Redux Libby's Cafe and Bar - Sarasota

For valentine's day we had thought that we would head over the the Siesta Key Oyster Bar for dinner but upon arrival we found it to be quite crowded and rather chaotic with no clear process for getting a table.  We decided that we would look for dinner elsewhere and come back when perhaps it would not be quite as insane.  I whipped out the iPhone and launched OpenTable to see what we could find and Libby's had an opening that we decided to secure.

We wrote about our dining experience at Libby's earlier.  Since then we had slipped in for lunch and were very pleasantly impressed so felt like this would be a good venue for dinner.

We arrived about 40 minutes early and sat at the bar while waiting on our table.  Wow!  The drink prices for cocktails are absurd!  2 glasses of wine and 2 tanqueray-and-tonics = $40!

Once we got to our table, we were presented with both the regular dinner menu as well as the valentine's day special menu.  The special menu listed 5-6 appetizers and about as many entree's.  Allison went with a couple of items from the specials and I took a couple off the regular menu.

For starters, Allison had the Maine lobster and gruyere bisque, accompanied by a Florida State Fair lobster corn dog (more the size of a hush puppy).  She said it was very, very good.  Being allergic to cheese I skipped it but she said she could not taste any in it at all.  Interesting.  I opted for the Peachtree Farms deviled eggs with Mote Marine American Sturgeon caviar and chives.  Wow!  These definitely had a kick to them (from cayenne pepper) and were very, very tasty.  I would have preferred more caviar, but that is typical of me ;-)

For dinner I elected to try the yellowfin tuna "nori mignon": sashimi grade tuna with a mango-teriyaki and panko-nori crust, served with a sushi rice and Wakame cucumber salad and ginger-thai emulsion.  If the panko crust were 86'd this would have been perfect; as it was, it was just outstanding.  Allison choose duck breast served with foie gras and current tortellini, roast pear and port glace.  She found this to be amazing as well.

Libby's has become Allison's go-to restaurant, and I have to agree that I am glad we have given them another chance.  The food last night was absolutely perfect.

Cheers!