4253

Hours: 5 to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 5 to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 5 to 10 p.m. Sunday.

Details: Full bar, no smoking.

Prices: $15 to $32.

[Last modified October 11, 2006, 11:51:26]