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Side dish
By CHRIS SHERMAN
© St. Petersburg Times, published February 1, 2001
DANDY DINING
Dan Marino's Town Tavern was the last restaurant to open in BayWalk, but it did it with as much flash as the early birds. At first bite, Marino's (121 Second Ave. N, St. Petersburg; (727) 822-4413) doesn't look or taste at all like a sports bar.
The menu's familiar and prices are modest ($7 to $18), yet a big crew in an open kitchen cranks out lunch and dinner with style. Steaks, meatloaf and turkey offer comfort, yet there's pasta, Thai chicken and seafood, even wahoo, too. None is the same ol'.
Grilled salmon is sweetly crusted with cashews, fish cakes crackle with sesame and flatbread is the real crisp thing, not pizza crust. Bisque of tomato, red peppers and basil is almost meaty.
Burnished metal, sweeping mosaics and too-cool lamps make Marino's visually hip. The martini bar's already packed. Balcony tables have a view of the bay -- and the sounds of a city.
Good kickoff.
I'VE HAD ENOUGH . . .
Valet parking in parking lots. I do rely on valets to save a long walk or a frantic search when spaces are scarce. But I don't see the need when the restaurant sits in the middle of its own parking lot. Let's try stretching our legs.
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